Sisterhood

Tags

called, committee, community, courage, generations, hope, light, ministry, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Realization of shifting temperatures cannot be ignored this morning as I recognize that the first hard frost has settled in our back field. The skies are clear, however, as Sisters of St. Joseph begin to gather at our Motherhouse near Albany, NY for our annual “Community Weekend.” A homecoming of sorts, this event is second only in celebration to our Jubilee Day when we mark incremental anniversaries for individual Sisters of 25 to 80 (yes, sometimes 80) years of service and life together. The theme this event that begins this evening is “Who We Are Called To Be for the World Today.”

Wanting to be sure of the schedule for the event, I picked up the September issue of our community magazine where I knew it had been posted. As I looked through the pages, I couldn’t help stopping to read some of the articles again and see the faces of and obituaries of three Sisters who had died in August – two on the same day. That’s the way it is now; our numbers are fast diminishing, but our work in the world goes on and one could easily say it is flourishing. I read again about the goals of our leadership team for the next two years and the work of two thriving committees. Homeland keeps us aware of all things environmental and challenges us to individual and corporate responsibility toward our Mother Earth as does the Justice Committee toward responsible citizenship.

As I flipped through the pages I was aware of how we have grown over my 52 years in community. The world has changed and so have we in terms of our ministries and the reach of our influence. One of the most profound examples of this shift was highlighted in an article by Sister Patricia St. John about her participation in the 18th International Early Childhood Education Seminar in Israel and the International Society for Music Education World Conference in July. As chair of the Early Childhood Commission for the past two years, Patti welcomed participants to the first conference, an event never before held in an Arab City in Israel. At the second event, As Chair of ISME, Patti presented a paper entitled The cultural contexts of early childhood musical experience: Finding commonalities, honoring differences. 

As I finally reached the last pages of the magazine, I saw pictures of some of our retired Sisters and our archivist, readying the contents of our archives to be sent to St. Louis where they will join those of our other provinces. What a story those rooms will tell for the future! And then I smiled at a photo of my favorite college French professor, a brilliant and holy woman of wisdom who inspires me still over all these years.

Who are we called to be in the world today? Just who we’ve always been, I would say. As a Congregation of the great love of God, we do our best, whether in a small town in beautiful Upstate New York or halfway across the world, to be the light that has been passed to us for generations – a light of hope and courage to meet the challenges and opportunities of the world as we find it, day by day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Deeper Side

Tags

called, Confessions, defender of the faith, fundamental rigorism, loved, Peace, relationship with God, St. Augustine, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today we speak of St. Augustine, the son of St. Monica for whose conversion she spent her life praying. (See yesterday’s post) Sometimes conversion is such a turnaround that one can only call the about-face a “fierce” change. (See www.franciscanmedia.org – saint of the day) Augustine became a rigorous defender of the faith at a time of decadence which gave him a reputation for “fundamental rigorism.” Such was my impression in my younger days. I was surprised somewhat later to find a more gentle, beautifully expressed side of the man as he wrote of his relationship with God. Here is my favorite example of such a deep and meaningful encounter.

Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient yet new; late have I loved you. Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you, and upon the shapely things you have made I rushed headlong, I, misshapen. You were with me but I was not with you. They held me back far from you, those things which would have no being were they not in you. You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; you flared, blazed, banished my blindness; you lavished your fragrance, I gasped, and now I pant for you; I tasted you, now I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and now I burn for your peace. (Confessions, x.27)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passion for God

Tags

breathing in God, called, Confessions, deafness, God is within me, hunger, passion for God, Peace, St. Augustine, St. Monica, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, thirst

Having considered yesterday the life of St. Monica, today we meet her son. “Whether acclaimed or condemned in our day for what can be seen as his ‘fundamental rigorism’ against the decadence of his own time” (http://www.americancatholic.org), Augustine’s passion for God cannot be denied. In perhaps his most famous writing, Confessions, his address to God is unsurpassed in depth of feeling and worthy of our reflection today.

Late have I loved You, O Beauty so ancient yet ever new! Late have I loved You. You were within me and I outside…You were with me but I was not with You. Things held me far from You – things which, if they were not in You, were not at all…You called and shouted and burst my deafness. You breathed and I drew in breath – now I pant for You. I tasted and now I hunger and thirst for You. You touched me and now I burn for Your peace.