August Happenings

As always, there is a lot going on. Summer is no exception. The Summer edition of Soundings Update is now available on our website. Just click the link above or the masthead to the right.

I've spoken of the traveling exhibit called Woman & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America. There is going to be a 30 minute show on Catholic TV this Friday, August 28 at 10:30am that will feature this exhibit. It can be viewed at the following link:
http://www.catholictv.com/shows/default.aspx?seriesID=72
After it airs, the show will also be available at this site for viewing at your leisure!

More details about this show on Catholic TV are available in an article titled: Traveling Museum Exhibit Starring Catholic Sisters to Be Discussed on CatholicTV Talk Show
You can also find more information about the Women & Spirit exhibit at the website for the exhibit.

On another note, I received a message from one of our sisters who is part of the parish team at The Church of the Epiphany in Louisville, KY. There is a series on her parish website called "Christian Vocation." She tells her vocation story in a recent article on the website. You can learn about her vocation story at: http://www.churchofepiphany.com/news/2009/aug/vocation-sr-mary. It's worth reading.

Renewal of Vows by Sisters of St. Joseph

August 15 is a big Feast Day for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston. Each year we renew our vows. Today there were special liturgies at our Motherhouse, Fontbonne Convent, and Bethany Health Care Center. I was asked to offer some reflections at the Fontbonne Convent celebration. Afterwards, several who were present asked if I would make the reflections available for all to read. I do have to credit Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, for most of the background about Mary. Chapter 10 of her book Truly Our Sister offers wonderful insights into the scripture passages about Mary. I've spent so much time reflecting on her words that I'm not sure exactly where her quotes and my writing begin and end. So here are my reflections with some help from Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ.

Today is a feast of relationships. Today the gospel speaks of the time-honored relationship between Mary and Elizabeth. The readings from Revelation and psalm 45 offer a vision of Mary’s cosmic relationship to our ever-expanding universe. Corinthians speaks of a community where relationships of power-over are shattered in favor of relationships of power-with -- where all experience belonging in Christ.

And what about us? We gather in on this otherwise ordinary Saturday morning as women of the church; rooted in the gospel. We gather because of our shared commitment to deepen our relationship with God, one another in community, and the Dear Neighbor without distinction.
Consider your memories of this feast throughout the years. I clearly recall this day…41 years ago…when I approached the altar in another Fontbonne Chapel…the chapel at Fontbonne Hall in Framingham. Just three days earlier, I had turned 20 years old. As I professed first vows as a Sister of St. Joseph, somewhere deep inside – deeper than any intellectual “knowing” I proclaimed an unqualified “yes” to God’s call – but the truth is – the rational “knowing” part of me was very uncertain about what I was doing – However, I did know I couldn’t turn back. I knew in that moment it was God’s desire praying within me. -- God’s desire that calling me forth to continue the uncertain journey into the future. – God’s desire that enflamed my soul and continues to live in me as each day presents new challenges.

I suspect each Sister of St. Joseph has her own story of living into the vows first professed years ago. I also suspect that when Mary set out on the journey to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, she wasn’t totally clear about the “Yes” she had spoken. As she made the dangerous 50 mile journey to be with her cousin, Elizabeth, she was looking for someone with whom she could share the stirrings that enflamed her heart. She was looking for a community where she could be in relationship with others who resonated with those stirrings and grow into the commitment she had made in proclaiming “Yes” to God’s desire.

We know very little of Mary – or Miriam of Nazareth as she was known to her Hebrew neighbors. In this “hiddenness” she stands in solidarity with multitudes of marginalized women and men through the centuries – whose lives are considered not worth recording.
Miriam of Nazareth is an ordinary Jewish village woman of extra-ordinary faith. Nazareth was a rural town populated mostly by peasants who worked the land and craftspeople who served their basic needs.

On the surface our lives may look different than those of Mary and her neighbors. She didn’t have an email address, a cell phone, cable TV, or even a favorite computer game. She didn’t wake up each day to news reports about universal health care, political unrest in countries on the other side of the world, climate change, or the economic stimulus package.

None the less, times were tough in Nazareth. The village was part of an occupied state. Revolution was in the air. The atmosphere was tense. Violence and poverty prevailed. Miriam of Nazareth – like us – did live in a conflicted and dangerous world. Her story -- in the midst of this world – stands out as a story of relationship. She is not only mother -- She is sister and dear neighbor, to suffering and marginalized women and men in oppressive situations – both in her day and ours.

And as I asked earlier: What about us? -- we who profess that we “see relationship at the heart of mission” – we who profess that we are enflamed with the compassion of God.
We don’t have to look very far to see how the vows we renew today are lived out in the relationships of our lives and the lives of those with whom we minister. We could site many examples right in this house and beyond. Anytime I stop by Fontbonne Convent, a welcoming spirit permeates – whether in friendly hellos or an offer of a cup of coffee -- there is a real sense that nurturing relationships is important.

Today, as we renew our vows, our lives proclaim that we see relationship at the heart of mission. Just as God heard Mary’s prayer – God also hears the prayer of our heart – as each in her own way, continues to live into the “yes” first professed many years ago.

On this otherwise ordinary Saturday morning we celebrate – not only Mary and her relationships. We celebrate the variety of ways in which connecting neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God spills over into the lives of those with whom we live and among whom we minister. This is what Sisters of St. Joseph and associates mean when we say in our Constitution, “we see relationship at the heart of mission.”

Today is a feast of relationships. Today we celebrate the ongoing process of being and becoming what Jean Pierre Médaille, called The Congregation of God’s Great Love. Today we celebrate that enflamed with the compassion of God we truly are women of the Church rooted in the gospel.

A Sister of St. Joseph's Summer musings

When a few of my friends reminded me that I haven’t posted on this blog for a while, I realized that I seem to have taken an unscheduled “blog-cation.” The past couple of weeks have been spent at my annual week-long directed retreat, going to funerals and weddings, and a variety of “this and that.” [this is a title that a sister who works with me often gives when she sends an email that contains a variety of topics. ]

Retreat, as usual, was wonderful. I was a bit nervous when anticipating retreat because it is the first time I’ve gone to the Genesis Spiritual Life Center in Westfield, MA. For over 20 years I’ve made retreat at Mercy Center in Madison, CT but they are renovating the main building and can only offer accommodations to a small number of overnight retreatants. I’ve included a few pictures of Westfield throughout this post.

About “this and that:”

Our Associate Director is designing a new booklet for the Associate mentoring process. Our Assistant Director of Communication is doing the design work on the booklet and I’m helping with the content and proofreading. The Associates with the Sisters of St. Joseph are women and men called to share their faith journeys with one another and with the Sisters of St. Joseph. We have over 100 Associates in Boston and New Mexico. You can learn more at on our website.

There are a number of other projects percolating in our office. Summer seems to be a good time to turn attention to these ventures. Both our Assistant Director of Communication and I have been out and about photographing various summer happenings and interviewing sisters and associates for upcoming publications.

I’m a member of our Initial Formation Team. One of our sisters is professing Final Vows in a few weeks. Today she stopped by the office with a few questions about her plans for the vow celebration. Our Boston CSJ vocation page gives some information about the process that leads up to professing Final Vows.

I’ve been helping a couple of people figure out how to work an online program called “doodle easy scheduler” that helps groups plan meetings. I'm not trying to advertise "Doodle" but, if you've ever spent days with emails going back and forth to schedule a meeting or a conference call, it's worth checking out.

I’m also trying to become more skilled with Facebook. This is something I said I'd NEVER do. But on two occasions this past summer, I became aware of it’s potential to make connections with friends and relatives. The first was a July 4th party with a group of people from a parish I was part of for over 20 years. The archdiocese closed the parish and I’ve lost touch with a lot of the people there. The second was a memorial service for my aunt and uncle where I realized that many of my 30-something cousins are sharing pictures of their kids on Facebook and I’m missing the action. These cousins live all over the country and some in Europe so it’s a good way to keep in touch.

For many years Fr. Austin Fleming was part of the parish I mentioned above. He found me through Facebook, linked my blog to his and asked me to link his blog to mine...which I've just done. My hope is that this one good use of technology as a means of spreading the word about the Church and religious life today.