Blessed are you, winter, dark season of waiting, you affirm the dark seasons of our lives, forecasting the weather of waiting in hope.
Blessed are you, winter, you faithfully guard a life unseen, calling those who listen deeply to discover winter rest.
Blessed are you, winter, frozen and cold on the outside, within your silent, nurturing womb you warmly welcome all that longs for renewal.
Blessed are you, winter, your bleak, barren trees preach wordless sermons about emptiness and solitude.
Blessed are you, winter, you teach us valuable lessons about waiting in darkness with hope and trust.
Blessed are you, winter, season of blood red sunsets and star-filled, long, dark nights, faithfully you pour out your beauty.
Blessed are you, winter, when your tiny snowflakes flurry through the air, you awaken our sleeping souls.
Blessed are you, winter, with your wild and varied moods, so intent on being yourself, you refuse to be a people-pleaser.
Blessed are you, winter, when ice storms crush our hearts and homes, you call forth the good in us as we rush to help one another.
Blessed are you, winter, your inconsistent moods often herald spring’s arrival, yet how gracefully you step aside when her time has come.
Bernadette Gallant generously accepted "to go on mission"; she left her beloved Rustico to come to the "big city." She courageously took over a new ministry as local leader at Mary of Peace Community at the Infirmary in Montreal. And since her mandate has been completed, she will be returning "home" to PEI.
On January 30, 2015, the sisters at Mary of Peace Community held a farewell party to express their gratitude to Bernadette for three years of dedicated service. A few other sisters as well as the Infirmary chaplain, Bishop Wingle, joined the group. Our dining room/community room was artistically decorated, gifts were presented and delicious refreshments were served. Bernadette's many positive characteristics were highlighted, especially her untiring dedication to meet the different needs of one and all.
Our happy get-together ended with an appropriate Evening Prayer using as the opening hymn, "The Journey," a theme that was repeated several times during the prayer.
How true is the old saying, "Many hands make light work"! We were fortunate to have the help of the Sisters from de Sève as well as the Infirmary staff in order to pay a fitting tribute to Bernadette.
Both of these are finely acted and deal with issues of faith and identity unfolding as mysteries in terms of choices to be made. Although there are glimpses of hope and redemption, they deal with some difficult realities, one with the Holocaust in Poland and one with clerical sexual abuse in Ireland. IDA, which is nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film, is set in 1960s in Poland and involves a young woman left as an infant and raised by a community of nuns. Upon approaching final profession within the community, she discovers she was from a Jewish family. CALVARY is set in a small town in Ireland and concerns a priest who is told in the confessional that within a week he will be killed by someone seeking revenge: someone who suffered sexual abuse as a child by another priest. Both of these likely available as ppv by your tv provider.