The First Orange Shirt

 

#orangeshirtday, #everychildmatters

The story of the "first" orange shirt that gave rise to Orange Shirt Day, as told by Phyllis Webstad, can be found on the web page of the Orange Shirt society.

The beginning of Phyllis' story is reproduced here.

I went to the Mission for one school year in 1973/1974. I had just turned 6 years old. I lived with my grandmother on the Dog Creek reserve. We never had very much money, but somehow my granny managed to buy me a new outfit to go to the Mission school. I remember going to Robinson’s store and picking out a shiny orange shirt. It had string laced up in front, and was so bright and exciting – just like I felt to be going to school!

When I got to the Mission, they stripped me, and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt! I never wore it again. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The color orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared.

Click on the link to read the rest of Phyllis' story: https://orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story/

It is the feast day of St Vincent de Paul on September 27. It is Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30. What do these two days have in common? The answer is, "Every child matters".

It is well known that St Vincent de Paul had a heart for the poor, but he had an especially big place in his heart for foundlings and orphans. Read about this aspect from the classic The Life of St. Vincent de Paul by F. A. Forbes.

Creating a Community of Compassion

 

Image Credit: 
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2021-04/philippines-community-pantries-bishops-caritas-kindness-stations.html

Creating a Community of Compassion
- by Fr Richard Rohr OFM

(Published by the Center for Action and Contemplation) 

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 
— Matthew 14:14  

The gospel passage is quite good and delightful because it tells us very directly what God is about. Jesus is all about meeting immediate needs, right here and right now. There’s no mention of heaven at all. It seems we’ve missed the point of what the Christian religion should be about, but we see how the disciples themselves missed the point: “Tell them to go to the village and take care of themselves” (Matthew 14:15). But Jesus does not leave people on their own!  

Look at the setting. Jesus is tired. The gospel begins with him withdrawing to a deserted place to be by himself. Sure enough, the crowds follow after him, but he doesn’t get angry or send them away. He recognizes the situation and moves to deal with it. Then the passage goes further and states, “His heart was moved with pity” (Matthew 14:14). If Jesus is our image of God, then we know God has feelings for human pain, human need, and even basic human hunger. The gospel records that he cured the sick, so we know God is also about healing, what today we call healthcare. Sometimes, we don’t even believe everyone deserves that either! Jesus says, “There is no need for them to go away. We will feed them” (Matthew 14:16). 

The point in all the healing stories of the gospels is not simply that Jesus can work miracles. It is not for us to be astounded that Jesus can turn five loaves and two fish into enough for five thousand people, not counting women and children. That is pretty amazing, and I wish we could do it ourselves, but what Jesus does quite simply is feed people’s immediate needs. He doesn’t talk to them about spiritual things, heavenly things, or churchy things. He doesn’t give a sermon about going to church. He does not tell us what things we are supposed to be upset about today. He knows that we can’t talk about spiritual things until we take away people’s immediate physical hunger. When so much of the world is living at a mere survival level, how can we possibly talk about spiritual things?

The important thing that God seems to want to be doing in history is to create a community of compassion where people care about one another. It is not only the feeding that matters to us, it is also the caring for other people’s hunger and needs. Jesus never once talked about attending church services, but he talked constantly about healing the sick and feeding the hungry. That is what it seems to mean to be a follower of Jesus.  

(As published by the Center for Action and Contemplation) 

Words, Bones, Sticks and Stones

 

Image credit:
https://crossfitodyssey.com/sunday-story-sticks-and-stones/

When I was a little boy and people used unkind words I was told to retort, 

"Sticks and stones can break my bones,
  But words can never harm me."

At the time I believed this, and it helped me get past a few difficult situations as a young child, but I now know this not to be true. Words can and do harm; they have the power to harm or to heal, to instruct or to mislead. They can convey whether we are arrogant, officious, paternalistic and patronising, or genuinely compassionate, empathetic and caring. The words we use betray our unconscious attitudes and unchallenged stereotypes, or help us serve the poor with love, respect, justice and joy. 

For more on this, please have another look at our 8 minute training video "SSVP Mission, Respect and Stereotypes".