It was a very active year for legislation with calls for action on many fronts. It is no wonder that in some of the annual reports there are comments like “overwhelming”, “too much to cover”, “not enough time to present the issues to members”. Another important fact is that there are few chairpersons to lead this Standing Committee.
Sisters, by working on Legislation we fulfill our mission statement: “Calling its members to holiness through the service to the people of God.”
Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation “Rejoice and be Glad” re-proposes a call for holiness. He addresses the Beatitudes and states: “Hungering and thirsting for righteousness: that is holiness”. And later on: “Our defence of the innocent unborn, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. Equally sacred, however are the lives of the poor, those already born, the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection.”
For each one of the matters the Pope mentione,d we have resolutions that call for action urging the government to respect the values that are sacred to us.
The Canadian Charter of Right and Freedoms begins with: “Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law”, therefore our actions are not politics, they are for God and Canada.
What have I learnt as Chair of this Standing Committee?
That there are an astounding number of existing laws and bills: that we need to keep up the good fight and not to be silent because a voice either by mouth or by writing has power, to have patience and tolerance especially when reading or listening to the long speeches on Hansard, but above all that working on Legislation is a practical way to attain holiness in today’s world.