Our community sits on the edge of Teslin Lake. The Nisutlin River empties into the lake here. The lake is 125 km long and eventually becomes theTeslin River, which feeds into the Lewes River and on into the Yukon River, eventually emptying into the Bering Sea. We have hills and mountains close around us with beautiful sunrises and sunsets. People have been very generous to us, sharing salmon, moose and caribou, cranberries, moss berries and rhubarb.
When there is a death in the community, folk take food to the home of the mourners—sandwiches, soup, desserts—anything that can be eaten with a spoon. No knives or forks are allowed for the first forty-eight hours. Everyone comes to share in the grieving. Funerals do not necessarily happen on the third day because it may be a week or longer if an autopsy is involved. Children are not kept away from funerals, but are encouraged to share their concern with a hug for the bereaved.
I think that one of the highlights for me was Midnight Masson Christmas Eve a few years ago. A special-needs adult was asked to carry the Babe up to the manger as the congregation sang “O Come All Ye Faithful.” I wondered how my friend would manage to bend down and place the baby in the manger. She did it beautifully, and when she turned around, her smile was so wonderful I felt that God must have been smiling, too.
The problems resulting from the residential school experience continue to be felt, as do the abuse of alcohol and drugs. We have visited some in jail. Sometimes the situation looks hopeless, but we know that God never turns away those who call on Him for help. How sincerely do we call, and how earnestly do we desire to be changed? That is the big question. Only the individual can answer that.
God is forever encouraging us. Sometimes we feel very ineffective, but then someone comes along and asks for prayer, and we are encouraged and ready to go again. Daily, we ask to be channels of God’s love, and we try to leave it all with Him.
During the Christmas Eve Mass this past year, Father Philip Kennedy, president of Catholic Missions In Canada, was our celebrant. As the last person to receive the Eucharist took his seat, a young single mom carried her baby forward to receive a blessing. This woman is not a church attendant, yet it spoke to me of her wanting the best for her baby. How can we fan the flame? I believe that as we learn to share with individuals, we also learn to trust the Holy Spirit to continue His tender work in our hearts and in theirs. This continues to be the challenge and privilege of this work.
The Yukon and this community have certainly carved a large place in our hearts, but the years are advancing and our energy level is not what it was. He knows our days and that is what matters most.
Marilyn Bezner and husband Hart serve as lay missionaries at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Teslin, Yukon, in the Diocese of Whitehorse. On their retirement in2004, Marilyn, a nurse, and Hart, a physics professor from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, decided to join the missions in the North
