Hope is Plentiful at Kenora Catholic

Hope is Plentiful at Kenora Catholic
Posted on 10/29/2020
Times are tough but hope is tougherDr. Terry Nelson-JohnsonCatholics and Christians sometimes think of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter (Paschal Mystery Moments) as remembering events that Jesus went through. We sometimes forget that as individuals and communities we too move through the energy of those days. We are not spectators to the race that Jesus ran, to the life that Jesus lived, but participants. We are participants intimately involved in the Paschal Mystery of life.

On Friday, October 30, 2020, Dr. Terry Nelson-Johnson “zoomed” into us from Chicago to provoke us to see how we live those 4 days through the many moments of our lives. He began exploring the concept of being fed – we gather at the table of life, the table of Holy Thursday, and we are fed by the caring words and actions of others and the caring words and actions we offer others.

We experience that deep sense of loss and pain as we enter the Good Friday moments of our lives. The loss of job or role, the loss of physical ability, the loss of loved ones, the loss of broken relationships. We are called to stand in solidarity with each other as we navigate both individual and communal loss. Covid-19 is one of those losses, one of the realities that can pull us under into the darkness and frustration of not being able to do what we normally may be doing.

Holy Saturday is the patient waiting, sometimes the “just hanging in there” moments, in which we know through faith that there is light and hope beyond the pain but we cannot quite grasp it yet. We work hard to stand with an open heart, to do the work of grieving that we may be called to do. Without that work, without that entry into the tomb with Christ, the alleluia of Easter cannot push the stone away from the tomb to let the light of new life in.

When the time is right, we embrace the Alleluias of Easter, feeling a form of rejuvenation from what was, while still knowing that the healing of loss takes time. We know the paschal mystery is indeed that – mystery. We know it is not linear, that we can circle around the four days at various points of our faith journey.

Yet, journey we must. As people of faith we know that light wins over darkness, love over hate, hope over despair. We put one foot forward after the other and we bring light to the world.

As the morning wound down, the small groups of staff gathered in rooms spread across the Kenora Catholic system could be felt taking a deep breath, both in gratitude and in response to the power of story to push us to name what we know to be true: faith is part of all who we are, all that we do. We are the people of the Paschal Mystery and we will seek to live it to the full.

In the afternoon staff remained in small groups to examine more closely the Paschal mystery and how we as a system are called to live it more fully. Staff named actions such as making sure each student has a caring adult, encouraging each other to participate in weekly prayer, taking the theme of the year and finding ways to involve each other all year long, and finding more ways for students to be involved in using their gifts in the community.

Dr. Terry Nelson-Johnson has been a gift to Kenora Catholic and we are grateful for his wisdom in serving us. Dr. Nelson-Johnson is Founder as well as Creative and Animating Partner of Soul Play LLC, which can be found at soulplayonline.com. He is also Resident Theologian and Animator of Faith at Old St. Patrick's Church. Dr. Nelson-Johnson served on the faculty of the Loyola Academy Jesuit High School for eighteen years. Author and leader of the acclaimed Beloved retreat, Dr. Nelson-Johnson works with parents, teachers, pastoral staff and faith communities to design and conduct formation programs that encourage, affirm and inspire
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