Associates Fall Circle Process 2018-2019 Personal Reflection p.1-6 Prayer process p.7 Dear Associates, Our Chapter this July ended by affirming a Statement which will give direction to the next six years of our lives as Dominicans. It is a reflection of our deep listening to each other, our longing and desire to surrender to our God of gracious abundance, our willingness to commit to contemplative prayer and living, to embrace prophetic justice and truth, to be more intentional about collaboration, to care deeply and to be the Holy preaching. This statement now leads the Congregation into our future and the Chapter of Elections 2019. It is the lens that will be used reflect and discern who among the vowed members will be called forth into leadership for the next six years. Each of us who embrace the Dominican charism is asked pray with and reflect on this statement personally and communally. How will this statement find a home in me? How might it shape Associate Membership of the future? You are invited to attend the Associates Preaching Circle Meeting on October 21, 1:30-3:00 PM in the DePorres room(first floor), Amityville. While you will not be nominating sisters for leadership, your prayer and presence are a source of hope. May all of us we enter into sacred time of discernment intention and attention that we gave so wholeheartedly at Chapter. May God draw near and accompany us with great tenderness. With joy and hope, The Steering Committee Diane Capuano, Diane Morgan Co-Chairs Jane Creighton, Judy Flanagan, Cathy Smith Liaisons: Mary Pat Neylon and Pat Hanvey 1
Chapter Statement 2018 We Dominicans, called to be signs of joy and hope, surrender ourselves to the God of gracious abundance, unending mercy and love. We commit ourselves individually and communally to contemplative prayer and living. We embrace the call to prophetic justice and Truth. We open ourselves to more intentional collaboration with the larger Dominican family and others. We care deeply for each other and all creation. This is our Holy Preaching. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13 When you reflect on our Chapter Statement, what gives you hope for our future? What skills and leadership will be needed for our statement to flourish? What part/s of this statement speak most deeply to my heart? 2
Allow the following Dominican voices to mingle with your own heart and mind... Our future as women religious will be a global reality, marked by partnerships across congregations and international borders. Our efforts in deep listening, contemplative dialogue, vulnerable sharing, wild dreaming, and mutual acceptance shape our readiness to engage in the unknown ahead. Mary Therese Perez, OP Mission San Jose Intentional contemplative prayer on an international scale will draw us into the depths of the darkness where profound wisdom lives in divine encounter. Together we will gather up the needed insight, compassion, and courage to bolster us as we alleviate the tsunami-like suffering of our world. We undertake this in joyful hope confident that the spirit will move among us and within us to carry the greatest wave of all, God s love and ours, into the mystery of our communion with all. Barbara Blesse, OP Springfield Drive out darkness and spread light. Don t look at your weakness. Realize instead that in Christ... you can do everything. - Catherine of Siena We are broken and imperfect people who are loved by God and called by God. We are called to contemplation and prayer. We are called to be in communion with one another and with all of creation. We are called to do this courageously- with great heart. We may be asked to perfect all we do as far as we are able; to keep practicing, but we aren t called to be perfect. Pat Farrell, OP San Rafael Every day, usually early in the morning, I take time to tap into the stream flowing just below the surface of my mind and heart. And there, by God s grace, I sometimes am permitted to come into a deeper awareness of God s loving presence. Its purpose is not my personal spiritual delight or even growth in virtue, but rather to deepen my relationship with the Living Word that I am called to preach. Pat Twohill, OP Peace Go in confidence, for the Lord will give you the gift of Preaching. You will lack for nothing. -Dominic 3
Some of you I will hollow out. I will make you a cave. I will carve you so deep the stars will shine in your darkness. You will be a bowl. You will be a cup in the rock collecting rain... I will do this because the world needs the hollowness of you. I will do this for the space you will be. I will do this because you must be large. a passage. People will find their way through you. A bowl-people will eat from you and their hunger will not weaken them to death... Light will flow from your hollowing... The round open center of you will be radiant. I will call you brilliant one. I will call you daughter who is wide. I will call you transformed. -Christine Lore Webber Wisdom is bright, and does not grow dim. By those who love her, she is readily seen, and found by those who look for her. Quick to anticipate those who desire her, she makes herself known to them, Watch for her, and you will have no trouble; you will find her sitting at your gate. - Wisdom 6:12-16 4
The purpose of discernment is to know God s will, that is, to find, accept, and affirm the unique way in which God s love is manifest in our life... discernment reveals new priorities, directions, and gifts from God. We come to realize that what we previously seemed so important for our lives, loses its power over us.... it s the faithful living and listening to God s love and direction so that we can fulfill our individual calling and shared mission. Henri Nouwen Days past when I forget the Mystery problems insolvable and problems offering their own ignored solutions jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing their colored clothes: caps and bells and then once more the quiet mystery is present to me, the throngs clamor recedes: the mystery that there is anything, anything at all, let alone the cosmos, joy, memory, everything, rather than void: and that O Lord, Creator, Hallowed One, You still, hour by hour, sustain it. Denise Levertov When a question of discernment arises, set aside time to spend with God in silence whether it is Eucharistic adoration, meditation, contemplative prayer, or centering prayer. Quiet your mind, shed your false self, reveal the passion of your true self trust and wait in hope for God to lead you by the right road rest in God s will. - Thomas Merton Everything I see, hear, touch, feel, taste, speak, think, imagine, is completing a perfect circle God has drawn -Meister Eckhart If you love me, you will keep my commandments. and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth which the world cannot accept because it neither sees nor knows it, but you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. -John 14:15-20 5
We re talking about something in the Church s tradition much more subtle and beautiful you are listening to the voice of the Lord as God echoes in your heart. But usually you just hear a whisper, and we will need help from wise people as we discern what the Lord is saying. We go to the Word of God, to the scriptures and in doing this we hear the voice of the Lord who summons us to freedom and to happiness even if we stumble on the way. Timothy Radcliffe There is a magnet in a seeker s heart whose true north is God. It bends toward the Voice of God and, like sunflowers in the sun, turns all of life toward the living of the Word. This listening heart is pure of pride and free of arrogance. It seeks wisdom everywhere, at all times - Joan Chitister Ten times a day something happens to me like this some strengthening throb of amazement some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness. - Mary Oliver We haven t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. We re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord.- Colossians 1:9-10A As I reflect on my life, our Chapter Statement, and God s path for me now, how am I being drawn, called to live my life authentically? How are we being drawn? 6
Opening Prayer Good and gracious God, you call us to this moment in time. We desire to move into the unfolding future that awaits us. We lean into your abundance and grace. Strengthen us for the journey. Gift us with generosity and tenderness. Allow our unity and deep caring to direct us. Give us courage. Amen. Opening Song You are Always Present by David Haas (or any appropriate music of your choosing) Reading Our mission as leaders for this time is as simple as it is ancient: community. This is what we do best; this is what we have always done through all our ministries. We lead for community. There is nothing more important, more radical, more necessary for us than to lean into our apostolic call to nurture and foster community wherever we find it, wherever we are, with whatever means we have, whether it is prayer, solidarity, presence, sponsorship, or our blessing. Teresa Maya, CCVI, LCWR President 2018 Reading So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to service and pleasing. This is the true worship that you should offer. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God what is good and is pleasing to God. -Romans 12:1, 2 Enter into contemplative sitting Communal Conversation What s in my heart from my reflection and prayer with the materials? How might Associate Membership of the future look like? Closing Prayer Dominican Blessing Sign of Peace 7