Our Lady's Missionaries

There is so much going on in our world today… genocide, the climate emergency, wars, famine and so on. It might be difficult to get into an Easter mood.

And yet… A couple of months ago I was listening to Sr. Elizabeth Davis RSM, voting delegate to the Synod on Synodality, reflecting on her experience in Rome. She ended with a sense of urgency stating that if we are unable to make significant reforms to how we are Church today, it will be a long time before another opportunity presents itself. I wholeheartedly agreed and wondered if there was really any hope.

This was a Zoom call and as we waited to be sent to breakout rooms for small group sharing, the old Quaker Hymn came to mind, “How Can I Keep From Singing?” It is one of my favourite hymns. We are on the cusp of bringing to birth a new way to be Church. Instead of wondering what the chances of true change really are… How can I keep from singing?

As I listen to the news each evening and feel my heart grow heavy with grief and sadness, instead of wondering whether anyone can make a difference… How can I keep from singing?

The refrain of that Quaker hymn speaks to me, “No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock I’m clinging. Since love is lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?”

This Easter may we all grow in our awareness that Love suffers with us, Love is risen from the dead and Love propels us to keep on singing, acting, speaking out, and holding in our hearts all of Creation.

Christine Gebel OLM

On January 17, a Zoom call took place with Sr. Elizabeth Davis RSM who was a voting member at the first session of the Synod at the Vatican last October.  This was an initiative sponsored by a unique collaboration among CNWE-Western region, Reseau Compassion Network (RCN), the Grey Nuns of Montreal (SGM), and the Sisters of our Lady of the Missions (RNDM).  Sister Elizabeth shared her experience with the Synod’s listening and discernment sessions, and some implications of being “a synodal church in mission”. She also shared some thoughts on what may come next as we continue to move along this path of synodality, which will conclude with the closing session of the Synod in October 2024.

  

A recording of this call is available here: https://youtu.be/HpbgJLxXumY

– Sr. Christine Gebel, OLM

L-R: Olga Franczak, OLM sisters; Mary Deighan and Suzanne Marshall at the back are Maureen Mattice and Mary Anne Barnes.

Our Lady’s Missionaries in Presentation Manor joined the residents and staff, celebrating the 5th anniversary of Presentation Manor held on Wednesday, November 8th.

Since 2018 this “Community of Communities” has been growing together as families and members of religious communities reach out to each other and build relationships.

Below are photos of the OLM sisters with some of the Presentation Manor residents taken during the celebration.

By Sr. Lorie Nunez, OLM

Our Lady’s Missionaries gathered at Presentation Manor on Thursday, October 26th for our Annual Assembly. Our Assemblies are a time to look back at the blessings of the past year and to do a bit of planning for the future year.

We started with a Land Acknowledgment and an opening prayer. Next, we moved to reports from the various OLM Committees and we expressed our gratitude for all the Committee members for generously carrying out their designated tasks.

A planning Committee for our upcoming 75’th anniversary in 2024 was also formed during this gathering.

Most of all, during a sharing of reflections on the past year, in a spirit of gratitude we remembered the unyielding support we have received from each other, our benefactors, friends, families, and the staff of CRS (Canadian Religious Stewardship) and Presentation Manor.

We concluded by reading our OLM Mission Statement and singing “Hail Mary.”

On May 31st, Our Lady’s Missionaries and the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame were among the many residents of Presentation Manor who gathered in the Chapel to pray the Solemn Marian Vespers which was organized by Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB.

L-R: OLM Sisters Rosemary Williamson, Suzanne Marshall, Mary Gauthier, Mary Deighan, and Marie Clarkson

During the ceremony, Sr. Sue Mosteller, CSJ shared her reflections on the Wedding Feast at Cana from the Gospel of John. She drew upon experiences with the people she served at L’Arche Daybreak in Richmond Hill.

OLMs are grateful and looking forward to our upcoming 75th anniversary next year. We are also grateful for the Basilian community who invited us and other visitors for snacks in the private dining room.

Christine Gebel, OLM with Brian Inglis, CSB team up to lead music at the Masses at Presentation Manor.

May 8 to 14, 2023 is National Nursing Week in Canada!

Our Lady’s Missionaries is grateful for the health and wellness care we are receiving from the staff at both Presentation Manor and Providence Healthcare.

And, we’re especially grateful to Esmeralda, Joanna and Felicitas who, through CRS (Canadian Religious Stewardship), go above and beyond to ensure that we are being well cared for – day after ordinary day, as well as during Covid and other health emergencies. THANK YOU!

Our Lady’s Missionaries together with family and friends gathered for the Mass of Resurrection for Sr. Doris MacDonell, OLM on April 11, 2023, at Presentation Manor Chapel.

Before the Mass began, Sr. Frances Brady, OLM welcomed everyone:

Good morning and welcome to this celebration of Doris Macdonell’s life. We are grateful to have members of Doris’ family and many friends with us today.

Doris was a very private person who never wanted to be the center of attention. In her funeral plans she specifically stated “no eulogy” and we will honour that. However, Doris is loved and missed by her family, her sisters in Community, and many others, and it’s important that we remember and celebrate her life.

Doris was born and educated in Williamstown, Ontario. She graduated from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Cornwall and worked in hospitals in Cornwall and St. Catherine’s Ontario before entering Our Lady’s Missionaries in 1957.

In Canada, Doris worked at St. Michael’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto, studied public health nursing at the University of Toronto, and worked with St. Elizabeth visiting nurses in Toronto.

Her first mission outside of Canada was to northeast Brazil in 1965, to a large maternity hospital in the city of Fortaleza, and later to a small hospital in Aratuba, in a rural area where there were no medical doctors.

Doris returned to Canada and Toronto to serve as director of Maryglen Residence for Women and in leadership roles as councilor and treasurer, then as a congregational leader.

In 1993 she went to New Amsterdam, Guyana, where she worked in pastoral and health care ministries for 13 years.

When health issues forced her to leave Guyana Doris returned again to Toronto and we all benefitted from her nursing skills, her service in the OLM finance office, and as the congregation’s archivist. In 2018 she moved here to presentation manor with 18 other members of our lady’s missionaries.

Doris had a wide variety of talents and interests. When she was director of Maryglen Residence she had her own toolbox so she could do minor repairs. Her writing, editing, and proofreading skills were often called on and she was a member of the editorial committee for the olm history. She took advantage of the internet and helped others to benefit from its resources.

In whatever she was doing, Doris was realistic, practical, and quietly competent. She carried out responsibilities that were asked of her and took on other tasks whenever she saw what was needed, and always with as little attention to herself as she could manage.

Doris was deeply loyal to all that was important to her, her faith, her family and friends, her community, and her Scottish heritage.

We love you and miss you, Doris. We will remember you for so many reasons, including your loyalty, your quiet dependability, your kindness, and your delightful sense of humour.

These are the photos taken at Holy Cross Cemetery.