Sisters 2.0 - St. Louis

Twelve sisters from six congregations in the Saint Louis area gathered yesterday for an evening of prayer, potluck and conversation. The average age of our group was 40 years of age. We laughed, told stories, share common experiences. We even took a trip to a nearby convent to sing a carol to two novices from another congregation who weren't able to join us. The youngest were in their twenties, the oldest were in their fifties. Some had been in religious life just a few years, some had been in for a few decades. And we all shared a common enthusiasm for religious life, and a conviction that God had called us to our communities, and continues to call us to live the Gospel with joy, and with the restlessness of love which urges us to continue to commit ourselves day after day to lives of prayer, community and service.
Juliet led us in prayer and we reflected on words of Pope Francis about religious life, as we move toward the year celebrating consecrated life. We were reminded of the joy of the Gospel, of the call to renew our commitment regularly, and of the need to rekindle our zeal.
I have been in religious life for decades myself, and I can say that the enthusiasm of those who have been in for just a few years continues to give me life, energy and hope. Religious life is a work of God. It is a work of the God of love who can imagine a world of peace, of harmony and of vibrancy. Our world is broken in many ways, and many of the sisters who gathered talked about their ministries, as teacher, nurse, counselor, social worker, attorney, pastoral worker, etc. Each of the sisters brings God's love to a part of the world that needs that love and she shares it freely. We each feel blessed in the giving and receiving, and the blessing was multiplied as we gathered for this time together.
This gathering focused on welcoming sisters and novices to St. Louis. Many have joined us here in this local area, for study, ministry or for novitiate. We welcomed the novices to St. Louis, and also welcomed them to the adventure of religious life. They shared their stories of vocation, stories that remind us that the Spirit is very much alive and is continuing to call individuals to join us in religious communities.
Looking forward to more gatherings....

Local and Global

My attentions this week are turned to environmental matters with two sustainability events on my calendar for the weekend.
FIRST: Ever so local, our ecovillage's Dogtown Sustainability Expo is a celebration of sustainability in our neighborhood. As a group, we will gather to meet our neighbors, offer exhibits on bees, chickens, native plants and gardens, etc. It is a great opportunity do do what we can locally to change our lives and make them more sustainable and more humane.
SECOND: There is the People's Climate March happening at the UN in New York, with solidarity marches around the globe. You can find a local event in your area at 350.org, or at Avaaz.org. Planned to be the biggest global march on the issue, it is a chance for people to stand up and say that this is an issue that is important to us, to our kids and to everyone we care about.
So welcome to my weekend: Local and Global.
The local event says that my daily choices matter. My choices around food, water and energy make a real world difference in the future. We have made serious efforts to increase native plants which are better for air, soil and water, and which increase the diversity of beneficial insects. Yesterday, I spotted about six Monarch butterflies. This is a species that is on the decline, and whose decline is an indicator of environmental degradation. After a summer of very few monarchs, I was happy to see so many of these little critters floating around.
The global event says that our problems with climate and environment are not simply a matter of my little world. In addition to doing all I can to improve my sustainability choices, I also have to network with others around the globe who are working for sustainability. Together, we can change the course of the major institutions that affect climate, such as governments and corporations.
Local and Global - let's do what we can for sustainability.
--Amy
PS: I'm aware that our work for the sustainability of religious life is also working on the Local and Global levels as well....

Year of Consecrated Life

Here is information on the Year of Consecrated Life being Celebrated in 2015, starting in advent 2014 and ending with the Feast of the Presentation in 2016. There is also a listing of some of the events in Rome that are being organized for the year:

OPENING
- Prayer Vigil, November 29, 2014
- First Sunday of Advent, November 30, 2014
CLOSING
- Prayer Vigil, February 1, 2016
- World Day of Consecrated Life, February 2, 2016

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WORLDWIDE
TIME FOR REFLECTION AND SHARING
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ECUMENICAL MEETING OF CONSECRATED MEN AND WOMEN
ROME, 22-24 January 2015
24 January, Prayer Vigil
WORKSHOP FOR FORMATORS
ROME, April 8- 11, 2015
April 11 Prayer Vigil
WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG CONSECRATED PERSONS
Rome, September 23 - 26, 2015
September 25 Prayer Vigil

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WEEK OF WORLD UNITY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE
IN THE CHURCH
FOLLOWING THE GOSPEL INTO THE FUTURE
Rome, January 24 - February 2, 2016
PARTICIPANTS : Monastic life –Apostolic Institutes, Societies of Apostolic Life, Secular Institutes - Ordo Virginum - New Institutions
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SPECIAL EVENTS
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INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
 Rome , 27 - January 31, 2016

FOLLOWING THE GOSPEL:
A PERMANENT FORM OF LIFE IN THE CHURCH,
MOVING TOWARD THE FUTURE,
PROCESSES  ALREADY IN PLACE.

1. FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE
AND SOCIETIES OF  APOSTOLIC LIFE WITHIN THE CHURCH
Rome, 27 - January 31, 2016
2 . FOR MONASTIC LIFE
Rome, 28 - January 31, 2016
3 . FOR SECULAR INSTITUTES
Rome, 29 - January 31, 2016
4 . FOR THE ORDO VIRGINUM
Rome, 29 - January 31, 2016

 EVENTS TO BE CELEBRATED IN COMMON
• JANUARY 30, 2016
AT 8:00 PM
PRAYER VIGIL IN ST. PETER’S BASILICA
" PROPHECY, HOLINESS AND MARTYRDOM IN THE HUMAN CITY "
• FEBRUARY 1, 2016
AUDIENCE WITH  THE HOLY FATHER
• FEBRUARY 2 , 2016
CLOSING EUCHARIST OF THE YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE


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SEVEN PATHWAYS
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1. Research and sharing laboratories organized by the  Pontifical Universities  staffed  by religious orders on issues and quaestiones regarding Consecrated Life .
2 . Memoria Sanctorum of consecrated life. Stationes in places of particular significance in the apostolic world.
3 . Memoria Martyrum of consecrated men and women of the XX and XXI centuries. Stationes in  places of particular witness in the world .
4 . Worldwide Prayer Chain among the monasteries  Stationes and  monasteries of particular significance in the monastic world.
5 . Online Monastic session of the STUDIUM for the nuns .
6 . Paths of evangelical significance determined by  and implemented in interaction between Apostolic Institutes, Societies of Apostolic Life, Monastic Life,  Secular Institutes, Ordo virginum, new institutions.
7 . Via pulchritudinis . " One thing I ask of the Lord , that will I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life , to behold the beauty of the Lord and behold his temple " (Psalm 27 : 4). The artistic languages in consecrated life for contemplation and the  proclamation of the truth and beauty of faith.

More info...

Sisters 2.0

by Kristin Matthes
I turned 49 last month, which means I am in my fiftieth year. When four of us started Giving Voice in a Cincinnati basement in 1998, I was not yet 33. Our original tag line (seen on an old sweatshirt of mine) was ‘A Newsletter by Women Religious Under 50.’ Fifty seemed like a lifetime away back in that basement, but here I am less than one trip around the sun away from hitting that milestone. The years have been filled with amazing people, sharing their dreams and hopes for religious life and helping to create together what is emerging in our way of life. Who could have guessed that after 16 years of newsletters, conferences, and websites operating on donations and staffed completely by volunteers, Giving Voice would receive $1,000,000 ‘to prepare young Roman Catholic women religious to assume leadership positions in their religious communities, ministries, and the Catholic Church’? I feel so grateful to have been part of this effort in religious life. I can’t help but think of Paul’s words to the Corinthians: [We] planted, [many have] watered, but God caused the growth.

The means of conversation have evolved over the years. Giving Voice published a print newsletter for 10 years, with over one hundred articles by sisters under 50. Giving Voice continues to host countless gatherings, connecting hundreds of younger sisters in venues across the United States. Giving Voice maintains a website and a Facebook page and group. The Giving Voice Facebook group has been a vibrant place to engage in meaningful conversation about religious life with other ‘younger’ members of congregations, but as my sweatshirt reminds me, Giving Voice was created to be a space for women religious under 50.

As I approach my fiftieth birthday, I still feel the need for conversation spaces with those passionate about religious life. As I talk to others from the ‘founding generation’ of Giving Voice, many are feeling the same way. So we have created a new Facebook group: Sisters 2.0. This is another conversation space for the younger generations of women religious, open to both those over 50 and under 50. By opening this space where the voices of all generations of women religious who have come to religious life after the renewal of Vatican II, the Giving Voice group can maintain its focus on conversations among women religious under 50.

Check us out as we begin to open this new conversation space. Just as 2.0 technologies depend on interaction and collaboration, Sisters 2.0 will thrive as a meaningful space when you add your voice to the conversation!

Go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Sisters2.0/ , or message me or Amy, or comment below.