The Day the Donkeys Came Home
It was a beautiful, late summer day, as I sat on the park bench at the De Mazenod Farm enjoying some time of tranquility with the company of one of our kittens. I love spending time there, enjoying nature and God’s creation. This particular day, we were also waiting for a special delivery.
Our Superior General, Luis Ignacio Rois Alonso, OMI wrote in his letter “Let us walk together listening to the call to care for the common home”: “For a missionary, everything that happens is an opportunity to fulfil his mission. The care of our common home offers us great opportunities to meet the poor and others who, with different motivations, are striving for the same goal. We must go out to meet the women and men who are adopting a more sustainable lifestyle in response to the cries of our Mother Earth and the cries of the poor. To go out to meet, to dialogue and to work together; to go out to meet, to proclaim Christ and his Kingdom to the most abandoned. What an immense field is open to us!”
Indeed, an immense field is open to us! In March 2021 St. Patrick parish launched a new and exciting ministry of De Mazenod Door Outreach: the De Mazenod Farm. The Diocese of Hamilton leased and entrusted the care of 19 acres of farmland, just outside of the city of Hamilton, to us. At this point, it’s a learning experience; but so far, the Farm grows produce and raises egg-laying chickens and honeybees to provide food for our guests at the De Mazenod Door kitchen. In the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons, approximately 10,000 pounds of fresh, local produce was grown at the Farm for use in our outreach kitchen or given away to ‘guests’ of the Door and local food security agencies. In 2022, the Farm invited parishioners and patrons to the Farm in a “Pick Your Own” and “Pay What You Can” program, that was offered two mornings a week, to offset an abundance of produce and to raise some funds for the outreach ministries.
The last couple of years, the Farm also became a classroom for a number of Catholic schools in the area. The students would spend a day on the Farm, get their hands dirty and learn about God’s creation. They would even find out the answers to some existential questions, such as, “Where do eggs come from?
Beyond focusing solely on the Farm’s yield of produce to feed the hungry, we wish to develop the Farm’s potential as a sacred, welcoming space to nourish the spirits of those struggling with mental health issues, loneliness, and despair. One of our dreams was to bring animals to the Farm which will provide emotional support to those struggling with mental health issues such as PTSD, stress and anxiety.
Care for creation, for our common home, can be practiced in the parish setting and also in day-to-day operations. For example, through the use of modern technology we removed printed materials from the pews and started providing lyrics and announcements on the screen in the church and beyond the walls. We also drastically reduced printing on our traditional parish bulletin and focused on publishing and distributing it online.
Through my lived experience, I have discovered that what makes an Oblate parish different is an active engagement in caring for creation and for the environment, our common home. “As we await the second coming of Jesus, we evangelize as persons of hope to bring the Good News to the poor and to care for the earth, our common home.” (OMI General Chapter 2022)
As I was enjoying the day at the Farm, the trailer finally arrived! And just like from Noah’s Ark they begun to come out in pairs: goats, rams, ponies and donkeys. Our dream finally came true! The animals filled the yard with joyful sounds, cohabitating in a peaceful environment. It was a new beginning at the De Mazenod Farm!
That was the day the donkeys came home.
By Jarek Pachocki, OMI
