Kingston Associate Alice Gazeley received the Catholic Women’s League Provincial Council Social Justice Award at the Ontario Catholic Women’s League Annual Convention held in Stratford, Ontario in July 2016. This award was given for Alice’s work in the field of Social Justice. Alice has served on many committees educating for and promoting social justice over the years.
World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation September 1st
Last year, Pope Francis instituted the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation to be celebrated annually on September 1st by all women and men of good will.
September 1st comes immediately after our Congregation of Notre Dame 97th General Chapter…. “Rooted in Jesus Christ, let us cultivate love and compassion”
The Holy Father writes: “As Christians we wish to contribute to resolving the ecological crisis which humanity is presently experiencing. In doing so, we must first rediscover in our own rich spiritual patrimony the deepest motivations for concern for the care of creation.”
As a sign of our communal love for creation, may we, sisters and associates of the Congregation of Notre Dame, join all women and men of good will on September 1st in prayer for the Care of Creation and in reaffirming our personal vocation to be stewards of creation.
This summer, I received a newsletter from Fukushima. It included letters written by some students who received financial aid from the fund established by our Congregation of Notre Dame Sisters. The focus of that program is ministering to people, mostly elderly, who have been dislocated by the triple tragedy and living apart from their families. This living singly is very counter-cultural for the Japanese. The people of Fukushima and the surrounding areas so affected by the earthquake, tsunami, and meltdown are still dealing with tremendous challenges. The world and their own country seemed to have moved on. Japan is presently focused on the upcoming Olympics. I am including this letter as an indication of what your generous responses helped to make to make possible and to ask you again to lift up the needs of the people of Fukushima in your prayers.
