2020 CND Visioners of Visitation Province: just wondering ... does anyone come here anymore?...

I try to come in occasionally, though, I have to admit, I haven't in a couple of weeks since we have been on a stand still.

just wondering ... does anyone come here anymore?

An invitation to new ...

Hi,
I may be "telling you more than I know myself" to quote Ruth Penny in Ottawa. But that seems to have not stopped me in the past so here I go.
For me at this point, I recognize God's invitation to what I'll call "balance" - and the pillars of prayer, ministry and community are the poles upon which I choose to place my balance. I see and know and experience God's breathe in me when we are "right in our relationship" each moment of the day and night.
It is Diversity Week at UPEI this week. Wed, we had a Christian Muslim panel here at the Chaplaincy Centre then I co-hosted Trivia night at the pub with the President of the Rainbow Alliance on campus. Diversity ~Balance ~ Pain ~ Conversation ~ Hope. For me, these are "new" and I am glad to be alive and a part of what is.

When I think about the new, I think about a paradigm shift...

1. to move from our human-centered to an earth-centered norm of reality and value. (Thomas Berry)
2. to shift to a new worldview or way of perceiving human existence and consciousness, a perspective that can be described as universal or cosmic. From this new way of being, individuals experience themselves and others as part of ongoing humanity embedded in the creative ground, fulfilling the destiny of evolution. (Judy Cannato)

I realize my response might be a little too "cosmic". In simplistic terms, the new for me in religious life is an invitation to "return" to the Earth as a "participant" in the creative Divine energies of the Cosmos, (not as one exploiting the "land") grounded in contemplation... to be "little humble, and poor." To live in in a field of awe, love, and compassion for all...

invitation to the new

Today I was talking to a member of my own Congregation who is 82 years old, still seeing spiritual direction clients and taking her turn in cooking dinner and designing prayer in her community.

She is going to a community meeting on vocations tonight...she said "I woke up this morning with the thought "we are the new members" - and it kept resounding all day.

What if we were to allow this thought to resonate in us? What would be the implications if we ourselves are actually the new members?

where is "the new?"

Last week I received a process from LCWR that is quite simple and inviting. It is a group process, but the question intrigued me and I wonder if you'd all be interested in making a short response in this blog. It's an invitation to shift our perspective and to start looking for "the new" in religious life; i.e., what is emerging that we couldn't see or that wasn;'t there even a few years ago?

Any takers? I'll return and add my own relfections in a few days.

This past weekend, I had been doing some reflection on our Simplicity of Life booklet with our Illinois Sisters and Associates. The topic for this month was on Creation. I was taken up by the line, “Be Little, Humble and Poor” in relationship to creation. For the first time, and I don’t know if it is because of where I am personally or if it was because of the actual reflection, I felt a convergence in my heart and understood Marguerite’s words to me in a new way.

As a woman and leader of her time, Marguerite lived simplicity contemplatively with great humility and awe. How profound it is to be a leader and humble at the same time! I wonder what the call is for us and what this invitation looks like in a more concrete way as a congregation. (I realize this is the one that touched me the most in the booklet, though, I really do think my reflections have overlapped, just that this month, I was moved into a new place. I am also aware that my reflection will continue to evolve and so I will be in a different place even tomorrow!!!)

Living in Right Relationship, the greening of our lives and ministries, deepening our consciousness of the planet – all of this has been taking a new energy for me. I’m aware that Sue put out a question to each of us about community living and sharing which I don’t wish to loose as we continue this blog. Maybe in time, it will become clearer as to how our living will support each other’s relationships and community direction and life.

I don’t know if living in one house is the answer, though, I too feel the need to “live” and share life with one or two others. This living may or may not necessarily mean living with other cnds. It may be living and collaborating with others from different walks of life with like minds. For me, having a “direction” and collaborating together makes it all possible to live harmoniously…. Specifically, for me, it would be in support of the healing of creation, which includes the healing of humanity. Somehow, this is where I connect with regards to my living out the simplicity that Marguerite suggests. Being little, humble and poor is making choices daily that are countercultural and green. There is so much more I can share about what these choices look like concretely and I’m aware that I’ve written enough for now. May the conversation (and the blog) evolve….