Sisters of St.Joseph New Year Prayer

Happy New Year! The Sisters of St. Joseph have a long tradition of welcoming in the New Year with a Prayer of Consecration to The Two Trinities. By that we mean the "uncreated Trinity" of Creator, Redeemer, Spirit, and the "created Trinity" of Jesus, Mary, Joseph. In  The Règlements, Jean-Pierre associates a virtue with each person of The Two Trinities. A few years ago I wrote a prayer for our congregation based on this part of The Règlements. It's been adapted here as a greeting for the New Year.

God of inclusive Love,
Christ of Outpouring Love,
Spirit of Communal Love,
breathe in us and among us,
Sisters of St. Joseph and Associates
during the year ahead.

May we move into this new year
with the zeal of Jesus,
a zeal marked by generous courage
and humble self-emptying love,
the fidelity of Mary
who was filled to overflowing with every kind of grace,
and the cordial charity of Joseph
whose service was grounded in relationship with God
and neighbor without distinction.

Rooted in the rich heritage of the women who are our past,
seized by the same Love
that impelled them to be in relationship
with the reality of their changing world and changing times,
inspired by their vision, integrity, and fidelity,
we enter into this year with courage and hope.

Our God, the people of our world, our Earth, and all creation,
call us to embrace ever-widening circles of communion.
May this call impel us to action,
action that stirs up Love,
is connective and inclusive,
and deepens our commitment
to be and become Your people.

                                    By Joanne Gallagher, CSJ, © 2005, updated  1/1/2011

Sister of St. Joseph: Jean-Pierre Medaille Talk Show for 400th Birthday

Well! Today is the 400th birthday of Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ. Last week I posted a prayer service that we used at staff prayer for our Motherhouse administrative offices. We even had a birthday coffee cake with four candles -- one of each century. 400 candles would have been an invitation to the local fire department.

A Sister of St. Joseph from St. Louis is hosting a talk show this evening in honor of Medaille's birthday. You can participate by phone or online at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/88959
If you click into it beforehand and listen to a welcome message, you'll have a better sense of what to expect this evening when the program begins. All the details are there.

Prayer for Fr. Jean-Pierre Medaille's 400th Birthday

chapel at top of Rocher Ste-Michel,
LePuy, France.
Perhaps Jean-Pierre Medaille prayed here! 

Every other Wednesday many staff members at our Motherhouse gather for morning prayer. Next week's prayer will be in celebration of Jean-Pierre Medaille's 400th Birthday. Fr. Medaille is the Jesuit priest who companioned the first Sisters of St. Joseph and wrote our earliest documents.

I thought some may enjoy a of copy of this prayer for your personal or local community use. This prayer has been gleaned from various sources. I've tried to credit the sources on page two.

Click on image above to download the prayer.

• Once the box with the image opens,
• go to the toolbar on the bottom of the new screen
• find the little down arrow near the right
• click it to download the file
• download the file somewhere on your computer where you will be able to find it!

Sisters of St Joseph - Soundings Update 9-29-10

The September 29 issue of Soundings Update is on our website at http://www.csjboston.org/su-Sept-29-2010.pdf

Our Associate Program is beginning it's 25th anniversary year and there is a nice article about their first meeting of the season. Be sure to check out page 2 where there is a prayer written in the spirit of Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ. Next Wednesday, October 6, 2010, is his 400th birthday. Check back later this week for another prayer service for this birthday. I'm still in the process of preparing it for next week's staff prayer.

The picture at the top left is a depiction of Fr. Medaille that is part of a larger picture. This painting is in the Archives of the Sisters of St. Joseph in LePuy, France. When we visited there, our guide explained that it was actually painted long after Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ, and the first Sisters of St. Joseph were officially recognized by the Bishop of LePuy, Henri deMaupas [October 15, 1650] The second photo is of the full painting that is in the archives. You can see Fr. Medaille in context in this picture. Once again...remember...this was painted many years [I don't want to give the date and not be accurate] after the actual event that it depicts.

Maxim Monday: Love every kind of person...

The virtues which will help you acquire and maintain this union and which will be a summary of your Little Institute are:

…the very perfect love of neighbor, which loves every kind of person purely, constantly, and equally in God and for God… Maxims of the Little Institute, 100

There are a number of maxims that speak of unioning love, love of neighbor without distinction as does Paul’s letter to the Galatians in this week’s Sunday Liturgy. Maxim 100 is very long – perhaps the longest of all the maxims. It is the final maxim in Médaille’s Maxims of the Little Institute and what is printed above is one portion of it that reflects what we hear from St. Paul in Galatians, “You are all one in Christ Jesus.” [Galatians 3].

Being Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female were huge cultural realities in Paul’s world. What are the distinctions that have the potential to create divisions in our world? How might we as in the spirit of the Maxims of the Little Institute and in the spirit of Paul’s letter to the Galatians embrace differences and welcome the Dear Neighbor without distinction?

Maxim Monday: ZEAL to Embrace the Whole World & Soundings Update

In the manifestation of zeal characteristic of your very humble vocation, imitate the fervor of the most zealous and embrace in desire the salvation and perfection of a whole world in a spirit replete with a true humility and a generous courage. This will bring you to wish to do everything, to suffer everything, and to undertake everything for the advancement of the glory of God and the salvation of the dear neighbor. Maxims of the Little Institute, #7

As we move into these weeks of the Easter Season, I'm mindful that Easter is a feast of 50 days. We spend 40 days living the season of Lent but the zeal we read of in the Acts of the Apostles during these 50 days is not unlike the zeal described in Maxim 7. It was just over a month ago that I reflected on this maxim so I hesitated to use it again. However the more I think about it, the more I realize that it's the nature of zeal to keep on keeping on...to keep on expanding. It's just one more example of the timely message and rich spirituality of this and so many of the Maxims of the Little Institute.

Our scripture readings during this Easter Season tell of the zeal of the first disciples. Imagine the zeal of the earliest Sisters of St. Joseph as they reached out to the needs of the people of LePuy in mid-seventeenth century France -- an era of severe famine, social inequality, and civil unrest. Imagine the zeal and fidelity to God's call that brought Mother St. John Fontbonne and her companions through the challenges of the French Revolution.

There are countless stories of how the Sisters of St. Joseph -- this "Little Design" of Jean-Pierre Medaille -- eventually spread across France and across the world and today is alive in over 50 countries. These examples are just the beginning of all the stories of zeal evoked by Maxim 7.

As I look at the latest issue of Soundings Update, I realize how plentiful today's stories of zeal continue to be. In this issue alone you can read about one of our associates who is in India at this moment. You can view pictures of those who participated in Tenebrae and the liturgical enactment of Jesus' Passion as well as our Good Friday Peace Prayer Vigil. This is just one little issue of Soundings Update. How many other stories are there in the global "Joseph family?"  Many can tell stories of the zeal of sisters, associates, and partners in ministry, and those we serve now in 2010. Can you share a story of zeal as descibed in Maxim 7?

Maxim Monday: The Pursuit of Holiness

Maxim 44:
Never do anything which contradicts the pursuit of holiness.

The process of selecting a Maxim for these weekly reflections is, itself, becoming a process of prayer. Partly because of the liturgical season of the year and partly because of whatever seems to be going on during the week, I just can’t be pinned down to reflecting on these Maxims in order of appearance. What seems to be happening is that the next Maxim seems to be choosing me rather than me choosing it.

As we continue to live this season of Lent, Maxim 44 cuts right to the core of what Lent is about. The words are so direct. Here Médaille is calling us to be single-minded and focused on the aim [there’s Maxim 1 again] of our vocation. The image it conjures up is of a straight path.

Life is rarely that uncomplicated but this brief little Maxim is quite powerful in that it challenges us not to get side-tracked by anything that pulls us away from God’s desire for us…God’s desire for the universe. In the midst of the ordinary  yet ever-complicated events of our daily lives, this is easier said than done.

Maxim Monday: Maxim 3 "Empty yourself continually..."

Empty yourself continually in honor of the Incarnate Word who emptied himself with so much love for you. (Phil. 2:7) Make your commitment to live in the practice of the most sincere, true, and profound humility possible to you. Do so on all occasions, to everyone but especially to God, from whom must come all the blessings of your Institute. Maxims of the Little Institute #3

This seems like an appropriate maxim as we enter into the first week of Lent. This maxim, which based on Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 2, is a touchstone of CSSJ spirituality. The call to self-emptying love is not just something we do for Lent. It is a process that takes a lifetime. Years ago one of the priests at my parish gave a homily about Lent that I’m reminded of each time Lent begins anew. Basically he said that Lent is when we “Live for a Season” in the manner in which we are called to be living our Christian life all through the year.

This is not a negative thing. When Médaille says “empty yourself,” he’s calling us to let go of the inner “clutter” of our ego in order to be free to be filled with God’s love and grace. It’s a letting go that allows us to be completely free, completely human, free to be our best selves, free to be who God calls us to be. Self-emptying love is a life-long prayerful process of coming to know ourselves as God knows us.

Maxim Monday: Quietly Await-Maxim 84

I explained earlier that I don’t intend to go in order with these reflections on the Maxims of the Little Institute of Jean-Pierre Medaille. This week I’m offering Maxim 84 for your reflection:

Never go ahead of grace by an imprudent eagerness, but quietly await its movements and, when it comes to you, go along with it with great gentleness, humility, fidelity, and courage.

This is one of my favorite maxims. Many years ago, I wrote a song based on this maxim and it’s been sung over and over by our sisters. Several years back a co-worker actually invited me to sing this at her wedding. Here is my adaptation of Maxim 84:

May you quietly await the movement of grace, and when it comes move gently with humility, fidelity, and courage.

The major reason for the adaptation was so that the message of this maxim would blend with the melody that grew in my head and heart around these words. That said, this maxim is one I live by in the most ordinary moments of my life. In those moments when I feel stretched to capacity with a “to do” list that is growing, I hear God saying, “never go ahead of grace.” Over and over, Médaille cautions us about “imprudent eagerness,” or “over-eagerness.” How often in our need to get the next task checked off our list of things to do, do we become “over-eager” rather than going deeper and letting God’s grace move within us? In the moments when I do go deeper and “quietly await” God’s grace, I find that is when I can, indeed, enter into a situation with humility, fidelity, and courage.

Several years after I wrote this song, I was on retreat in Madison, CT. Retreatants were being encouraged to use all our senses for prayer and perhaps even draw or paint as a way of reflecting. That’s when I began creating Mandala designs. The first one I did used the words of Quietly Await and is pictured here. This is scanned from greeting cards that we made for a craft fair for our congregation.

Maxim Monday: The Aim of Your Vocation [Maxim 1]

For the past three Monday’s I’ve reflected on the general structure and spirituality of  the Maxims of the Little Institute written for the first Sisters of St. Joseph by Fr. Jean-Pierre Médaille, SJ. This week I’ll begin a weekly reflection on a particular maxim or part of a maxim. Some maxims are quite long. Others very short. I don’t intend to go in order. But for this week, I will reflect a little on Maxim 1.

Keep always in mind the aim of your vocation which is sublime; and never do anything which contradicts the commitment to a life full of modesty, gentleness, and holiness.

The word “aim” points toward the essence of our vocation. It is “sublime,” that is to say mystical. But it’s a mysticism lived out “with our feet on the street” [to quote Marcia Allen, CSJ]. Our vocation is lived in the midst of the here and now. In aiming at what is essential, we are always moving toward, always seeking “the more.”

Médaille also speaks of “gentleness.” In the original French the word used here is “douceur.” It’s a gentleness that seeks harmony, balance, right relationships. If Jean-Pierre Médaille was with us today he might encourage us to bring the relationship of God and humans together in the midst of this suffering world.

During the next few days, take time to ponder,
How am I keeping all the pieces of my life in balance so as to stay focused on what is essential?

Maxim Monday: Trinitarian Spirituality of the Maxims

This is the third blog entry for Maxim Mondays. If you want to see the previous posts about the Maxims of the Little Institute look back at the last two Mondays. The spirituality underlying the Maxims of the Little Institute focuses on what Médaille calls the Two Trinities:

            the Uncreated

           … and Created Trinities

The Uncreated Trinity, being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity

• God the Father is seen as inclusive love
• the Son, poured out love,
• and the Spirit as unconditional love.

For Médaille, that is who God is: inclusive, poured out, unconditional...

Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, says, "How we think of God influences how we relate to God and to one another."

These first three points present the model of God.

It answers the question: Who is God?

The Next three poinst answer the question:Who am I?

The created Trinity - Jesus, Mary, Joseph - to these three, Médaille attributes the following virtues:
Jesus personifies Zeal for the mission; a zeal that is two-pronged –

- magnanimous -- generous, courageous
- and humble -- a realization that we are all the same; all one; we are in this together.

Mary personifies fidelity to grace:

...fidelity being the centerpiece to both zeal and service.

This fidelity speaks of an awareness and openness to God's will; it has to do with the pursuit of integrity.

Joseph personifies cordial charity;

It's service to the neighbor without distinction. To say charity is "cordial" is to suggest that it stirs up love wherever it is.

During an Associate meeting I attended a few years ago, part of the prayer expressed the desire

• to be Joseph to the homeless; 
•  to be Mary faithful to the lonely and despairing; 
•  to be Jesus in his zeal, to reach out to the hopeless and apathetic... 

Father Jean-Pierre Médaille was trying to make this spirituality very concrete for these women who, for the most part, did not read.

CSSJ Maxim Monday: Structure of the Maxims

Many have commented to me directly about my “New Year’s Rolution” to reflect on the Maxims of the Little Institute of the Sisters of St. Joseph. You are still encouraged to post comments right on this blog. Some expected reflections on individual Maxims right away. In the weeks ahead, I'll reflect more on individual maxims or parts of maxims, but I thought it might be helpful to see a bit of an overview first. I guess the high school Theology teacher is still alive and well within me.

So…The structure of the maxims can be seen in this chart:

The aim of our life is set forth in the first maxim –
“Keep always in mind the aim of your vocation which is sublime; and never do anything which contradicts the commitment to a life full of modesty, gentleness, and holiness.” Some would say this maxim it says it all! Any good teacher repeats, repeats, repeats in many different ways. . . until the student "gets it." This seems to be what Father Médaille was doing with our first sisters. This little graphic was created with the help of Sr. Mary Theresa.

Structure of the Maxims of the Little Institute:

1-11 present the spirituality of the Sisters of St. Joseph
12-43 describe our relationship with God
44-61 describe our relationship with others
62-90 describe our relationship with self
91-100 provide a summary of the spirituality

Note that though we structure these maxims as emphasizing God, others, self, one is never seen as separate from the other.

Remember, our mission is the love and service of God AND the love and service of neighbor.

Don’t forget, I welcome comments that can be posted on the blog. In order for your comment to be posted, you need to respond below.

Sr. Catherine Murphy: a Sister of St. Joseph; a Woman of the Church

On Christmas Eve, one week ago today, a woman of deep fidelity and courage went home to God. Although she is at peace, we all mourn the loss of Sister A. Catherine Murphy, CSJ, known also as Sister Flavia. The Boston Globe worked with us on an obituary which appeared in the Monday, December 28 issue. Just click on the underlined words to follow the link.

Reflections on her life shared at Sister Catherine's vigil wake service are also available on our website at http://www.csjboston.org/memory20.htm

The memories shared in these two articles barely scratch the surface of the impact this Sister of St. Joseph had on so many people. I recall the time when I was asked by the congregation to study for my masters degree at the University of Notre Dame. Unknown to me, it was a time when an alarming number of sisters had gone to Notre Dame but not completed thier degree. So I was a bit shocked and saddened when, initially, I was not accepted into the program. Sister A. Catherine was president of our congregation at the time. She was shocked but hardly saddened -- she was emboldened! She picked up the phone; called Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, then president of Notre Dame, and told him she had recommended me to study and she expected me to be accepted. I went to Notre Dame because she believed in me. I completed my degree at Notre Dame because she believed in me.

It was at this time that I also began writing music based on Fr. Jean-Pierre Medialle's Maxims of the Little Insititute [one of the founding documents of the Sisters of St. Joseph] because Sister A. Catherine believed in my creative abilities. At her Funeral Liturgy I sang "Quietly Await" one of my songs based on Maxim 84. As I sang, I knew in my soul that this was a moment of pure grace. I'm not exaggerating when I humbly admit that Catherine was praying though me in that moment. I wondered if anyone else noticed. I received my answer as we left the chapel and literally dozens of people commented on the song. At the time I couldn't speak. I've sung this song at hundreds of liturgies; but this time was different.

I tell these personal stories of Sister A. Catherine Murphy because they are small examples of the many sisters, students, family, and friends in whom she believed. Not only was she president during these transformative years of my life; she founded Fontbonne Academy where I went to high school. She taught us to be our best selves. She was a true Sister of St. Joseph; a true woman of the Church.

Did you know Sister A. Catherine Murphy? Do you have a story of how she touched your life? Please in the comments section of this post!

Happy New Year...

Being and Becoming Sisters of the Neighborhood of Boston and Beyond

This week our archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot, has a special section titled "Women Religious/Vocations." We have an ad and an article in this section. If you have access to a hard copy of the issue, our ad is on page 6 and the article on page 7. However The Pilot does not seem to include their special sections on their website. So I've posted the ad, the article, and the accompanying pictures here.

Since 1873, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston have listened to the call and remained true to the dream of our foundresses “to undertake all the spiritual and corporal works of mercy of which women are capable.” In 1650, Father Jean Pierre Médaille advised six women who became the first Sisters of St. Joseph to “divide the city.” They were to go out into the various districts, discern the needs of the people who lived there, and respond to those needs. Today, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston, share this mission with more than 13,000 Sisters of St. Joseph and 5,000 Associates in over 50 countries throughout the world.

As “sisters of the neighborhood,” we have served the people of greater Boston in countless ways for over 135 years. With excellence tempered by gentleness we make every effort to be faithful to our roots and meet the needs of people and seek to do whatever is possible for women to do. An ever-deepening fidelity to our founding spirit and mission calls us to be among the people of God in many and varied ministries. We serve as educators, lawyers, nurses, family therapists, social workers, health professionals, patient advocates, spiritual directors, parish ministers, hospital chaplains, campus ministers, theologians, psychologists, physical therapists, technology specialists, companions for those in need, advocates for the poor and marginalized, administrators, secretaries, artists, authors, musicians, poets and a multitude of other professions.

We are ordinary women doing ordinary things with an extraordinary vision rooted in the profound love of God and all God’s people. We desire to reach out to the “Dear Neighbor” without distinction enabling her/him to be embraced by God’s active, inclusive love. Our mission and the needs of the people have also brought us to places outside the Boston area including New Mexico and Peru. As a community of vowed apostolic women with a contemplative stance toward life, we seek to serve with “a generous heart.” We go wherever there is a need.

Recently we took a corporate stance decrying modern day slavery, the trafficking of women and children. Compelled by the gospel of Jesus, we are working to raise consciousness about this evil and to move people to action that will eradicate this sin against humanity. This past year, we also initiated “The Women’s Table.” Just as our earliest Sisters and Associates gathered around the hearth in Le Puy, France, so “The Women’s Table” strives to be a hub that promotes hospitality and connections among women, through circles of prayer, support groups, advocacy, networking, workshops, educational enrichment, and skill development. – all with an emphasis on empowerment of women from all walks of life.

Today, the tradition of loving service that began in 17th century France and continued in Boston in 1873 sustains us as we live into the twenty-first century. In community and prayerful contemplation we listen to this Spirit and move always toward profound love of God and love of neighbor without distinction.

Through our mission, ministry, and the witness of our lives we work to bring harmony to a dissonant world and unity where there is alienation. “We believe in both the possibility and the power of reconciliation and seek to let God bring about unity in our lives and in the lives of our sisters and brothers.”

Together with our Associates we embrace:
Gracious hospitality
Love and service of the Dear Neighbor without distinction
Peaceful resolution of conflict and
Care for all God’s creation.

Advent...a time to ‘quietly await’ the coming of our God

Our December 9 issue of Soundings Update is now available on our website at http://www.csjboston.org/su-Dec9-2009.pdf

There’s no doubt about it. No matter how much we try to slow down during the Advent/Christmas Season, there is still much to do and many places to be. There are quite a few dates to remember during Advent, Christmas, and into January. Also in this issue are some opportunities for “alternative Christmas shopping.” Our Mission Advancement Office has cards available for gift-giving. Dear Neighbor Gift Store is offering some special shopping days before Christmas. As we live this Advent, may we take time to "quietly await" the coming of our God.

On another note: Today is actually the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception -- otherwise called a Holy Day. There are several places where Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ. speaks about Mary in earliest documents of the Sisters of St. Joseph. In the Reglements or the original "rule" that dates back to the mid-seventeenth century he writes about the goal of the Sisters of St. Joseph. About Mary he writes: [bear in mind that this is an English translation of a 17th century French document]

In honor of the glorious Virgin Mary,
who is completely filled with
and obedient to grace,
they will live a life of perfect fidelity to all the movements of this same grace...

This reminds me of the maxim about which I based a song a few years back:

May your quietly await the movement of grace and when it
comes move gently with humility, fidelity, and courage. [based on #84 Maxims of
the Little Institute]

May this be our prayer for one another as we continue to live this Advent season.

"...a generous heart" from Medaille's Maxim 54

It's Thanksgiving! We just celebrated evening prayer in our local community. Doris Klein, CSA, has written, "Gratitude is expansive, leading us outward beyond ourselves." That's the kind of gratitude to which Jean-Pierre Medaille, SJ, called the first Sisters of St. Joseph and Associates in the Maxims of the Little Institute and continues to call us each and every day.

In Maxim 53 he writes, "Keep an open and free heart...." and in Maxim 54, "...declare with a generous heart never to yield to anything that would be against God's will." It's not as if I went out and searched for these Maxims for this blog post. The reality is that these Maxims seem to have found me. They've been surfacing in my prayer over the past week or so. I delight in the images of fulness and abundance at Thanksgiving. I've posed a few pictures I took in Vermont, New Hampshire, and one in New Mexico [at the top] that speak of Thanksgiving's abundance.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Welcoming the Neighbor without distinction at Halloween

Last night was Halloween. While I’m not into the whole sinister climate that sometimes surrounds the evening, I must say I really enjoy the delight in little children’s eyes as they go house to house proclaiming, “trick-or-treat.” We live in one of those destination neighborhoods where families from all over the area drop off their kids. Even the parents in the neighborhood dress up.

It may not be the what Jean-Pierre Médaille and the first Sisters of St. Joseph had in mind when they spoke of reaching out to the Dear Neighbor without distinction, but it certainly is an opportunity to be neighbors and welcome the every kind of neighbor. There were wizards and winged creatures, princesses and pirates, transformers, superheroes, and even a human ketchup bottle!

A part of me wonders what happened to all hallowed eve when my mother dressed me up as Joan of Arc in a cardboard suit of armor all painted silver. I could barely move! Although it’s not the same as it was “back in the day,” it’s good to know there are still neighborhoods where young and old can feel welcome to use their imagination and enjoy the wonder of being a child.

Sisters of St. Joseph Stand Up to End Poverty Now

Each year we have several Congregational Gatherings. All sisters are encouraged to participate. Topics cover a wide range. Sometimes there is a speaker who offers input. Other times we share from our own collective wisdom. In all cases there is time for communal prayer, shared reflection, and Eucharist. One of these gatherings took place last Saturday. Delores Clerico, SSJ, from the Philadelphia congregation shared with us about our Trinitarian spirituality. I took four pages of typed notes and will be merciful in not repeating them in their entirety. I’ll mention a couple of points Delores made:

The Core of Trinitarian Spirituality is that we are people who are seized by, for, with love. The Triune God is the one who seizes us. Delores invited us to reflect on just who is this God who seizes us? Everything we say falls short. We know God through lived experience of God. Images of God come from stories of our lives. As Christians we have a common experience of God centered on the person of Christ Jesus. Jesus welcomed everyone from the margins. He lived what he preached.

Most of her presentation focused on what Jean Pierre Médaille, SJ, in the Règlements, calls “The Goal of the Association.” Médaille encourages us to know ourselves as swept up in movements which bring us into union with the Uncreated Trinity and to be responsive to the attempts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph [the Created Trinity] to make it their own.

Delores concluded her presentation saying: “Our spirituality is very practical and very challenging because it’s lived in the ordinary moments of each day. That’s why I like to call it the work of unioning love. The use of “ing” suggests that it’s always in process; always going on. Love is a choice. We have a choice to either do the work of unioning love or not. And we never know how we’re going to be in the moment. We bring a contemplative stance. We can’t predict how the work of unioning love will happen."

In the afternoon before the business of updates, the 175 sisters present joined over 116 million people throughout the world for the Global Day of Action against extreme poverty sponsored by
sponsored by the ONE Campaign, a grassroots campaign of 2 million people committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. You can learn more about this campaign to end poverty at you can learn more about this campaign to end poverty at http://www.one.org/us/

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.