This message will be published within the first days of July 2016, so I will take the writer’s privilege of wishing all of my friends a happy and blessed Canada Day.  Whether you are spending time at a cottage on a lake or in bustling city streets summer is a beautiful season here in Canada.

In the last days of June my husband and I sat together and listened to US President Barack Obama address parliament.  The president was most complimentary about all things Canadian, that is, if you discount a comment about American teams winning the Stanley cup.  Mr. Obama borrowed the statement, “The world needs more Canada” from U2’s Bono as he told us what good people we are and what good values we embody.  It was nice to hear such things, even though we know that our country still has progress to make in many areas.

That speech caused me to think politically for a bit and to ask myself what I should be doing as a citizen and as a Vincentian to make my community, my country and my world a better place. 

So I looked to our founder, Blessed Frederic.

Most of us know that one of the things Blessed Frederic insisted on was that discussion of politics and personal concerns were (and still are) forbidden at conference meetings.  But that doesn’t mean that he was non-political, nor should we be.

Frederic Ozanam was no stranger to the political world of his time.  He wrote of his belief in and advocacy for democratic government and his Christian socialist values.  Frederic even stood for election to the French assembly.  Radical students thought Frederic was a conservative Catholic and conservative Catholics thought him to be a dangerous innovator.  But Frederic stood for the poor. 

This is our mission, our challenge and our calling.  Whatever my political leanings, no matter which party holds power in my province or in the country, I believe it is my duty to stand also for the poor.  How I do this, and how each Vincentian does this, is a decision that must be seriously weighed and then acted upon.  I must become more aware and then I must do something:  speak up, take action!  To paraphrase the WWJD that was popular on bracelets and t-shirts a few years ago, I must look at the ills of my Canadian society and ask myself “What would Frederic do?” 

Denise Bondy, Chair
ONRC Spirituality Committee