Summer is emerging as the freshness of Spring fades away. I pray that you will have time to be with family and friends to enjoy the warm summer days. Our stories in this edition share many aspects of participation in the mission of Compassion and the different ways we receive from each other. Participation has been highlighted for me in the TV series “Four Go Flatting”. We get a glimpse into the life of four young men with intellectual disabilities, learning to work together as they discover what it is like to be a flatmate. They are learning that flatting involves compromise even when you want to be in charge. I enjoy their simplicity in being very ready to give and forgive. I am drawn to the times that they rub each other up the wrong way, then take time out to ponder and figure out ways to get on with each other.

Participation is what we are all drawn to with our various abilities, we want to belong to a community. We want to care about others, and we also like to receive care and kindness. By participating we discover more about ourselves, and we learn from others. We find out that we are connected to each other by the stories we share and the people we know. In this way we are part of something and not just observers. St Symeon (949 – 1022) describes the mystery of participation in a vivid way “I have seen the Totality, received not in essence, but by participation. When you light a flame from a flame, it is the same flame that you receive.”

We would like to thank you for being part of the Compassion family through your participation in supporting our mission to enable people to have dignity within our country.

I offer you a quote of encouragement from Meri Hohepa Suzanne Aubert, “Let all my actions become prayer!”

May God bless you, your family and friends,

Sister Margaret Anne Mills
Congregational Leader