Our Oblate Presence in
Sandy Bay, SK Comes to an End

Sunday, June 25, 2017 dawned clear and calm after days of unsettled weather, rain and wind. By midmorning however Mother Nature had tuned into the sentiments of the people and so the clouds gathered, the winds blew and the rain showers returned. For the people of Sandy Bay the impossible was happening – they were gathering to say goodbye to Brother Harley Mapes, OMI and to celebrate with Brother over 30 years of life, friendship and ministry. After graduating from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Education Degree, Brother Harley went to Sandy Bay in the summer of 1984 along with Fr. Albert Ulrich. Brother Harley would begin teaching at Hector Thiboutot Community School and he would begin to explore the area immersing himself in the culture, the geography, and the very life of the people. Oblate pastors would come and go but Brother remained. He would leave for a time and then he would return. There seemed to be a cord binding the community to Brother’s heart and Brother’s heart to the community. He would leave for stints in Thailand, Australia, Wollaston Lake, Kenya and Ottawa but somehow he would find his way back to the little town at the end of Highway 135.

Constitution 8 of the Constitutions and Rules of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate reads,

“We will always be close to the people with whom we work, taking into account their values and aspirations…Awareness of our own shortcomings humbles us, yet God’s power makes us confident as we strive to bring all people – especially the poor – to full consciousness of their dignity as human beings and as sons and daughters of God.”

Brother gives flesh to this ideal. He loves the people and the people love him.

But this day would be different in that today the people would gather to say farewell to Harley and to give thanks for the many years of Oblate presence in their community. Today would be different because somehow Brother Harley and the people realize that Brother will not be coming back.

The Oblates have had a hand in the community of Sandy Bay for many years. Father Hector Thiboutot had served the community for close to forty years.  Father helped the people organize themselves when they moved from their old village to the present town site. The people speak his name with reverence. Today Brother’s name is spoken along with Father Hector’s as the people realize these men love them; their presence is about a relationship and not a job.

Sunday morning at 10:30 am and again at 10:55 am Brother rang the bell for the last time, summoning the people to the church (Our Lady of Sorrows) for the Sunday liturgy. A larger than usual congregation gathered to celebrate the Eucharist and to remember Brother who had prayed for and with the people, standing beside them as they welcomed new life, standing beside them as their lives unfolded and standing beside them as they mourned the lives of those who had died. During the intercessions one person prayed in thanksgiving for the way in which Brother shared the word of God and another prayed in thanksgiving for the way he walked with the youth, welcoming and listening to their struggles and achievements. Still another prayed in thanksgiving for his kindness and generosity and his willingness to help everyone.

At the close of the liturgy we had the chance to remember that Brother was here in the name of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI Lacombe Canada) and that his presence in the community meant the Oblate Community was here too. As people joined in blessing Brother they were reminded of our need for God and God’s great love and they were reminded of God’s faithfulness. In their turn the people gathered around Brother and sang their blessing song.

The people blessing Brother Harley at the end of mass on Sunday, June 25, 2017.

After the mass ended and people gave Harley their individual blessings, we gathered outside for pictures. Somehow those of us who gathered were not yet ready to let go of Brother. One person jokingly said. “On Friday morning, Brother, the road will be blocked! We will not let you go. We will make a human road block.”

The afternoon passed quickly. Brother was to go to supper at Judy’s house. Little did he know that the celebration of his life and ministry in Sandy Bay was not over! The principal of the school led him to the gym where the community had gathered for a feast. A head table was set and decorated and a banner above it proclaimed,

“Forever you are our brother Brother Harley… We love you We will miss you”

Brother Harley with the banner that overlooked the head table.

Countless tributes were given as a meal of bannock, roast beef, ham, potatoes, rice, vegetables and salads was served. Fruit cups and a large cake topped off the meal. As the speeches drew to a close Brother was summoned one more time to the front of the gym and he was presented with a Star Blanket which elders reverently draped over his shoulders. Brother took the microphone and clothed in the gifts of the people, reminded them of the words of Christ to his disciples, “Love one another as I have loved you.” He followed this with, “Although I have tried to love you with all my heart, don’t love one another as I have loved you but rather love one another as God loves you – with all the immensity of God’s heart.” Harley reminded them of his arrival, his departures and how, wherever he went, he spoke of the little village on the Churchill River where the Cree people who had captured his heart lived.

Brother Harley speaking to the people after receiving the handcrafted Star blanket presented to him by Judy Morin on behalf of the people of Sandy Bay.

The tears flowed and the cameras flashed and the cell phones clicked. Eventually the food was gone, the tables were cleared, the trash picked up and the doors were locked. The people drifted away to the playgrounds, to their homes, to their cars and some shuffled over to the Church basement for a game of bingo. On the way back to the rectory, kids and adults alike called out Brother’s name reminding him that they loved him and that he should not go.

But like the Oblates before him he will go. Approaching sixty years he will soon be assigned to new ministry.

The sun, rising on the Church and parish grounds at Sandy Bay, SK, June 26, 2017.

On Friday, June 30th his truck, packed with his few remaining belongings, will leave Sandy Bay for the last time. For now he is the last Oblate in Sandy Bay, but who knows what the future will bring. For today, the Oblate spirit remains in the hearts and minds of the people – a spirit nourished and shared by many but most recently by Brother Harley. No doubt his prayer will be shaped forever by the needs of the people, their accomplishments, their sorrows and their love for this generous man who came into their lives some thirty years ago and who just can’t seem to quit them!