We are Good Shepherd People. We provide services for women and children
who are truly marginalized in our world through significant trauma, child
welfare involvement, youth pregnancy, poverty and mental health issues
including addictions of all sorts. We
work from a Good Shepherd service philosophy founded on the individual dignity
of each person and with a degree of respect and compassion that demands we
embody the values we declare. Our service
providers are dedicated and hard-working; they desire nothing less than the
best outcomes for those they serve….”It is not enough to say we love them, THEY
must know they are loved”.
I haven’t blogged in some
time. Too many balls in the air not the
least of all are some of the most significant issues of our times that send me reeling with the disconnect between what we say we believe and what we must be in the face of evil, human weakness
and the pain and suffering experienced
by people in this wonderful world of ‘opportunity’.
One of those disconnects for me is the
process ongoing related to our Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. The destructive, evil, traumatizing legacy of
Residential Schools and the basis of racism that spawned such experiences is a
national embarrassment to all good citizens of this country. If we are not embarrassed, we either are ill
informed, unaware or don’t care. And if
we don’t care we are subject to the same indictment of our American neighbours’
treatment of the African American population and that sorry racist history.
I worry that the findings and the
outcomes from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will find their way on to
the same dusty shelves of legislators as have so many of Canada’s other inquiries. I worry that like so many of the UN charters
of rights (children, women, indigenous peoples) this will find Canada as a
signatory country that never integrates these charters into law or policy. Just superficial photo-opps!
I want to muse somewhat about
what this might mean to us, if anything.
As care givers, our founding story is rooted in the history of the
Sisters of the Good Shepherd. While they
are truly a traditional congregation of Catholic Religious nuns who exist in 73
countries around the world, they have been an inspiration of what it means to
work for others to alleviate pain and sufferings at all levels of life. They have been remarkably open about sharing
their mission and their work with many people of different religious traditions
and cultures. They have placed
themselves at times in harm’s way for the sake of rescuing a life of a child,
young mother or any other person. They
have stood as advocates against unjust systems and practices to try their best
to make a difference to this wounded world.
Even now as they are in some decline in membership, they dare to allow
themselves to be ‘energized by their Spirit and risk together for mission’. Their International General Chapter is going
on right now and they courageously look to the future directions of their
formidable group of Sisters and Mission Partners.
The voices and stories of many
thousands of Aboriginal persons are being heard telling their truth of horror
through the residential schools system.
We see every day how the children of those victims are impacted by that
history. We have parents and
grandparents come to some of our programs and seeing the traditional symbols of
our own history, they begin to react with fear that maybe we might be just like
those other places. And yet in their
time of great need they honour us by entrusting the care of their children into
our hands….what a privilege and exceptional mandate we share! We are learning more about the inheritance of
trauma through multi-generations and how the complexity of trauma will need as much fidelity of support and care and take many generations to heal….but we
must start NOW!
But how and what do we do with
this experience? What are we called to
in walking this journey with even one aboriginal person who comes to our
attention? Each of us will encounter
another person whose tradition comes out of the aboriginal history. Will we simply be people of sympathy or will
our commitment to service draw us to doing what we can to help remediate some
of the causal factors that have brought them to this place in time? Are we called in this time in our Canadian
history to risk for mission by dreaming and envisioning how we might
become more engaged in this story and work differently to help reconciliation become a reality in the
lives of the aboriginal persons we meet?
Whether it is within small groups, a service system or with one single
person WE must change.
We share a small but rich network
of colleagues and friends whose work has been inspired by Good Shepherd. We each have different mandates and service
needs and our individual agencies have their own specific challenges. But we have agreed to remain connected and
supportive of one another. One agency
within our group is located in Manitoba and over 80% of the children and
families served are aboriginal. What can
we do to be supportive to them in this challenging work and inspire in them and
within ourselves to dream about the possibilities of being instruments of
reconciliation in the work?
I have a dream! I want to explore where there are individuals
and or groups who are directly offering real supports for reconciliation and
healing within the aboriginal communities.
Where are the advocates who work toward substantive change in policy and
the practice of law and who want reconciliation to be truly something far
deeper than simply making financial awards of compensation for past harm…While
that helps…it does not heal. I am
looking for healers who will be willing to share with us how they help heal
themselves and others in the aboriginal community. I want to hear from them if we, healers in
Good Shepherd, might be worthy to walk with them in providing new and more
effective ways of being a healing presence in the community. Are there any dedicated Centres of Reconciliation
for our Aboriginal communities? If not,
why? Will initiatives like those centres of reconciliation offer
potential for sharing a real healing journey with wounded and traumatized
aboriginal people?
Where do I start? How might I get the important
information? Anyone interested in
exploring opportunities with me? Email
me @ bob.interbartolo@gmail.com
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