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fresh starts

January 27, 2010 – 8:00 am
By Kendall Kadatz | Posted in Uncategorized Comments (0)

we started off our semester two weeks ago with a chapel that revolved around prayers for this term and a liturgy put together by one of our students, Brianna Kocka.  I thought it would be fitting for our extended community to be aware of these so that you can join with us in prayer during the term, so here they are

Prayer Items 2010

Students

  • That students who have returned after time away would feel a sense of belonging as they settle into life here
  • That this new student body would work together to create an atmosphere that is positive and healthy, inviting of others and outward seeking.
  • That students who have left for a semester off would find work and those who are pursuing other things would find peace in this new journey.
  • That there would be an excitement and openness of all students for the Holy Spirit to move in powerful ways this semester.
  • That our thought life, our actions, and the integrity with which we live our lives would be honouring to God

Academic

  • That the lessons taught in class would be lessons that affect student’s lives in a positive way
  • That faculty would be renewed with a passion to teach and be taught
  • That Christ would be honoured in our classrooms, in the preparation of class material and in the discussions that flow from the lessons taught

Community Life

  • That we would seek to serve both those in our immediate community and those in the community of St. Stephen
  • That God would give us insight into where we can most effectively serve
  • That we would continue to learn what it means to live well in community by taking responsibility for ourselves and encouraging others to pursue Christ-likeness

SSU Beginning of the Year Liturgy

Reader 1: This new season is set before us. It is fresh and clean, white as snow. So begins our walk together, with each other and with God.

Reader 2: We remember today the love of God the Father, and the ever remaining chance to begin anew.

Reader 1: This new season is set before us. There will be hardships. We no doubt will falter from the leadings of Jesus. But we will repent.

Reader 2: We remember today the Grace of Jesus the Son; that we may stumble but he forgives those who seek His heart and ways.

Reader 1: This new season is set before us. Sometimes we may choose the way of selfishness, forgetting the command of Jesus to love thy neighbor as thy self.

Reader 2: We remember today the empowering of the Holy Spirit, to choose love and peace. To choose hope and trust. To choose justice and faith.

Reader 1: This new season is set before us.

Reader 2: We proclaim the goodness of God in this place.

Reader 1: This new season is set before us.

Reader 2: We proclaim the love and hope of Jesus in this place.

Reader 1: This new season is set before us.

Reader 2: We accept the challenge of living life together; to forgive one another; to love deeply; to listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit. And finally, we accept the challenge to follow the ways of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit as best we can as we embark on this this new season of academics and spirituality together.

All: This new season is set before us. Amen.

First IS Internship

January 16, 2010 – 9:25 am
By Kendall Kadatz | Posted in Uncategorized Comments (0)

Exciting news!  Geoff MacNeill, SSU’s first International Studies student to embark on an internship, has arrived at his placement in Mozambique.  He’ll be there for almost three months.  Keep posted for Geoff’s updates.

Random Acts of Kindness-Nathan Alberts

January 8, 2010 – 12:15 pm
By Kendall Kadatz | Posted in Uncategorized Comments (0)

In honour of the tremendous life that Nato lived, people are taking time today to intentionally reflect the spirit of his message “people before ideals” through random acts of kindness.  If you’re unfamiliar with Nato and his story, check out these links

http://www.ssu.ca/news/nathan_alberts20070117.htm
http://www.guelphtribune.ca/news/article/112759

Read other posts and add your own to the Facebook group

http://ja-jp.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=44052527425

how to wash dishes

August 11, 2009 – 8:30 am
By Kendall Kadatz | Posted in Uncategorized Comments (0)

Ashley Burtch is a recent graduate of SSU and is currently serving at a l’Arche community in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.  The following is a reflection on her experience of living in community there. Also, if you haven’t done so, make sure to check out the video of the core members that Ashley lives with.

Well, that’s it.  Vacation is over.  It was so incredibly good.  Far beyond what I could have hoped for in a vacation.  So I take a deep breath and I close my eyes to sleep tonight unsure of what tomorrow brings, which is, I suppose, true about any day.  I end vacation tired and satisfied.

We’ve had a dishwasher while here in Saint John (and have enjoyed making full use of it, despite some pangs of guilt).  Candice found the following passage in Miracle of  Mindfullness by Thich Nhat Hanh. It seems so appropriate in light of the pending return to a life with more daily responsibilities than I am used to carrying.  It reminds me that I must learn, again and again, to live present in each moment. It would be so easy to look back at vacation and wish for these days again, because they have been so enjoyable.  For that matter, it would be so easy to look back at my time at SSU, or at home with family, or my childhood and long to be there again.  At the same time, it is so easy to worry about coming changes, the future, my “life plan”, where the heck I’m going and on what road.  But all of that distracts me from the opportunity that is here and now.  The opportunity to learn, grow, develop, enjoy, breathe, digest.

This is a long quote, but well worth reading.  Especially if you, like me, have a lot of dishes to wash.

Thirty years ago, when I was still a novice at Tu Hieu Pagoda, washing the dishes was hardly a pleasant task. During the Season of Retreat when all the monks returned to the monastery, two novices had to do all the cooking and wash the dishes for sometimes well over one hundred monks. There was no soap. We had only ashes, rice husks, and coconut husks, and that was all. Cleaning such a high stack of bowls was a chore, especially during the winter when the water was freezing cold. Then you had to heat up a big pot of water before you could do any scrubbing. Nowadays one stands in a kitchen equipped with liquid soap, special scrubpads, and even running hot water which makes it all the more agreeable. It is easier to enjoy washing the dishes now. Anyone can wash them in a hurry, then sit down and enjoy a cup of tea afterwards. I can see a machine for washing clothes, although I wash my own things out by hand, but a dishwashing machine is going just a little too far!

While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes. At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that’s precisely the point. The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality. I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There’s no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

In the United States, I have a close friend named Jim Forest. When I first met him eight years ago, he was working with the Catholic Peace Fellowship. Last winter, Jim came to visit. I usually wash the dishes after we’ve finished the evening meal, before sitting down and drinking tea with everyone else. One night, Jim asked if he might do the dishes. I said, “Go ahead, but if you wash the dishes you must know the way to wash them.” Jim replied, “Come on, you think I don’t know how to wash the dishes?” I answered, “There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second is to wash the dishes in order to wash the dishes.” Jim was delighted and said, “I choose the second way—to wash the dishes to wash the dishes.” From then on, Jim knew how to wash the dishes. I transferred the “responsibility” to him for an entire week.

If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes.” What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future —and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.

With love and peace,

Ashley

Suu Kyi can’t get out, Hmong can’t stay out

May 21, 2009 – 1:14 pm
By Kendall Kadatz | Posted in Uncategorized Comments (0)

While in Southest Asia this winter, SSU students learned about current issues, including the political state of Burma and the hill tribes in northern Thailand.

There has been a lot of coverage regarding Burma’s champion for democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi.  Slated for release at the end of May after 13 of the last 19 years in house arrest, an apparently unwanted American entered her house without permission a few weeks ago.  Now the Burmese junta is eager to find a way to remove her powerful political presence from what many believe will be staged elections next spring, which the junta is touting as the return of democracy to Burma.  The UN, many major world powers and several NGOs are working to get Suu Kyi out of prison and out of house arrest.  Is this really the role of external influences and individuals like ourselves, or should Burma be left to settle the issue internally?  If you think the rest of the world should have a say, throw your own voice in the mix by joining one of the following petitions directed toward the UN or Burma’s government.

Avaaz.org

Amnesty International Canada

Online petition endorsed by the Canadian Friends of Burma

Just a short hop away, and attracting far less attention, is the plight of the Hmong people in northern Thailand, who also live in other surrounding countries.  They are in Thailand as refugees because they currently face persecution in Laos because of the Hmong’s history of fighting against the communist party/government there.  The UN has initiated repatriation efforts and Medecins san Frontieres (MSF, otherwise known as Doctors Without Borders) provides food and medical aid to this displaced people.  However, the Thai military are now steering the Hmong people back to Laos against their wishes.  Because of these actions and the Thai military’s pressure toward MSF to stop food supplies, MSF has deemed it necessary to withdraw from the Hmong camp they serve in, leaving no services available to this displaced people who don’t want to go home. I haven’t found a way to speak out on this issue, but if you find an opportunity, let me know.

Check out the news coverage at BBC News