Thursday: Releasing the Charism

On Thursday, heads and hearts enriched by the words of Sheila Lemieux, Nancy Sylvester and John Dear, we began the work of mapping the path for the next six years. For our opening prayer, we watched a video showing the face of each Sister and Associate who has died since the last Chapter. The images and accompanying music, “standing on the shoulders of those who’ve gone before,” brought tears to many faces in our meeting room.

Chapter Facilitator Joyce DeShano and co-facilitator Jean Alvarez introduced the work of the day, to collaborate toward naming a focus for the work and prayer of the Congregation over the next six years. We gathered suggestions in table groups, then were asked to move to a different table with different people where we listed possible areas for focus or themes.

While we had lunch, Joyce and Jean worked on grouping and sorting the papers presented by the tables. In the afternoon session they told us “from the summaries of the small table groups, it is evident that the two strands of focus from Chapter 2002, Rivers of Peace and Well of Integrity, have evolved into a braided, integrated whole at the Crossing Place.”

From their first presentation and further discussion by the participants, we reached consensus on the major Congregation focus for the next six years:

We are committed to deepening our contemplative commitment to non-violence. The specific language and approach remain to be worked out; it will most likely include a combination of study, prayer and action for non-violence.

Jean and Joyce next asked the group whether one or more specific issues for action should also be adopted by the Chapter, in addition to this overall Congregation focus. There was general agreement that we should look for one issue as a focus for action, especially during our 125th anniversary celebration.

The Chapter will work later on selecting the specific issue.