Care Notes

posted March 13, 2009

Care Notes (click to view) submitted by Sr. Brenda Whelan.
Sr. Brenda Whelan, RSM, BCC is the Director of Pastoral/Spiritual Care at Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo.

March Diversity 2009

Posted March 2, 2009

NACC member Ed Horvat shares the following important dates for March 2009:

The spiritual level is not immediately evident to ordinary consciousness; we have to do something to develop our awareness of it. It is the level of our being that makes us most human. The values that we find there are more delightful than the values that float along the surface of the psyche. We need to refresh ourselves at this deep level every day. Just as we need exercise, food, rest, and sleep, so also we need moments of interior silence because they bring the deepest kind of refreshment.
      –Thomas Keating in Open Mind, Open Heart

WOMENS HISTORY MONTH was initiated by the National Women's History Project (NWHP), a nonprofit educational organization founded in 1980 to "promote gender equity through education about women's diverse lives and accomplishments." The organization was an outgrowth of a 1978 California committee formed to address the lack of inclusion of women's history in the educational curriculum of K-12 schools. In 1981, the NWHP successfully lobbied Congress to declare a Joint Congressional Resolution for "National Women's History Week." Congress expanded the celebration to an entire month in 1987.

BAHA’I FAITH – March 2 – ‘Ala (Loftiness) is the 19th and final month of the Baha’i solar calendar. ‘Ala is the time of the 19-day fast (until March 20) in preparation for Naw Ruz. Those of age and in good health abstain from food, drink, and tobacco from sunrise to sunset. The purpose of fasting is to remember one’s dependency on God and to learn detachment from material things.

CHRISTIANITY – March 2 – (Orthodox Churches following the Julian calendar). First day of The Great Fast (or the Great Lent), the 40-day period prior to the beginning of Holy Week, ending with Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday. It is the final six weeks of a ten-week period of spiritual discipline, cleansing, and fasting leading up to Pascha (Easter).

CHRISTIANITY – March 6 – World Day of Prayer. A world-wide annual day of prayer hosted by women from Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic traditions.

ISLAM –March 8 – Mawlid al-Nabiy. Muslims commemorate with profound love and abounding joy, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who was born in the city of Mecca around 570 C.E. The prophet’s teachings are read from the Holy Qur’an and religious meetings are held. Some Muslims do not celebrate, feeling that this observance is an innovation that distracts from the true source of revelation. For others, it is a means to teach their communities about the Prophet Muhammad’s way of life, which all seek to emulate. The festival begins in the evening.

JUDAISM – March 10 – Purim celebrates victory over an oppressive ruler, as related in the Book of Esther, which is read at this time. When the oppressor’s name is mentioned, the listeners stamp their feet, boo and hiss, and make noise with graggers. The festival begins at sundown the previous day.

HINDUISM – March 11 – Holi, a colorful and joyous festival, is dedicated to Krishna or Kama. It is a time to remember the brightness and splendor of living, a time to spread joy, color and love into the lives of family and friends.

SCIENTOLOGY – March 13 – The birthday of Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard (1911).

BUDDHISM – March 16 – Kwan Yin Day. Buddhism teaches that everyone may reach the perfected state and each person is a Bodhisattva or Buddha-to-be. In Chinese tradition, the symbolic future Buddha is Kwan Yin, a female dispensing compassion with a thousand arms.

BUDDHISM – March 20 – Spring Ohigon is a weeklong festival when night & day are of equal length, symbolizing harmony in the universe. They listen to the teaching of the Buddha and meditate on the perfection of enlightenment.

EARTH-BASED SPIRITUALITY – March 20 – Ostara celebrates the return of the Goddess-as-Maiden, the courting of the Goddess by the God, and the reawakening of the seeds within the earth touched by the warm glow of the Gods’ love.

SHINTO – March 20 – Shunki-sorei-sai, the spring memorial service, is held at home altars to revere ancestors as kami. Gravesites are cleaned and purified.

BAHA’I FAITH – March 21 – Naw Ruz, New Year 166 BE of the Baha’i Era! Naw Ruz falls on the vernal equinox, symbolizing spiritual growth and renewal. Baha’is feast and celebrate during the evening. The first month of the Baha’i year is Baha (Splendor). Baha’is name their months and days with Arabic names for attributes of God.

NOTE The above is not a complete calendar and is intended only as an example of some of the kinds of festivals, holy days, and religious observances of North America's many religious communities. It is composed from sites for interfaith calendars on the web and the Multifaith Calendar 2009, published by the Multifaith Action Society of Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada.

Peace and all good,

Ed Horvat, Chaplain
Pastoral and Spiritual Care Department
Monongalia General Hospital
1200 J.D. Anderson Drive
Morgantown, WV 26505