top of page

“One of the few things I know about writing is this:
spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time...
give it, give it all, give it now.” 
~~ Annie Dillard ~~

 

Finding the Treasure Within -- A Woman's Journey Into Preaching
© Novalis, 2002
 

What do you do when you discover your voice but cannot find a way to express it? Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers, a Roman Catholic laywoman, faced this challenge. Growing up in the Netherlands and inspired by the spirituality of the Taizé community in France and Jean Vanier's l'Arche community, she lived here faith fully. When she moved to Canada to marry a Saskatchewan farmer, the prairie life invited her into a new way of experiencing God. Making their living off the land, she and her family stayed involved in numerous aspects of church and community life. Once her three children were in school, she made time to pursue theological studies in a Lutheran seminary, where she gradually discovered her gift for preaching. Finding the Treasure Within: A Woman's Journey into Preaching is about the joy and pain of  discovery written by a passionate defender of both her Church and her place within the community of God's people. In her own words, this book attempts to share hope and inspiration, witnessing to God s unlimited creativity in working
within church structures and rising above these structures. 

 

For full text of the Introduction click here.

 

 

 

 

 

Catholic Women in Ministry -- Changing the Way Things Are

©  Novalis, 2007

 

Welcome to a fascinating portrait of Canadian Catholic women working in various forms of ministry in the contemporary Catholic Church. Through conversations with twenty-four women from a range of backgrounds, Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers provides a rare insight into the cross-currents, tensions, breakthroughs and accomplishments of lay women who are transforming the way the Catholic church works in Canada.

 

Marie-Louise speaks her deep inner truth out of loyalty to the Church she loves and challenges. Solidly based on the theology of Vatican II, she addresses both the pain and the potential of Catholic women in ministry. Here is a compassionate voice that deserves to be heard.
~~ Sylvain Lavoie OMI, Archbishop of the diocese of Keewatin-The Pas  

 

This book is the story of Everywoman who has engaged in full-time ministry in the Church in the last forty years. Told through the passionate voices of those who know the 'joys and hopes, the grief and anguish' of this call to serve their sisters and brothers, it offers a powerful, insightful window on this experience of ministry.
~~ Bernadette Gasslein Editor, Celebrate! 

Full text of the book's Introduction can be found here.

 

NORTHERN LIGHTS 
AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY
CHRISTIAN WRITING IN CANADA 

Edited by Byron Rempel-Burkholder & Dora Dueck 
Contributing author: Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers 
© 2008 Wiley Press 

 Canada is known for its wild and diverse physical geography. But do Canadians have a spiritual geography -- an identity uniquely shaped by their land, their history, their people? This first-of-its-kind collection brings together writings from within the Christian heritage to help Canadians explore that question. The forty-six contributors include award-winning literary figures, religious and political leaders, and social activists from one end of Canada to the other. Their traditions range from evangelical to Catholic, mainline Protestant to Orthodox, Pentecostal to Mennonite. Some still have family connections beyond Canada's borders; others have ancestors who were her long before Europeans came. These writers do not analyze, define, or argue about Christianity in Canada. They simply showcase it through their memoir or poetry, fiction or meditation -mapping into words something of what it means to be Christian in this country. The spiritual landscape they paint is diverse, inspiring, and provocative. It's a colourful dance of words, a wonderful Canadian celebration.

 

For the full text of the book's Introduction, click here.
 

ON PIONEERING -- Marie-Louise Ternier-Gommers

        Now the LORD said to Abram,
“Go from your country and your kindred
and your father’s house 
                         to the land that I will show you … and I will bless you.”
 
(Genesis 12:1–3) 

                   Do not follow where the path may lead. 
                    Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. 

(Harold R. McAlindon)  
|

One day my book editor told me that I’m affectionately called the “Hyphenated One” at his office. I sighed. Even after living in Canada for nearly thirty years, I still have to fight to keep my long name. I had a medical appointment recently. “Marie Ternier, please,” the receptionist called out
in the waiting area. I didn’t recognize my name, and she called a second time. “Marie Ternier, please.” I got up. “The name is Marie-Louise, with a hyphen,” I said, “and Ternier-Gommers, with another hyphen. Computers hate my name, but truly, I’m never called Marie.” The receptionist barely took note of my speech. I went home and mused. What’s next? I wondered. Thoughts of a life spent pioneering bubbled up … 
 

For full text of my essay in Northern Lights click here.

 

 

THE PRAIRIE DOES FLOURISH
Sisters of St. Elizabeth
100 YEARS OF BLOOMING ON CANADIAN SOIL

Editor and chair of the history book project 
for the Sisters of St. Elizabeth, Humboldt, SK
© 2011 St. Peter's Press 

 

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,and rejoice with joy and singing.
(Isaiah 35:1-2)  

 

Turning 100 years old makes heads turn and lands reporters on your doorstep. There is something about being an entire century old that makes others feel they are in the company of greatness. And so it should be. After two harrowing weeks of travel, Sisters Augustina, Gabriela and Philomena arrived in Muenster on May 14, 1911 and took upon their resolute but fragile shoulders an enormous challenge... Full text of the Introduction can be found here.

 

PRAIRIE MESSENGER
CANADIAN CATHOLIC WEEKLY

Regular Scripture Columnist 2008--2015
© St Peter's Press, Muenster, SK

 

For full length recent columns:

 

Jesus is no fast food solution, August 2015
The Vine as source of Life, April 2015
Human Contradictions crucified, March 2015
Transfiguring Moments of Every Day, February 2015
Authority as service, not domination, January 2015

 

No place at the Inn, December 2014
Advent: Love trumping Fear, November 2014
All Souls -- A Love Feast, October 2014
Good fruit or wild fruit in the church?, September 2014
Where two or three are gathered ... there is conflict, August 2014
To lighten our burdens, we only need to ask, July 2014
Transubstantiation in every body, June 2014
Mothers and the smell of sheep, May 2014
How dead is dead?, April 2014
God’s way of downward mobility, March 2014
Fasting and feasting, February 2014
A Magi story not found in Christmas pageants, January 2014 

 

              OUR FAMILY MAGAZINE
                                             (ceased publication in 2002)
                                                     Editor (1998 - 2002)
                                          © Marian Press, Battleford, SK  

 

Editorial -- Back and forth, January 2001

 

"Pendulum: a popular opinion characterized by
regular movement from one extreme to another." This figurative dictionary definition adequately describes what seems to be happening in our society with a number of values considered basic to the well-being of every culture, one of which is marriage. For too long, spouses have suffered in secret because of the taboo that one's private life was not to be talked about. Many feel deeply relieved that in today's social climate we can finally admit and openly discuss the abuse, control, and exploitation that can make what should be a life-giving intimate relationship into a living hell. 

Despite this healthy step forward, it is one thing to honestly deal with real suffering, and to take responsibility as a community for one another's well-being; it is another thing to prostitute a person's most intimate suffering at the hands of a spouse on TV talk-shows. It is one thing to finally publicly acknowledge that life-destroying marital relationships are not made in heaven and ought to be dissolved; it is another thing to opt out of a marriage because "the spark" is gone and personal fulfilment is not experienced. These trends are stark examples of the pendulum, definite movements from one extreme to the other... (more in PDF below)

Read more Editorials from 2001 here. 

 

Additional Publications

Northern Light, Grace Communion International Canada -- Past Copy Editor
Oblate Spirit, Oblate Mission Associates -- Past Editor
Living With Christ, Novalis Publications -- Past Contributing Author
Celebrate!, Novalis Publications -- Contributing Author (ceased publication)
Words of Life, Novalis Publications -- Contributing Author  (ceased publication)

 

 

 

bottom of page