Spirited Reflection: Stirring new hope after the pandemic
Like so many others around the globe, my colleagues and I are working hard to imagine our way forward in a post-pandemic world. As we advance, we consider amongst other valued voices, the guidance and direction of Pope Francis.
In an April 2020 Holy Week message, the Pope spoke of creating a new normal using a “creativity of love:” “…thought and spirit can go far with the creativity of love,” he said. These words inspired us greatly! So much so, that we decided to channel this sentiment into a new online social justice-focused campaign called Creativity of Love.
Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework, this campaign will post new material on the Sisters of St Joseph of Toronto website as well as Twitter and Facebook twice a week, illustrating different facets and ideas for social change such as debt jubilee, green new deal, climate justice, prison reform and care-mongering. This campaign was designed to include positive, proactive, hopeful examples from around the world. The campaign began in May and will run until the end of the summer.
We are fortunate in that we not only have the Pope’s words to ponder but the guiding light of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. For 170 years, the Sisters have been “meeting people where they are”, working to right wrongs and come up with innovative solutions all the while tackling issues such as: homelessness, poverty, food sustainability, isolation, racism, migration, and human trafficking.
While we continue to wrestle with what is lost (lives, jobs, dreams, gatherings, visits with loved ones), campaigns such as this provide a spark of hope and the chance for all of us to ponder what may evolve from this pandemic. We hope it will encourage and inspire people to open their minds and hearts and see where the Creativity of Love leads us. As Pope Francis pleaded in the same Holy Week message: “Let us try, if we can, to make the best use of this time: let us be generous.” Amen.
Lisa Tabachnick is the communications director for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. She also serves on committees related to communications, school councils and children’s mental health.
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