CDP General Council ‘Following Spirit’s Beckoning’

Last week, August 9th-12th, our CDP General Council attended the 2022 Leadership Conference of Women Religious assembly in St. Louis, Missouri entitled Mystical Wisdom: Following Spirit’s Beckoning. The assembly encouraged women religious to explore sources of wisdom that can help them navigate leadership with insight and spiritual depth. Designed to provide leaders with information and inspiration, the assembly included speakers and various processes where participants listened to one another, claimed their own internal wisdom, and learned how to apply that wisdom to the complexities and decisions that demand their energy and time.

The main speakers, theologians Sister Constance FitzGerald, OCD and Dr. M. Shawn Copeland launched the exploration of mystical wisdom for these challenging times in a set of two conversations. They set their observations within the context of major world shifts and movements taking place: the failures of globalization, the mass migration of peoples, the increase of violence, the pandemic, and the findings of the James Webb telescope that gives us a cosmic vision of unimaginable magnitude. The main focus of their conversation was the relationship between the loss of place and the transformation of consciousness underway.

Their conversations were augmented by a series of three dialogues among six LCWR members: Gayle Lwanga Crumbley, RGS; Sheena George, CSJP; Eileen Haynes, SCL; Joyce Shanabarger, OSF; Nicole Trahan, FMI; and Lyan Tri, ACI.

Sister Jane Herb, IHM, LCWR president, began her address with a brief snapshot of some of the external realities in our world and in our church. She then talked about emerging themes in religious life including: transformation; vulnerability; prophetic witness to religious life; synodality within our church; and creating Mary and Elizabeth encounters.

After elaborating on these themes, Sister Jane concluded her address noting “We need to look to the future with both our heads and our hearts. As we do so, the future of religious life needs to respond to the transformation that is happening within us as the changes are happening around us. We need to be nimble and to risk as we look to the future. We are called to trust in the mystery as God calls us from the future. There is a call for more diversity as we embrace interculturality. To engage in the divine dance into the future will take courage and a spirit of hope.”

A passion for religious life was evident and a readiness for change among the leaders and our CDP General Council as they also shared their vulnerability as well as different ways to address concrete issue.