Dear Friends,

Flashlight, check. Sleeping bag and pillow, check. Weather-appropriate clothing, check. Toothbrush, check. Orange shirt for Sunday morning, check.

These are just a few of the items on the packing list for the ReCharge youth retreat at Muskoka Woods camp in Rosseau, starting today. Approximately 150 youth and their leaders from across our Diocese will be making the journey north by bus to spend the weekend together. I, along with my wife Mary, our diocesan youth coordinators and members of the Bishop's Youth Ministry Committee (BYMC) will be present. This will be my fourth opportunity to attend this wonderful event. It is a time to gather, make new friends, talk about faith, sing, nurture prayer, read scripture and of course play, hang out, stay up too late and, for the brave among us, try out the giant waterslide!

"Limitless" is the theme for this year's conference. In a world filled with limits and boundaries some we place on ourselves, and some placed on us by others God is limitless in power, knowledge and presence. In a world that so often settles for second best, that reaches for cynicism, that strives to put down, God in Jesus Christ raises up, reconciles and inspires us to walk the path of love and peace.

Phyllis Webstad is a northern Secwepemc author, teacher and activist who tells of her first day at a Residential School when she was six years old. She was stripped of her clothes, including a beautiful orange shirt that her grandmother had purchased for her a shirt that was never returned. The taking was symbolic of a system designed to strip the identity, personhood and heritage of generations of Indigenous children. Phyllis Webstad's experience inspired the donning of orange shirts on Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day gives us the opportunity to remember the children who never returned home from the Residential Schools, to remember the survivors who continue to carry the pain and grief, and to remember their children and their children's children who continue on the journey of healing. And we remember that we are called to raise up, to be reconciled, to walk the path of love and peace. We are called to deep engagement in this process of healing and return as spelled out in the 94 Calls to Action from the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Orange shirt for Sunday morning, check. Imagine for a moment the closing Eucharist at the retreat. Imagine the assembly of youth a little tuckered out, grateful for new friends, encouraged by song and touched by faith. And imagine us dressed in orange, in solidarity and hope because every child past and those yet to be matter. In a like manner, I encourage you to wear orange on Sunday, and especially on Tuesday. If there are special ceremonies marking the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in your community, plan to attend. Mary and I will be flying an orange Every Child Matters flag in front of the See House this year.

Called to action check!

Yours in Christ,

The Right Reverend Andrew Asbil
Bishop of Toronto

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