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Letter from the Provincial Team |
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July 16, 2007
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The Provincial Team leads a grateful farewell to Pam Schaeffer (second from right.)
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Taize prayer service
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Practicing the liturgy
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Liturgical dance
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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Many of you have promised your support and prayer for the Provincial Assembly/ Chapter held in Chicago at the beginning of July. We are very grateful and have truly experienced the fruit of everyone’s prayer. Two hundred thirty RSCJs were gathered at Loyola University; we were able to “web- cast” live the general sessions to Kenwood and Oakwood where our sisters spent hours “with us” via this transmission on a big screen!
Our gathering was set in a retreat-like atmosphere with communal prayer in a variety of modes, with silence upon entering the gathering places and with times of quiet reflection built into the schedule. Our prayer experiences included beautiful music, readings from scripture and our founding mothers, a morning meditation with a Buddhist reflection on lovingkindness, an evening of Taize prayer, and several Eucharistic liturgies, during the last of which we feted our golden and diamond jubilarians.
The major themes for this gathering were our spirituality, which is the theme of our General Chapter in 2008, the care for the environment; and how we organize ourselves as a provincial community. Each subcommittee brought forward the work we had done during the year, offering proposals, decisions and commitments for consideration by the whole province. The outcomes, in broad strokes, are:
- Spirituality: During the year we had shared our experience of living our spirituality, and identified expressions which speak of its meaning today. In preparation for the General Chapter we were asked to reflect on the ways our culture shapes our spirituality and our living of it. During our discussions in Chicago we shared our reflections on characteristics of the U.S. culture and their influence on our spirituality. The subcommittee will continue its work during the fall, in dialogue with the members of the province, and have a paper to present to the General Chapter by January 2008.
- Care for the environment: the province voted overwhelmingly to endorse “The Earth Charter” (www.earthcharter.org) and to take concrete steps to live by its principles and make them known, making this statement: “As RSCJ whose ecological vision is rooted in the spirituality of the Heart of Jesus, we commit ourselves to deepen our awareness of our unique roles and responsibilities in sustaining the integrity of our planet and its inhabitants.”
- Province governance: the members of the province voted in favor of developing and piloting a new plan for member participation in the life and direction of the province while keeping in place the current structure of provincial administration and the identity of our geographic “areas.”
Several other matters also were on the agenda:
- a report from the provincial team and staff, highlighting the signs of energy and the challenges we face in the present moment, and updating the province on the progress that has been made in improving our financial picture and the plan for a major gifts campaign over the next five years.
- the election of three delegates from the province to represent us at the General Chapter in July-August 2008, in Lima, Peru. The province elected Barbara Bowe, Lyn Osiek and Ellen Collesano as delegates and Suzanne Cooke and Maureen Glavin as alternates.
It is difficult to put into words the prayerful positive and renewing spirit of this gathering. St. Madeleine Sophie gave the Society the motto, Cor Unum et Anima Una in Corde Jesu. The RSCJ gathered in Chicago last week experienced this as a gift and a treasure to be nurtured. Our two facilitators, religious from other congregations, commented at the end that the RSCJs are very much alive and well!
Love in the Heart of Christ,
Kathleen Conan RSCJ
Anne Byrne RSCJ
Marina Hernandez RSCJ
Paula Toner RSCJ
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