I was born 80 years ago, and since my entry into the Society in 1958 the world around us has rapidly and radically changed. On the one hand we experience some security in our country’s  foundational values, and this feeling, in some cases tinged with fear, has been exploited by some political parties.

But then the challenge is to adapt, to evolve, to find new ways of expressing these foundational values, and other political parties present this as the rallying point, even though they have not totally thought through their positions. Indeed our political parties so often will present their policies in accord with the core electorate they wish to satisfy.

Our recent election shows that a significant number of people want to face these changes head on. Do they have a clear idea of what this involves, and do those who get elected know precisely what they are doing?  We are finding out. There is some clarity but also a lot of confusion.

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What are these foundational values? I find them in the triad offered by the British North America Act which established Confederation in 1867: peace, order, and good government.

These contrast with the triad affirmed by our neighbour to the south: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Have we always lived out of those values? No. Our relatively peaceful westward expansion of our country contrasts with the values of the wild west south of us but our country’s development has been marked by a serious blight which we are now better aware of – think residential schools and our treatment of the natives.

Have we found ways of living out our foundational values today in today’s challenging context, and have we committed ourselves to those ways? At times we try and we succeed.

Peace and order and good government are over-arching values which affect much of our action. We have by and large dealt constructively with more than one refugee crisis, maintained our health system, kept our national finances on a sound basis, and so on.

We struggle to be faithful to our better angels, but a welter of limitations and conflicting values and geopolitical circumstances leads us to sometimes pull back, setting aside our good intentions, and often we resolve conflicts by fudging.

But when we compare ourselves with many other countries, we are indeed fortunate. Our problems are not so intractable as those of many countries now torn by tensions and violence. Many look to us as a model of sorts because we still take our foundational values seriously.  And this without parading ourselves as the shining city set on a hill.

I am happy to be a Canadian, but I have no illusions. We have received many communal graces, but we are caught up in the same 21st century muddle as every other country. It’s messy out there.

When Pope Francis points out the false, even toxic values which beset our world, he is inviting us – and this includes Canadians – to identify them and uproot them from our own collective consciousness. Too often we seek a self-sufficiency which hampers communal values and makes many fearful of those on the outide, whether refugees or newly arrived persons. Being our best selves requires commitment, self scrutiny, and unstinting vigilance.