Think about it!
What would happen if we looked for what’s good, positive, and hopeful in Lent? Ordinarily, we associate words like sin, betrayal, suffering, repentance and death with it. Since we are using a process called “Appreciative Inquiry” for Our Area Assembly, I got to wondering what might happen if we applied this approach to Lent. Would anything change?
Just to make sure we’re all on the same page, I’ll offer a little summary of Appreciative Inquiry: it is a method for renewing, changing and/or improving something. It is based on the assumption that people generally focus on what’s wrong and how to fix it. Instead, Appreciative Inquiry starts with the belief that every group and every person in that group, has strengths – good things about them. The basic idea is to build - or rebuild - around what is good, rather than focus energy and attention on what’s wrong or bad or weak. It consists of 4 activities:
DISCOVER: Identifying what’s good, right, effective and positive.
DREAM: Envisioning how we can build upon what’s good to create the future.
DESIGN: Planning and prioritizing what good things we can build on to create the future.
DESTINY Putting the plan into action.
How would things change if we did this with Lent?
Discovering that Jesus was at the top of His game; that He was teaching ever larger groups, healing more people, even raising them from the dead; that His reputation and fame were growing; that He gathered His disciples together for a celebratory meal – and created a perfect way for His followers to remember Him; that he answered violence with healing; betrayal with forgiveness and that – to the end – He Loved and Served God? How many lessons for living are in this one sentence? What more might we Discover if we tried?
Dream of a future characterized by teaching, healing, forgiveness and Love!
What might our lives, and our Community be like if we designed ourselves and our relationships and activities around even these few lessons from Lent?.
And isn’t the Destiny to which we are all called built around Loving relationships? Forgiveness? Healing? And, yes, love of God?
Think about it!
Sr. Joanne Schuster, SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
Is an abundance of information, communication?
With texting, twittering and Facebook ‘postings,’ more information about more people is available to everyone. In fact, a good deal more information than even the most ardent voyeur could wish for! Yet, even though we have all this sophisticated technology, it doesn’t mean we are communicating. One thing has become clear in the last decade: information is NOT communication!
Communication is derived from the Latin word "communis", meaning to share -- a process of dividing and distributing. It requires justice and respect. An opinion, by definition, is a subjective belief, and is the result of emotion or interpretation of facts. Sharing an opinion is good. Insisting that everyone agree with your opinion is not. An opinion is the result of a person's perspective, understanding, particular feelings, beliefs, and desires. Thus, in many ways, it is unique to a person or a culture or a religion or a political persuasion. In contrast to knowledge and fact-based beliefs, it almost always is unsubstantiated -- and often unsubstantiatable -- information.
Why would I make such a distinction as we begin a New Year? Simply because a new year gives us an opportunity to begin anew, to open our hearts and minds to others, to share our opinions with others and to receive, respectfully, their opinions. Then perhaps we will coomunicate with each other and not merely text, tweet or post!
Beginning in February 2012, we have invited Kristen Barker from the intercongretional justice and peace center to help us express our views about the emerging role of women in the Church.
Sr. Joanne Schuster, SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
Mother Frances’ Feast...
It may seem strange to speak about Mother Frances and a book entitled “Faith, Hope and a Bird Called George,” but bear with me! Mother Frances said, “As we think, so we live.” The bird named George said “… being a parrot is my way of experiencing the mystery we call God…” Pretty profound for a bird! And also a marvelous way of thinking about life: Being human is our way of experiencing God… Our job is to be good at being what we are. Looking back, we see the events of our lives in a new light, see God present and coming into expression in me…and in you, and you and you and…
We are expressing and experiencing God in communion with each other, and whoever has gone before us, with whoever has enlivened and loved us – and if those people have died, they are still with us in spirit, and will always be a part of us. In just such a way, we influence each other in ways both pervasive and profound. Mother Frances’ ‘ripples of influence’ have already spread way beyond anything she could have imagined. It is good to remember this, especially today…the 14th of December!
Sr. Joanne Schuster, SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
Thanks-giving…
The other day, I was walking outside to my car. I glanced up and saw the incandescent beauty of the trees in all their Fall glory. It was breathtaking, so all I could do was to breathe a sigh of thanksgiving – to God, yes. But then I gave thanks to the earth that supported the trees and the sky that nourished them with rain. I heard a rustle of leaves, and saw a fat squirrel, laden with acorns, make a dash for the closest tree. He was too greedy to let any of them go, and had a hard time climbing the tree…And then in the quiet, I saw a magnificent stag as he stood surveying his domain. All this in the middle of urban Cincinnati Ohio! Is it any wonder that St. Francis wrote the Canticle of Creation?
Sr. Joanne Schuster, SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
To this Day…
October 4 was the Feast of Francis of Assisi, the poor one, who loved animals and all of creation. He was destined to reform the 13th century Church, and his Canticle of the Sun is so beautiful that even people sing it. He was a walking apostle for ecology and heaven only knows what he would think of his beloved creatures trying to find habitat today among parking lots and housing estates. He talked to the animals. He understood them. He knew their place in creation. And Francis knew they could teach him a lot, too.
I ran across a wonderful article by Joan Chittister,OSB is which she says that “It is also becoming clear that Francis knew what we are only now discovering. In our time, the science that separated us from nature is now declaring that animals, too, have intelligence, have emotions, have needs like ours.” Well, I too am an animal lover. And I have learned a number of spiritual lessons from my animal friends:
· At the top of the list is the sheer joy of being alive. Never pass up the opportunity to enjoy life. On cold nights, curl up in front of a crackling fire. Take naps and stretch before rising. When you're excited, speak up. Delight in the simple joy of a long walk. When you see someone whom you love, always let them know it.
· A close second (and third) is persistence. At Joan Chittister put it: “Persistence is a very good thing for a woman to know in a man's church.” As my dog taught me, if what you want is buried, dig until you find it...
· And right up there is emotional sensitivity, the awareness of the needs of needy others. When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently. No matter how often you're rejected, run right back and make friends.
No wonder that churches, to this day, bless animals on the Feast of St. Francis. St. Francis!
Sr. Joanne Schuster, SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
Pure Imagination
Imagination is the work of the mind that helps create. It helps provide meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; it is a fundamental faculty through which people make sense of the world. At our recent Healing conference, Sr. Antonietta Potente told us that civilization would not have been possible without the peacemakers, the homemakers, the nurturers…without those who reared the children, formed the communities, healed the sick and fed the hungry. Yet our history books are primarily catalogues of wars and warriors, power and conquest, slavery and commerce. Imagine what a different world we would have if instead, our children were brought up reading the history of those who made it possible to live: who fed and healed and nurtured a people into communities… ‘Just imagine what could be…
In the movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willie Wonka sings about pure imagination: "If you want to see paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to do, do it
Want to change the world?
There's nothing
To it..."
We can create such a world, but first we have to imagine it…and then just ‘do it!’
Sr. Joanne Schuster, SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
The Feast of Pentecost...
On this feast day -- so special to all the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor -- our international healing conference, The healing Gift: Today and Beyond, concluded with a mass said by Archbishop Pilarczyk, and sung by the sisters in our international choir. What better time for us than Pentecost? What better subject for us than healing? Each sister and associate took with her a new understanding of our charism, and each will incorporate this new and deeper understanding in her or his own life and ministry. These days were a special gift in so many ways, but none were more important than renewing of the bonds of sisterhood among the people of all our Areas...listening to the different languages and learning about the varying cultures...feeling the vitality and joy of the young sisters, and listening to the wisdom and experience of the older sisters. Each of us will take this very special experience with us as we move and grow...continuing "with fierce faithfulness" to ensure that the healing ministry endures "as long as we have life and breathe...we will be bearers of hope...to be people who exude and who heal with hope." Visit the conference website, SFP-Healing.org and share the experience with us!
Sr. Joanne Schuster, SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
The Healing Gift - today and tomorrow
There comes a time in the life-cycle when we seek to refresh, renew and even refound our vision in such a way as to make it both relvant to the times we live in -- and so that it incorporates contmporary understandings of theology, philosophy and even science. Now is such a time -- and our Congregation has answered it by gathering to gether sisters and associates from around the world to learn, discuss and share perspectives. This meeting - conference - will be held at the Centennial Barn on the grounds of St. Clare Convent from June 9 through the 12th 2011. We bid you all welcome -- and I, personally, am looking forward to an exciting time of renewal and rebirth!
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
To See the Risen Christ in One Another…
What an exciting discussion! On the evening of the day of Jesus' resurrection two disciples were on their way to Emmaus. Having heard that the tomb of Jesus was found empty, they were discussing this – as well as the events of the past few days. A stranger joins them and asks what they are discussing. They tell Him – and He joins in. Clearly He is a learned man and adds a lot to their discussion. In fact, they enjoyed Him so much, they wanted to continue the conversation. So, they invited him to dine with them upon their arrival. In the breaking of the bread, "their eyes were opened" and they know He is resurrected Jesus.
And the discussion does continues even to this day: each time we welcome a stranger; each time we discuss what is truly in our hearts; each time we break bread together…so long as we speak and listen with respect, we are offered an opportunity to see the risen Christ in one another once again!
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
Lent – a special invitation
Lent is a very special invitation to walk into the Story that gives a Christian’s life depth meaning. It is a story of death and resurrection, of total self-gift and unflinching love. The embodiment of integrity.
What does this mean to us -- Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and Associates -- to be in a covenantal relationship with the Christ who takes us His cross – and arise from his death? What does it mean – or would it mean – if we actually were ‘resurrection people’ today?
Everything about the resurrection speaks of empowered newness. With the past forgiven and the future opened, the stress is on the present as it stretches through the future into eternity. Can there, in fact, be something more – something that makes our hearts burn and puts us on fire once again? And if that is so, what is it?
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
What I learned...
This month, I want to share with you just a little something that I have learned from my recent hospitalization for a severe drug reaction. First, I want to thank you all for your prayers and concern. I am profoundly grateful! Now, I’d like to share a little of what I learned: First and foremost, I have really and personally learned that there is nothing more important than connection to the Divine. Certainly we have all heard this, and learned about it and even said it…but to really learn it, to make it a living part of oneself, is something else again! Now, I must have more time for personal meditation…which means that I must put better boundaries on what I can do and cannot do in regard to work…and that I have to cut back on some things. And I also learned in this very real way what you might consider the obvious: Health is a very precious and tenuous gift – and it can easily move --with little warning -- from being healthy to being in a life- threatening situation.
May you a happy, love-filled, life-filled Valentine’s Day!
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
New Year’s Resolutions, Old year reflections…
January 1 has come and gone, and you know what that means. People will be vowing to lose weight, become more organized, exercise more, be more patient, eat better, and ________ (fill in your own resolution). New Year's resolutions have been with us for 4,000 years, ever since the Babylonians began celebrating the start of each new planting cycle. Not surprisingly then, they also were the first to have New Year's resolutions.
I'm all for New Year's resolutions. In fact, I seem to like them so much that I make them all the time, even without waiting for January 1. At any rate, the temptation to ‘resolve’ is strong at this time of year! So, here’s a tip: the resolutions most likely to be kept are rooted in reflection. If you have New Year's resolutions, why not some Old Year reflections? You can take it from there!
And a happy and success-filled New Year to all!
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
Thanksgiving...
Most people, or at any rate, most Americans, think about Thanksgiving as a distinctly American feast day – and in this they are right, they just must realize that America is larger than just the USA...While U.S. citizens usually think the first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in 1621 in Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts. The Canadians may also claim to having invented Thanksgiving Day: the history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher's Thanksgiving celebration was for a safe homecoming. In the year 1578, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Newfoudland to give thanks for their survival. And in the USA, historians think the actual date, location and purpose of our first Thanksgiving was different. The Spanish celebrated a day of Thanksgiving on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida. Moreover, a day of thanksgiving was codified in the founding charter of Berkeley Hundred in Charles City County, Virginia in 1619! all of which is very interesting, but...
Whoever invented the day, whoever was first, wherever they lived and whatever their reason, the only important fact about Thanksgiving, is that we are filled with gratitude! Master Eckhard said, “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.” Indeed, if religious life means anything at all, it means that we live our lives in gratitude to God, for being God. “Thank you” is our whole life!
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
To be Wise as serpents and innocent as doves...
Jesus told us to be 'wise as serpents and innocent as doves.' So, to be wise as serpents is a good thing, right? The word wise means knowledgeable and prudent. And, while snakes have gotten a 'bum-rap' in the literature, in all fairness, the snake in the Garden of Eden was only verbalizing a temptation that had already occurred to Eve. Moreover, snakes, in almost all other cultures symbolize both the life force and the search for balance in life. So, to be wise as serpents, actually implies that we use our intelligence as well as our emotions to minister to others. The other part of the phrase is innocent as doves. In this context, innocent means harmless; that is, doing no harm to others. It refers not only to the appearance of innocence, but to innocence itself. It means strength that harms no one, power that does not exploit, energy that focuses on doing good. The dove is the traditional symbol for the city of Jerusalem. So, when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus at His baptism in the form of a dove, it was a powerful symbol that our Deliverance was fulfilled in Jesus, the Son of God. To be wise as serpents and innocent as doves is to embody both intelligence and serenity, rationality and compassion in our daily lives as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
Does your life 'sparkle'?
I was reading a poem by Mary Oliver, when this particular line caught my eye: “ Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one, wild and precious life?” Did this ever give me pause! It raises a number of questions: Are you going to do something you love to do today? Are you going to spend time today with someone you love? Will there be beauty in your life today? Will you nourish your soul today? Will you allow your 'wild' side to come out today -- and do something daring? What sustains your soul also sustains and lengthens your life... By learning to make choices from within, and then acting accordingly, you add 'sparkle' to your eyes -- and to your life!
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
God and the Fourth of July
One of the toughest things to deal with is the question of evil. If God is all Good and all Loving, how can God allow so much evil in the world? This is not an easy question (understatement of the year). God doesn't make things easy because God can't make things easier, at least not without making us into something far less than we are. In making us, God gave us as much freedom, creativity, and pluck as was possible. He didn't play it safe. God gave us as much godliness as possible. Simply put, in making us, God went so far as to give us a freedom that even God will not tamper with. A risky business, but it seems God prefers risk to control. God tolerates the misuse of freedom to enforcing conformity.
Human freedom means not to be coerced, even by God. God is not a frightened man who needs to control, nor a threatened creator who cannot allow us the greatest gift of all: freedom to choose – even to choose evil. God allows evil because God respects the freedom and ingenuity of creation and, as we know from elsewhere in our faith, can ultimately redeem whatever goes wrong. God-given freedom is what we celebrate on the fourth of July!
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
A Good-bye...And a Welcome
Ordinarily I do not use my 'blog' for announcements, but this is a really important one in the life of our Area. Our Area administrative assistant, Sheila Townsend, decided to leave and start her own business. I want to take this opportunity to thank her for all her years of service. To thank her for sharing her creativity -- and her family -- with us! And to wish her every success in her new business: may God bless her efforts!
I am also extremely pleased to announce that Associate Joan Mills, already a treasured member of our family, has accepted the position as our Area administrative assistant. I know you will want to welcome her, in person or by email -- and wish her well. We thank Joan for adding her time and talents in yet another way to our Area. And we extend a hand in blessing over her, her family and her work! and Welcome!
Sr. Joanne Schuster,SFP
CCA, U.S. Area
Christianity is not a Spectator Sport...
As most of you know, I enjoy watching sports as much as anyone - and certainly I follow my favorite teams with great interest. Just recently, while watching the World Soccer Cup, I saw these marvelous athletes running at full speed up and down the court while I sat in my comfortable chair and watched. It occurred to me that I was watching while others performed. True...but it led to another thought: Christianity is not a spectator sport! Jesus actually and really lived the Gospel. And the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity did not come to earth to watch others do things, but rather to demonstrate to us how we should live. And Jesus spent very little time here, so what He chose to do must have been very important. If we are, indeed, Christians -- followers of Christ -- we cannot become mere spectators of the Christian Life. Even if we are ill or incapacitated...Even if we have spent a lifetime dedicated to living the Gospel message...Even if we are hurt or misunderstood, we are not exempt: We can love...we can do good to those who hate us...we can forgive and seek forgiveness...we can and must live in such a way that people will say of us what they said of the early Christians: "See how they love one another!" No indeed, Christianity is not a spectator sport -- and we are never too old, or even too near to death to participate!
Sr. Joanne Schuster, SFP
CCA for the US Area
