FRIENDS OF CARMEL 2017 the sisters and seasons of reno carmel

Transcription

1 FRIENDS OF CARMEL 2017 the sisters and seasons of reno carmel The contemplative life is a sign and existential sacrament of the continually renewed covenant between God and the people

2 and here we are today! Prayer does not live in books, buildings, and places or even in specific eras but in the hearts of those who have sensed a personal invitation and responded with the consecration of their lives. The women who founded our community were formed in a profound way by this vision, and fashioned for us an inheritance that continues to influence our choices today. The founders achievement is a monastery that has flourished and today is an integral part of the Church Community of Nevada as well as a part of Carmelite communities throughout the United States and the world. A series of entries in the Chronicles of the monastery in the fall of 1962 set a tone and agenda for the years that would shape our community. They read: and here we are today! September 26th said the Iternarium (ancient prayer for a safe journey) for our Bishop who was traveling to Rome for the Council (Vatican II) October 11th...the Council opens December 11th...So now there will be change - that is definite. With the above entries of 1962, we embarked on a journey that continues today. Sr. Joan Sr. Michael Sr. Mary Sr. Maria In a National meeting which took place this past April, Fr. Saverio, our current Father General noted for the assembled sisters: Sr. Sa Ra Sr.Rosemary Sr. Cecelia Sr. Carol Sr. Susan Sr. Ann Sr. Claire Sr. Rosalind Sr.Marie-Louise The present reality of the Order that reflects the present reality of the universal Church makes it very clear to see: it is not time to remain isolated; it is not time to walk alone. It is time to walk together! 2 3 FR. SAVERIO OCD

3 Our transformational encounter with this reality began in those first Post Conciliar years and continues into the present moment. Before this time, the daily or occasional notations differed little from the time Carmelites first began to keep records of life in Carmel. There are the accounts of postulants entering, receiving the habits, being professed, accounts of Reverend Mother s feast days, notable visitors to the monastery, casual visits of the Bishop - not much that would distinguish one Carmel from another. With communities throughout the world, we vigorously took to heart the summons to re-think our life in view of present day conditions and locality. The notations in the chronicles now began to read like a Who s Who in Renewal: to Reno Carmel came FR. BERNARD HARING Father Louis Bouyer, Father David Stanley, Father William Johnston SJ, Father Bernard Haring, Mother Kathryn Sullivan, Father John Gallen - and the list goes on. Courses in communication skills, scripture, liturgy and theology opened the community to one another and to the people of our city through dialogue. New concepts of community government, assumption of personal responsibility and openness to a life of prayer lived in the 20th century emerged. FR. BILL JOHNSTON The Carmel of Our Lady of the Mountains was born in 1954 and re-born under the vision of the Second Vatican Council Cloister expanded to facilitate our transformational encounter with reality poverty expanded to embrace the concept of remunerative work in the PrintShop community governance expanded to move the focus from an individual to each sister with her gifts and insight. Through all these encounters with reality, the contemplative life, re-visioned and re-fashioned, undergirded every innovation. TURNING 90 During this year and in March of the coming year, three of our sisters who have lived this journey, embodied this vision and encountered the transforming reality of the Vatican II Renewal will turn 90 - taken together their years in Carmel number over 200. SISTER MICHAEL In 1956, after 10 years in Indianapolis Carmel, Sister Michael came to Reno to help with the new Foundation the original plan had been to help out for a year. Sixtyone years later, Sister Michael remains a pillar of the community she guided through the Post Council years and to whom she became a Foundation stone of the Carmel of Reno I have been blessed with a long career learning to do things I would never have dreamed of and, hopefully, advancing gracefully into old age. SISTER JOAN (from her blog) Surprised by age a creative journey into my older years My friend and I used to tell each other that we 4 5

4 had to practice for old age. All at once I m there! I began keeping a journal two years ago as this trip is as interesting to me at least as any trip down the Danube. I m reporting back to you as someone who s been there and decided to stay. Only instead of telling you what sites to visit and what shoes to wear I share my day-to-day journey and as one Bishop used to say, This is not the cruise I signed up for! A friend replied: This aging thing is so funny, isn t it! Some old lady has moved into my house. Don t know who she is, but she s in the mirror every morning when I comb my hair! Certainly not me! I m ready for a new start with so many things just need more energy! SISTER MARY When you approach the Monastery from almost any road in Reno, the first things you will notice are the trees, which cover the property. When you look up and see the trees, think of Sister Mary. Like a modern day Johanna Appleseed, Mary spent years planting, watering, caring for the trees which create a beautiful atmosphere on La Fond Drive. For decades she carried buckets to each tree, as, at that time, we did not have linked hoses that would assure their survival in the desert. She regrets that she is no longer able to care for them, but they are a lasting legacy to her dedication. Her dedication also extended to tending to the Sisters in her capacity as a Registered Nurse. And the supermarkets of Reno will always remember Mary the Shopper as she daily made the rounds stocking the Kitchen. HISTORIC CARMELITE MEETING The meeting of the Carmelite nuns in St. Louis at the end of April 2017 was truly historic. There were more than 160 Nuns present at the meeting, and the Father General himself said that he had never been with that many nuns before in his life. There were Nuns from all four North American Carmelite associations, and from nearly all the non-associated Carmels. Photographs of the meeting show the amazing variety of dress. There were Nuns in secular dress, and there were Nuns in a dozen variations of the Carmelite Habit. There were a variety of shades of brown, there were Nuns wearing their Communion veil, there were Nuns whose day veil was held in place with a single pin, and Nuns whose veil was MOTHER THERESE ROCHESTER CARMEL puckered across their coif by a number of pins. There were Nuns with black veils, and, presaging our future, a number of Novices in their white veils, and even a postulant, Barbara, from the St. Louis Carmel. What was lovely was that none of this mattered. We were all Sisters in the truest sense of the word. Throughout the time together there were wonderful first-time meetings and happy reunions among the family of Discalced Carmelite Nuns in the USA. 6 7

5 CLAIRE WITH Cherry Caparas There were Secular Carmelites, and, wherever help was needed, there was Cherry Caparas, a Secular Carmelite from California. With loving heart she organized, patched edges and was present to all in need. Presiding over the Small Group Process was Stephanie Hauge long time friend and Process in Chief Expert,who guided the Sisters through their Small Group sharing. A room in the hotel was transformed into a lovely chapel space, and liturgy booklets had been prepared for the special occasion. When CECELIA (FOREGROUND) WITH CCA GROUP Fr. Saverio celebrated Mass he set the reflection agenda The present reality of the Order that reflects the present reality of the universal Church makes it very clear to see: it is not time to remain isolated; it is not time to walk alone. It is time to walk! To walk together! And it doesn t mean only giving a hand in emergency situations. It means indeed walking together sharing all experiences... it is necessary to form a mentality of walking together, sharing the joys and the sorrows of such a journey, thinking with the categories of a family, overcoming all forms of individualism and closure. ART EFFECTS A TV program, which focuses on the place of art in the Reno community, included a segment on us that faithfully reflected our vision of the printshop as part of our contemplative mission. Very kindly, the moderator began by introducing our work as exquisite greeting cards, and the episode continued with the Sisters own explanation of how we learned to print and the place printing plays in our lives. Their narrative told how the printshop work began with an in house orientation. We did small jobs for friends and produced holy cards and Christmas cards on an aged Multilith, which had been donated. When the Multilith gave out, we purchased our first real press - a new Chief ATF15. The early history of Carmel s printshop always takes account of the story of Harvey s Wagon Wheel Casino. A local business, Silver State Printing (now A. Carlisle), received a very large job from Harvey s - a greater volume than they could accommodate on their machines. In exchange for teaching us how to print, we let them use our newly acquired Chief 15. The Sisters went on to explain our rationale for incorporating this work into our lives: we work to earn our living in solidarity with the people everywhere - we create products we believe in and which share our values. On their own, the producers of the program noted that on all the invoices is a personal message of thanks and prayer which serves to deepen our connections with our customers the heart of why we print. In case you missed the program, you can find it through Google-KNPB RENO ARTEFFECTS EPISODE

6 100 THINGS TO DO IN RENO Our contemporary presence in the Reno community is so taken for granted that we are routinely seen as part of the Church presence in Nevada - recently we were also included in 100 THINGS TO DO IN RENO BEFORE YOU DIE and no one thought that odd. There we are amid the 165 mile Tahoe Rim Trail, Walking in the Footsteps of the Doomed Donner Party, the Casinos and the Downtown Ice Rink. THE INSTITUTE FOR YOUNG DRAMATIC VOICES COMES TO CARMEL When opera lovers think of Dolora Zajick, the composer Verdi immediately comes to mind as this American mezzo-soprano has dominated his compositions since her debut at the Metropolitan Opera 29 years ago. Each morning that she is in Reno, Dolora comes to our chapel to pray Morning Prayer and to be part of our Eucharistic celebration. To hear her pray the psalms sets the day on a path of beauty. LAY MINISTERS In March we hosted a daylong seminar on prayer for the Lay Ministry Formation and Leadership Group of our Diocese. This program prepares the participants by deepening their own faith by a more informed theological and scriptural education. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12 At present Dolora is balancing three careers and paving a way to the future with her Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. The Institute was born of a desire to train young dramatic singers and help them reach the world stage. Enrolled in this year s summer program were no less than six heldentenors, some gifted dramatic sopranos, several outstanding dramatic mezzos and bass-baritones, and at least one genuine Verdi baritone which Zajick feels is the rarest of all voice types. The first Thursday in August the entire Institute came to pray Evening Prayer with us. Joined by friends of the monastery, the young voices 10 11

7 joined in the psalms and hymns and closed with a solo Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence the Amen of Vespers gave way to applause to express our thanksgiving for such a prayerful musical experience. Our thought process through the years has been guided by the belief that tradition is not the only means of teaching the faith but also that believers experience shapes and teaches tradition. Joseph Ratzinger, who became Benedict XVI, wrote of this in a 1967 commentary on Dei Verbum: It is important that the progress of the word in the time of the Church is not seen simply as a function of the hierarchy, but is anchored in the whole life of the Church... The whole spiritual experience of the Church, its believing, praying and loving presence to the Lord and his word, causes our understanding of the original truth to grow, and in the today of faith extracts anew from the yesterday of its historical origin what was meant for all time and yet can be understood only in the changing ages and in the particular way of each. In this process of understanding, which is the concrete way in which tradition proceeds in the Church, the work of the teaching office is one component... but it is not the whole. Doctrine actually develops in the Church. Understanding grows and in doing so, makes the prayer of believers a living, dynamic and essential aspect of the Church s ongoing effort to grasp the fullness of truth. These are the words and thoughts which have inspired our journey, and we thank you for walking with us on this path of life. As companions on the way we hold you, your intentions and all your loved ones in our prayers and ask God to bless you. 12