We attended this annual outdoor Mass again thanks to our awareness of it through the Galilee Centre in Arnprior and the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. It was jointly sponsored by St. Basil’s RC Parish and the Kateri Native Ministry in Ottawa. It was truly a wonderful and moving Eucharistic celebration.
The location is at Naatagama Camp, a rustic undeveloped property owned by Kateri beside the Ottawa River right near the Quyon ferry terminal. As a boy I remember attending one or more events here when it was a Cubs camp property in the early 60s. It hasn’t changed much since then. Quiet, simple, relaxed and beautiful.
The Mass was co-celebrated by Fr. Eric Sorensen, SJ (on right below) and Fr. Daryold Winkler (on left) of St. Basil’s who himself is Indigenous from Manitoulin Island, Ontario.
The Season of Creation is a proclaimed annual time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation, that was initiated in 1981 by Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I. It is now celebrated around the world by many Christian communities and resonates well with Indigenous respect for the Creator and nature. It is something that we do not hear much about in our local parish.
On a beautiful sunny day about 100 people celebrated Mass, initiated with a purification smudging and included singing, a dance followed by a picnic lunch. The readings were particularly poignant and resonated with me in a many ways:
Job 12:7-10
But ask the animals and they will teach you. Or the birds of the air and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth and it will teach you. Or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord had done this? In God’s hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all humankind.
Romans 8: 19-25, 28
All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his sons. Yes there was hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know up to the present time, all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth. But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God’s gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his sons and daughters and set our whole being free. For it was by hope that we were saved; but if we see what we hope for, then it is not really hope. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. We know in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.
Matthew 6: 25-29
And this is what I tell you: do not be worried by the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn’t life worth more than food? And isn’t the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it? And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers.
I thought the event was very well organized and that it was a privilege to be there. A moving spiritual journey.
mattersofthemoment 