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Come, Lord Jesus

Advent is offered to us as a time of waiting, a time of quiet pondering, an invitation to open our hearts and lives anew to the coming of Christ. Richard Rhor says that there is a need for an adult Christianity and that the message of Jesus is so urgent that we cannot allow the great feast of Christmas and our Advent preparation be watered down.

Furthermore he says ‘the suffering, injustice and devastation on this planet are too great to settle for an infantile Gospel or Jesus. Jesus taught us that the reign of God or the kingdom of God asks a great deal of us personally- surrender, simplicity, solidarity with suffering.’  Daniel O’Leary says ‘we need a spirituality that discloses the presence of the incarnate God, in the midst of this seeming chaos, a language that gives hope, that helps us to see and recognise moments that resonate and give us glimpses of eternal and universal truth.’

Advent is a time to focus our anticipation on the Eternal and Cosmic Christ, beyond and before the child in the manger. Richard Rhor says ’Jesus is the concrete and personal embodiment of Universal Love. Christ is the blueprint and icon of God’s loving presence and plan—always and everywhere. It is to this adult and cosmic Christ that we say, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).’

From the moment of our universe’s inception, along the slow stages of evolution, and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we see that life is headed somewhere good. We can trust that death simply brings new forms of Love making itself known.

And the Word  became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . For of his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. —John 1:14, 16

This is a journey that invites us to contemplation, Come, Lord Jesus, the Advent mantra means that we begin with an emptiness which essentially means we are wide open to grace, to surprise, to challenge, invited to be creative participants, a call to full consciousness.

Come, Lord Jesus is an invitation to hope, to be awake, to live in the now with expectant faith that Christ will come again into our personal dilemmas and into our suffering world. Our waiting needs to reflect on how we are living our lives in preparation for ‘Christ being born daily’.

Let’s invite Mary to accompany us during this time of Advent

Magnificat of Waiting for the Fullness of Time

My soul reflects quietly on your fullness, and my spirit grows stronger in the hope of your promise, God, my redeemer, because you have filled me with the knowing that you are alive within me.

Yes, day by day through the course of time, my awareness of the call to blessed fulfilment increases for you have done great things in me.

Holy is this time and patience is your gift to all who nurture the seed of your love. You have revealed the hollowness of achievements and have opened in my heart a space filled with simple loving moments.

My hunger you have satisfied, my excess you have ignored. You are my help as I remember your tender love for me, for we have touched each other, you and I and we have made promises.

I remember your tenderness for all that you have begun in me and in those with whom I walk
and I respond with all that I am becoming in this hour and in all times to come.

Ann Johnson

What does it mean to you that God is coming to birth in your life?
What words and phrases caught your attention?
How can you make this prayer your own?

Creator God, you are in the still place at the centre of my being.
May I like Mary, be open to your Word.

Like Mary whose heart was open and true;
Filled with the grace to hope and believe.
Alive to your Spirit, awake to your call
Ready with courage to answer with joy.
Alive to your love         

                                                                                                James Maher MSC

Mary, woman of truth- Be our guide
Mary, woman of strength-Be our guide
Mary, woman of courage-Be our guide
Mary, woman of risk-Be our guide
Mary, woman of openness-Be our guide

We invite you during this Advent to join with all our communities spread thinly across five continents yet held as one in our commitment as CP Sisters and walking into the future with hope, each called to grow as we create a future together.

You might consider writing your own Magnificat and sharing it through the blog. If you have difficulty writing perhaps you can share with someone and record it so it can be shared.
We need the wisdom of all.

As we enter the month of November every year we are invited to ponder two feasts, All Saints and All Souls. Through these feasts in particular and indeed during the whole of November we are invited to remember our deceased brothers and sisters.

This year we have been conscious that many sisters have been bereaved with the loss of family members and we have also to date this year experienced the deaths of nine of our sisters, some expected and some that have sent us into shock, all of whom we miss deeply. We are mindful too of all who have died in the many conflicts around the world, in acts of violence, in famine, in accidents and natural disasters.

In faith we know that our deceased family members and our sisters are still very much with us and part of us yet we are caught into a profound mystery. As autumn is letting go to winter in the Northern hemisphere we have spring opening up to summer in the Southern hemisphere. We also know that in some countries there are only two seasons, wet and dry. This is the mystery of life.

Death confronts us with mystery, it challenges our assumptions and precipitates us into a new place every time we meet it. We can think of death as our final freedom or it can imprison us in fear. Loss through the death of a loved one can take us into a desert space. It is like being in a familiar place but it is, as if, someone has sneaked in overnight and changed all the signposts. We can feel disorientated because we have not been given the new map. Somehow we have to navigate our way around and find new ways of making the journey through life. In faith we know that God will not abandon us even if we must live with uncertainty and unknowing.

When we listen carefully to our restless hearts, we may start to sense that in the midst of sadness there is joy, in the midst of our fears there is peace, in the midst of our longings there is compassion and that in the midst of our loneliness there is the beginning of quiet solitude.

So fall in love with living
Wrestling with the pain and the chaos
Within yourself and within the world
Join the experience of life
Dancing with the angels and the clowns
And may the God of peace and joy
Who is continually making all things new
Embrace you as a partner in the Divine Creating.

We bless ourselves with love
We bless one another with strength
We bless the world with joy

Let us go forward on the journey, rejoicing in all that we have and open in trust and faithfulness to all that is to come. In the film ‘Shadowlands’ based on the life of CS Lewis, there is a line in the script which says: “We read to know we are not alone.”  During this month of November let accompany one another, reach out to one another and support one another in prayer and in person.

We believe that death is the gateway to new life and grief too can open us up to new horizons, we can discover hidden resources: A little reflection called Transformation may connect you to your inner possibilities:

“As I passed the old cherry tree in February, it had a bare and forlorn look about it. It contained no shred of beauty. In fact, it required no small act of faith to believe it was still alive. I passed the tree again in April. When I looked at it I could scarcely believe my eyes so great was the transformation. It was now decked out in a robe of brilliant blossoms, which filled the air with fragrance and caused the surrounding scene to explode with colour. Two months ago it was lifeless, now it is an elegant witness to life.

From where has all this beauty come, I ask myself.
Could it by chance have fallen out of the sky and alighted on the tree? Or has someone waved a magic wand over it? Nothing of the kind. All this newness, freshness and fragrance; all these buds, blossoms, shoots had come from within the tree itself! On looking at it back in February, when it was still in the grip of winter, who could have believed it contained all this?”

Let’s always be open to life and to newness and possibility!

 

THE DARK NIGHT OF FAITH

In the journey of transformation under the light of Psalm 112
“Blessed are those who are compassionate…” (Ps 112:5b)

In the light of this Psalm, I realize that God has called me into this world, to exist, and He placed in me a longing, a desire to be “completely happy,” and He is the source of that happiness within me. But, O my Lord, from the realm of theory, everyone can present many different concepts, but to actualize that theory is not simple at all. I have lived a self-centered life, and gradually I lost my way. I thought I had grasped that happiness, but in reality, it was merely the happiness of the world, just a reflection seen in the light.

There are times when I forget where the compass of my life is, losing my direction without realizing it. I get caught up in my passions, chasing after the chaos, and I end up lost. I have turned the direction of my life into a dark place ahead, falling into the night of Faith to live according to my own freedom, constantly pursuing “incomplete happiness” by following my own desires. I feel like the one who “walks in darkness without any light” (Isaiah 50:10); I keep running, being unaware of what lies ahead—whether there is light, hope, and God. But, at a moment of my greatest weakness and loss of faith, You came to me, giving me strength and providing light so that I could touch and live in true happiness, which is being in You: “You, Lord, are my refuge, keeping me from distress.” (Psalm 31:7)

Perhaps darkness is a place where no one wants to stay, where no one wants to fall into a void, devoid of hope, feeling lost and negative. In that darkness, we feel truly lonely, and then we intentionally follow our egos, choosing to chase after fleeting pleasures and worldly passions; and at this moment, our lives fall into the whirlpool of a superficial, filthy, sinful, and fleshly world.

There are times when I look back my life and realize that I have nothing at all. If God did not grant me the necessary graces, I surely would not be able to do anything. If You do not illuminate and guide me, I wonder how many times I have truly seen You in my life? How many times have I been happy and immersed in Your love? I have ignored Your presence in my life. I always complain about my imperfections, feeling weighed down by the burdens I carry, feeling stifled by the dark and gloomy corners of my existence. My life feels like “a silver coin broken in half, like the rusted copper of the widow” — it is no longer whole. Faced with such challenges, I feel disheartened and tired. I blame You for what has happened to me. I rely on my own strength to seek perfection, comfort, and my own happiness. I have neglected You: “Are You going to remain silent? Are You going to let challenges surround me?”

I have longed for and found the true source of happiness in my life. The compass of my life is having God as both the means and the ultimate destination. However, I feel unworthy of the many graces that God has given me; I carry those graces but bury them deep within my heart, where they remain inactive and unfruitful. I see myself as an unfaithful steward, “burying the silver coin in the ground” (Matthew 25:8). Gradually, I lose faith in God and in all of creation around me; I become wary of them, cautious of everything, whether beautiful or ugly, and I slowly lose faith in myself and in God. With those wrong choices and failures, I stumbled once again, sinning and distancing myself further from God.

 “Blessed are those who are compassionate…” (Psalm 112:5a) – when I closed the door of love in my life, I could no longer love others, nor could I feel the love from others to me. Thus, I was not happy at all. God is the One who arranges everything broken in my life from the past to the present and future, and He is the One who will lead me into the light of happiness whenever I need it. He continually urges and purifies me each day so that anything that is not of Him is consumed by the fire of the Holy Spirit, leaving only Him within me—my captain, my leader, steering my life toward the ultimate goal of existence and faith. He always motivates me in various ways: through desire, through the longing for perfection with conviction, and through His love and the love of others. In the most difficult moments of my life, God manifests Himself concretely to exercise His authority over my life and to provide me with the motivation to continue the journey He has entrusted to me.

The gifts that God has given me are more than sufficient to live a life of perfect charity, yet I feel inadequate because “my silver coin is incomplete, imperfect,” filled only with faults and sins. But it is at that moment that His divine will is fulfilled in my life so that “His Name may be glorified,” for in all things, everything lies within God’s providence and will. “He created mankind in His image, and He never allows them to become meaningless” (Genesis 1:27).

For an imperfect being like me, God is always present in my life. He does not need anything from me; He only requires my cooperation so that He can bestow grace upon me to help me grow each day. When I stumble, He lifts me up and walks with me; when I am lonely, He is there to comfort me; when I suffer, He supports me; when my faith is weak, He is there to strengthen me and provide me with more faith. He gives me the confidence to walk forward because I have God with me, and I am no longer afraid. And “in the darkness, a light is shining”—this is the strength that assists me, and the compassion of God envelops this imperfect being, shielding me from all the challenges of life. I always believe that everything I do is with God by my side; He is truly the light in my life.

O God, please help me to fully use the “silver coin” that You have entrusted to me so that I may live abundantly in my vocation and mission. Along with that, please open my eyes so that I can see You present in the people and creations around me. Please open my ears so that I may listen to Your guidance. Please open my heart so that I always place my trust and love in You and my brothers and sisters. Please open my soul so that I may always see the light You shine to guide me, strengthening my faith so that I no longer feel alone, dark, and lost. Please widen my arms so that I can embrace everyone in my life and help me to seek and see You in all things and every day. “Lord, in the darkness of my life, I have seen Your presence and I have believed.” Amen.

 Maria Nhan – 2nd year Novice

MANY TIMES WE ASK OURSELVES, WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO?

MANY TIMES PEOPLE ASK US, WHY ARE YOU WITH US?

Trying to answer this question, we become aware that the value of our lives isn’t about what we do but about who we are: and this implies that we must go back to our deepest roots.

This search is inspired by the Word of God: Ex 33: 12-17

Moses said to the Lord, ‘ See, you have said to me, ” bring up this people” but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said ” I know you by name, and you have also found favour in my sight” Now if I have found favour in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favour in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.He said, ‘ My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest’. And he said to him, ‘ If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. Fow how shall it be known that I have found favour in your sight., I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth. ‘The Lord said to Moses, ‘ I will do the very thing that you have asked; for you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name’

This walking in the Lord’s hand, gives us the certainty that we are not alone, God is by our side, He shows us the way. Hence our constant request ” Lord , show us the way”. It is a must and a need we have that God walks with us; to strengthen our identity of consecrated women in midst of this people , THE PEOPLE OF GOD. It means walking with eyes wide open, with a fixed gaze in front of the ugly face of poverty and looking  at those eyes with absence of dreams and wishes of those unhappy.

Almost 100 years ago, a group of Sisters arrived in Argentina with a dream:  to open up a school for girls who would be brought up with faith and educated to   be transformers of reality. With them began a feminine look and reflection of St Paul of the Cross and the Gospel of the Cross.

With the arrival of Vatican Council II, Medellín and Puebla, concrete roads were discovered. Going back to our sources, (to the dream and intuition of the founders and what is essential in the Gospel), to have a good look at injustice, and listen to the cries of the poor; never ignoring any suffering face, seeing Jesus in each one of those faces. This road has had many moments of conflict, disappointment, persecution and extorsion.

As a Passionist community in Argentina , Mother Mary Joseph’s life was made very visible to us  and also when the Sisters make their option for the poor in the very poor areas in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. This caused sharpness among those who couldn’t accept the option for poor people. From Elizabeth Prout we learnt her spirit of risk, her Passion for Jesus , poor amongst the poor, her courage facing the clergy and to the impoverishing system. Elizabeth became aware that forgetfulness casts so many men and women into exclusion and mystery; and that the memory of the Passion rescues them and places them back and grants them a new life.

As we today re read our  journey so far, we realise that the Spirit never ceased to whisper to us where we had to be. Moreno was a learning experience, we  rediscovered our country. No longer could we look the other way, no longer did we want to be anywhere else but far from the most needy.

In 1925, the first Sisters arrived, a dream, a school, a community. In 1970, we started hearing those cries. Today those cries are deafening; cries we hear throughout the whole planet, where the threatened earth is no longer the home of us all; dominated by wealthy countries, multinational companies who empty them and keep everything for themselves, for their personal benefits.

Pope Francis permanently invites us to go out to existential outskirts. That is where we want to be. It is in those places where we dry tears, but also share those joys which are the outcome of those tiny achievements which occur daily. And it always happens, that as the evening falls, as we behold the Lord in silence , we feel requested to express gratitude and ask for forgiveness. Perhaps this stanza from a poem expresses in a better way this feeling, this moment:

“As the sun sets and the evening falls,

Our eyes will open up on the breaking of the bread,

We will then know,

that along the road,

The God of Peace was helping us move on…

Creating A Legacy for the Future

The year 2024 will go down in history as a major step for St. Paul’s Province in respect of our two Retreat Centre, Drumalis and The Briery.  We’ve had Drumalis since 1935 and The Briery since 1952.   In order for them to continue to thrive, major changes are necessary as the old adage goes, none of the Sisters are getting any younger!  Yet this is the age of the Laity and perhaps the Lord is telling us something very important that we would miss had we had younger Sisters to follow in our footsteps.

At the beginning of last year 2023, Anne Hammersley informed the Briery Advisory Team that she would resign in 5 years.  Later whenever Susan Irwin, her community member, mentioned it, she insisted that she wasn’t ready to retire and that if Susan wanted to she could do so!  Anne wanted to keep going for another 5 years but Susan, very rightly, thought it should be sooner.  They weren’t getting any younger.

Towards the end of last year, Anne found out that her cancer had progressed a little more and realised that she had to resign sooner than she’d thought.  In January, she told the Provincial Team that she intended to resign in September and would spend the following months preparing for lay management of The Briery and the various Retreat Teams.  It was a time of great grace as Anne just knew the time was right and felt very happy and content about her decision.  The plan was to move into Elmleigh Cottage, just 200 yards down the road so that she would still be able to avail of the excellent medical treatment she had received from her doctors and local hospital.

In Holy Week it was all change again as Susan was diagnosed with cancer.  It was totally unbelievable that two of them, in the same community, would get it.  The move to appoint a lay Manager for The Briery was now urgent and it was all steam ahead with adverts and the necessary documentation.  Anne and Susan decided they would move into Elmleigh Cottage as soon as possible as they felt they needed some privacy in their illness.  They will move in June but take possession from mid-May so some necessary work can be done. Applications for Retreat Manager closed on the 17^th April, we pray that the Lord will have someone in mind who can take The Briery forward into its next stage.

At the end of February, Sisters Margaret Rose McSparran and Anna Hainey moved out of Drumalis after many years of service which not only saw the building of a new Retreat Wing but also a widening of the Retreat programme and Training courses.  Their departure was a seismic change for Drumalis, it’s Staff and Retreatants. On the practical side, there was no provision for care of the building and retreatants overnight.  There is a team of volunteers but they had come in to sleep over when one of the Sisters was away.  Thankfully, a Team of Sisters, the Drumalis Support Group, organised themselves into a rota for sleepovers and key members of Staff took on the responsibility of running the Retreat Centre until a new Director was appointed.

Interviews for the Director had taken place at the end of the year but no suitable candidate had been found. In the New Year we tried again and thankfully appointed Brian McKee who takes up his position on 22^nd April. Brian is well-known to the Sisters as he was part of the group that came up with Drumalis Mission Statement.  He is a former Passionist.  He left as a student and is a contemporary of Bobby Moore who was the facilitator for our General Chapter.  Brian McKee never lost contact with the Passionists and has done excellent work in the area of Peace and Reconciliation in the Passionist Parish of Ardoyne and is well known in the North of Ireland and beyond. He has been doing Retreat work at the Passionist Retreat Centre, Tobar Mhuire and has also given retreats in Drumalis and served on their committees as a facilitator.  He certainly has the Passionist spirit and Brian will simply say, very definitely. that he is a Passionist!

In our preparation for lay management of our two retreat centres, we are creating a legacy for the future.  Age and ill health have forced us to do this but somehow God’s guiding hand is there in the middle of it.  I firmly believe that if God wants our Retreat Centres to continue, they certainly will and probably do better work than we, the Sisters, could ever have imagined.

100 Years of Gifts and Graces

We were surprised when it was pointed out to us that 2024 was the 100^th anniversary of our sisters coming to America.  The wheels began to turn, and thoughts flew as to how we could celebrate such a remarkable occasion.

This joyful challenge has been our focus beginning in July 2023 to the present.

Our adventure began when the four pioneer sisters from England arrived in Providence, RI, at the invitation of the then bishop, Most Reverend William Hickey. And from there we embarked on our many works, dedicated to God and God’s people.

Four Pioneer Sisters

Over the course of 100 years, gifts and grace were given and received in many locations.  In Rhode Island the sisters worked in four parishes and their accompanying schools, a retreat house, a novitiate house, college and high school. In Connecticut, we were present in two parishes and their schools, and in a retreat center.  In New York, one parish and school, and another in Maryland.  Then in response to more far-flung needs, the sisters shared gifts and grace in Jamaica, West Indies, and lastly in Memphis, Tennessee.

Indeed, this has been an extraordinary 100 years.

Our journey to celebration began on July 10, 2023, when we laid out plans for the “Symposium” that would bring us to the final day of celebration, May 5, 2024.  In true community fashion, all the sisters are responding positively, and all are participating to the degree that they were able. By this meeting’s end, the year was planned, and our journey had begun to take shape.

Through a series of monthly meetings, the form of the celebration gradually developed.  The first undertaking was videos.  In these meetings a plan was formed for 8 videos, one to be shown each month at our community zoom meetings and then made available online.  The topics included:  History , Vocations, Mission and Ministry, Outward Bound, Associates, Religious Education, Retreats, and Legacy.

Sisters at gathering 2024

In addition to videos, we have requested and received cooperation from our enthusiastic Associates who will be involved in many facets of the celebration.  Also, all parishes that the sisters have served in some way, either in school or other parish ministries, are invited to join us for the celebration.  Both the community and Our Lady of Calvary Retreat House have been very active in posting historical notes on Facebook and other social media about the ministries of the sisters.

 Prout School, named in honor of our foundress, actively promotes connections between the school and sisters.  The leadership and staff of the school continue to educate the students about the life and virtue of our foundress, Venerable Elizabeth Prout.  The Prout Music Department will participate in our celebratory Mass.

The culmination of the celebration will be a special Anniversary Mass on May 5, 2024. This will be held at St. Bernard’s Church in North Kingstown, RI at 10:30 am, with Bishop Richard G. Henning presiding.  The Mass will be live streamed to allow wider participation.

Bridget Ann Flanagan

Bridget Ann Flanagan was born on November 10, 1826, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Irish American parents Daniel and Margaret Flanagan. She was baptized on November 12, 1826, at St. Patrick, Pittsburgh, PA. However, not much else is known about her early life.

While we have no photos of Bridget, this image captures Pittsburgh in the 19th Century.

In early 1856, Fr. Gaudentius Rossi arrived in Pittsburgh, and Bridget probably met him soon afterward. Fr. Gaudentius had promised to send young women to Elizabeth Prout. He found several pious and clever young girls who expressed their desire to become religious but could not find a congregation to accept them. He then decided to send young women, who, when trained, would return to North America to make a foundation. On February 4, 1857, Gaudentius wrote to Elizabeth that he was sending the first three Americans {in honor of the Holy Family. He hoped that at least one of them would return when professed as a pioneer for the Congregation.

Bridget was one of the three women sent to England, along with Frances Swain and Eliza Lang, both of Polish descent. Gaudentius described Bridget as “having good health, a good English education, had taught dressmaking and embroidery, and who had a religious vocation for several years. “Her whole soul and mind presented a real love of retirement and union with God.”

On Christmas Day, Ann Joachim was present in the community when Elizabeth, who was very ill, called each sister and spoke to them individually. They then gathered as a group, and Elizabeth encouraged them to perseverance and fidelity to their vows. According to the custom in the Congregation, they knelt for her blessing and left in silence. Ann Joachim was most likely there for Elizabeth’s passing (on January 11, 1864), the sung Mass that followed, and the final resting place in the Sutton cemetery.

In May/June of 1864, Mother Winefride, following Elizabeth’s wishes, sent Ann Joachim back to America to begin a foundation. Her arrival was unexpected and shocked Gaudentius, as from 1860, there were any number of reasons why a foundation was out of the question, but Gaudentius never informed Elizabeth. Ann Joachim returned to England, where she probably taught classes and made vestments as a source of income for the community. She made her Profession of Vows on November 21, 1864, in Sutton, England.

On January 14, 1874, they arrived and established schools attended by both Catholic and non-Catholic students, and most importantly, did parish visitation. The Bulgarian Atrocities broke out in 1876, and for two years, the sisters were exiled from their convent. At the end of the war, applications to the order were numerous. A novitiate was opened under the care of Mother Ann Joachim. A few years later, a foundation and novitiate were opened in Braila, Romania. Here, prematurely aged by constant work and worry, Mother Ann A short time later, the mission was closed, and sixteen of the Sisters under Mother Ann Joachim chose to return to Bolton, England.

19th Century Braila

Joachim breathed her last on July 21, 1883. Her life had been remarkable for its devotion to the Congregation and her great love of retirement and union with God. Her death, as the Confessor and Community testify, was precious in God’s sight. While her remains were exposed in the Chapel according to our Holy Rule, a halo of glory appeared to encircle her brow from the moment she breathed her last sigh until the sad procession took her to her final resting place. From that moment, extraordinary feelings of joy filled the hearts of all who had known her and now venerated her as a saint. May she rest in peace.

RESOURCE:

• Sister Olivia Curran, C.P. Sisters of the Cross and Passion, 1960,  Pages—52, 112, 121, 130, 134, 136

• Edna Hamer (Sister Dominic Savio) C.P. Elizabeth Prout—1920-1861 – A Religious Life for Industrial England, 1994.  Pages—135, 203-204,  206

• Sister Barbara Sexton, C.P.  A Job on Jeopardy, 2010,  Pages—76, 78, 82, 101,  110

Emails from Sr. Dominic Savio Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA

Article written by Sr. Mary Dumond,CP