Maxim Monday: Everyday Actions & Associate Commitment

Accomplish with great diligence and perfection everyday actions and unexpected ones, and never become careless in this respect. Maxims of the Little Institute # 90.

This past weekend we welcomed five new associates and celebrated the renewal of commitment of our Boston CSJ associates. As the brochure that advertises the associate program states:

"We are women and men who desire to share our faith journeys with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston in a mission of unity and reconciliation. We come from ordinary walks of life, and while affirming our own vocations, acknowledge a call to realizing the prayer of Christ “that all may be one with God and with one another.Wherever we are, we strive to serve in a spirit of simplicity and joy."

Maxim 90 seems to speak the life of our associates who, although they do not profess vows, make a commitment to the Sisters of St. Joseph that they renew each year on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.

Sister Marilyn, who welcomed us at the beginning of the liturgy, spoke of the celebration saying:

We come together on this feast of St. Joseph to witness the mutuality of presence, of companioning that allows us to build a relational community where we strive to keep the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph alive and evolving in the neighborhood, in the global community, in the everyday....

I am constantly amazed and humbled by the many ways in which our associates live our spirituality and mission in their day-to-day lives. As Sister Marilyn also stated in her welcome:

"It will be the connection between vowed members and associates that will hold the passion...that sustains and enflames the mission.”