ARCAN Conference an Enriching and Transformative Experience

By:  Peggy Gorman, rscj-A

Anne Walsh, an associate and lay missionary of the Redemptorist congregation, challenged us to live in the truth of who we are in our call to relationship as religious and associates and in the wider context as a people of God. 

Participants at ARCAN Conference, June 6-7, 2014,
Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS.

Anne called us to be inclusive in our actions and attitudes and she reminded us that we come to this relationship with our gifts and talents but also with our weaknesses and limitations. 

Each of us forms a part without which there is no whole!

It would be impossible to recreate the conference in a few words so I will attempt to provide you with a few highlights:

We began with an icebreaker that created a clock of appointments and this clock was the resource for partner discussion each time we were given a series of questions.  These proved to be “teaser” discussions given the short time we had.  However, they can form the basis for continued discussion in our daily lives.

Anne reminded us that:

We are a people gathered around the Good News to witness and to participate in the same mission, the journey itself. We need to remember that wherever we go, God is there first.

God calls us in the deepest core of our beings, through our life experiences. We are partners in mission.

Charism is a gift that:

• gives us a vision to perceive the Gospel from a particular aspect such as love, hospitality, education, response to the poor.
• is incarnational as we discover how God continues to take flesh in this moment within us and     within others and is birthed as we live that aspect of the Gospel that animates us.
• is the mission or the journey itself made by walking the path which honors the past and allows us to live into a new and dynamic expression of religious life and spiritual meaning.
• is fruitful when we build up and nurture the Reign of God through the gifts of the Spirit.

The conference provided an opportunity for us to form new relationships and widen the embrace.  We were truly enriched and transformed by this time together.

On the eve of Pentecost, I found this prayer which for me summed up our time together

Sophia, Wisdom of the ages,
Guide me to the place where I am supposed to be.
To the task that I am supposed to do.
To the person(s) I am supposed to love.

For the gift of Anne’s wisdom, musical talent, sensitivity to others and the sharing of her personal journey, I pray in thanksgiving.

A Piece of My Heart Remains in Nova Scotia

Note:  Conni Dubick, President of NACAR, attended the ARCAN Conference June 6-7 in Halifax and spoke to conference attendees.  Enroute to her home in Ohio she penned this letter and asked that it be shared with all the conference participants.  

_________________________________

Conni Dubick, OPA,
President, North American Conference of Associates
and Religious (NACAR)

Dear ARCAN Friends,

As I sit in the Halifax airport, I am tying to absorb into my soul the hospitality and visitation that was palpable in my visit to Mount Saint Vincent University and an ARCAN conference.  I am contemplating the Spirit-filled insightful words shared by many and my broadened understanding of the charism in my Gospel Family.  Then, add to that my experience of the amazing granite sculptures by both mother nature and artist William deGarthe at Peggy’s Cove, the sound of Atlantic waves and the lone bagpiper.  It was, to use Ilia Delio’s words, an enormous experience of “God’s unimaginable, unruly, creative, spontaneous and unfolding love”.   The welcoming embrace of Peg and Carl (Madigan), the ARCAN membership and guests and our Anne, the Redemptorist, touched my heart.

As a result, the first announcement I will be making at our NACAR Board conference call this week will be to sing ARCAN praises!  Your regional network of Associates and Religious for the Canadian provinces is a model of regional development.  And with your example and participation in NACAR, you will offer energy to our collaborative efforts in North America.  

So I have a request that you go to www.nacar.org to check out the NACAR website.  The upcoming June issue of THE ASSOCIATE is our latest effort to use our online magazine to both inform and invite the participation of our members.  This June issue describes congregational “corporate stances” as yet another way that Sisters and Associates are speaking out on today’s justice issues.  NACAR would like to hear from you with information on your congregation’s corporate stances to inform our readers as well as any other Associates news and events.

Please check out the website, consider a congregational and/or individual membership.  Because remember the words of Judi, Jane, Ilia and Jesus challenging ARCAN and NACAR to see the power of unity, urgency and imagination!

Blessings for peace,   

Conni Dubick, Dominican Associate of Peace, 

President of NACAR 

and, new best friend of ARCAN

ARCAN Conference Breaks New Ground

Delegates send strong message to committee to forge ahead

ARCAN conference delegates celebrate closing ritual.

Over one hundred enthusiastic delegates attended the ARCAN conference this weekend at Mount Saint Vincent University.   They expressed wholehearted appreciation for the event noting it was a resounding success.

Guest presenter Anne Walsh led the participants in story, song and reflection for the day and a half gathering.   Her insightful presentations captured the imagination of the assembly and united sisters and associates in a common thrust for the future.

At the Saturday morning business meeting there was strong support urging the organizing committee to continue to move forward in the development of the Atlantic network of sisters and associates.

Peggy Gorman, A-rscj and Claire Pottie, A-sc

The conference concluded late Saturday afternoon.

More Books of Interest !

Note:  The following listing of books was compiled by Peggy Gorman of the ARCAN Committee. The intent was to copy this list and insert in conference folders.   However in the interest of "conserving paper" it was decided to publish this list online.  Happy reading !

Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership: where grace meets power

Edited by Kathy Schaef, Kay Kindall, Kathleen S. Hurtz, PHD Reverend Guo Chien

Skylight Paths Publishing 2012

ISBN 978-1-59473-313-0

This book showcases women’s spiritual leadership and its patterns of transformation.

Remembering the Women

Women's Stories from Scripture for Sundays and Festivals

Compiled by J. Frank Henderson, forward by Marjorie Proctor- Smith 

Essays by Jean Campbell OSH, Ruth Fox OSB, Eileen Schuller OSU

Liturgy Training Publication 1998

ISBN 1-56954-174-0

More than 250 Scripture passages from the old and new testaments, witness to women’s presence in the bible. These women are prophets, queens, warriors, slaves, prostitutes, virgins and heroes.

Praying with Visionary Women

By Bridget Mary Meehan SFCC, art by Doris Klein CSA

Bowman and Littlefield Publisher, Inc. 1999

ISBN 1-58051-063-9

This book summons us to pray with 20 great women of faith through the ages Hildegard of Bingen to Dorothy Day. These women will change your life and enrich your spiritual journey with new possibilities of self- discovery, wisdom, creativity and friendship.

Field of Compassion: How the New Cosmology is Transforming Spiritual Life

By Judy Cannato

Sorin Books 2010

ISBN 10-1-933495-21-9

This book examines the interconnectedness of the physical and spiritual worlds.

Radical Amazement

By Judy Cannato

Sorin Books 2006

Twentieth century science completely rewrote the story of our universe. Now this thoughtful, practical guide reveals the harmony of science and spirituality and invites us to explore the connectedness of all of creation.

Jesus in the New Universe Story

By Cletus Wessels

Orbis Books 2013

ISBN 1-57075-465-9

This book is about how to understand the meaning of Jesus Christ in the context of what modern cosmology tells us about the nature of the universe.

The Holy Longing:  the search for a christian spirituality

By Ron Rolheiser

Doubleday 1998

ISBN 0-985-49418-1

Rolheiser grounds his vision of spirituality in hard real life experiences and tells tough truths. In the end it is the hard truths of compassion, forgiveness and action in the world that give us a true and lasting hope.

Biblical Foundations of Spirituality: Touching a Finger to the Flame

By Barbara Bowe rscj

Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc. 2003

The author invites the reader to “touch a finger to the flame” of the sacred text of the Bible by offering guidance on what to read, how to read and why to read the Bible as a source of spiritual nourishment. The author saya “our Spirituality is our lived relationship with the Other who is God”

Psalms for Praying

By Nan Merrill

Continuum Publisher 1996

ISBN 0-8264-1045-6

Merrill’s psalms evoke the deep sense of reverence and soul stirring dialogue with the Divine in a loving contemplative manner.

Becoming the Sign:  Sacramental Living in a Post Conciliar Church

By Kathleen Hughes rscj

Paulist Press  2012

ISBN 978-08091-4824-0

This book “is an attempt to open up the mystery of our sacramental life and its intimate relationship with the way we live our lives.”

Our One Great Act of Fidelity:  Waiting for Christ in the Eucharist

By Ron Rolheiser

Doubleday 2011

ISBN 978-0-307-88703-0

This book is a series of reflections on the Eucharist.

The Breath of the Soul: Reflections on Prayer

By Joan Chittister

Novalis 2009

This book helps us to prepare for and engage in prayer and to make prayer an authentic, real, deep, and profound part of our lives.

The Art of Life:  Monastic wisdom for everyday

By Joan Chittister

Novalis 2012

ISBN 978-2-89646-537-8

This is a book of daily reflections using great works of art for inspiration, and is full of wisdom, wit, encouragement and advice.

To Bless the Space Between Us: A work of blessings

By John O’ Donahue

Doubleday 2008

ISBN 978-0-385-52227-4

This book is a beautiful collection of blessings to help readers through both the everyday and extraordinary events of their lives.

The Invisible Embrace  Beauty: Rediscovering the true source of Compassion, Serenity and Hope

By John O’ Donohue

Harper Collins 2005

ISBN 0-06-095726-3

John O’ Donohue opens our minds and hearts to our own relationship with beauty by exposing the infinity and mystery of its breadth.

The Naked Now:  Learning to See as the Mystics See

By Richard Rohr

Crossroad Publishing Company 2011

Rohr says “it is living in the naked now, the sacrament of the present moment that will teach us how to actually experience our experiences, whether good or bad and let them transform us.”

Quest for the Living God:  Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God

By Elizabeth A. Johnson

The Continuum International Publishing Group 2007

ISBN 978-1-4411-7462-8

This book challenges us to glimpse the living God in fresh ways. This God, who dwells in unspeakable light and engages the world with merciful love bringing the mystery of that love ineffably closer.

Prayers to Sophia:  Deepening our relationship with Holy Wisdom

By Joyce Rupp

ISBN 13-978-1-893732-84

This is a deep evocative book of prayers to Divine Wisdom conscious, personal, and reminiscent of Rumi. Joyce Rupp helps open us to the Divine Feminine within us. 

Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John

By John Vanier

Paulist Press 2004

ISBN 0-8091-4296-1

John Vanier shares the music he has heard behind the words and flow of this Gospel. The song has warmed and stirred his heart, given hope, meaning and orientation to his life with all that is beautiful and broken with in him.

Can We Save the Catholic Church

By Hans Kung

William Collins 2013

ISBN 13-978-0007-522026

Hans Kung presents what Catholics have long been yearning for: modern responses to the challenges of a modern world.

New Seeds of Contemplation

By Thomas Merton

New Directions reprint 2007

ISBN 10-97808-112-17248

This book is a revised and expanded version of Merton’s earlier book and offers a guide to contemplative life. Merton describes contemplation as life itself: fully awake, fully active, fully aware. 

Seven Sacred Pauses:  Living mindfully through each day

By Macrina Wiederkehr

Ave Maria Press 2010

ISBN 10-1933-495243

This book invites us to live attuned to living in the present moment and to develop a kindred spirit with the rich tradition of the sacred hours. In this book Macrina uses scripture, poetry, reflection and personal stories.