On March 26, in honour of the feast of the Annunciation, a retreat led by Sister Mary Clare took place at Providence Renewal Centre, which is situated in the same building where Sisters Connie, Hazel, Marjorie and Pilar live.
Those present experienced a profound time of prayer and reflection on the theme of “Encounter with self, others, creation and God” Each reflection was rooted in the Word of God.
On 28 April, the group met for the first time at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples. Gary Gagnon, a parishioner of Sacred Heart, a métis and a “knowledge keeper” for his people, was invited to share stories of healing, forgiveness, the importance of the Medicine Wheel and the Prayer of the Four Directions in Indigenous culture. Sharing a meal is central to Indigenous culture, so together we shared bannock prepared by Pearl Strong, one of our Indigenous members, and enjoyed an abundant pot-luck supper. The “encounter” helped us move closer to our Indigenous sisters and brothers and to learn how the riches of Indigenous culture can be woven so intricately with rituals and traditions of our Catholic faith.
The evening of the Feast of Pentecost was an opportunity to celebrate the coming of the Spirit for the group at Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples, while not forgetting to pray for those who were unable to join us for health reasons or because they are housebound. The discussions were very rich, based on the day’s Gospel, in which Jesus met the disciples and did not reproach them, but said to them : "Peace be with you ! We were invited to share that peace with one another and to carry it with us into the “Galilee” of our daily lives.
At the end of June, we hope to make a pilgrimage to Lac Ste. Anne, which Pope Francis visited during his time in Canada. The Lake is sacred to the Indigenous peoples ; a place of many healings ; physical, mental and spiritual, for those who enter the waters. This will be our first time, since before COVID, that we will be able to come together for our traditional year-end BBQ. We will continue to celebrate, share, keep people connected through newsletters, and pray together until we resume in September.