Sisters of St. Joseph Sounding Update 10-31-12

The October 31, 2012 issue of Soundings Update is now available at http://www.csjboston.org/su-Oct-31-2012.pdf

A variety of happenings are covered in this issue:

• During the past couple of weeks, 11 of our Boston associates and sisters visited our associates and sisters in New Mexico. In the same article you can read about our associate October Overnight Gathering in Nahant. Both the trip and the overnight were wonderful for all who participated. Learn more about our CSJ Boston Associate Program at: http://www.csjboston.org/ASSOCIATES.htm

On October 14, our Jubilarians at Bethany Health Care Center celebrated 80, 75, 60, and 50 years of life as Sisters of St. Joseph. There was a total of 16 jubilarians, 5 of whom celebrated 80 years. These sisters are pictured in the latest issue.

On October 24, St. Joseph Preparatory High School hosted sisters, associates, and Brighton employees for tours, prayer, and dinner to celebrate this newest sponsored ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Everything about the evening was inspiring and hope-filled.

The very next day, Jackson-Walnut Park Schools, another Sponsored Ministry opened the doors of it's "White House" for the Show House tour presented by the Junior League of Boston. The renovations of this historic estate house used for JWP administrative purposes were breathtaking. What a gift to JWP and our congregation! 

Sisters of St. Joseph Being & Acting as One in the Digital Age

Soundings Update for October 17 is now available online. In addition to an article about our October 2, Boston Founders' Day celebration, there is an article about the meeting of CSSJ Federation Communicators who met on the same day just before the NCNWR annual conference . The focus of the CSSJ Communicators Gathering was Being and Acting as One in the Digital Age.

In addition to reading this article, you're also encouraged to check out the frequent updates on the website of the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

As part of the prayer to begin the CSSJ Communicators' gathering, we reflected on excerpts from a keynote presentation given by Nancy Sylverster, IHM, during the 2005 NCNWR annual conference. In Nancy's words :

Change is also a constant and so we need to be aware of our changing environments and remind ourselves of the final lesson of the Universe that we are flexible and adaptable. But to do that also needs a sense of ownership of the whole.

We live and work in an increasing complex environment of church and world. We need as many perspectives as possible to think through who we are and how we want to express ourselves.

As Brian Swimme so elegantly writes in The Universe Story, “…To be is to be related, for relationship is the essence of existence….Nothing is itself without everything else…The universe evolves into beings that are different from each other, and that organize themselves…the universe advances into community—into a differentiated web of relationship among sentient centers of creativity.” We need to learn the lessons from the Universe for we are the Universe unfolding.

 

Patty Johnson, CSJ, during the
CSSJ Communicators' gathering
 

Although it was not specifically planned, the way in which these words echoed the excellent presentation by Patty Johnson, CSJ, Executive Director of the CSSJ U.S. Federation, confirmed how much in converging and unfolding TOGETHER in our universe. Read the full article on the Federation website to see what I mean.

CSSJ Communicators, Barb & Ann
during the gathering
 

Celebrating 1,000 prayer shawls at Bethany Health Care Center

The latest issue of Soundings Update is available at http://www.csjboston.org/su-Oct-3-2012.pdf
There's a wonderful story about the Prayer Shawl Ministry of our residents at Bethany Health Care Center. A few days ago, they celebrated their 1,000th prayer shawl.

This post is short because I'm at the National Communicators Conference for Women Religious and the days activities are beginning soon. More later...