US CHAPTER JULY 1-6

During the US Chapter July 1-6, I will be posting daily updates following each days proceedings.  

Please go to my General Chapter blog to read the news, or paste this link into your browser:

http://generalchapter.blogspot.com/

Care of Creation 15: US Chapter

US Chapter - Engaging the Grace

How do I come to this chapter?  What do I bring?  

We began the work of this chapter with a theme of bold awakening, I find myself praying for the grace of boldness.  I bring an awareness of the boldness of Christ as a non-violent man in a violent world.  I bring an awareness of the price of war and mental anguish it causes.  I bring a passionate desire to bring about peace.  I bring a commitment to helping heal the wounds the war has caused and rebuild bonds of compassion, particularly between Muslims and Christians throughout the world.  I bring a changed heart and changed mind. 

 

Seven Scripture Quotes about the Grace of Boldness

“Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence.”  - Ephesians 3:12

“We can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.”  - Hebrews 10:19
 

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God…and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” - Hebrews 4:16
 
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you." - Deuteronomy 31:6
 

“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.” - 1 Corinthians 16:13
 
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” - 2 
 Timothy 1:7
 
“The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions.” - Proverbs 28:1

 

There are more varieties of love than any other emotion, but the love that Christ teaches is a greater than any of these.  Courageous Christian Love is not an emotion, it is a co-motion.  It is not a romantic affection or a pleasant feeling of being at home with someone else.  It is a deep unity of heart and mind passionately resolved to bring about a bold new world.  


Boldness is a readiness to speak the difficult truth even when no one else agrees with you or is ready to hear it.  Boldness is courageous sacrifice with far-reaching, even eternal, consequences.  

I come to this US Chapter a bold woman, ready make a commotion, willing to speak truth, to make sacrifices and to love with all my strength and courage.

Care of Creation 14: This Moment in Time

Today's Reflection is related to a clip posted on on youtube.  I think we are all moved by time lapse photography of nature.  It is simply amazing to see how the winds, waters, plants and animals change over time.  We know that time is a construct we use to order our days, our work, our lives.  But time lapse photography shows us that time is much more than that.  It is one of the great questions of life.  How can we change time, slow it, control it, move forward or backward...or even sideways in time?  

The following clip helps us to remember how awesome time is and how it inspires us.  Time keeps us from lollygagging around.  It keeps us from resting on our laurels or just sitting around and letting others take care of things.  It reminds us that we are limited beings...and if our life is to have any meaning at all it's up to us to get with it and make something of our lives.  Time is a gift we share.  All of us alive this moment share the gift of time.  Right here! Right now! We are one in this moment of time.  

Go here to see the clip.

or paste it in your browser and watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=gXDMoiEkyuQ&vq=medium****

Care of Creation 13: Energy Field Dissipation

  “Matter, considered as structured fields of activity, and spirit as energy, help us make sense of death.  Energy comprises fields.  Once energy dissipates or ceases, the field dissipates or dies—but it does not disappear altogether, that is, it is not annihilated.  Rather what was 'matter' (the information pattern or field) is converted through death to energy and enters the universe as 'information' or patterns of information.  This information translates into memory in the universe.  Memory in the universe then becomes a source of new life and can help generate greater wholeness of life.  Since this renewal of life is taking place within the divine matrix (God), the new field formation is always lured into greater wholeness and unity.  The death of Jesus forms a new matrix of divine-created life within the cosmos.  Resurrection into this next form of existence and activity is a new incorporation into the ongoing divine field of Trinitarian life which is a dynamic life of ever newness in love.”  -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 84-85

At my death, I want to be remembered as a person who made life's struggles easier to bear by helping to dissipate negative energy and create a positive field of influence for the good.  I believe in the communion of saints, with a small s...ordinary people who do ordinary things with great love.  I believe that the good things we do live on after us and that if we contribute to the good, we will be able to remain somehow connected with the creative life of the planet even after death.  I look forward to learning what the communion of saints means in the reality of space and time in the hereafter...even if my intuitive sense is of that turns out to be wrong.  I think a new way of understanding the whole divine mystery will be revealed and that it will be far more beautiful and perfectly logical than we ever imagined it could be.  I would want to still interact with the living in some benign way for the good of life on earth.  I hope to be a blessing even after death.

Care of Creation 12: A Happy Death

“This new life of Christ is new wholeness, new patterns of relationships to other beings and to the cosmos.  The life of Jesus sets the pattern:  mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, prayer, charity, justice, peace, sympathy, tears, joy, sorrow, an engaged life with other human beings, with creatures, with nature and the stars and creation.  It is awakening to our relatedness to the earth, to other creatures and assuming our responsibility in this earthly relationship:  solidarity with the poor, compassion with the suffering, hospitality for the stranger, treating each and every creature with utmost dignity.  It also means living sufficiently without consuming excess amounts of vital resources, conscious that we share this planet with diverse peoples, creatures and elements. “-- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 94-95

The new possibilities for life and relationship that I am invited into today are evolving from an awareness of the needs of so many who are grieving losses.  Our community prayer yesterday at St. Joseph Priory called upon St. Joseph as Our Patron of a Happy Death.  That phrase "a happy death" strikes me as beautifully poetic.  It is something I think we all hope for in the end.  I've been thinking about that today and praying for those who have recently died and those who are fighting for survival.  My faith teaches me to look forward with hope to eternal life and gives me sufficient hope to live without fear, a strong degree of detachment and a deep source of inner peacefulness.  These are what I share with you today.

Care of Creation 11: Church and State

"To follow Christ is to be engaged in such a way that one’s stance of being in the world is unitive not divisive. Eucharistic life sacramentalizes the vocation of whole-making by offering one’s life for the sake of drawing together that which is divided. Eucharist is being bread broken and eaten for the hungry of the world. It is the food that gives strength to make every stranger beloved, the “yes” of our lives to God’s mysterious cruciform love. What happens to us must be done by us. [Eucharist] requires death to the old self that refuses to embrace another and openness to the other as part of oneself. Whole-making is the desire to be part of a greater whole, and Eucharist sacramentalizes the whole…Jesus’ whole-making is self-surrender for a greater good, and anyone who makes whole by self-surrender for a greater good is following Jesus.” --Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 67-69 

Today I draw together that which is divided by politics.  I believe in the American way of keeping Church and State separate.  The Church is about communion and actions based on Eucharistic values and the teachings of Jesus Christ.   The State is about governing society, protecting the citizens and providing for those who cannot provide for themselves.  Although the Church and State can be drawn together effectively in an individual's life, as I am doing today, when they intermingle in the public rhetoric, they often clash horribly and create more confusion and division.

I take time to read the political opinions of all parties with candidates in the upcoming elections and various positions on the measures up for consideration.  I am grateful for the sacrifices people have made so that I have the right to vote.  I take it as a serious duty.  

I am an independent voter.  Every election I try to consider all the possibilities with an open mind and make the best choice based on my own analysis of the candidates' character, their voting records and their stated positions.  Lately, the election season has become so sullied by deceitfulness and hatefulness, it is a most unpleasant business.  It is harder and somewhat disgusting sorting the honest opinions from the deceit and rhetoric.  I consider the endorsements of organizations whose values I share, but I make up my own mind without discussing it.  Many Americans follow a similar process.  We are the "silent majority."  We do vote, we just don't talk about it much.  When we do talk about it, it isn't to parrot or dispute a particular party line.  Although I value the right to vote and take it as a serious civic duty, I dislike the election season because of the divisiveness it generates.  Hateful political rhetoric poisons the atmosphere and sickens society.  I am on guard, but I do my duty toward the State as seems best to me.  I think the place of the Church in the election season is to offer the Sacraments that soothe the spirit and heal the sickness, not to add to the confusion and disease.          

Mariological Society of America Photo Album

Free slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Harp and Piano Concert

Sharing an Audio Link to harp and piano concert by Maria and Markus Stange.  You may need to create an account and click on the red S to enable java script for the page a few times to get it to load properly.  I'm looking for a better way to share audio for free, but for now this is the best way I've found.

Marian Devotion of Dominican Foundresses

View YouTube video of my presentation on Marian Devotion of the Dominican Foundresses at the annual meeting of the Mariological Society of America to be published in the 2012 edition of Marian Studies.

Care of Creation 10: Birth of Christ

"There is no birth of Christ, however, without the Spirit.  It is the Creator Spirit who continues to breathe new life in evolutionary creation, who weaves together the cosmic body of Christ.  The Spirit is the “holon maker”, the One who breathes new life, generates new love, searches for new future by uniting what is separate or apart, by healing and making whole.  Where there is the Spirit, there is the divine Word expressed in the rich variety of creation, and where there is the Spirit and Word there is the fountain fullness of love.  Christ symbolizes this unity of love; hence, the fullness of Christ is the creative diversity of all that exists held together by the Spirit of luminous love God." -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 70-71

 

The place where I need healing or to be made whole by the Spirit in my life is in relationships that are broken or strained by misunderstanding, misuse, disrespect or disinterest.  Although I have an openness to all people, I also find that I am less willing to be open when past encounters leave me feeling wounded.  The Spirit heals this on a deep level so that in my heart of hearts there is forgiveness and I can move beyond the hurt to place of peace.  But the human encounter sometimes lags behind the Spirit in these matters and new hurting happens.  We are such fragile creatures, we human beings.  Hurting each other with or without intention on a daily basis.  In this we are united.  We are all wounded and all need the Spirit to become whole so that we can be bearers of the Word for others in need.  The Spirit works in the human encounter to make us whole.  This is the birth of Christ and the breaking of the bread in our daily lives.  A pause for thanksgiving.

Care of Creation 9: Universal Diversity

“A Eucharistic community should be a new energy field, a new pattern of relatedness; the joy of being a Eucharistic people is the renewal of energy for the sake of transforming relationships in the cosmos.  To be Christian is to be in relationships that promote the flourishing of life.  We might think of these new relationships as morphogenetic fields.  Jesus establishes new energy fields of compassion, inclusivity, healing, forgiveness, peacemaking, mercy and justice.  As the Christ, human energy is now integrated with divine energy throughout the cosmos.  The yes of the Christian to the body of Christ is a yes to life in the cosmos, to the earth, the planets and stars, to the diversity of creation and all peoples, to the many religions that seek the ultimate ground of being.  The Christian says yes to all of these because all are brought together in the unity of Christ.” -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 100-101

I am empowered by the Eucharist because of the transformative power of Jesus Christ who heals me and frees me to be his presence alive and active in the world.  This daily miraculous event is everlasting.  It takes me out of my own small world situation and inserts me in the greater truth that has been unfolding since the beginning of time throughout the universe. 

Care of Creation 8: An Array of Miracles

“God’s gracious love sustains the evolutionary movement toward ever-deepening life. Jesus burst forth on the evolutionary scene not because of sin but because of love. God’s love becomes explicit awareness in the person of Jesus. The cosmos has a goal. It is oriented toward a new future. Now God is present in history in the everyday world of life.”-- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ P 58
 

I can live from that deep center of love today by tapping into the spiritual resources God has planted within me from the beginning and sharing out of that deep center with others.  I know that this the signs of God's love accompany me and bring hope to others, and the signs of God's love that accompany others gives hope to me.  It is a communal blessing we share whether we are in close proximity to one another or not.  It is a mystical reality that reaches across metaphysical, material, spiritual and emotional boundaries to bring about new life in an array of daily miracles.  

The Flowers of Mary

At our Motherhouse we are journeying together with young women discerning a call to religious life.  I introduced them to the traditional May devotion that honors the Blessed Virgin Mary by meditating on her virtues represented in flowers traditionally associated with her. You can view it on The Teknosista Channel.

Care of Creation 7: Cloud Control

“Meditation helps loosen the grip of the sense of self that experiences separation and disconnection and facilitates a shift to the place of witness where the subjective self is observed. This observation lessens the identification with that sense of self, enabling the person’s perspective to expand.  It is a practice that allows us to place ourselves in the hands of the uncontrollable.  In that place of non-duality, in that place of unity in which we cease to know ourselves as separate from all that is holy, we are transformed.”  Judy Cannato, Field of Compassion p 129

When I observe and witness my meditation practices (without judgment) I see that my desire for control is unconscious.  The word control comes from Middle English controllen and  Anglo-Norman contreroller.  The word originates from Latin contrarotulare which meant to check against the roll.  Those of us with English ancestry have a high value for keeping things under control.  The English refer to it as "keeping a stiff upper lip."  We Anglo Americans call it being  easy-going.  I know it is futile for me to try to avoid controlling anything when I am meditating because then I start trying to control my tendency to control. I make lists of things not to control and check myself against lists to see how I'm doing.  You can see how this would be counterproductive!  The best I can do is to notice this tendency in myself and let it go.  I say to myself, "Aha!  A list is emerging...good-bye list, be gone!" and I let the clouds take it away.  

After much practice, the lists have gotten used to being sent into the clouds and have given up coming to me when I'm meditating.  BUT I'm not giving the list making over to God either because I don't want to think that God is about control.  In my view there is no gigantic heavenly list by which God is keeping track of us all and checking up on us for some reckoning day.  To me God is always and everywhere about loving and creating the good that will surpass all human understanding and amaze us to the roots of our being.  That's something I can meditate on endlessly ... that is, when I'm not busy making lists.       

Care of Creation 6: New Heaven and New Earth

New Heaven and New Earth

Death is integral to who God is—self-giving love.  The giving up and handing over of oneself is the generation of new life; the self-emptying of the Father is the life of the Son.  Without death there is no fullness of life; hence, death is integral to life.  The whole Christian message based on death is simply this:  without death there is no new life.  Everything living dies and everything that dies lives.  In the world of nature, everything is contingent on death.  Because of death the natural world sustains new life.  Death is what makes life possible; it is necessary to the evolution of life because it is the letting go of isolated existence for the sake of greater union.” --Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ p 77

When I consider my death, I realize that Christ is my hope.  I am not afraid of death because of my faith and hope, but I can't say I'm ready for it.  I prepare for my death by learning to "let go" throughout my life.  I work at letting go of material things and letting go of my ego's need to be in control.  I see this will take a lifetime!  I do work at it and pray for the grace to do it, but I see I have a ways to go still to really be ready to die.  Someone said it isn't death that frightens people so much as dying, and I think that is true.  Jesus teaches us that there is no way of knowing when those last moments will come.  They will come "like a thief in the night."  I strive to be ready whenever those last moments come.  I trust that what lies beyond the grave will be even more amazing than anything I can imagine in this life.  I hope we will all see it together one day.    

Care of Creation 5: One in the Depth of God's Love

“Jesus sought to create wholes where there were divisions—whole people, whole communities, wholesome living—for the glory of God.  When we sin, we “miss the mark” or we live out of focus, promoting “dis-ease” in the cosmos; relationships are broken, violence ensues, and we become disconnected from one another and from the earth.  The health we seek requires concrete relations of compassion, peace and forgiveness; it requires attentiveness to people, earth, sun, moon and stars, seeing within each created being the divine goodness, beauty, and wisdom.  A healthy cosmos requires healthy people who live in openness, compassionate love, and receptivity to others, accepting others as part of self because we are one in the depth of God’s love”.   -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 65

Ways I live disconnected, out of focus are…when I act out of a desire to please others rather than seeking to bring about the greater peace.  The peaceful solution is sometimes elusive.  What seems to be the peaceful solution may really be just doing what someone I love indicates will be most pleasing, caving in to what I want in the moment, or even blindly obeying an authority figure who may themselves be "off the mark."  The ramifications of those actions are sometimes far-reaching and hard for me to untangle.  At those times I feel disconnected because I don't know what will help the situation even after recognizing what went wrong.  These are situations I take to God in prayer and trust knowing that God is never disconnected and I am connected to God.

Being unfocused is not always a negative.  I learned this as a technique when I was a sailboat skipper.  In order to see the marker way out on the horizon, you have to let your eyes go a bit unfocused.  Focusing too hard on the horizon creates a blind spot and the marker will always elude you even if you can see brief flashes of it.  A relaxed gaze reveals the marker clearly and you can find the right direction from it.  So, there is a value in being unfocused in order to find the way.  

Being disconnected has a similar value.  For me there is more of a problem in being overly connected than being disconnected.  I find I need to purposely "disconnect" to sort out my emotions and reflect on deeper meanings.  

    

Ways I can become more healthy are by moderating my desire for connection with my need for a healthy degree of disconnection.  I also need to use good judgement in choosing how and what to be connected with.  I am most healthy when I focus in moderation.  Not focusing at all leaves me vulnerable to stagnation and focusing too hard makes me blind to the truth right before me...sometimes exactly where I am looking, but am unable to see it.   

On a cosmic level I know that I am always connected to all the rest of creation.  I know this in an intuitive way and do not try to control or employ my own conscious awareness of that reality in order to direct the actions of others.  I let that awareness of being  deeply connected and loved seep in and heal me so that I can be a healing presence for others.

Care of Creation 4 - Humility, Love and Courage

“Resurrection happens NOW or it does not happen at all.  It happens in us and around us, in soul and history, in nature and universe.  Every act of death and resurrection is an act of new creation, an evolution toward greater unity.  The whole evolutionary universe is birthing of Christ through the power of the Spirit, who is the power of wholeness for the whole cosmos.  Since we are the continuation of Christ in evolution, the positive direction of evolution depends on our choices and actions.  In Christ, biological evolution is fulfilled in its potential for God.  We give ourselves to Christ and to his cause and values, which means not losing the world but finding the world in its truest reality and in its deepest relation to God.”      -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ p 96

I feel my choices and actions are an act of new creation when I am conscious of giving life to another through my presence, thoughts words or actions.  This can take surprising forms but it is more easy for me to assess in how another receives what I am giving.  That is why communication is so crucially important.  Creation is not for its own sake alone, it is all for love and about love which is the medium through which God brings about redemption.  But love is a kinetic energy radiating outwardly and inwardly, upwardly and downwardly all at once.  Those of us who are in care giving ministries know that what is given is not always received as it was intended...and what is given unintentionally is sometimes just the thing that is needed.  There is great humility in this.  We improve our participation in the redemption by growing in conscious awareness of how our attempts are received and what affects they bring about.  I have always found that I get better results when I act with humility, love and courage.  Jesus makes up the difference.  Thank God for that!

Comment from Anselm Nye

I was most interested in comments on the influence of the Stone constitutions on US Dominican congregations - I was aware of all of these with the exception of their use by the Elkins Park Sisters - and it's something I mention in summing up the legacy of the current English Congregation in the final chapter of my book.  The 1855 edition was only half the work, there was no section on government and it was more like a compendium of Dominican lore than law.


The Sisters commissioned me to prepare their history for publication in 2009 and "A Peculiar Kind of Mission: the English Dominican Sisters, 1845-2010" was published in October.  

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Peculiar-Kind-Mission-Dominican-1845-2010/dp/0852447639/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333961122&sr=1-1 



One thing that interested me in reading M. Thomas Lillis' history of your congregation was Mother Pia's attitude to amalgamation.  The amalgamation of the five small English groups in 1929 was something of a disaster and was handled very badly by Father Louis Nolan. Certainly the Australian Dominicans had heard about the negative effects.  It's clear that there was an underlying suspicion on the part of some US Prioresses General that Nolan's establishment of the Conference would bring in "amalgamation by the back door".  I wonder whether part of their unease was caused by rumors of the unhappy consequences of the English amalgamation.  If there are any references in your archives to the English amalgamation I would be most interested to hear.


Wishing you all the blessings of Easter,
Anselm Nye

Care of Creation 3 - Redemption Right Now

Redeemer Christ

“If the nature of love is unity and evolution is process toward greater unity, then sin is resistance to unity.  It is the refusal to participate in the web of life...the refusal to change and grow.  It describes the personal history of one who was created for communion and refuses it.  Sin is the refusal to accept responsibility for those to whom we are connected.  Sin is the refusal to be a person of true relationship, which results in a broken human community and in abandonment of the natural world.  The desire to overcome sin is the desire to overcome all obstacles that stand in the way of the accomplishment of God’s creative aim, which is the fullest possible sharing of life and love between God and creation.” -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 57

It is our belief that we who enter into relationship with Christ the Risen One, die to sin.  Christ is the one who heals all wounds and rights the balance of relationship throughout all the created world.  We have a responsibility to respond to this generous gift of God with love and to let God grow love in us for the sake of salvation, not for our own gain or credit, but for the greater good of all creation.  When we let the love of God thrum throughout our whole being we can break through the fetters of all that would hold us prisoners of our sinful human condition.  We are undeserving of this gift and yet it is ours.  The humility that comes with accepting this reality is what prompts us to promise to love without condition, to give up all we might be tempted to call our own, and to listen to the groans of a world still enslaved in order to participate in the redemption happening right now in our midst.  

Care of Creation 2 - Living Water

Arctic Ocean

“The history of the universe is a sacred story in sacred time. It is a story of God who comes to be in what God is not. Creation always bears in its innermost being a divine relation, and yet it is not divine. God is the future plenum of all that can be, and yet God is dynamically interior to creation, gradually bringing all things to their full being by a single creative act spanning all time. Because creation is relationship, God acts from within, at the core of each element, by animating the sphere of being from within. God therefore, imparts to creation its inner dynamism of love and hence relationality”.  -- Ilia Delio, The Emergent Christ pp 46-47

I am aware of God animating the sphere of my being when...I pray at the oceanside.  The rhythm and motion of the waves helps me to feel at peace and puts the rest of my life in perspective.  There is something tangible of the divine relationship in the ocean and the shore and their interaction...the give and take that reshapes each other.  In that mutual embrace that is both soothing and dramatically passionate I find a renewed sense of love agape. For this reason too, I love swimming.  The movement of the water around me and within me reminds me of being in what is inside of us in the Eucharist.  Christ above me, below me, beside me, within me and all around me.  Water is like that too and makes that tangible for me.  I think it is no accident that the prime Sacrament of our faith involves Water or that Christ is the Living Water.  For this I am grateful today.       

YouTube from Congress

The Religious Ed Congress did put up some great videos.  Go to Religious Ed Congress YouTube. 

Ten Things You Didn't Know about Jesus

Iona Community

John Bell from the Iona Community in Scotland shared some hymns with us and spoke about insights that can be gathered when the community does the exegesis together.  Rather than relying solely on an intellectual approach that relies on Aramaic, Greek or Hebrew interpretations, he has gathered some remarkable insights in third world countries where people who love the Word bring their own life experiences to understanding what the world was like in the time of Jesus.  In fact their world view is similar because of their poverty and the oppressive conditions in which they live.  In some ways they can do exegesis better than a well-educated scripture scholar training in Chicago or Oxford.  He gave some great examples of this from his new book and asked us to buy the book to find out more.  After hearing his presentation which was filled with fresh new ways of thinking about the world of Jesus, I do want to read his book, Ten Things They Never Told Me About Jesus.

Mary Magdalen, Voice of Hope

Magdalen

Sister Barbara Reid talked about Mary Magdalen as one who ministered with the disciples, providing for the ministry from her own resources.  She gave scriptural references for the birthing hope in the Gospel account of John and how the women in the early church ministered in a variety of ways including financial support.  The main ministry of Mary Magdalen after Jesus healed her of her inner demons was as a preacher of the Resurrection.  Through this ministry she helps to move the disciples from fear to inner peace through forgiveness and holding fast to one another.  Sister Barbara asked us to reflect on how we as leaders birth hope through processes of forgiveness and reconciliation.  New possibilities are opened up when we consider images of death and resurrection in scripture that are connected to the concept of birthing.  Examples are found in John 2:1-11; 3:3-8; 4:10; 7:37-39; 16:21-22; 19:34; 19:40; 20:1; and 20:22. 

Will There Be Faith

Thomas Groome presented material from his new book Will There Be Faith.  He reflected deeply on the Lord's question about whether or not he would find faith in the people when he returned.  His book poses questions about how the secularization of society has all but dissolved the church in Europe.  It is no longer that the faith is being driven out of its birthplace in Italy, Greece, France and Germany.  People are utterly indifferent to faith.  In Ireland and the United States, where the faith still exists, it is under assault by the secular culture and discredited by scandal.  He asked us to think about what gives us hope and what we personally can do to ensure there is faith in the future.  Some of the things that the audience claimed gave them hope were the Eucharist, their own children, Jesus, the gathering in Anaheim and the joy they find in their own faith.  The ways people hope to ensure faith will continue is by teaching the Sacraments, sharing the joy of their faith with others, being people of peace and sharing their love of Jesus and the faith. 

Stay Here, Keep Watch with Me, Watch and Pray

Eucharist of Bread and Fish

Sister Barbara Fiand spoke about two different Eucharists in the early Church...the Eucharist of the bread and the fish and the Eucharist of the bread and the blood.  Early Christians remembered Jesus with the bread and fish and the sign of the fish came to represent Christ for them.  The Eucharist of the bread and the fish is about the abundance of God's merciful love.  Jesus taught through multiple examples that by sharing our meal with everyone all will be fed and the kingdom of peace will prevail.  The disciples on the road to Emmaus failed to recognize him after the Resurrection until the breakfast of bread and fish.  Later when the early Christians broke bread in secret to remember Our Lord the places where they gathered were marked with the sign of the fish.  For the Eucharist of the bread and fish no priest was needed.  Jesus was remembered by the community as one body with no one at the head but Jesus.  The Eucharist of the bread and the blood came out Greco-Roman rituals of sacrifice.  As Christians began to organize themselves into a state religion under Constantinople they incorporated some of the traditions of the sacrifice of the polytheistic Roman culture.  A priest was needed to preside at these Eucharists and the bread and wine became symbols of the body and blood of the sacrifice.

She made the point that the Eucharist is a communal remembrance of the Lord's supper and his teaching about all being fed.  She indicated that Jesus time and again spoke about the need to include all people, especially the most marginalized, most ostracized.  Today there is a danger that the Church is falling into an elitist attitude about the Eucharist stemming from the sacrificial rite of the body and blood and who is "worthy" or "not worthy" to receive.  She implied that the early Christian communal Eucharist of the bread and the fish is an alternative to consider. 

The Voice of the Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd

In his lecture on the Voice of the Good Shepherd, Reverend Ronald Rolheiser talked about hearing God's voice in expected and unexpected places.  Shepherds in the time of Our Lord pastured their flocks together in one fold at night and in the morning they separated their sheep from those of the other shepherds by calling them out by name.  The sheep who heard the voice of their shepherd and followed him were safe but those who did not were likely to be slaughtered that day by whomever they followed.  Rolheiser reflected on how in his own childhood he internalized the voice of his parents and that internal voice was confirmed by the media of the day, his pastor, his teachers and later in the seminary he learned to use that voice in teaching and preaching others.  Today children often have conflicting parental voices and the media presents even more disruption, the voice of the pastor is just one in an array of discordant voices.  By the time a child grows to adulthood in our culture today, it is a real challenge to find an internal voice that is a voice of trusted authority and young people lack the ability to build a positive sense of authentic self.  Reverend Rolheiser went on to describe some of the false voices that distract young adults from hearing the voice of the good shepherd and the danger that places them in.  

I Can't Tell it All

I just returned from three days at the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim with our Vocations Team.  The theme of the days was Voice Infusing Life.  Because the focus was on voice, I wanted to upload audio clips to this blog to share the voices of the Congress with you, but I discovered the material is copyrighted and cannot be recorded and shared.  So, I'm back to the stream of consciousness journaling mode.  Tonight I'll upload brief summaries of the sessions I attended with Fr. Ronald Rohlheiser, Sr. Barbara Reid, Sr. Barbara Fiand, Thomas Groome and Fr. John Bell as well as some overall impressions of the event.  I did video liturgical movement and song from one of the liturgies.  The title of the hymn "I Can't Tell it All" refers to the way I feel about all that Jesus has done for me in my life.    

Influence of Stone Constitutions

English Dominicans

Archivists of other Dominican Congregations in the United States confirmed that their founders and foundresses consulted the Constitutions of the Dominican Sisters at Stone when writing constitutions for their congregations.  Lois Hoh of Sinsinawa wrote that Mother Emily Power traveled to Stone, England on several occasions, staying with the sisters there and collecting their wisdom regarding a Constitution to replace the one prepared by their founder, Father Samuel Mazzuchelli in 1847. The Sinsinawa constitutions approved by the Holy See in 1888 were based intentionally and largely on the wisdom of the Stone Sisters. Pat Corr of San Rafael wrote that Father Villarrasa guided the foundress of the San Rafael Dominicans, Mother Mary Goemare to the Constitutions of the English Dominican Sisters.  These were "brought over" and adopted on Feb. 2, 1859. Mary Erica Burkhardt of Amityville wrote that Mother Antonine Fischer was elected in 1895 under the Rule of the Second Order, but when the Holy Cross Congregation changed to the Third Order in 1888 they used Constitutions modeled on the Constitutions of the Dominican Sisters of Stone.  Marian Sartain reported that the Nashville Dominicans adopted the unabridged Constitutions of the Dominican Sisters of Stone from 1886-1889.  Later a version was published for use of Third Order Dominican sisters in the diocese of Nashville.  This version was identical in its first part to the Stone text but Part II clarified the status of the community as a diocesan institute.  Suzanne Noffke said that Fr. Jodocus Birkhaeuser wrote the 1892 Constitutions for the Dominican Sisters at Racine after consulting the Constitutions approved for Stone in 1877.  He wrote in 1893 that he hoped to go there before returning from a trip to Europe, but it isn’t known whether he did.  Columbus archivist, Rosalie Graham, reported that the Rule of the Congregation of St. Catherine of Sienna of Stone, England was in use by the St. Mary of the Springs Congregation for some years.  Esther Aherne said that when preparing to write their Constitutions their foundresses did read the Constitutions of the Dominican Sisters of Stone. They also consulted Mother Pia in San Francisco who gave Mother Thomasina her copy of their constitutions as a guide.  Carolyn Crebs of Elkins Park said that at the beginning of their foundation in 1882, the Dominican Rule according to the Constitutions of the Dominican Sisters of the Order of Penance of Langres, France was used, but when their constitutions were adapted for the Third Order in 1889 those of Stone, England were studied.  The final Constitutions borrowed parts from the Constitutions of Langres, France and Stone, England. The governance section was taken entirely from the Stone England Constitutions.

Mother Pia Visiting Stone

Dominican Convent at Stone

In September of 1904 Mother Pia followed up on the Master General recommendation and visited the Dominican Motherhouse in Stone, England.  The community made an excellent impression on her.  She wrote, “A very good spirit reigns in this community.  Very quiet measured demeanor, but not cold; rather plain, mild, friendly.  The Mothers understand different languages; are prudent and sensible.  Very monastic; very sisterly.  Towards superiors, the Sisters are not shy.  In Mother Philomena Dormer, provincial, Mother Pia found a kindred spirit with whom she could speak freely.  “She agrees with me regarding Breviary, Domestic Sisters, Enclosure.  I feel greatly relieved that others think as I do.  I do not want to insist on my opinion, for I trust little in myself.  But I thank God for the relief afforded me by this interview.”  Mother Philomena encouraged her to seek papal approbation for the Congregation.  Mother Pia left England greatly reassured.  “I profited by this trip to England.  There I found truly genuine religious, uncontaminated by the Zeitgeist.  Educated but simple.  Nothing of the butterfly spirit.”

Constitutions for the Third Order

Mission San Jose Motherhouse

The Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose followed the Constitutions of the Holy Cross Congregation in Brooklyn from the time they arrived in California in 1876.  These were the Constitutions of the Second Order Dominicans written by Humbert of the Romans, fifth Master General of the Order (1254-1263) and updated in 1847 for the Dominican Sisters in Ratisbon, Germany.  After the separation from Brooklyn the foundress of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose, Mother Maria Pia Backes wrote to Racine, Speyer, San Rafael and Stone requesting copies of their constitutions for study.   In November of 1894 she typed the first draft comprised of two parts.  Part I was an English translation of the constitutions approved by the Holy See, August 14, 1874 for the Sisters at Speyer, Germany and Part II was from the constitutions approved by the Holy See for the Sisters at Stone in 1877.  Archbishop Riordan approved the constitutions for Sisters at Mission San Jose in 1895 and Mother Pia sent them to the Most Reverend Andrew Fruehwirth, Master General of the Dominican Order.  At the same time Mother Pia asked the advice of the Master General regarding convents in Europe she should visit to find examples of authentic Dominican life.  The Master General sent word back recommending Speyer and Stone as two of the best examples of Dominican observance in Europe and she resolved to visit them on her next trip to Europe.

During her Last Illness

Mother Margaret

Mother Margaret had a childlike familiarity with Our Lady and conversed with her daily in prayer.  During her last illness, when suffering from excruciating agonies in the back, Margaret one day said, “I am almost ready to fall out with the Blessed Virgin.  Tell her that if she had a bad back I would soon cure her if I could.”  Still she remarked what a blessing she felt in praying to her in this way.  She realized others might think she took liberties but she knew the Blessed Mother understood her when she spoke in this way as a Mother understands her own child.  Mother Francis Raphael Drane wrote, “Such language is beyond criticism, for it is the language of the heart, and has in it something of that ‘heavenly rhetoric, against which the world cannot hold argument.’  For cold-hearted as that world proverbially is, it has not yet claimed to reduce the language of love to the rule and compass of its own sobriety.”

Our Lady of Victories

Pilgrimage at Stone

During her visit to Belgium in 1856, a magnificent carved oak statue of Our Lady of Victories, exhibited in the town-hall of Bruges, attracted her admiration, and, to use her own expression, she “ invited her to Stone,” though well aware that the cost of such a work of art was far beyond her means. Some years afterwards, however, this statue was brought to England, and, through the munificence of a generous benefactor, was presented to the Community. Mother Margaret s delight was absolutely childlike; Our Lady had accepted her invitation; and when the difficulty of locating so large a piece of carving in the church of Stone caused some to suggest its removal to Stoke, she answered decidedly,“ No, on no account ; it was to Stone I invited her, and to Stone she has come.” As it was found impossible to find a place for the image in the church, she began to pray, “that she might know where Our Lady would like to go.” She wished much to build a chapel for the purpose, and went about repeating to herself, “ Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn out seven pillars.” At last St Anne’s Chapel, in the garden, was assigned as the temporary resting-place of Our Lady of Victories, until such time as the contemplated sanctuary could be reared. The designs for this sanctuary, as they existed in her imagination, were superb indeed. All England was to come there in pilgrimage; it would be a great act of reparation for all the insults offered to the Mother of God.  This image now called Our Lady of Stone resides inside a great lantern on a small hill in the garden at Stone.  Pilgrimages in honor of Our Lady are made by local school children in May.

Drane, Augusta Theodosia (Mother Francis Raphael), Life of Mother Margaret Mary Hallahan: Foundress of the English Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena of the Third Order of St. Dominic, Longmans, Green and Co., New York, New York, 1929, p. 325.

Delirium of Protestant Bigotry

Effigy of Pope

Mother Francis Raphael Drane wrote about the hostile sentiment Mother Margaret encountered and the great anguish she felt as a result.  “It is not to be told what pain she endured when any of the ordinary phraseology of Protestant disrespect to the Mother of God reached her ears. Everyone will remember the delirium of Protestant bigotry which broke out all over England on the appointment of the Catholic hierarchy. No Catholic could at that time drive through London without having his eyes and ears shocked by some blasphemous inscription or disgraceful cry. Cars containing effigies of the Pope, the Cardinal, and the great enemy of souls were paraded through the metropolis as in the days of Shaftesbury and the effigies were afterwards committed all together to the flames. In the city of Exeter, the emblem of our Redemption itself was added to the bonfire which was lighted before the gates of the Bishop's palace. But it was reserved for the Protestants of Bristol to conceive the idea of a yet more horrible exhibition. The proposal was made to dress up an effigy of the Blessed Virgin and flog it through the streets of the city. It is indeed difficult to imagine how a thought so utterly revolting could have suggested itself to any, even nominally, Christian mind, were it not evident that these outbreaks of popular fury often bear the signs of an infernal inspiration.  But when the tidings of what was contemplated reached Mother Margaret, it nearly killed her. She wrung her hands as in agony, and turning her face to the wall, exclaimed repeatedly, ‘I shall die, I shall die; oh, my Mother, I shall die!’ In a letter written at the time she expresses her anguish, and adds, ‘I must go out and rescue her, I fear I shall not be able to restrain myself.’ And she urged some of the Catholic gentlemen to take the law into their own hands, and ‘to go out and fight for the Blessed Virgin,’ wondering how any could be so tame-spirited as to keep at home.  

Drane, Augusta Theodosia (Mother Francis Raphael), Life of Mother Margaret Mary Hallahan: Foundress of the English Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena of the Third Order of St. Dominic, Longmans, Green and Co., New York, New York, 1929, p. 325.

Definition of the Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception - December 8, 1854

Mother Margaret believed that the Congregation at Stone owed all that it was able to acquire in the way of virtue and property to the Blessed Mother.  She repaid Our Lady with constant devotion and celebrated all the feasts of Our Lady by giving her a present.  “Sometimes it was a new vestment, or other church ornament, sometimes an orphan received gratis. In speaking of Our Lady, all the childlike simplicity of her nature came out without restraint. She would call her the most endearing names, and say how much she would like to dance before her.”  Mother Margaret early on made a bargain with the Blessed Mother that she would work for her, and in exchange the Blessed Mother would take care of her soul; so she was able to go on and do what she had to do, and leave her soul to Our Lady.  On the occasion of the definition of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, Margaret was overjoyed.  She ordered that the great bell of the convent be rung for two hours in thanksgiving and arranged for the congregation to celebrate the pronouncement with a solemn Triduo.  The quadrangle was illuminated for the occasion at considerable expense.  These extravagant gestures were simply incomprehensible to non-Catholic minds.  But, Margaret saw them as a way of expressing gratitude to the Blessed Virgin for all they had.  Receiving a visit once from a Catholic of high rank, whose devotion to the Blessed Virgin was well known not to be of the warmest kind, this lady expressed her surprise at all that Mother Margaret had done, and, as was not uncommon in such cases, inquired whence she could obtain the means for accomplishing such undertakings. Mother Margaret replied emphatically, “Every stone you see here has been laid by the Blessed Virgin.”  

Drane, Augusta Theodosia (Mother Francis Raphael), Life of Mother Margaret Mary Hallahan: Foundress of the English Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena of the Third Order of St. Dominic, Longmans, Green and Co., New York, New York, 1929, p. 324.

The Best Mortification

St. Joseph the Carpenter

In discerning whether a young woman had a true vocation to religious life, Mother Margaret above all looked for a practical sense of self-sacrifice.  Rather than self-mortification through pious practices, young women were needed to do the work of building the kingdom by caring for the sick, educating the young and spreading the faith in a hostile land.  She wrote, “It is no use persons coming to us who are not willing to suffer everything for the salvation of souls. They must have a heroic spirit, and be ready to bear heat, cold, fatigue, and every other inconvenience. It is easier to say that we delight in mean and abject employments, than it is to do them. We have had experience of this, and all would prefer to wear a hair shirt or a chain, than to clean the kitchen, wash, iron, or cook; though God has commanded all to earn their bread in the sweat of their brow. This is quite lost sight of, and is almost looked upon as a disgrace. Yet it is certain that Our Lord in working as a carpenter must have fulfilled the command, and Our Blessed Lady had no servants to wait on her. The more I see of human nature, the more I feel certain that humble and laborious employments are the best mortification, the shortest way to obtain true humility, and to make us have a proper feeling of charity towards the laborious and the poor. We can ill give lessons to others of things we have not ourselves experienced.” 

Drane, Augusta Theodosia (Mother Francis Raphael), Life of Mother Margaret Mary Hallahan: Foundress of the English Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena of the Third Order of St. Dominic, Longmans, Green and Co., New York, New York, 1929, p.178

Care of Creation 1 - Self-Communicating God

“The whole of creation can be seen as a single movement, the one grace-filled self-communicating act of the God who can only be described as incomprehensible holy mystery.  From the beginning God’s intention has been to work through the evolution of the cosmos in such a way that creation itself comes to consciousness.  Rooted in matter, creation has always evolved toward spirit, and in and through the human being—the universe coming into consciousness—spirit recognizes itself.”  –Judy Cannato, Field of Compassion pp 59-61

 

Considering that I live in a world of grace—that I am surrounded, shaped and constituted by grace, the evidence I see that allows me to become more aware of grace is the way in which my elder sisters and those who are burdened by so much suffering and pain are able to carry on with good cheer and graciousness.  I do believe in the paschal mystery that is not just focused on the suffering but the redemption.  Our God and Savior is at work in this throughout all creation, but it is most evident to me in the life of community at St. Joseph Priory.  I, too, find grace in my daily ministry in technology...knowing that it is not so much in having all the answers or the right skills as in having great faith and trust.  By using my intuitive sense that all shall be well I am able bring clarity and peace to situations that seem hopeless or confusing to others.  I credit the divine mystery with this and not my own ability...although I am grateful for the appreciation others show.  The Archangel Gabriel, Patron Saint of Communication, is a special help to me.  I recommend asking for his intercession for all communication difficulties...visible, audible or electronic.

The California Story - Women in Spirit

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Plasmic Cloud

This week the earth was blanketed by a giant plasmic cloud.  How cool is that?!  At Mission San Jose this weekend we have our area assembly, so I won't be adding any new material to my blog.  

I hope to resume that next weekend.  Thanks for staying tuned!

The posts that follow are not in chronological order.  Instead I am grouping them according to the resource.  Think of them as note cards that will later be rearranged once I have them all uploaded.  I try to post several every Saturday.   

Below you will find material from the Life of Margaret Mary Hallahan and the Life of Saint Dominic and Sketch of the Order by Mother Francis Raphael Drane and Dominicans at Home in a Young Nation by the Sister Mary Nona McGreal. Next week I will add material from A Peculiar Kind of Mission, Her Days Unfolded, Our Constitutions and comments from the Dominican Archivists.