Thirty-nine
RSCJ and Associates gathered at Kenwood in late July for a weekend
about our Spirituality. This group was augmented, not only in number,
by our revered sisters of the Pax Christi Community. Joy was palpable
among the participants as we listened to each other, to the presenters,
to and our elder religious. From long before our arrival to the final
goodbyes, Kenwood hospitality embraced all visitors, RSCJ and
Associates.
Lyn Osiek explored our struggle with
community prayer in her talk on ?The Tradition of Community Prayer in
the Society and its Contemporary Challenges.? Annice Callahan shared
insights on ?Leisure as a Value in Our Contemplative and Communal
Life.? Eve Kavanagh helped us to ?take into our hearts the pain of the world because we share the pierced Heart of Christ.? Justine
Lyons led us into the new universe story: ?We are the Christ; What is
our Relationship to the Emerging Universe?? Oonah Ryan shared
insights on ?The Development of the Mind and Heart of Jesus and the
Impact of this on Our Lives.? Associate Cathy O?Conor used Chapter
documents and writings of and about Janet Erskine Stuart to explore
?How Spirituality Informs Transformative Education.? One participant
noted that we had ?unpredictable insights on predictable topics.?
So what was most striking in all this wonder?
- Gratitude to be at Kenwood, to see our elder sisters living so beautifully.
- Satisfaction at being able to share the talks with the Elders and have conversations with them.
- Being
on holy ground, with holy people: ?we are sinners with a well of
holiness we forget to tap;? ?I feel as if I?ve experienced the Heart of
Christ this weekend.?
- Gratitude for openness and receptivity in sharing and response: for a sense of power and energy to be open with each other.
- Like a multi-faceted crystal, each one sharing her truth.
- Interconnectedness through diversity and unity.
- Experience
of the Heart of Christ, the love of God Incarnate, in every encounter
and talk and in the elders; ?one is never too old to discover and
reveal the love of God.?
- Gratitude for the generosity of each one in giving of
herself so we can know better how much God loves us; being willing to
be vulnerable.
- Fullness of life in everyone.
- ?Renewal of my whole being: who I am and who others are in the Cosmic Christ.?
- The fidelity of God and the love of my sisters through all present.
- Amazing grace?amazing God.
- A quantum leap in many ways, especially in the integration of RSCJ and Associates.
How did all this come about? Actually the weekend flowed from the
annual conferences on Carmelite Spirituality which some of the
organizers have attended. ?Why not do our own?? was answered by, ?let
us!? So Ginny Dennehy, Eve Kavanagh, Oonah Ryan and Anne Sturges
gathered our presenters on various aspects of the lived spirituality of
the Society and arranged the multifarious details for this weekend
together at Kenwood. We are particularly grateful to Anne Sturges who
held us all together with quiet graciousness and clear organization.
Each
day the Eucharist brought us together with the whole community. Prayer
in the morning and evening had been carefully prepared by
participants. On Sunday we joined Jubilarians for a special
celebration of the Eucharist: three Jubilarians of seventy years, two
of sixty years, and seven of fifty years of vowed life in the Society.
The Provincial Team led their renewal of vows with questions which
pierced each of our hearts. Fr. Chris DeGiovine expressed, as only he
can do, the appreciation of the Church for our lives given over many
decades.
This is not the end: clearly there is a strong
sense that Associates and RSCJ want to gather in the future with each
other; plans are already underway to keep the momentum alive for next
year.
Mary Jane Sullivan rscj
Province of the United States
