Zeal for Healing the Neighborhood of the Universe

Where does the time go? It seems the past two weeks have evaporated before my eyes. It seems I've been involved in a number of activities related to the Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. Every few years we have a event that brings together sisters and associates from the 16 congregations in the US that trace their roots to LePuy, France. The next event is in July 2011 and I’m part of the planning committee. The committee met at our vacation/retreat house in Nahant from March 2-5. I already know some of the group and met others for the first time. There are 9 of us from all over the United States. I’ve participated in almost every Federation Event since the 1970’s when they first started national gatherings. So it’s exciting to be part of shaping this one.

We spent a lot of time deciding on a theme for the event. The graphic at the top of this post gives the theme which is "Zeal for Healing the Neighborhood of the Universe." The logo is still in process. Part of my work will be to work with other CSSJ communicators on all the aspects of communications and public relations for the event. So you can be sure to hear more on this blog as information becomes available. You can get an overview of what the federation is about at http://www.sistersofsaintjosephfederation.org/

I returned to my office for one day and on Saturday headed across the state Holyoke, MA, for another meeting of the Atlantic Region of the Federation. I wrote about the work that this group has been doing in my January 31 post. The Weaving Relationships gatherings have met with such positive feedback that we plan to expand and offer similar gatherings again next year. We are in the process of asking others to be presenters and facilitators. It’s a wonderful way to meet sisters in other CSSJ congregations who share the same spirit, spirituality, and history.

Weaving Relationships

In my introduction to this blog I explained that there are 16 congregations of Sisters of St. Joseph in the U.S. and even more throughout the world. In the U.S. there are several regions. My Boston Congregation is part of the Atlantic Region which also includes congregations coming from Winslow, ME, Springfield, MA, West Hartford, CT, Brentwood, NY, Philadelphia, PA, and Saint Augustine, FL. A couple of years ago an Atlantic Federation Core Committee began meeting. I’m one of the Boston sisters on that committee. We met today in Holyoke, MA, at the Motherhouse of the Springfield sisters. Some of the committee joined us via conference call.

Over the past two years we’ve had a series of three-day gatherings called “Weaving Relationships.” As the title suggests, this is not a workshop or conference. It is an opportunity for sisters to explore and share the joy, wonder, and gift of our charism. We believe that relationships are core to our living and so these gatherings are to deepen our connections with one another. This is a picture of a table centerpiece from one of the gatherings.
The gatherings have been very successful. Today we assessed the original goals of this committee which is to enhance the mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph. In addition, we want to do this in way that fosters inter-congregational relationships among Sisters of St. Joseph in the member congregations. It seems as if these opportunities to come together have been a huge success. By April, almost 200 sisters and associates will have participated in one of seven of these gatherings.

Because these gatherings received such a positive response, we’re looking at what kinds of opportunities we might offer next year. A lot of good ideas were generated and we all left with “homework” that will move this forward.