Raise Your Voice! The winter hymn project

Yes, we’re home again, so it’s time to be a little creative…

 Music project #1

I’m inviting ALL present and past parishioners or anyone connected in any way to SouthWest to send me your favourite hymn and at least one sentence explaining why. All hymns, carols, psalms from Voices United or More Voices are candidates. And if you have another suggestion not included in either of those books, I’ll do my absolute best to find it.

I’ll do a little research about each one, and together we’re going to choose our Sunday hymns.

Linda Dixon! I know you read the newsletter, and SouthWest wouldn’t be SouthWest without you and Bob, so I’m expecting to hear from you!

SouthWest regulars (me included): it’s time to reach out to people we haven’t heard from in a while, and please! Hymns are the pretext!

The service for this Sunday is in the can (so to speak) so this will get rolling for the week after, January 16. And it will roll right on back into ‘in-person worship,’ whenever that may be.

 
Music project #2

I’m going to get back to something I did for Holy Week during the first lockdown, and that is to put together a music playlist with added commentary. Whether this will be part of the newsletter or in a separate email, I’m not yet certain. Next week though, for sure!

Let’s be a community in song. Draw the circle wide!

If music be the food of love, play on…

Sarah

Memory Lane

Our friend Rohinton Ghandhi continues his labour of love digitizing old newspapers and other documents from the “good old days” in Verdun. He recently shared this one on social media and I thought it might bring back memories. Mrs. Jan Barr, who recently passed away, had a column of social notes in the Verdun Guardian for a time. Ro shared this column from January 1950.

The clipping further down, also from Ro, is from 1938 and reveals the origins of some street names, including Clemenceau and Ouimet.

As for Tetrault Hall, it was on Churchill at the corner of Foch. It's now a multi-apartment building. Before that it was a Douglas hospital community center. Prior to that, it was the Tetrault Hall built by me Tetrault's construction company, and first used in Crawford as a Buffalo/ Elks lodge and a community hall. Mr Tetrault built many commercial buildings in Verdun and LaSalle, including the old LaSalle theatre in the Bronx on Centrale and 5th avenue, destroyed only a few years ago. He was also involved in the construction of and Crawford Park United Church.

Blog: Who Will You Invite Into the Jesus Story?

Matthew 2:1-12 The Message

2 1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory—this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”

3-4 When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

5-6 They told him, “Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:

It’s you, Bethlehem, in Judah’s land,
    no longer bringing up the rear.
From you will come the leader
    who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel.”

7-8 Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, “Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I’ll join you at once in your worship.”

9-10 Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!

11 They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.

12 In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So, they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.

As we read the Matthew story for Epiphany, I am reminded of the night of Jesus birth, specifically the Gospel of Luke 2: 1-19: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them….  

I continue to be amazed that those who were “invited” to see Jesus came from very different worlds.  The first were shepherds which we are encouraged to believe were the poorest of the poor, set part from society economically and socially.

The second invitees were the wisest of the wise, astrologers and seers, yet foreigners and gentiles (non-Jews) from a distant land.

As we ponder the Jesus story on the celebration of Epiphany, I would ask you to think about who we, as Christians, invite into the Jesus Story?  Are we open and welcoming to all who come to us?  Do we let down barriers so all are included?  Are we able to see as God sees?

As we enter this new year, 2022, may our guiding light be one of kindness, welcome and, above all, unconditional love.

Blessed New Year to all

Pastor Beryl, DLM 

 

Sanctuary Update

You may recall back in November we wrote about the Rodriguez-Flores family, who had sought sanctuary in a United Church in Sherbrooke. Well, they are still living at Plymouth-Trinity and the community is supporting them in every way they can. It must have been a great relief to Georgina, Manuel and Manolo when the church had a shower installed for their use! Community members have been donating money and time to purchase and deliver groceries and other necessities to the family.
Now, Plymouth-Trinity pastor Samuel Dansokho has started a petition to push for legal status in Canada for the trio, who fear for their lives if returned to Mexico.

Below is the text (English version) written by Pastor Samuel and shared as a petition.

What we know about the Rodriguez-Flores family is a compelling story that cannot be ignored. Please, consider the following:

In her homeland of Mexico, Ms. Georgina Flores was subjected by the drug cartel “Los Zetos” to several attempts at extortion and forced recruitment to use her restaurant as a site for the marketing of drugs.  After she refused to cooperate, Ms. Flores’s business was torched in retaliation.  As a result, the family returned to Canada in 2018 in fear of their lives.

A few months later, in 2019, the same cartel attempted to burn alive their daughter Claudia, whom they had left behind, by setting fire to the house where she resided, after having sequestered her in the bathroom, in the company of her young child and her partner. These attempted murders are documented, and their lawyer, Stewart Istvanffy, will make a point of submitting the evidence.

In our opinion, deporting the family to Mexico would mean sending them to certain death, given the situation of human rights violations, as well as the collusion existing between the all-powerful cartels and certain public bodies supposed to protect the population.

Between the time of their arrival and the notice of deportation, the family had already integrated well into the Sherbrooke community. The parents, Georgina Flores and Manuel Rodriguez had a job in a PPD Group factory and were taking French language courses. Their 18-year-old son Manolo is finishing high school at Goéland and worked at a pastry shop, Mr. Puff's. The Rodriguez-Flores family has shown tenacity and perseverance in integrating into Sherbrooke society. Since 2018, having become financially independent, they have contributed to the economic development of society, paying their taxes honestly and enthusiastically participating in social activities organized by various organizations. These actions have earned them recognition and admiration from local citizens, who now give them moral support. They all enjoy the esteem of their employers, colleagues, and neighbours, as demonstrated by numerous gestures of solidarity and letters of support.

On November 8, 2021, the family was informed by the Canada Border Services Agency of the rejection of their request that their deportation be postponed. So, with no other option left, the family applied for protection - a place of Sanctuary - with Plymouth-Trinity United Church, Sherbrooke. The Plymouth-Trinity faith community, drawing on its millennial spiritual roots, as well as the ancient canonical practice of Sanctuary, opened its doors to them. The community is convinced that it could not do otherwise and that its understanding of the Gospel clearly called upon it to provide them with Sanctuary, as a sacred duty.

The family's lawyer is going out of his way to allow their legal situation to be regularized. It is your prerogative to respond favorably to that endeavor. We ask you to please use your discretion, if only on a humanitarian basis. Canada, our dear country, will thus remain worthy of its reputation as a land of asylum for those oppressed or in danger to their existence.

 -Rev. Samuel V. Dansokho


Note: This petition is online at change.org, titled “Grant the Rodriguez-Flores family legal status”

Christmas Present

Christmas future is far away; Christmas past is past;
Christmas present is here today, bringing things that will last.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas....

Well folks, as the Grinch found out all those years ago, you can’t stop Christmas from coming. We may not get the gifts we hoped for, and we may not be with the people we would wish to be with, and yet, Christmas comes.

It comes because Jesus came. A baby was born two millennia ago in a lowly stable, and that’s why we have Christmas. Everything else associated with the season is just window dressing – or should I say turkey dressing? Everything else - the lights, the trees, the presents the fruitcake, all of it – is meant to remind us of that night. That silent, blessed night.

It’s hard to believe that little over a week ago we were going about our business almost as if Covid was over. And now here we are again: staying home, shutting down, fearing for ourselves and our loved ones.

It looks to be a “little Christmas” once again for many of us. Just like last year, big gatherings, and even smallish gatherings, are looking like a very bad idea. I hope that we will make the effort to connect with friends and loved ones, even if it’s only over the phone. I hope that we will be able to overcome the awkwardness and embarrassment that often stops us from telling people we love them.

I’ve reached into the archives and pulled out these photos from December 2011: ten years ago. I still remember the first time I walked in on this scene at the Mission. A small group of volunteers sorting through an astonishing amount of donated food, and lovingly making up Christmas boxes for struggling neighbours. These, I told my then 8-year-old son, who had pretty much given up on believing in Santa, were real-life elves, and this was their workshop.

May that spirit of giving inspire us all this Christmas to give what we can, be it a can of beans, a kind word, a Christmas card, or a cup of coffee.

Wishing you love and light, and good health in the New Year.

Amy

[click to see more images]

Pictured: Linda Dixon, Shirley McGowan, Shirley Mitchell, Kathy O’Halloran, Rev. David, Dorothy Brown, Ann Duhamel.

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