"People were healing and we could feel it. So thankful.." -Retreat participant
Thank you to those who joined us for Project Anna and Simeon, our Euthanasia Healing Retreat, on Wednesday, November 20th, 2024. This special evening included supper followed by a pastoral talk on grieving, an opportunity for sharing including poetry reading, and a memorial service.
Here are a few essential points from our keynote speaker, Fr Lui Santi:
Fr Lui Santi, pictured above giving presentation at Project Anna and Simeon retreat
“Death of someone close to us can be one of the most painful experience we will ever suffer. We are all different so we react differently but we can share our feelings lithesome we confide in and in God to find assistance, calm, and meaning.
When we are willing to enter into the chaos of another’s suffering and pain we are compassionate, we are loving, we ask to bring healing into their suffering, not remove their pain but to offer them courage and peace. This compassionate presence with those dying we give them and the caregiver hope.
Being able to accept the suffering, the pain, and the dying allows one to live with an openness to whatever may come. It is a belief that God is present with us on this new journey and guiding us along the unfamiliar road that lies ahead. This is hope. In this hope we come to a letting go, which is an offering back to God. it is ground in trust, courage and relying on God who becomes a source of strength and nourishes our wills. This is courage. As we let go we surrender in that we put aside our ego, selfishness and allow ourselves to cope with the pain/suffering/loneliness and it strengthens our relationship with God and those around us. And compassion is mutually shared. In this joint compassion we learn to be flexible and be present to a new reality. A sense of peacefulness. As we walk together in perseverance.
Healing and hope are shared friends which bring renewal and belief in the resurrection. The dying and suffering give over to living with hope. “
One retreat participant reflected on the evening with the following poem:
The Execution, A collection of poems written by the parents of a woman who was killed by euthanasia in Ontario, Canada. If you would like to read more poetry from those who have experienced the euthanasia of their daughter, please visit here.
Fanning the flame of Hope
The tongues of fire in the chapel
danced to the beat
of the rain.
You could cut the incense
with a knife
and the flame of hope
with a sword.
We must fan the flame
to keep it alive,
it must never wither
It must never die.
The flame is the symbol.
for hope
the source
of our healing.
We need it like breaths of air.
-Rod McDonald
Healing Hours
During the
Blessed healing hours
I noticed a Sister of Life
At the back
Of the room
Weeping head down
For the poem
Hearing its sadness
Watching it heal
One with the words
As they grasped our hearts
And squeezed out the pain.
As the flame
Continued to burn
In the dark.
-Rod McDonald
Thank you to those who made this event possible, in-particular the collaborating organizers and hosts, St John the Compassionate Mission, St Mary of Egypt Refuge, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, and Compassionate Community Care.
If you would like to make a donation to support this and similar events like this in the future, please donate online here or call us directly at 519-439-6445. We appreciate your support!