Again, chatroll locked us out after awhile.
But this was the start:
In May, Pope Francis met with leaders of orders of Catholic sisters and nuns from around the globe, telling them that the lives of consecrated persons are a “light in the world.”
“What would the church be without you?” the Pope asked at one point in the audience, telling the sisters the Church “would be missing maternity, affection, tenderness” without them.
Some quotes of the Pope that day might inspire us:
“It is an absurd dichotomy to think of living with Jesus but without the Church, of following Jesus outside of the Church, of loving Jesus without loving the Churc
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7:30 PM
l How has leadership in the Visitation order changed over the years?
Sep 15 2013, 7:31 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Some of it we can apply; being in line with the Church, loving the Church and Jesus
Sep 15 2013, 7:31 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Good question!
Sister Susan Marie: The constitutions about it have not changed at least not in the past 40 years but the situations a leader faces in the Visitation is much changed
Sep 15 2013, 7:32 PM
l: I can imagine
Sep 15 2013, 7:33 PM
l are strong opinions in the lay community about habits or no habits! I was talking to friends just this week
Sep 15 2013, 7:33 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Some Superiors in the Visitation still follow the “Mother” title and role, like here and Georgetown and all the First Federation communties
Sep 15 2013, 7:33 PM
l: I like the Mother title and role
Sep 15 2013, 7:33 PM
Sister Susan Marie: The Visitation has both kinds of communities re habits
Sep 15 2013, 7:33 PM
__Rl__: me too
Sep 15 2013, 7:34 PM
l: What did Vatican 2 say about it exactly?
Sep 15 2013, 7:34 PM
C The Mother title is not really part of all orders though, is iC:
Sister Susan Marie: In 3 communities the Mother is called Sister but she still has the responsibilities of the community as all the other ones
Sep 15 2013, 7:34 PM
Sister Susan Marie: No not all Orders today.
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Sister Susan Marie: I’d say it’s either a theological or philosophical approach, or different approaches that gets reflected in the way the leader is addressed
M
Sister Susan Marie: The communities which have developed a more consensus model of governance may lean toward a title that reflects that approach
:37 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Certainly when i was discerning 25 years ago none of this mattered to me! I just wanted to be in a Monastery with Jesus and others who felt as I did about Him
7 PM
C: Me too!
Sep 15 2013, 7:37 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Hello guest 76
Sep 15 2013, 7:38 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Yet I found it interesting in the article about Pope Francis’s adress to leaders that he did ask them to draw upon motherly qualities.
Sep 15 2013, 7:38 PM
l: I noticed that
Sep 15 2013, 7:39 PM
l: I have a friend who is in a progressive order who feels the mother role is treating others like children
Sep 15 2013, 7:39 PM
l: I don’t see that myself
Sep 15 2013, 7:39 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Now for myself who was never married I can only draw on a “spiritual motherhood” but many in our community- new members that is are moms
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Guest76 (guest): I liked what the Pope said about chastity, that “fertlie chastity” generates spiritual children in the Church.
Sep 15 2013, 7:40 PM
C: I think a good mother allows her children to think for themselves, so they always know what to do.
Sep 15 2013, 7:41 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Yes, the responsbility of a good mother helps them
Yes, the responsbility of a good mother helps them to grow. And I like that idea of fertile chastity too. I never heard it expressed that way before!
:43 PM
l3: I agree
Sep 15 2013, 7:43 PM
Guest805 (guest): Good evening everyone.
Sep 15 2013, 7:43 PM
Sister Susan Marie: My retreat was on Archbishop Martinez’s retreat to Conchita from a book called TO BE JESUS CRUCIFIED and that’s what she was a spiritual mother, of priests
Sep 15 2013, 7:45 PM
Guest76 (guest): Right–not living in community, but fullfilling my secular duties of state, consecrated but not vows.
Sep 15 2013, 7:46 PM
Guest76 (guest): Is anyone here considering the Consecrated life? I am married, but starting my first year formation to become a consecrated Daughter of St Francis de Sales.
Sep 15 2013, 7:43 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Good evening!
7 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: We’re all consecrated to God, as SFdS says: “I commend myself to God every morning. In doing that I place myself entirely, with all that belongs to me, in the hand of the Eternal Goodness…”
Sister Susan Marie: I think the direction is good- the different ways we can be consecrated to the LordI.
Guest805 (guest): http://sfdsassociation.org/
St. Francis de Sales Association
Sep 15 2013, 7:50 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Some here are discerning religious vocations, one at least a secular consecration, if that’s how we can phrase it and others are consecrated contemplative nuns
Sep 15 2013, 7:50 PM
Guest805 (guest): is this what you are doing?
Sep 15 2013, 7:50 PM
Guest76 (guest): Yes, Sr. Mary Roberta, we are all consecrated to God! I wanted to be in alignment with the Church and to be a part of an association that conforms to the Church.
Mary Roberta Viano: SFdS again says: “To Thee do I recommend my soul, my mind, my hear, my memory, my understand, my will.” That’s a lot like the Jesuit song – Take My Life.
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l: That’s lovely!
Sep 15 2013, 7:53 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: That’s all the consecration really means
53 PM
Sister Susan Marie: What are some of the steps you’ve all taken in discernment?