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At
a formal ceremony in the IHM Center Chapel on November
5, 2005, Sister Mary Persico, President of the Congregation
of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary, welcomed Gloria Gavin, Jean Shields and
Kieran Williams into Associate Relationship. The
three new associates committed themselves to live
Gospel values in the embrace of the IHM charism
of God's unconditional love for all. Realizing the
universal call to holiness and striving to become
a discipleship of equals, the Congregation, in turn,
promised to share prayer, community and mission
in a spirit of mutuality. Like a river flowing,
associates are a living extension of IHM charism
and mission.
Drawing
from the wellsprings of their own deep spirituality,
Associates, as non-members, extend through their
states in life the unique gift given by the Holy
Spirit to each congregation known as charism. In
a mystery beyond comprehension, the charism of joyful,
loving, hospitable and self-emptying spirit bequeathed
to the congregation by the founders Mother Theresa
Maxis and Louis Florent Gillet, has planted itself
in the hearts of Gloria, Jean and Kieran. Wondrously,
these gifts of the Spirit have now taken root, having
been nurtured through the long relationship with
IHM Sisters. Formalizing that relationship in a
Ritual of Welcome on November 5, these new IHM Associates
have now captured the dream of moving the charism
beyond the membership by searching out new modes
of expression for the life of the world.
A
passage from the book Finding the Treasure by
Sandra Schneiders, IHM, captures the heart of this
new relationship:
"Some
are simply seeking 'something more' in their spiritual
life or are attracted by the particular charism
or spirituality of the congregation. Others come
because they have deep relationships, through ministry
or family or friendship, with members of a congregation
and want a more sustained experience of this solidarity.
But in virtually all cases people seek association
with religious communities because they want to
grow in the spiritual life and assure their full
adult responsibilities in the church for the world."
In
their tireless quest for the sacred, Gloria, Jean
and Kieran have followed the current of God’s
grace all their lives. Faith-filled, they now cascade
into the waters of the dream of God in making something
new for the IHM Congregation through their formal
Associate Relationship. It is the oil of gladness
that fills the hearts of the new IHM associates
and the IHM sisters who together recognize this
mutual endeavor as the work of God's creative Spirit.
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(L-R) Sr. Jean Louise Bachetti, Director of the IHM Associate
Program, stands with Jean Shields, Kieran Williams and Gloria
Gavin at a commitment ceremony before the four o’clock
Mass on November 5, 2005 in the IHM Center Chapel at which
the three women entered into formal association with the
IHM Sisters as IHM Associates.
The Associate
Relationship:
Extending Our IHM Mission
by Sr. Jean
Louise Bachetti, IHM
Attending our community's study days in July, a close
friend of our Sisters exclaimed with delight at the close
of the sessions, "What did I do to deserve this?" She
was referring to what she considered her good fortune
to be present at a conference that the congregation schedules
each year. As part of an ongoing process of spiritual
and theological growth, the insightful speakers at our
study days enrich and challenge us as we take the time
to examine and renew our mission to be clear and understandable
prophetic witnesses to the presence of God in the world.
The presenters for these two days were filled with the
Spirit of God, embodied in who they were as bearers of
God's Good News. Perhaps, I thought we, as women religious,
take for granted the many opportunities we have had over
the years for our spiritual lives to grow. Our education,
our lives in community, our response to call, our charism,
are all gifts, gifts to be shared, not kept for our own
welfare. With this in mind, I would like to acquaint you
with what is happening in many religious congregations
as they seek new ways of sharing the gift of their charisms
and the quest to continue to keep God present in the world
through their newly-formed relationship with Associates.
There are in the United States 27,000 Associates connected
with religious congregations. As a phenomenon evolving,
the reality of committed associates collaborating with
vowed religious for over a quarter of a century has been
a well-kept secret notes Ellen O'Connell, S.C., Executive
Director of the North American Conference of Associates
and Religious (NACAR). In what she believes is the realization
of a dream based on the hunch that the Spirit is working
overtime with the People of God at the dawn of a new millennium,
she hopes that, as we ponder the numbers of associates
and the multiple ways associates connect with the mission
and charism of religious congregations, that we will discover
new ways that God's work can be accomplished.
The organization NACAR further defines the role of association
and clarifies how a relationship with members of religious
communities is one of mutuality and new life. Associates
are lay people, it explains, who connect with a religious
institute and go through a process of spiritual development
to learn about the institute's charism and mission. Although
associates do not make formal vows as Religious do, they
commit to living the mission and charism of the religious
institute within their independent lay life style. Seemingly,
in this moment of history, when religious congregations
are concerned about their diminishing numbers, the mission
and charism of each institute can become embodied in their
associates as partners in mission. As partners in ministry,
observes Joan Chittister, OSB, "vowed women religious
and non-vowed associates need one another because true
companions make possible the growth of the other."
Short of committing to a vocation to religious life, one
might ask what is it that draws non-members to a closer
association with Sisters. For some the relationship develops
and becomes a cherished friendship; or, in other cases
it might be nurtured through the ministries we share;
while over the years, there are those who have kept close
ties to Sisters who taught them in school. Nevertheless,
it begins with encounter, a meeting with someone who draws
us in like metal to magnet. A few of us may remember when
there was an effort to keep women of active religious
congregations separated, almost cloistered from "the world."
Vatican II changed all that. The documents made it crystal
clear that we are all called to holiness by our
Baptism and that we all have a vocation. How we live out
our vocation or call is determined by our state in life:
married, single, consecrated life, or clerical state.
In an article from America magazine entitled "What Vocation
Shortage," Russell Shaw emphasizes, "Christian states
in life are meant to complement and reinforce one another,
not to compete" (March 29, 2004). Relative to this understanding
of vocation is the notion that only priests and religious
have a vocation. If that were the case, there would be
a vocation shortage. Whether conscious of it or not, we
all have a vocation. Consequently, all of us in all our
states in life must continue to discern how God calls
us to be the hands, and feet and heart of Jesus in a broken
world and do it in communion with each other.
Faithful to our unique Christian vocation, we often find
that there are disquieting times in our lives, or what
I call times of holy unrest, when we yearn or hunger for
something more. A virtual stirring of the soul, God's
Spirit at those times disturbs the sediment of our complacent
lives. Perhaps this stirring is God's compelling call
which Anthony Gittins claims "is not static, fleeting,
once and for all [but] repeated, insistent, and varied."
If our living is not static or paralyzed by fear, if we
remain open to the surprises of God's renewing Spirit,
then both associates and religious may hear the subtle
murmurings of God's dynamic invitation as it is repeated
and insistent and certainly not once and for all. Responding
to the freshness of this new call, non-vowed Associates
and religious Sisters will have the power to challenge
the old lines of separation with an eagerness that can
claim our unity and equality in the Body of Christ.
Reiterating the call to new life, Sister Mary Persico
at our Assembly in July commented that "our theological
reflection over the past two years has begun to lead us
to a new place in our communal story, a place that is
calling us to transformation. . . that we must be transformed
and transforming." I believe kneaded into this process
of transformation is the mutual relationship and growth
that can transpire between non-vowed Associates and Sisters
seeking a deeper spirituality and commitment to God's
redeeming love. Like yeast in flour, the charism and spirit,
embodied in all those who choose to share with us our
life in community, make possible the rise of our holy
influence, expanding Christ's mission to be bread for
others, baked into wafers of communion.
Convinced that opening our circle of relationship with
Associates is the dream of God for Scranton IHMs, I am
in the genesis stage of creating a formal process for
those who wish to join us in a loving relationship as
Associates. It is a new sense of mission of being both
transformed and transforming where the image of Scranton
IHM can become more multi-faceted. Wondrously, our affiliation
with Associates has the power to broaden and deepen our
ministry of building the Body of Christ through "the mutually
enriching encounters of people who reflect the light of
God into one another's eyes" (Rolheiser, 1999). As did
our friend in her enthusiasm and joy during study days,
we as a community of women religious, realizing the value
of this new relationship with associates, will likewise
exclaim, "What did we do to deserve this?"
References:
Gittins, Anthony J., (1999). Reading the Clouds. Missouri:
Liguori Publications.
Rolheiser, Ronald, (1999). The Holy Longing: The Search
for Christian Spirituality. New York: Doubleday. |
