XV AMASC World Congress 6-9 November 2014

November 10, 2014


End of day reflections
Shirley Miller, RSCJ

Listening With One Heart

Thursday, November 6

  • We are gathered in this magnificent desert setting to listen to one another, to creation, and to our God.
  • Anne-Marie’s beautiful opening prayer calls us to listen with one heart, to greet one another in love, listening to one another with respect, appreciating our diversity.
  • The Society’s Constitutions call us to “Let our lives be inspired by the love of the Heart of Jesus and the desire to make Him known.”
  • God is creating new things among us – God, a fountain of life for us and a river of hope for the world.
  • What are your hopes for this conference?  Recall the hopes you have…
  • Sister Dawson spoke of our privilege and responsibility for carrying God’s love into the world.
  • She spoke of the international meeting of provincials in Poland, our shared internationality, our life unfolding.
  • She invited us to be welcoming and not exclusive.
  • To care for our planet and people, for the sake of life.
  • She asked us to place this meeting and all of our countries in the hands of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and ask for her spirit of courage and humility
  • Listening and voting on finances and proposals take a special kind of listening
  • UGANDA was accepted joyfully into AMASC.
  • Strategic planning with Madeleine Ortman:
    • What will AMASC look like in the future?
    • What do we need to do to hear, listen and act with One Heart in the future?
  • Closing prayer taken from opening morning prayer:
    • Earth’s Creator, Loving Maker, You who shaped us, recreate us, in your presence we are gathered, You have called us, to restore us; in our resting, in our rising, in our hoping, in our waiting, Our beginning, our unfolding, our enduring, now and always, Word of gladness, Word of mercy, Word of friendship, Word of challenge, Alleluia, now and always, Alleluia, through all the ages. Amen!

Friday, November 7

  • The bong called us to our morning prayer:  All of nature is murmuring mysteriously.  Glory to our God from age to age.  What do we do with such great a love?  Glory be to the God of Life.
  • Mary Maloney, President of the Phoenix area AASH, graciously welcomed us to Scottsdale, and invited us to watch the sunrise and sunset in the desert during our days here.  She also offered the Blue Ribbon Brigade to help us in any way during the conference.
  • Sister Kathleen Conan, Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart, sent a video. Sister Conan thanked us for living the dream of St. Madeleine Sophie, and invited us to listen with one heart and to respond with compassion for all peoples for our earth.
  • We received the AMASC reports of our President, Pam Snyder, and the great work the AMASC team has accomplished during these four years.  We also heard from Anne de Broglio, Webmaster; Fedy Rossi Germani, archivist, Jacqueline de Montjoye, our liaison with Belgium authorities.
  • Sister Reyna Gonzales presented a power point on the new app “Call Me Back.”  It is a way of reaching out to the spiritual longings of young people with the spirituality of the Society of the Sacred Heart, to discern the meaning of vocation and to respond to the cries of the world for justice, peace and the integrity of creation.  It is a means for connection, conversation and reflection.  It will be launched in a few weeks.
  • Claudia Nicholaije reported on the young AMASC and social networking among them, the opportunities for personal development and promoting volunteering and hospitality.
  • Alicia Moreyra, newsletter coordinator, explained the way the newsletter unites all of our countries worldwide, opens channels of communication, and connects with young alums.
  • Madeleine Ortman provided the second session on strategic planning:
    • What we want to look like in 5-7 years:  some of the comments included:
      • Influence at the UN
      • Young alums in leadership positions
      • Solidarity with one another
      • A global partnership
      • Spiritual guidance
      • Continuing the spiritual and educational philosophy of St. MS
  • Closing prayer:  At this crucial point of history, Jesus is still calling us to be men and women of the Heart, giving us the possibility of listening once more to God’s dream for humanity, which moves us to make each action of our lives brim over with love.  In our Sacred Heart community, we wish to give each other mutual support in the certainty that the dream can be fulfilled.  (Life Unfolding, Offering the Gift)  SO BE IT.  AMEN!  ALLELUIA!

Saturday, November 8

Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ, and Keynote Address:  “Listening with One Heart.”

    • Opening song, “I Arise Today”, with images of creation and Teilhard de Chardin’s Mass on the World
    • Listening to one another, to the cosmos, to our own inner voices, to the Heart of God – Cor Unum et Anima Una in Corde Jesu
    • Teilhard’s Mass on the world
      • Eucharist is everywhere - “One by one I see and I love all those you have given me to sustain and charm my life.”
      • We gather all and hold all out to you
      • The world’s cry, “Lord, make us one.”
      • The whole of created reality is one great hymn of praise to God, radiating the presence of Christ.
      • “If we were supposed to talk more than listen, we would have two tongues and one ear.” Mark Twain.
      • Sophie:  We should be known for the quality of our relationships.
      • To hear the hymn of the universe and the hymn of another human heart.
      • The Church according to Pope Francis:  a field hospital, having compassion on others, to be ministers of mercy
      • The fulfillment of God’s dream for the world is a mission that belongs to all of us, and it begins and ends by listening to God in prayer
      • The One Heart is Christ, binding us together to reveal God’s love.
      • Jesus is calling us to be women and men of God’s Heart, brimming over with love.
      • “Be kind because everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

Father George Coyne, SJ – Listening with One Heart, the evolving universe in which we are co-creators

  • Science and the implications for faith
  • We are the most recycled being in the universe.
  • We are co-creators in God’s continuous creation of the universe; we share in the creativity of the universe.
  • Listening with one heart, we seek to be free from any hindrance. Our listening must be universal.
  • Did our planetary system come about by chance or necessity?  Dancing a fertile ballet…
  • God reveals himself to us in creation and in Scripture
  • The only knowledge we can have of God is an analogy.
  • Is God a designer? An engineer”? a nurturer?
  • God allows the evolution of the universe.

Healthy Waters presentation – Anne-Marie Conn, RSCJ, Melanie Guste, RSCJ, Maria Cimperman, RSCJ

  • There is a global water crisis in our world.
  • Justice, peace and the integrity of creation calls us to address climate change.
  • Water is the source and foundation of human life; it is irreplaceable.
  • ¾ of the earth is covered with water; 2.5% is fresh water; 1% is easily accessible; .007% is available to 6.8 billion people.
  • Water shortages affect all of us, especially the poor.
  • There are more deaths from disease than from war.
  • Imbalance between water use and water resources.
  • 8 reasons for water crisis:  population growth, climate change and drought conditions, pollution, privatization, conflicts, water management failure, our exploitation, and environmental abuse.
  • How might we respond to God’s world in need?
  • What Scripture passages for you best express God’s relationship to creation?
  • What Catholic social teaching challenges us to care for all creation?
  • Water is a fundamental human right.  It is a right to life issue.
  • We must be global hearted people.
  • What is God inviting YOU to do?  Something intentional.
  • What are the challenges we face in our structures?  Communities? Families? Work places?

We watched the joyful video from the Sacred Heart School in Uruguay.
We received reports on the study plans of Japan, Brazil and Austria and the regional coordinators reports.
Nominations for the new AMASC board were presented.

Closing reflection:  From Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party (included in Sister Hughes’ presentation:
How will be know when God’s dream is realized?

…All that has divided us will merge,
and then compassion will be wedded to power,
and then softness will come to a world that is harsh and unkind, 
And then both men and women will be gentle,
And then both women and men will be strong,
And then no person will be subject to another’s will,
And then all will be rich and free and varied,
And then the greed of some will give way to the needs of many
And then all shall share equally in the Earth’s abundance,
And then all will care for the sick and the weak and the old,
And then all will nourish the young,
And then all will live in harmony with each other and the earth,
And then everywhere will be Eden once again.

 


 

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