Editorial
The Strength of the Roots
By Marie-Paule Sanfaçon, m.i.c.
The editorial team, who gathered to reflect on the contents of the summer magazine, was thrilled when one member proposed a major topic: Drawing on one’s roots. Immediately, the ideas took shape, and everyone felt affected in different ways.
Bernadette spoke with conviction about family roots. Indeed, children who are close to their grandparents learn little by little the history of their family, which gradually becomes their own history. They put down roots, and discover the strengths and weaknesses that are part of their heritage. Pope Francis has seen the importance of this relationship between grandparents and children. Young people need the wisdom and vision of the elderly, who play a very important role in the family.They are the living roots of family history.
Eric and Maurice have seen the importance and strength of roots in the history of a nation. In Quebec, the awakening of the nation, with the Terre des Hommes world exhibition, the Quiet Revolution, the Vatican II Council—all these novelties gradually called into question the things learned in childhood; hence the need to deepen the value of ancestral roots that form the iden tity of a people. Moreover, Maurice, is concerned about Indigenous history, where human trag edies are making the headlines and prompting Pope Francis to meet with Indigenous peoples to apologize on behalf of the Church for the mistakes made throughout history. A visit that will help turn the page...
Good Reading!
A Family With Strong Connections
By Natalie Wong – One of the winners of the essay contest organized by Missionary Press in M.I.C. high schools
For as long as I can remember, my family has had a large round table,around which we gathered for dinner every day. At that time, my parents weren’t very busy with work, and neither was I. We didn’t have separate study rooms, so we shared the same round table to work. My mom told me that she and dad bought that table the year they got married. It looked old and was a little rickety, but I still loved it so much because of all the wonderful memories I had around that beautiful table.
The summer before my freshman year of college, our family moved into a new house, and things changed. We bought a new table, rectangular in shape, all white. It was nice, of course, but I no longer felt the same warmth and familiarity while working or dining at that table. As time passes, it seems to me that changes have taken place not only on that table, but in the whole atmosphere of the family. After or even during dinner, everyone is busy on his phone. Meals have become silent, and everyone simply goes back to his own study room to work, with no more conversations for the rest of the evening. Honestly, this is not the family life I am looking for. I don’t want this to continue. I want to make a change.
Seeing real smiles on my parents’ faces despite their busy schedules was just what i wanted in our busy lives...
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