My dear Friends
I leave today around 4.30pm for the airport. I have already cried several times, from emotion and probably the exhaustion of the last few days - God has been working right up until the last, leaving me plenty to do in England. I have much research to do to find a suitable Formation programme for my Sisters, continuing a thread which really began almost ten years ago. At least something I can offer myself is my Biblical Hebrew teaching; it is so enriching to actually read and explore the texts in the original.
A kind lady at the breakfast table reminded me that you must never let go of your dream and that the key word is patience. Not so much patience in the immigration process - a higher power is taking care of that, but the patience for things to work themselves out, and the patience to wait for the women to be ready.
As soon as I picked up the handle of the suitcase, I felt instantly better, as if I had made the inevitable decision to go. Only to come back- if I can get the finance, I may return in September. I could consolidate my latest contacts, and, even better, see the city in a different and warmer season when I could go down to the lake and across to the islands.
I feel happy that I was able to sustain myself for a whole month and 'do what I had to do'- so I am leaving with JOY.
And- its raining!
Love and Shalom from
Sister Gila
Monday 31 March 2008
Thursday 27 March 2008
Over the hump
My dear Friends
I am 'over the hump' in other words past the point of slight depression, on the way to going back. Five days away from returning to England, I woke up both with Hallelujah sounding in my heart and, on waking and dressing, a feeling of 'what will the next few days bring?'
But you can never give up, and I reckoned that perhaps the most beautiful things were still to come.
As I boiled the kettle and sat down in a quiet corner to say my morning prayers, a nice Canadian lady from British Columbia gave me some green tea and chatted happily with me about dinosaurs Then a Polish lady with a young baby talked to me and I began to feel better, went up to my room, got some publicity leaflets, which she accepted and I knew the trip certainly was not over.
Yesterday, for the second time, I went over to the home of Bishop Pearse Lacey. He really is a most extraordinary man, who has shown me great hospitality, wisdom and kindness. At 91, his mind is alert, and he loves to tell me about his rich and diverse ministry, culminating in his being made an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto, and confirming 50,000 people into the Church! For sure we have been brought together because we are very alike in that we have walked 'the road less travelled' (see the famous poem by Robert Frost.) Father Pearse, as he invited me to call him, is charismatic in the proper sense and I am deeply proud to be his Friend.
Cousin Gordon drove me out to Yorkdale last night, to a delicatessen, carving meat off the bone on rye bread, as in my childhood and the whole atmosphere was delicious and the suburbs, past the 'castle' Casa Lomo were fascinating., with low wooden houses from the Portugese and Italian communities. I really have seen a lot of sides of Toronto, and the drive back to the Hostel was breathtaking, with the buildings rising up from banks of snow with thousands of twinkling lights.
Just before I leave on Monday night I will write again
Love Gila
I am 'over the hump' in other words past the point of slight depression, on the way to going back. Five days away from returning to England, I woke up both with Hallelujah sounding in my heart and, on waking and dressing, a feeling of 'what will the next few days bring?'
But you can never give up, and I reckoned that perhaps the most beautiful things were still to come.
As I boiled the kettle and sat down in a quiet corner to say my morning prayers, a nice Canadian lady from British Columbia gave me some green tea and chatted happily with me about dinosaurs Then a Polish lady with a young baby talked to me and I began to feel better, went up to my room, got some publicity leaflets, which she accepted and I knew the trip certainly was not over.
Yesterday, for the second time, I went over to the home of Bishop Pearse Lacey. He really is a most extraordinary man, who has shown me great hospitality, wisdom and kindness. At 91, his mind is alert, and he loves to tell me about his rich and diverse ministry, culminating in his being made an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto, and confirming 50,000 people into the Church! For sure we have been brought together because we are very alike in that we have walked 'the road less travelled' (see the famous poem by Robert Frost.) Father Pearse, as he invited me to call him, is charismatic in the proper sense and I am deeply proud to be his Friend.
Cousin Gordon drove me out to Yorkdale last night, to a delicatessen, carving meat off the bone on rye bread, as in my childhood and the whole atmosphere was delicious and the suburbs, past the 'castle' Casa Lomo were fascinating., with low wooden houses from the Portugese and Italian communities. I really have seen a lot of sides of Toronto, and the drive back to the Hostel was breathtaking, with the buildings rising up from banks of snow with thousands of twinkling lights.
Just before I leave on Monday night I will write again
Love Gila
Saturday 22 March 2008
Holy Saturday
My dear Friends
Woke up in the middle of the night (more my style in the last few years) and wrote my diary. Then I took a bath (my first in 3 weeks, only showers up until now) and then decided to have a little snack.I am in the apratment of a new Friend, strangely enough in the very block of apartments where I am planning to move once the immigration process is complete.So I have the chance to explore the incredible neighbourhood around me in the Annexe, 5 minutes from all transport, shops, restaurants, the folk club where my cousin Gordon has taken me twice before, and the university campus of St George only 15 minutes away.
On this day between Good Friday and the Resurrection I took my breakfast facing the window, next to the verandah, watching the beautiful trees, still surrounded by snow.And then I felt that something was missing: whenever I have felt really at home before, it has usually been in the Middle East, when the sound of crickets, or cicadas, to give them their proper name, has been overwhelming. First time I was in my cousin's house in Pardess Channah, near Tel Aviv, the whirring noise was so overpowering that i wanted to flee and go back to Scotland. Of course I didn't and spent the rest of that summer of 1968 very happily.
Now I stepped out onto the balcony to make sure that I could not hear any cicadas.And then I was given my cosmic present: a huge yellow moon, very low, through the trees, right in front of my eyes. 19 years ago on this day, I was preparing for my Baptism in the evening and could feel the whole of Creation stirring and moving from its darkness to light. With the cosmic Christ.
This is a beautiful and mysterious city. All cultures belong here. East and West, North and South and that is how the streets run. I know that when I go home I will feel differently to
what Yehudah ben Levi, the mediaeval Jewish writer wrote:
'I am in the West, but my heart is in the East.'
My own heart will remain very definitely Westward, for in the crisp acidic blue light of a Torontonian sky is contained all I ever knew of the East.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Woke up in the middle of the night (more my style in the last few years) and wrote my diary. Then I took a bath (my first in 3 weeks, only showers up until now) and then decided to have a little snack.I am in the apratment of a new Friend, strangely enough in the very block of apartments where I am planning to move once the immigration process is complete.So I have the chance to explore the incredible neighbourhood around me in the Annexe, 5 minutes from all transport, shops, restaurants, the folk club where my cousin Gordon has taken me twice before, and the university campus of St George only 15 minutes away.
On this day between Good Friday and the Resurrection I took my breakfast facing the window, next to the verandah, watching the beautiful trees, still surrounded by snow.And then I felt that something was missing: whenever I have felt really at home before, it has usually been in the Middle East, when the sound of crickets, or cicadas, to give them their proper name, has been overwhelming. First time I was in my cousin's house in Pardess Channah, near Tel Aviv, the whirring noise was so overpowering that i wanted to flee and go back to Scotland. Of course I didn't and spent the rest of that summer of 1968 very happily.
Now I stepped out onto the balcony to make sure that I could not hear any cicadas.And then I was given my cosmic present: a huge yellow moon, very low, through the trees, right in front of my eyes. 19 years ago on this day, I was preparing for my Baptism in the evening and could feel the whole of Creation stirring and moving from its darkness to light. With the cosmic Christ.
This is a beautiful and mysterious city. All cultures belong here. East and West, North and South and that is how the streets run. I know that when I go home I will feel differently to
what Yehudah ben Levi, the mediaeval Jewish writer wrote:
'I am in the West, but my heart is in the East.'
My own heart will remain very definitely Westward, for in the crisp acidic blue light of a Torontonian sky is contained all I ever knew of the East.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Friday 21 March 2008
Points of reference
My dear Friends
I was asked the other day: 'Where is the centre of operations for The Little Sisters of Joy?' Well, the answer for the moment is Cambridge, England, where it was officially founded by myself with the help of my friend Maryvonne on 7th March 1999. It was based in the South of the city, until I moved to the north in my flat known as The Haven, 61 Edgcombe, Cambridge CB4 2LW. And that remains the official address until I actually move to Toronto, hopefully within the next 18 months.
The international Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation, under the same name of The Little Sisters of Joy, will become a registered charity within the next year, based in the UK, and my 2 friends near Cambirdge will also be the official representatives of The Little Sisters of Joy in the UK, answering all manner of questions and responding as the need arises.
My original vision remains and, if all goes well, one day The Little Sisters of Joy will be also a religious community of sisters, living and working together here in Toronto, under the Archbishop. But Toronto as a point of reference already exists; every time Icome here and make new friends and contacts, something grows and happens. If I make it back again this coming September, I am thinking about holding a small gathering of Friends and supporters, perhaps at a venue in the University. We could share food, and I could sing with my guitar.
Watch this space!
Shalom from Sister Gila
I was asked the other day: 'Where is the centre of operations for The Little Sisters of Joy?' Well, the answer for the moment is Cambridge, England, where it was officially founded by myself with the help of my friend Maryvonne on 7th March 1999. It was based in the South of the city, until I moved to the north in my flat known as The Haven, 61 Edgcombe, Cambridge CB4 2LW. And that remains the official address until I actually move to Toronto, hopefully within the next 18 months.
The international Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation, under the same name of The Little Sisters of Joy, will become a registered charity within the next year, based in the UK, and my 2 friends near Cambirdge will also be the official representatives of The Little Sisters of Joy in the UK, answering all manner of questions and responding as the need arises.
My original vision remains and, if all goes well, one day The Little Sisters of Joy will be also a religious community of sisters, living and working together here in Toronto, under the Archbishop. But Toronto as a point of reference already exists; every time Icome here and make new friends and contacts, something grows and happens. If I make it back again this coming September, I am thinking about holding a small gathering of Friends and supporters, perhaps at a venue in the University. We could share food, and I could sing with my guitar.
Watch this space!
Shalom from Sister Gila
Sunday 16 March 2008
Into Holy Week and towards Easter
My dear Friends
It has been an amazing Lent, full of movement and change. This must have been what the life of Jesus was like, perhaps on a smaller scale. I am surrounded by Cathedrals, and this morning said my prayers in the Anglican Cathedral across the street, a nice quiet time. When I had finished I saw the Vicar, and said I was in solidarity with him as we enter Holy Week.
This, the last week of Lent, is the time we enter most fully into the footsteps of Christ as he journeyed towards the Cross. Throughout the pain we always must keep the miracle of the Resurrection in mind; we cannot have one without the other. I reflected to a friend this evening that all our lives are charted by crucifixion and resurrection, whether we are aware of God's presence or not. Thes cycles of darkness and light happen to us all throughout our lives, for Christ entered into our humanity to be in solidarity with us, and to go through it with us. No human being is an exception and for me this is the true miracle.
The Easter Vigil is a liturgical ceremony which takes place in the Church the night before Easter Sunday. It starts with a bonfire being lit outside the Church, to remind us of the primaeval darkness and the light coming out of the darkness. When we enter the Church, a candle is lit, and from this single candle all the candles which the congregation hold are ignited.
It will be a memorable night for me; nineteen years ago, at this Vigil in Newmarket, UK, I was baptised, confirmed and given holy communion in the one night. Nine readings from the Old Testament were read, from Creation, through the Exodus from Egypt, to the final reading of the Resurrection in the New Testament. It had been a long road, but it was a beautiful night and I had the privilege of having a Methodist, Anglican, Baptist and Brethren Christian present among the Catholic community, to witness to my new life. Perhaps this was an indication of my ecumenical work that was to come. Even a Rabbi came-he believed in the divinity of Jesus but preferred to stay within the Jewish community. In his training he had to visit aids patients in the local American hospital.
The person who received me into the Church that night was Fr Anthony Foreman, still a close friend and with a beautiful voice. When I was confirmed I was not aware that God had given me a mission-Peace and Reconciliation, now being worked out in a most extraordinary way.After the ceremony some professional folk-singing friends gave me and some others a little concert, so my musical theme was also present.
I hope that you may all feel the incredible light that pours forth at the end of this season, and that your Lent, which means Spring may have been truly fruitful, as we journey towards Easter.
Shalom and Shalom again from
Sister Gila
It has been an amazing Lent, full of movement and change. This must have been what the life of Jesus was like, perhaps on a smaller scale. I am surrounded by Cathedrals, and this morning said my prayers in the Anglican Cathedral across the street, a nice quiet time. When I had finished I saw the Vicar, and said I was in solidarity with him as we enter Holy Week.
This, the last week of Lent, is the time we enter most fully into the footsteps of Christ as he journeyed towards the Cross. Throughout the pain we always must keep the miracle of the Resurrection in mind; we cannot have one without the other. I reflected to a friend this evening that all our lives are charted by crucifixion and resurrection, whether we are aware of God's presence or not. Thes cycles of darkness and light happen to us all throughout our lives, for Christ entered into our humanity to be in solidarity with us, and to go through it with us. No human being is an exception and for me this is the true miracle.
The Easter Vigil is a liturgical ceremony which takes place in the Church the night before Easter Sunday. It starts with a bonfire being lit outside the Church, to remind us of the primaeval darkness and the light coming out of the darkness. When we enter the Church, a candle is lit, and from this single candle all the candles which the congregation hold are ignited.
It will be a memorable night for me; nineteen years ago, at this Vigil in Newmarket, UK, I was baptised, confirmed and given holy communion in the one night. Nine readings from the Old Testament were read, from Creation, through the Exodus from Egypt, to the final reading of the Resurrection in the New Testament. It had been a long road, but it was a beautiful night and I had the privilege of having a Methodist, Anglican, Baptist and Brethren Christian present among the Catholic community, to witness to my new life. Perhaps this was an indication of my ecumenical work that was to come. Even a Rabbi came-he believed in the divinity of Jesus but preferred to stay within the Jewish community. In his training he had to visit aids patients in the local American hospital.
The person who received me into the Church that night was Fr Anthony Foreman, still a close friend and with a beautiful voice. When I was confirmed I was not aware that God had given me a mission-Peace and Reconciliation, now being worked out in a most extraordinary way.After the ceremony some professional folk-singing friends gave me and some others a little concert, so my musical theme was also present.
I hope that you may all feel the incredible light that pours forth at the end of this season, and that your Lent, which means Spring may have been truly fruitful, as we journey towards Easter.
Shalom and Shalom again from
Sister Gila
Tuesday 11 March 2008
Partying in the hostel
My dear Friends
I came down about an hour ago in my dressing gown to find a party going on in the hostel in full swing. So i joined in! Lots of delicious white wine, from which i am still feeling the effects, and cheese and biscuits. Reason for the party was a thank you to the residents for our patience while the kitchen was being renovated.
Actually it is quite a while since I have been at a party, there is music but no-one is dancing; there are a few particularly nice people here, including a Japanese young woman and someone from Germany. A Spanish man smiled at me across the crowded room, so naturally I responded and we had a good conversation as a result. We actually talked of the religious life and communities in Spain! then a young Australian woman engaged me in a conversation about sexuality and it was mutually beneficial and she had learned something! We agreed it was the most God-given part of our humanity.
The snow is melting, walking is easier, Francis my artist friend and i had drinks inthe lovely hotel and things generally are moving apace.I was given lunch unexpectedly in the Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies today and I had a great time generally around the university of Toronto Campus.
The noise is increasing and my back is hurting, so I will leave you now and go up to bed.
Layla tov, good night
Sister Gila
I came down about an hour ago in my dressing gown to find a party going on in the hostel in full swing. So i joined in! Lots of delicious white wine, from which i am still feeling the effects, and cheese and biscuits. Reason for the party was a thank you to the residents for our patience while the kitchen was being renovated.
Actually it is quite a while since I have been at a party, there is music but no-one is dancing; there are a few particularly nice people here, including a Japanese young woman and someone from Germany. A Spanish man smiled at me across the crowded room, so naturally I responded and we had a good conversation as a result. We actually talked of the religious life and communities in Spain! then a young Australian woman engaged me in a conversation about sexuality and it was mutually beneficial and she had learned something! We agreed it was the most God-given part of our humanity.
The snow is melting, walking is easier, Francis my artist friend and i had drinks inthe lovely hotel and things generally are moving apace.I was given lunch unexpectedly in the Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies today and I had a great time generally around the university of Toronto Campus.
The noise is increasing and my back is hurting, so I will leave you now and go up to bed.
Layla tov, good night
Sister Gila
Friday 7 March 2008
Shabbat Shalom from Toronto
My dear Friends
The light is fading and the Sabbath is coming in. Snow is falling outside the Hostel window. Shabbat Shalom from Toronto! It has been a great week, and I have prayed with both the Catholics and the Anglicans. An elderly gentleman asked me to day to join them at the Presbyterian Church next week for a Wednesday session for Lent, including an organ recital.
Today is Womens' World Day of Prayer, so at 2pm I joined the service at the Anglican Cathedral right across the street-it was very moving, being held by the women of Guyana. During the short homily by the Vicar of the church, he focussed on the manifesto of The Little Sisters of Joy, from Isaiah 2 and Micah 4-It shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be raised above the hills and all the nations shall flow to it...Nation shall not raise sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Today is the 9th anniversary of the official founding of The Little Sisters of Joy in Cambridge on March 7th 1999. Maryvonne le Goanvic and i sat in Benigna's upper room, and afterwards I held the whole thing up in the evening mass at the large Catholic Church in Cambridge. And so it has continued...
A lovely travelling man at the Hostel took me around Toronto while he was here.As we were walking back from Union Station one evening he mentioned the Swan River in Manitoba. The swan is a very important image of love and contemplation for the Project and I took it as a sign. Even after such a short space of time, I know I am meant to be here.
Much love
Sister Gila
The light is fading and the Sabbath is coming in. Snow is falling outside the Hostel window. Shabbat Shalom from Toronto! It has been a great week, and I have prayed with both the Catholics and the Anglicans. An elderly gentleman asked me to day to join them at the Presbyterian Church next week for a Wednesday session for Lent, including an organ recital.
Today is Womens' World Day of Prayer, so at 2pm I joined the service at the Anglican Cathedral right across the street-it was very moving, being held by the women of Guyana. During the short homily by the Vicar of the church, he focussed on the manifesto of The Little Sisters of Joy, from Isaiah 2 and Micah 4-It shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be raised above the hills and all the nations shall flow to it...Nation shall not raise sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Today is the 9th anniversary of the official founding of The Little Sisters of Joy in Cambridge on March 7th 1999. Maryvonne le Goanvic and i sat in Benigna's upper room, and afterwards I held the whole thing up in the evening mass at the large Catholic Church in Cambridge. And so it has continued...
A lovely travelling man at the Hostel took me around Toronto while he was here.As we were walking back from Union Station one evening he mentioned the Swan River in Manitoba. The swan is a very important image of love and contemplation for the Project and I took it as a sign. Even after such a short space of time, I know I am meant to be here.
Much love
Sister Gila
Monday 3 March 2008
Toronto pre dawn
My dear Friends
The time is 4.45 am and I have been in Toronto just over 24 hours. I arrived on Saturday night, St David's Day, after a smooth British Airways flight, where they tended to me really well. I had spent a beautiful week with my friend in Surrey, in her lovely house on the top of a hill next to a 13th Century church and again I was looked after - I was happy because I had worked really hard especially with the concert.
Now in the Youth Hostel my new friend at reception is working the night shift and there a few floaters around, a bit hung over after whatever party they have been to. I am back to my normal time zone, restless in the middle of the night as in Cambridge I always get up at this time and drink tea, pray or write. It really is wonderful to be in Toronto; I had a good Sunday, going to Mass in the Catholic Cathedral, which is flanked on other sides by the Anglican and Church of Canada Cathedrals.On the 4th Sunday of Lent the Gospel is the healing of the blind beggar, a foretaste of the sacramental life of the Church, when Jesus puts paste on the man's eyes.
As you know, I really just enjoy wandering the streets, it is not that cold and I am cossetted by an enormous winter coat which a Canadian friend in Cambridge lent me-she says it has always got her through the winter in Newfoundland. So I found bookshops, cafes and some nice and interesting Canadians to talk to.
Youth Hostels have changed-this one is cosy, and I am sharing a room with 2 congenial young women, one French and the other from here but of Japanese parents. I hope they don't mind my nocturnal activities! It is difficult to imagine life in Cambridge or England-I am sitting at the computer with some piled up snow outside and a lovely lit up skyscraper facing me.
More later, have a good week wherever you may be!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
The time is 4.45 am and I have been in Toronto just over 24 hours. I arrived on Saturday night, St David's Day, after a smooth British Airways flight, where they tended to me really well. I had spent a beautiful week with my friend in Surrey, in her lovely house on the top of a hill next to a 13th Century church and again I was looked after - I was happy because I had worked really hard especially with the concert.
Now in the Youth Hostel my new friend at reception is working the night shift and there a few floaters around, a bit hung over after whatever party they have been to. I am back to my normal time zone, restless in the middle of the night as in Cambridge I always get up at this time and drink tea, pray or write. It really is wonderful to be in Toronto; I had a good Sunday, going to Mass in the Catholic Cathedral, which is flanked on other sides by the Anglican and Church of Canada Cathedrals.On the 4th Sunday of Lent the Gospel is the healing of the blind beggar, a foretaste of the sacramental life of the Church, when Jesus puts paste on the man's eyes.
As you know, I really just enjoy wandering the streets, it is not that cold and I am cossetted by an enormous winter coat which a Canadian friend in Cambridge lent me-she says it has always got her through the winter in Newfoundland. So I found bookshops, cafes and some nice and interesting Canadians to talk to.
Youth Hostels have changed-this one is cosy, and I am sharing a room with 2 congenial young women, one French and the other from here but of Japanese parents. I hope they don't mind my nocturnal activities! It is difficult to imagine life in Cambridge or England-I am sitting at the computer with some piled up snow outside and a lovely lit up skyscraper facing me.
More later, have a good week wherever you may be!
Shalom from
Sister Gila
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