Holy Week Walk

After a long winter, there is something special about those first walks outside  on warm sunny days. My first spring walk happened last Friday.

The sun was shining and the temperature climbed to a balmy fifteen degrees as we joined about sixty others for a walk in downtown Ottawa. That first warm day marked not only a welcome sign of spring but a significant day in the Christian calendar - Good Friday.   

This walk was organized by Kairos Spirituality-for-Social Justice Centre, a ministry sponsored by The Grey Sisters. It was a few of those sisters who organized and lead the walk. If this is conjuring up images of nuns in habits leading a group of people in costumes, with perhaps a big cross, think again. This was just a casually dressed group of people going for a walk together on a lovely sunny day. The only prop was a microphone and speaker, rolled along so that we could hear the reflection at each stop along the way.

Crossing the Laurier Avenue bridge, towards the National Defence Building

Anne Taylor, one of my former high school teachers, gave the welcome and introduction to the event. The former high school building where I first met Anne, is still owned by The Grey Sisters. They transformed it into the Bronson Centre, which houses many charitable agencies. It's just one example of the leadership and care for  marginalized people, that these wise women are providing, here in Ottawa.

Sr. Anne Taylor walks with a young participant

This walk, in its fifteenth year, was called a Social Justice Way of the Cross. We walked from our downtown parish of St. Joseph's to Confederation Park and made several stops along the way. At each stop a thoughtful reflection was read. It was similar to other Good Friday walks, in that the last days of Christ’s life formed the basis for the prayers and reflections.

However, the stations of the cross served as a point from which we were connected to present day situations. At a totem pole in Confederation Park, the stop was Jesus Falls: Violence against aboriginal women and girls. Some of the other stops were:

Jesus carries his cross: Carrying one another’s cross: Palliative care

Veronica wipes the face of Jesus: Empowering and including women and

Jesus comforts the women: Defend mother earth

In Confederation Park, walking towards City Hall

It was a very meaningful gathering. One phrase that stuck with me is "active hope". After each reflection was read we sang a simple refrain, “What have you done? What are you doing? What will you do, now you know?”

It reminded me of a picture I recently came across on Facebook, from Guideposts. It is of former President Jimmy Carter, a man who has been such a giver, in his post presidential years. Here he is, dressed in work clothes, probably at a Habitat for Humanity build.

 

With the national and international news getting more depressing by the day, it's not easy to stay positive or hopeful. Thank goodness for the people of active hope, who  are doing such good work and encouraging us to do the same.