Religious Sisters Conference
Freely Given for Love
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - Thursday, June 17, 2010
"Consecrate them in truth; your word is truth...Father, may they be one in us, as you are in me, and I am in you, so that the world may know that it was you who sent me" - John 17:17 & 21
Host:
Sr. Katherine Caldwell, TOR
“Being a bride of Christ actually has very little to do with you,” Mother Regina Marie Gorman, OCD, told a group of religious sisters attentive to her every word. “You really, truly are a bride, but you are an image of what we are all called to be: You are called to be a new Mary, and in becoming a new Mary, you become the Church, the image of the perfect response to God.”
Mother Gorman spoke at the Religious Sisters Conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville, June 15-17. The conference bore the familiar, comfortable air of a family reunion, as about 30 Franciscan Sisters TOR of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother welcomed members of various communities from as far away as Kentucky and Massachusetts for the 34th year of the Religious Sisters Conference. Four young laywomen, all from the Cleveland area, took advantage of the fact that this year registration was also open to women discerning religious life. Conference host Sister Katherine Caldwell, TOR, said it is important to collaborate as different communities and provide opportunities for mutual enrichment.
“I hope that this will be a conference where what we hear touches our heart, and bears fruit when we go home. Not just the talks, but the experience, the opportunity to be Eucharist for one another.” The sisters discussed how their vows call them to serve God in their roles of daughter, sister, bride, and mother.
As daughters, religious sisters have a special bond with the heavenly father, Sister Ann Shields, SGL, said. “God is my father. Do I really know that? Do I allow the Spirit within me to cry out ‘Abba, father’? We have a Father who loves us, who wants to uphold, sustain, and care for us. He's right here! He knows what we most need, and where we need to grow, and he wants to help us.”
Mother Gorman also addressed daughterhood, saying that freely chosen obedience is one of the most important lessons daughters learn. “Those of us vowed to participate in the redemption of the world would be wise to ask for the grace that our obedience be wide enough to encompass the obedience of the Son.”
She went on to explain that sisterhood, both within a convent and in a family, teaches that life is not to be lived in isolation. “We learn to give and receive mutual support, to share, to be playful and creative.”
The sisters attending the conference demonstrated close-knit bonds of sisterhood as they celebrated and strengthened relationships throughout the week during faith-sharing groups, social gatherings over meals, and a special honoring of three jubilarians attending the conference: Sister Francis Clare, SSCJ, and Sister Shields, 25 years, and Sister Mary Ann Lucke, 50 years.
Religious sisters are also called to be brides of Christ, learning commitment and finding completion, Mother Gorman said. “All women find, to be completed, they must stand face to face with another. There is no escape hatch – I have a self, and my self must be handed over to another. Sometimes it is a joy, sometimes it is painful, but in the working out it becomes fruitful. In bearing fruit, we learn to give of ourselves in an ongoing, nurturing, encouraging relationship.”
That relationship, that intimacy with God is necessary, she stressed. She shared a prayer of St. John of the Cross from the examen prayed by the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles: “How gentle and loving is your awakening, O Bridegroom Word, in the center and depth of my soul.” She explained three qualities of true intimacy: the ability for the real self to reveal itself to another; a mutual receiving of the real other; and a continued, ongoing relationship of this revelation.
“We have been given a heart unique and different, and free to respond as we individually choose out of pure love, nothing held back, nothing kept in reserve.”
During adoration, Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, encouraged the sisters in their amazing privilege as brides of Christ. “Indeed, he comes to us that we can adore him, receive him… Christ is here with us, and in a special way as sisters and nuns you can embrace him as spouse.”
Father Scanlan also paid tribute to the sisters and religious brothers who brought him up for most of his childhood after his parents divorced, saying: “No matter how many psychoanalysis tests they have me take, I never show up as lacking parental involvement. As religious, you can touch so many lives.”
Mother Gorman agreed, encouraging the sisters to learn to be spiritual mothers and relating Alfred Cardinal Hughes’ concern that spiritual motherhood is “something largely unknown, scarcely understood, and rarely lived.”
“Motherhood knows no office hours, no day off. The empathetic spirit of nurturing, protecting love over a long period of time defines motherhood.”
She compared spiritual motherhood to the story of Queen Esther, a Jewish orphan who was taken away from her people and made the wife of a king in order that, when her people were in need, she would be there to intercede with the king for them. “By virtue of our vows as religious, we are set apart: We have been taken away from our people for the sake of intercession.”
Attendee Sister Christopher Talbot, OSF, was happy to have the opportunity to visit Franciscan University again, and marveled at the changes since she graduated in 1998. Sister Brigid Prosser, a postulant with the Servant Sisters of the Sacred Heart and ‘06 graduate, agreed.
“It’s wonderful to be back, and to be able to form such great friendships,” she said while sharing stories with two TOR postulants.
“We’ve had a great time with such a wonderful group of ladies! The Spirit has just brought everyone together here,” said Sister Miriam Francesca Schmidt, TOR.
Below is the schedule from this past Religious Sisters Conference.
SCHEDULE:
(subject to change)
All sessions in the JC Williams Center Gallery unless other wise noted.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
12:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Registration and Housing Check-in
St. Joseph Center
4:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner for Participants
Antonian Hall
6:15 pm - 10:00 pm
EVENING SESSION
Gathering Music and Vespers
"Freely Given for Love: Mary and the Grace of Spiritual Motherhood"
Mother Regina Marie Gorman, OCD
Night Prayer
Social
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
6:30 am - 8:00 am
Breakfast for Participants
Antonian Hall
8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Registration Open
St. Joseph Center
8:00 am - 12:00 pm
MORNING SESSION
Eucharistic Liturgy
Morning Prayer
"Eucharistic Love: Allowing Jesus' Life and Words From the Gospel of John to Transform Us"
Dr. John Bergsma
Share Groups
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch for Participants
Antonian Hall
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
FREE TIME with options:
-Life in the Spirit Workshop
-Adoration
-Sacrament of Reconciliation
-Rest
-Informal Recreation
4:00 pm - 5:15 pm
Evening Prayer
Share Groups
5:15 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner and Entertainment for Participants
Antonian Hall
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
EVENING SESSION
"In To Me See"
Mother Regina Marie Gorman, OCD
Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction
Prayer Ministry
Sr. Ann Shields, SGL
Thursday, June 17, 2010
6:30 am - 8:00 am
Breakfast for Participants
Antonian Hall
8:00 am - 12:00 pm
MORNING SESSION
Eucharistic Liturgy
Morning Prayer
"Spirituality of Communion and the Mission of Religious Life"
Sr. Ann Shields, SGL
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Lunch for Participants
Antonian Hall
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
TO REGISTER:
Call 800-437-8368 or 740-283-6314
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