Message for the 2010 National Day of Prayer for Aboriginal Peoples by the Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council
Joseph Chiwatenhwa
To all the faithful in parishes and dioceses across Canada:
We turn to the Lord for peace, solidarity and inner strength for all!
December 12 marks an important celebration in the Catholic Church in Canada, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the National Day of Prayer for Aboriginal Peoples. We ask, especially today, that you devote your prayers for the special intentions of all indigenous peoples, in Canada and around the world. On the occasion of the 2010 National Day of Prayer for Aboriginal People, we honour the life of Joseph Chiwatenhwa.
When Pope John Paul II made his historic visit to Canada in September, 1984, he visited the National Canadian Martyrs Shrine in Midland, Ontario. He explained that the Jesuits came in the 1620’s and founded the first house of prayer in Huronia. The Jesuits were assisted by the Huron and relied on the support of people such as Joseph Chiwatenhwa. The Pope spoke of him, saying: “of great importance to the Church of Huronia is Joseph Chiwatenwa, who, together with his wife Aonnetta, his brother Joseph and other family members, lived and witnessed to their faith in a heroic manner.”
This may have been the first time that the people of Canada heard of Joseph Chiwatenhwa. His story is contained in a book entitled Friends of God, written by Bruce Henry in 1991. Chiwatenhwa was his birth name. When he first met the Jesuits in 1636, he was very touched by their teachings, even though they were being blamed by other Huron for the epidemics that were ravaging Huronia. Chiwatenhwa himself fell sick; after his recovery, however, he was baptized, on August 16, 1637, by Father Jean de Brébeuf, and given the Christian name Joseph. His wife, Aonette, was baptized on March 19, 1638; her Christian name was Marie. Their marriage was blessed on the same day; this was the first Catholic wedding in Huronia.
Joseph became the first lay administrator in the Catholic Church in Canada, in 1639. He helped the Jesuits translate hymns and prayers from French into Huron. He was impressed with the teachings of Saint Ignatius and the Spiritual Exercises. During his eight-day silent retreat, he composed a prayer that reveals his profound experience with Jesus: “You love us so deeply that all I can do in return is to offer myself to you. I chose you as my elder and chief. There is no one else.” In adopting his new faith, Joseph drew on many of the spiritual and cultural teachings of his people; he entered the Catholic Church as a Huron. This helped him spread the Good News to many members of his family and tribe.
Joseph Chiwatenhwa had a premonition that his life would be taken in a violent way because of his dedication to and fervent love of Jesus. He was martyred on August 2, 1640, at the age of 38. Father Lalemant wrote a letter in which he described him as “a teacher of the Christian faith among the native people. In this past year, he has made himself their apostle.”
After Joseph’s death, more members of the Huron nation were baptized into the Catholic Church. His wife Marie Aonette, his brother and other members continued to help and assist the Jesuits.
Pope John Paul II said at Huronia that “the worthy traditions of the Indian tribes were strengthened and enriched by the Gospel message … not only is Christianity relevant to the Indian peoples, butChrist, in the members of his Body, is himself Indian.“ Let us be inspired by the faith of Joseph Chiwatenhwa, his wife, Marie Aonette, and their families. They believed in their brother and Saviour Jesus when he spoke the words recorded by Saint John (20:29): “You believe because you can see me. Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
12 December 2008
For the past six years, on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, the National Day of Prayer for Aboriginal People has expressed, through prayer, the unity that non-Aboriginal Catholics and Aboriginal Catholics share in their faith in Jesus Christ. Today, this event is of particular significance as it takes place during the year that celebrates the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. The establishment of this colony began a dynamic evangelization movement marked by the meeting of Aboriginal peoples and French Catholic missionaries.
One of the most beautiful witnesses to this meeting is that of Kateri Tekakwitha, known as "The Lily of the Mohawks." Kateri was born in 1656 of a Christian Algonquin woman and an Iroquois chief, in the village of Ossernenon, the present-day Auriesville, New York. When she was four years old, she lost both parents and her young brother in a smallpox epidemic. Orphaned, she was taken in by one of her uncles and educated by her aunts. She carried with her the scars of smallpox throughout the rest of her life.
In 1666, a conflict with a French expedition forced her tribe to relocate to the north bank of the Mohawk River (Rivière des Hollandais) in the state of New York, where Kateri first came into contact with Jesuit missionaries. Struck by their hospitality, she stayed with the Jesuits and helped them with many tasks. On Easter Sunday, 1676, she was baptized. Despite persecution from members of her community, she led a profound spiritual life and, following Father Lamberville's advice, went to live in Sault Saint-Louis (present-day Kahnawake) at the Saint-François-Xavier mission. She made a vow of chastity on 25 March 1679 and died on 17 April 1680, only 24 years old. On 22 June 1980, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II.
On this National Day of Prayer, we may very well ask ourselves this question: What message did Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha want to leave us? We can focus on her openness toward others, toward foreigners whom she did not know. At the same time, we can also look at the foreign missionaries who, thanks to their hospitality, were able to stir in her heart a call to further openness towards others. Witnesses of the Gospel were in the presence of someone who would later herself become a witness to the same Gospel.
In a recent pastoral message, Aboriginal people were told:
"You are finding new strength in an ever-deepening embrace of the seven spiritual gifts of respect, wisdom, courage, love, humility, honesty, and truth, as expressed in the teachings of the Medicine Wheel. In this way, you reflect ever more clearly your true dignity as Children of God."[1]
Has Blessed Kateri not demonstrated that these seven gifts, which she fully accepted, come from the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5.22-23) whom God the Father sent us in the name of his Son (John 14.26)? Pope John Paul II further recognized this when he declared:
"Your encounter with the Gospel has not only enriched you, it has enriched the Church. We are well aware that this has not taken place without its difficulties and, occasionally, its blunders. However, and you are experiencing this today, the Gospel does not destroy what is best in you. On the contrary, it enriches as it were from within the spiritual qualities and gifts that are distinctive of your cultures (cf. Gaudium et Spes, n. 58). In addition, your Amerindian and Inuit traditions permit the development of new ways of expressing the message of salvation and they help us to better understand to what point Jesus is the Savior and howuniversal his salvation is."[2]
In the context of the reconciliation and spiritual healing movements for Aboriginals who suffered painful experiences in residential schools run by the federal government and various Churches, Blessed Kateri teaches us that patience, respect, and love of others are at the heart of forgiveness. If the past has been marked by hardship, the future calls us to awaken the resilience within our communities in order to bring out their riches. Pope Benedict XVI has said that "All serious and upright human conduct is hope in action." Is this not an invitation to "work towards a brighter and more humane world so as to open doors into the future"[3]?
May God, the Creator and Savior, lead all of our communities, through the intercession of Kateri Tekakwitha, to live united in the Church in the peace of Jesus Christ, our hope (1 Timothy 1.1).
Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
O God, among the many marvels of your grace in the New World, you did cause to blossom on the banks of the Mohawk and of the Saint Lawrence the pure and tender Lily, Kateri Tekakwitha. Grant, we beseech you, the favor we beg through her intercession; that this young lover of Jesus and of his Cross may soon be counted among her saints by Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence and faith. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
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