What’s a Nice Jewish Boy Doing in a Convent? Nuns, Millennials, and the Call to Community

by Adam S. Horowitz

1 Author's Note

It’s strange to tell a story in the middle of living it. But that’s what this is; a mid-journey reflection, a brief pause to retrace the path and share a glimpse of the surroundings en route to somewhere not yet known.

In December 2018, one month into a six-month “pilot residency” at a convent in California, I sat down to write a year-end note to share with family and friends. It quickly became clear that it would take more than just an email to explain where I was, and why. This is what emerged.

My hope is that this writing might somehow be engaging and informative for folks who know nothing about religious life as well as to sisters and others who live it or know it well.

Mostly, this is an invitation to join in an unfolding journey and a growing conversation about what’s needed, what’s possible, and what’s being called forth at this moment in time.

My deepest thanks to dear friends and fellow travelers on this un- likely journey of Nuns & Nones, to the Sisters of Mercy and staff at Mercy Center for friendship and hospitality, and to my family for not thinking I’d gone off the deep end when I told them I was moving into a convent. Thanks to Christina Tran for the idea and design chops to make this writing come to life in this format.

February, 2019 Mercy Center, Burlingame, CA

2 What’s a Nice Jewish Boy Doing in a Convent? Nuns, Millennials, and the Call to Community

by Adam S. Horowitz

he week I moved into the convent was the week commitment, and outsized impact. Tthat the sky turned dark with smoke. California Heeding the call of their Irish foundress Cather- was burning at a record-breaking scale, the city of ine McAuley to “be shining lamps giving light to all Paradise decimated with untold numbers of lives around,” the Sisters of Mercy have spent 187 years lost, and here I was, driving in the direction of the fire living in communities of contemplation and social all the way from New Mexico, in a car loaded with my action, responding to unmet needs in society with a belongings and two of my dearest friends. It’s al- radical spirit of mercy and compassion. The first six ways an odd time to move into a convent, as a young Sisters of Mercy in the U.S. arrived in Pittsburgh in Jewish man. Doing so under an apocalyptic sky thick 1843, where—within just a few years—they fundraised with ash made it especially so. for, built, and staffed a hospital, a school for young After three days of driving we reached the for- women, an orphanage, and more. midable entry gate to the Sisters of Mercy campus Within the next decade new communities opened in Burlingame, California, climbed the winding in New York City, Chicago, Little Rock, San Francis- driveway past ancient oak trees, and parked in front co, and beyond, where Sisters, often joining in their of the labyrinthine four-story building that would teens, rallied to meet whatever needs they encoun- be our home for the next six months—and that had tered. Cholera outbreak? Start a hospital. Civil War? been home for more than sixty years to many of the Head out to the battlefield to tend to soldiers on both Catholic nuns, or “women religious,” who would now sides. Housing crisis? Start one of the nation’s largest be our neighbors. affordable housing organizations. We were greeted in the parking lot by Mel, the A concise history of the order would fill several security guard, who offered a few riddle-like stories books—as could tales from the Burlingame campus and wished us luck, and at the front desk by Valerie, alone. I can’t and won’t try to do justice to that story who assured us that the sisters had prayed away the here. Let me just say that I don’t know of any other ghost that used to dwell in the mansion further up community praised by Abraham Lincoln, sung about the hill. As we began unloading the car in the dark, by Leonard Cohen, and able to build some of the Sister Joan Marie emerged to greet us with hugs, a largest-scale educational, healthcare, and housing hearty “welcome home!” and a bottle of a wine. Mercy infrastructure in the country. hospitality already on full display. Currently, there are more than 2,900 Sisters of Like many of the 400 orders of Catholic Women Mercy in the Americas and more than 9,000 from Religious in the U.S., the story of the Sisters of Mercy various congregations of the Sisters of Mercy world- is one of courageous women, profound humility and wide. Their ministries vary, but all Mercy sisters are

3 Yi Zhang and Sr. Rosann Fraher, RSM, at a Nuns & Nones Bay Area gathering. Photo by Sarah Bradley

united in their vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, A Wandering Jew and a Wondering and service as well as their focus on five “critical Reverend concerns”: care for the Earth, immigration justice, ’ve been itinerant for the last two and a half years, nonviolence, racial justice, and women’s issues. Iwith no fixed address or apartment to return to, Like most communities of women religious in the much of it due to 'my secret life with nuns.' But my U.S., the Sisters of Mercy have fewer and fewer wom- itinerancy precedes this journey with the sisters. en (“novices”) entering the order. Across the U.S., the Indeed, it may be as deep as DNA. My ancestors average age of a Catholic nun is 80. crossed borders just as frequently as borders crossed Sisters are used to surprise guests. Many orders them, descendants of millennia of “wandering started orphanages after newborn babies were left Jews” in search of a promised land. Most of my on convent doorsteps. In Burlingame, the Sisters of great-grandparents sought that promised land in the Mercy declared sanctuary in the mid-80s and took in U.S., leaving the “Old Country” in Eastern Europe by many refugees and asylum seekers in times of crisis. boat and then hopping aboard a multi-generational But a group of millennials? This was certainly new, assimilation train. Far removed from the daily reli- and unexpected. As one sister put it, “you know it’s gious practice of the Torah-carrying ancestors who the work of Spirit when it comes through the side migrated here, the Judaism I inherited was secular door.” and cultural, rooted more in the values of family, gen- Sometimes you pray for new novices and three erosity, education, and border-crossing, than in any bearded men show up on your doorstep on a smoky form of religious or spiritual practice. November night. Mine was the kind of Judaism where you learn The story of how and why I arrived to live in this enough to pronounce Hebrew letters and chant with convent for six months is surely bigger than one I a wobbling, cracking voice, at the awkward age of can tell here—or even fully understand at this mo- thirteen, to a room full of everyone you know. After ment. Like any story, it’s part of a much larger and the bar mitzvah, I was more or less “done.” Rather more mysterious puzzle of which the teller can see than an initiation into meaningful Jewish adulthood, only a few pieces. What follows, then, is just an initial responsibility, and spiritual deepening, this ritual was attempt to assemble some of the clues from my own the last task on the checklist of perfunctory Jewish experience. education, before continuing on a secular path. Juda- ism as vestigial organ rather than beating heart. * * * And yet, the wandering impulse does not easily

4 fade in a generation or two. Nor, perhaps, does the nings of the Jewish tradition that had otherwise been ancestral memory of the village, the desire to root in reduced to good food, a reverence for learning, and a wisdom tradition, or the sense that life should be in- a couple of annual holidays. But, nonprofit work-life fused with ritual and spiritual practice in community. had me on a different kind of treadmill. Five years ago, while living in New York City, I Through an introduction from a mutual friend set out on a roadtrip with friends to visit intentional back east, I connected with Wayne Muller, an or- communities that were spiritually grounded and dained reverend and author in his mid-sixties, who actively socially-engaged, not isolated unto them- turned out to be a neighbor, just a few doors down selves. “Not Your Grandma’s Commune,” we called from my Santa Fe perch. Wayne was gregarious, our planning document. In visiting Quaker Villages, eccentric, and full of theological insight; we struck Jewish social justice houses, urban dojos, and more, up an easy friendship and began taking meandering we were looking for viable models of community liv- walk-and-talks through the neighborhood. ing that didn’t privatize love, keeping families apart One cool spring day in 2016 we wandered and in suburban domestic oblivion. I was hooked by the wondered aloud about the kind of social, communal, (un-American?) dream of taking down the white pick- and spiritual infrastructure needed for welcome, et fences and rebuilding the village heart. The path refuge, and belonging in the 21st century. We talked to getting there was unclear, but I yearned to be a about the ubiquitous role that YMCAs used to play part of some kind of intentional community pulsing as places of hospitality for newcomers, and about with imagination, communality, and social action. cultural centers and monasteries—and at some point In 2015, I left New York City abruptly, in what felt in this conversation, Wayne brought up the sisters. like a self-initiated intervention (or inner-vention). Over decades of writing, speaking, and minister- City life was dynamic, but I had the hunch that ing, Wayne had developed friendships with Catholic something was calling me elsewhere. Shortly before women religious and had recently returned from leaving, over dinner with Chicago where a group friends, I recall sharing of sisters shared with him with some sadness that their story of diminishing it felt like the only option Why rent an apartment, to be numbers and the five-sto- there, or in any new set apart? At the time, I had ry convent they were place I might move, was preparing to raze. That to lease an apartment. no idea I’d soon be spending loss of community and of As the word rolled off of community space seemed my tongue I could hear so much time in convents — unnecessary, given how why. Why rent an apart- derived from the word many younger folks both ment, to be set apart? At Wayne and I knew who the time, I had no idea convenire, to come together. were hungry for spiritual I’d soon be spending so mentorship, models of much time in convents— alternative community, derived from the word and rhythms of life that convenire, to come together. balance contemplation and social action. I returned to Santa Fe, New Mexico, the place of I’d never met a sister, but the more that Wayne my birth and the most familiar landscape of my life. shared about their lives, the more I could hear Though surrounded by vast skies and ancient red- the resonance with the questions underlying that rocked mountainsides, I was still tethered to wifi, sub- roadtrip years prior and with the questions I knew so mitting myself to long digital workdays, shepherding many of my peers in their late 20s and early 30s were the organization I’d started a few years before, the grappling with. The more we discussed it, the more U.S. Department of Arts and Culture.1 I yearned there seemed to be a potential synergy between nuns for more in-person community and to explore the and millennials, including the so-called "nones" — mystical, contemplative, and social justice underpin- folks who might check "none of the above" on a list

5 of religious affiliations. Here’s how we later worded it on the Nuns & Nones website:

Across the U.S., Women Religious from over 400 communities are serving the unmet needs of so many who live on the margins of society, with a spirit of radical compassion. They have developed a powerful, robust infrastructure, building and serving commu- nity across the U.S. and the world. Yet their own religious communities face declining membership, invoking poignant emotional, existential, spiritual questions about the future of their missions, lineages, spiritual and worldly physical assets.

Millennials have the largest percentage of religiously unaffiliated members of any age group. Many of these spiritual but not religious “Nones” are actively seeking and creating communities of purpose, belong- ing, and service outside of religious insti- tutions. Like the sisters, they are called to serve something larger than themselves, with a willingness to leap, in faith they will find their way as they go, grounded in an unshakable ethos of radical invitation and welcome.

Both groups are asking “what’s next?”—lis- tening closely for what wants to emerge at this critical moment—each offering some of the wisdom, inspiration, energy, commit- ment, and deepening community the other seeks.

What learnings, what untapped mutual re- sources might be discovered, and set free, to serve the unmet needs in the world, through an alliance of these two inspired and inspir- ing communities?

We decided to ask these questions by bringing the two groups together. Wayne reached out to a few sisters he knew to bounce the idea off of them. Was it crazy? “Yes,” he heard in response from some, “and TOP TO BOTTOM Nuns & Nones gatherings we’ll be there!” I shared with peers who, it turned out, in the Bay Area, St. Louis, Kalamazoo, and were similarly captivated by the idea. Once a few Philadelphia. sisters had indicated they’d join the first gathering, others began reaching out to ask if they might at- tend, including several past presidents of the Lead-

6 ership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), the ings told a much longer and deeper story, of human association of Catholic women religious leaders that vulnerability and yearning, the presence or lack of represents nearly 80 percent of the approximately caring connection and community, leadership in the 45,600 sisters in the United States. face of uncertainty and risk, the quest for justice, the We connected with our mutual friends at the Har- dance between the urgency of now and the long view, vard Divinity School to schedule a meeting space for commitment and freedom, how to listen for one’s call a few days. By design, our gathering would coincide in times such as these. By the time we had completed with a meeting that a group of millennials would al- a first go-around, it was as if we were already family. ready be attending. Although we didn’t have funding, Both sisters and millennials had echoed each oth- Wayne promised to refund sisters for airfare from his er’s words and sentiments, enriching one another’s own credit card. It seemed just improbable enough to journeys simply by sharing our honest questions and be worth trying. unknowings. Sr. Mary Dacey put it succinctly: “We have so much * * * more in common here, than could ever divide us.” This was the first two hours—and we had two more The Beginnings of Nuns & Nones days together. We were hooked. It was already “worth e probably made a dozen trips up and down it.” Whatever else happened from here would just be Wthe elevator to our meeting room, bringing continued blessing. in potted plants, snacks, drinks, posterboards, and The dominant narrative of our time is one of decorations, to brighten that bleak December day in division and polarization. There’s another story, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wayne was determined less frequently told — but no less alive and certainly to make sure the vibe was homey, not institutional, more hopeful. Over the last two years, I’ve experi- and had purchased enough supplies to last a week, enced, again and again, a sense that the rapid pace of though we would only be there for two days. change and scope of need in the world is enabling a Several sisters arrived early, of course, as we were bridging of difference and a quickening of relation- still putting the room together. Within moments of ship. People are being called to stand at the outer meeting them, I got the sense that this would not be edge of their traditions and identities, to reach out to anything like what I had imagined. Sure, I’d begun others doing the same, and to take some next steps to read up on the history of women religious, but the together toward something new. first interactions made it clear that this was actual- For many of us so-called “millennials” in the circle, ly going to be quite fun—a time of deep presence, there was a sense that the women we were meeting humor, and joy. Sr. Sue Mosteller, in her 80s, who had were almost the antitheses of the newly elected, traveled all the way from Toronto to be there, hugged ego-inflated misogynist and the system that created me so hard upon first meeting that I nearly lifted off him. These were powerful women leaders who’d tak- the ground. en vows of poverty; who lived, discerned, and shared There was a sense of giddy anticipation and in community; offered love and care to those who uncertainty in the room as about a dozen millennials needed it most; created vast infrastructure to meet and a dozen sisters arrived. And, yet, it did not take unmet needs; and who were constantly and collec- long at all to move from the warm buzz to a depth of tively evolving their communities and institutions. silence and truthtelling, as we took a shared breath What other institutions and communities were so and began to go around the circle responding to a completely led by women? And what might the world first prompt: “What is moving in you? What’s some- look like with more of such leadership at the helm? thing alive, that you’re grappling with or wondering The story of that first gathering could itself make about at this moment?” a small book; the transcript alone is a riveting read. It hadn’t even been one month since the 2016 And the same could be said of every single gathering presidential election, and we were all still reeling that followed. Going into this first circle we had no with the implications. Yet, while tinged by the histori- idea what would happen, but one of the very clear cal moment, this circle wasn’t speaking to the minu- outcomes after two days together was the expressed tia of newspaper headlines. Collectively, our wonder- desire and mandate to keep coming together. At this

7 There was a growing sense that the more we leaned into authentic, mutual relationship, the deeper the field of listening could become, and the more possible it might be to activate the healing and liberatory potential of these connections.

Sr. Judy Carle, Sister of Mercy Photo by Rhino Media

first gathering, sisters and millennials had come from wearing a habit, praying quietly behind thick con- all across the country. Everyone left asking “how do vent walls, toss it out. Conjure, instead, images of I meet the nuns, or the nones, near me?” Wayne and determined activists risking arrest at protests; heads I didn’t know how or where or when, but we knew of major universities, hospitals, and social service upon leaving this hopeful encounter that we would organizations; representatives to the United Nations; soon be hosting more. teachers, professors, artists, permaculturists, scien- tists, nurses, doctors, and social entrepreneurs; young * * * sisters in grad school as well as seventy/eighty/nine- ty-year-old women who “retire” again and again, only Meet the Sisters to start new ministries, join boards of international or readers who are less familiar with sisters, as I organizations, and continue to serve those in need Fwas until recently, let me pause the narrative for right where they are. some additional context—along with a few obvious Picture women who continue to learn new lan- disclaimers: I am not a sister; I am not a historian guages, engage in lifelong anti-oppression train- of religious life; and generalizing about sisters is ing, accompany folks on the streets, in courts and about as unreasonable an undertaking as generaliz- prisons, and who might return to university at age ing about millennials. There are some 400 orders of fifty or sixty to get a law degree or PhD. And picture women religious in the U.S., and within each order women who do this while living in self-governing, there are as many kinds of sisters as there are mem- income-sharing communities, navigating a church bers of the community. As I’ve heard more than hierarchy run by men and mired in scandal, and all once: “you meet one Sister of Mercy, and you've only without ever tooting their own horns. met one Sister of Mercy.” With that in mind, here’s On the one hand, given the scope of their “good just a bit of context about some of the women I’ve works” it’s a wonder that more people don’t know had the privilege of meeting over the last few years. about the lives and impact of women religious in the If you’re holding the image of a cloistered nun U.S.—beyond what they may have seen in the film

8 Sister Act. On the other hand, it makes total sense; where each member is fully supported in following sisters are committed to being of service, and not to her own vocation. being recognized or celebrated for the work they do— Sisters are not propped up financially by the to the chagrin of two millennial attendees of a Nuns church. Their hospitals, schools, shelters, advocacy & Nones gathering in Kalamazoo who proclaimed and justice organizations, farms, programs for people that the sisters need a “rebranding” campaign. of every walk of life, as well as their own convents, To truly get a sense of who a sister is, it’s good to motherhouses, and assisted living centers were all ensure you’re also sitting with another member of the built by sisters who fundraised and pooled resourc- community who can fill in the details her friend is too es. And prayed, of course. None of this would have humble to share, or to have long enough to draw out been possible, they would hasten to add, without the the fuller story through persistent inquiry. I once sat support and guidance of Spirit and the imprint and with a sister who, only after my constant questions inspiration of their loving, pragmatic, determined, about what she’d been up to in the last year, revealed and energetic foundresses. that she’d recently helped hand the Mayor of New There are two, identity-defining historical turning Orleans a $148 million dollar government check for points that come up at nearly every Nuns & Nones Katrina relief that otherwise would have been left off gathering, without which it’s hard to understand this the table. On the side of running a shelter for undoc- moment in religious life. umented youth. No big deal. Ask a group of sisters what happened during But it’s not just the work they do that leads to Vatican II and you’ll feel the energy pick up in the jaw-dropping moments in our gatherings, it’s how room as if the windows were thrown open and a gust they do it. Show me another community that gathers of wind blew through. Indeed, that was the feeling all together every six years in a roomful of hundreds for many when, in 1962, Pope John XXIII and the of people, to collectively rewrite a mission state- Vatican Council instructed women religious to revisit ment—and succeeds at the task. Where salaries are their founding stories and to take seriously the task pooled across the community and “retirement” is just of renewing and revitalizing their charisms. code for “not getting compensated anymore.” Where Charism refers to that essential gift, the natural you can lose your job for political reasons or decide quality and purpose, of each religious community, to switch careers, with a sabbatical in-between gigs, as bestowed by its foundress. Deeper than a mission because the community has got your back. Where or vision statement, the charism is the heartbeat of a significant percentage of the community ends up the community, its reason and way of being. For the in democratically elected leadership at some point. Sisters of Mercy, the charism is, of course, mercy— Where a spiritual life binds members together, but turning one's heart to the misery in the world and

EMERGE AND SEE Participants hold notecards with phrases spoken during a Nuns & Nones gathering. Photo by Rhino Media

9 responding with compassion. The Dominican Sisters against church teachings or for not distancing explain one element of their charism as “reading the themselves far enough from those who did. Simul- signs of the time.” Other orders may name education taneously, the Vatican launched a second probe, or work with the homeless or any number of more to investigate all women’s orders in the U.S. based specific manifestations of charism. on reports—according to the cardinal heading the In reexamining their founding stories and inten- committee—of “a certain secularist mentality that tions, sisters got back in touch with the more radical, has spread among these religious families, perhaps action-oriented roots of their tradition. In many com- even a certain ‘feminist spirit.’” munities, the black and white habits came off and the In a move that was simultaneously heartbreaking, doors opened wide. Sisters became less cloistered, confusing, frustrating, and insulting to tens of thou- often less visually identifiable, and much more pres- sands of women who’d dedicated their entire lives in ent in the world. Beyond the traditional vocations service to the church, the Vatican assigned men to of nurses and teachers, they started new organiza- investigate and “assist” the women in orienting more tions, joined marches and protests in the streets, got “faithfully” to the teachings. degrees and expanded their own theological hori- Every time the doctrinal investigation story zons. Within their communities, sisters developed comes up in a gathering, it becomes a learning more horizontal leadership structures, along with a laboratory in moral leadership. How did the LCWR deepening commitment to contemplative practice succeed in holding dynamic tension with diplo- and collective discernment. During these tumultuous macy, grace, and integrity? How does a group that years of change, many sisters left religious life. large navigate impasse and difference, maintaining Over one dinner conversation about Vatican II, a trusting relationship among its own members and group of sisters shared unexpected evolutions: one ad- also with the larger institution calling it into ques- opted Buddhist practice; another embraced liturgical tion? What are the lessons we can all learn about dance; another found herself — years later — outside patience, collective discernment, and solidarity in a of a cathedral protesting a visit from a conservative time of crisis and unmooring? pope. Energized by the possibilities, eager to serve, The sisters drew deep from their decades of prac- and liberated from some of the more dogmatic and tice in collective discernment and prayer. (It helps, a isolating aspects of their previous lives, sisters took se- sister explained at our first Nuns & Nones gathering, riously the charge of taking a prophetic stance—in the when you start conference calls in a few minutes of world writ-large, and within the institutional church. silence.) They also called upon an in-house bench Four decades later, under the leadership of Pope of expert facilitators, negotiators, lawyers, commu- Benedict XVI, it began to seem as if the Vatican nications professionals, theologians and more, with regretted having asked women religious to revisit a shared commitment to engage in diplomacy over those more radical roots. The freedom and autonomy public debate. Thousands of lay people came to the exercised by certain communities was more than sisters’ defense (often to the sisters’ surprise) writing the Church had bargained for. And here begins the letters, joining in protests, and showing up for the second turning point that comes up in every Nuns & women who at some point had showed up for them. Nones gathering. This six-year long journey, complete with inves- Asserting that women religious in the U.S. had tigative in-person visits to many communities of been unfaithful to Church doctrine, the Vatican be- women religious in the U.S., was profoundly taxing— gan, in 2009, a six-year investigation of the LCWR but it was also strengthening. Sisters emerged more (Leadership Conference of Women Religious), the unified, more visible, and even clearer as to who they leadership body representing some 50,000 women were and what they stood for. Sisters involved in religious. The Vatican’s “Congregation for the Doc- leading the LCWR during that period, never ones to trine of the Faith” declared that some of the speech- refrain from offering a gift of light amidst darkness, es and materials shared at LCWR assemblies were even decided to publish a book on some of the lead- not theologically sound. Women religious were ership lessons from their experience.2 accused of not speaking out against homosexuali- For a generation of younger activists grappling ty and abortion, and for sometimes taking stances with how to organize with broad coalitions, how and

10 A circle at the first Bay Area Nuns & Nones gathering. Photo by the author

when to stay in relationship with problematic politi- We’ve had Buddhists, lapsed and practicing Cath- cal, social, or religious institutions, and how to stay in olics, Muslims, women seeking ordination, Chris- it for the long game without burning out, sisters have tians of all sorts, United Universalists, Jews, atheists, much to offer. pagans, seekers, mystics. (The term “nones” offered a clever rhyme, but was only partially reflective of who * * * was coming in the door.) We’ve had first generation immigrants, white folks, people of color, queer folks, “Behold, I am doing something new…” trans folks. We’ve started gatherings with preferred n we went, the older UCC Reverend and the gender pronouns. (“Oh, ‘they!’” one sister in St. Louis Oyounger Jewish organizer, gathering with nuns remarked. “I wish we’d had that when I was younger.”) and “nones” at convents and retreat centers across We’ve had social workers, activists, nonprofit leaders, the country. We’d somehow convinced each other artists, social entrepreneurs, students, and educa- to try four more of these gatherings in 2017, riding tors, working across sectors, but united in a desire to on frequent flier miles and the goodwill of retreat explore different ways of living in community and to centers who would front the initial costs of gathering offer their gifts to heal, serve, and work toward justice. (and a prayer that we’d find funding to reimburse At each of our two-day gatherings we offered costs afterward). In advance of each, Wayne would up a simple four-part agenda: 1) an opening circle speak with and invite sisters, and I would do the for sharing our deepest, most alive questions and same with millennials, in search of peers willing to wonderings, 2) “Meet the Sisters” — an opportunity spend two days in a dialogue circle with Catholic for sisters to share their lives, callings, and identities, nuns. Another millennial organizer, Katie Gordon, individually and collectively; 3) “Meet the Millenni- started a group on her own in Grand Rapids, Mich- als” — an opportunity for the younger folks to share igan—which began meeting every other week—and their lives, callings, and identities, individually and then joined in the national efforts as well. collectively; and 4) What do you want to do next? We worked to curate groups of people who came We sprinkled our time together with poetry, silence, from many different kinds of backgrounds, but walks in nature, and good food. Each time, the two shared a disposition toward curiosity and openness. days would fly by. Two days with nuns might sound like a tough sell, In the San Francisco Bay Area, Kalamazoo, Phila- but a surprising range of young folks responded with delphia and St. Louis we circled up to share questions an eager “yes” to the invitation. and wisdom around living lives that balance con-

11 templation and action, discerning call and vocation In St. Louis, 92 year-old Sr. Ida concluded with a man- throughout a lifetime, living in community, reading date to all: “keep creating intentional communities!” the signs of the times, shifting institutions, pursuing Over the months, as we went from site to site, it justice work without burning out, and moving through felt as if the conversation was evolving on its own— impasse. We learned about the practice of hospitali- not just repeating, but growing and uncovering new ty, silence, contemplation, individual and collective possibilities with every circle. There’s surprisingly discernment, patience, and collective leadership — not little scripture spoken aloud at these gatherings. just through dialogue, but through experience. Indeed, the Jews seem to bring up Jesus more than Participants also opened up topics that one might the Christians. But there is one line that is spoken assume would be taboo in a first meeting: sex, repro- by a sister at almost every gathering: “Behold, I ductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, church scandal, pa- am doing something new. Do you not perceive it?” triarchy, Christian suprem- (Isaiah 43:19) acy, and church histories We are all still listening of racism, oppression, and Sr. Mary Dacey put it for what this new thing is. violence. While there’s not But some clues are emerg- always agreement in these succinctly: “We have so much ing. conversations, sisters have more in common here, than As congregations grow in shown up with a consistent, age and dwindle in numbers, open willingness to engage. could ever divide us.” sisters have transitioned They are careful to speak for much of their institutional themselves rather than the infrastructure or “ministries” group, which typically includes sisters both within to lay leadership. In doing so, they’ve become prac- and beyond their own community. ticed at the art of letting go, freeing themselves up to Wherever the conversations went, gatherings respond to new calls to action, while finding ways to tended to leave participants glowing with a new ensure that the mark of their charism remains in the sense of connection and hope. hospitals, schools, and nonprofit organizations they’d At the end of a gathering in the Bay Area, one started. sister wrote: The Nuns & Nones conversations are revealing Such a magnificent community has been another critical institution that hasn’t received as born, burst forth upon our world and uni- much attention or care in transition, yet is among verse....released and growing. I am in awe, the most worthy of legacies to pass on and reimagine and feel so drawn toward its Light and Love together: sisters’ extraordinary way of life and the and Deep Union. I love the possibilities it institution of community itself. holds for our continued engagement with It’s not surprising that this way of living and each other. serving in community hasn’t received the same kind of attention that the external ministries have; it’s the After Kalamazoo, one millennial shared: air that sisters breathe, the water they swim in. It’s At a time when it is easy to feel disconnect- also one of the prophetic aspects of religious life that ed and divided, our time together revealed most powerfully speaks to the yearnings of a younger and strengthened a network of authentic, generation looking to live differently, especially in emerging relationships. We are building this era of privatization and hyper-individualization, a new community, a collective movement, Although new sisters aren’t joining in the num- working together towards peace and justice. bers they once were, this is a critical moment to And another sister: explore new modes of charism transmission and to At the end of the gathering the world was support a younger generation in stepping into com- more closely knit together. An energy had mitted community lives of contemplation and shared gone out that made community among di- social action. Reading the signs of the times and verse groups more possible than ever before. walking together, we are beginning to hear a com-

12 mon call to help incubate new forms of community wisdom sisters had to share and how joyful it was to rooted in love and committed to justice. forge these new friendships. The pillars of these new forms of community may Over the course of 2017, the “S” section of the not be so different from what has helped hold reli- contact section of my phone filled with Sisters; I gious life in place for hundreds of years. amassed literature and visitor passes from dozens of As we walked among two-hundred year-old olive communities; and there were months in my itinerant trees and lovingly tended gardens at the Dominican life where I woke up in convents more often than Motherhouse in Fremont, California, Sr. Gloria Marie anywhere else. All the while, I was continuing a full- Jones explained to me the four organizing principles time job, attempting to keep another organization of her community: study, prayer, shared life (commu- afloat. I was drawn to the lives of women religious, nity), and ministry (work in the world). As someone in part, because of that ideal of balancing action constantly looking for time-tested frameworks by with contemplation, in community. Meanwhile, I was which to structure a life, this elegant simplicity was a driving myself to the brink of burnout, as was Wayne. welcome offering and resonated on a deep, intuitive Reading quotes from Thomas Merton aloud at gath- level. I too was looking for a life of learning, contem- erings in late 2017, the irony was not lost upon us: plation, community, and healing work in the world. “There is a pervasive form of contemporary Like the Dominicans who take seriously the mandate violence to which the idealist most easily to “read the signs of the times” I aspired to make my succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush work not about having a career in some sector, but and pressure of modern life are a form, per- about listening and co-creating in response to the haps the most common form, of its innate needs of the time. violence. To allow oneself to be carried Part of what kept me so engaged that first year away by a multitude of conflicting con- was realizing just how much personally applicable cerns, to surrender to too many demands,

WALKING TOGETHER Adam Horowitz walking with Sr. Mary Clare Fichtner, OP, at Jubilee Farm, an eco-spirituality farm and center, run by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois.Photo by Alan Webb

13 to commit oneself to too many projects, free fall, untraining my perceived need for certainty to want to help everyone in everything, is and stability. During those first months of 2018, I ex- to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our perienced a kind of intuitive flow that I’d never before activism neutralizes our work for peace. It felt—along with some deep exhaustion. One of the destroys our own inner capacity for peace. unexpected places of hospitality and respite for two It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, weeks during that time was Mercy Center. because it kills the root of inner wisdom Nuns & Nones soon expanded beyond the initial which makes work fruitful.” gatherings, taking on new life through a rich web of relationships. In the Bay Area, the group continued We were moving at an admittedly frenzied pace. to meet over weekend-long retreats at motherhouses, Never mind the fact that Wayne had written a book where we’d stay up late in conversation, millennials on the Sabbath and regularly did workshops on and sisters both, sharing glasses of wine, wondering slowing down, and I was completely fried from run- about the possibility of co-creating new charisms, ning a nonprofit organization, desperately seeking singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, accompanied a different pace and ground of being. We found by guitar. Folks organized field trips to tiny homes, ourselves exchanging midnight emails and zip- places of ministry, and other intentional communi- ping around to convents. The road to and from one ties. Sisters and millennials began meeting up, one gathering might have even involved fast food and on one, to deepen relationships. The group in Grand speeding tickets. Oy vey. Rapids continued its biweekly meetings. Christina Less than twenty-four hours after Wayne had a Tran started hosting monthly online video calls for heart attack at a gathering in the Bay Area (unbe- the growing network. And I couldn’t help but talk knownst to both of us at the time, and a longer story), about nuns wherever I went, piquing the curiosity of he was plunking out the Beatles “Let it Be” on an friends, more of whom began to get involved. upright piano at the convent, singing: One evening a group of us dropped by the Sisters When I find myself in times of trouble, of Mercy for dinner on the way back from a meeting. Mother Mary comes to me After an evening of laughter and storysharing, we Speaking words of wisdom, let it be all wrote haikus. Sr. Janet Rozzano’s was especially And in my hour of darkness she is standing memorable: right in front of me Eeek! What will I say? Speaking words of wisdom, let it be I’m too old for millennials! Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be Surprise – they’re soul mates. Whisper words of wisdom, let it be Stories about Nuns & Nones began popping up in We knew the pace of our extracurricular efforts the Catholic press. (Based on Sr. Janet’s haiku, “Soul- was a bit much. But we both carried an almost em- mates” later became the title of the cover story about bodied sense of how timely and sacred the window Nuns & Nones in U.S. Catholic Magazine.) We started of time was to make these connections. It was hard hearing from sisters all across the country interested to just “let it be.” At the very least, we wanted to help in starting Nuns & Nones groups. While the enthusi- tee up the conversations, and then let be whatever asm was there, our organizing capacity wasn’t. wanted to emerge. Over the summer of 2018, dear friends Alan Webb and Brittany Koteles set off on a roadtrip to 11 * * * motherhouses in the Midwest. I drove with Rachel anuary 1st, 2018 was the first day I woke up not Plattus and Emily Chiapinelli from Connecticut to Jknowing where I would be staying that night—or St. Louis, stopping at communities of women reli- the following night, or the next week, or month. Bless- gious along the way. Sr. Eileen Dooling at Mercy by ed with many caring connections among friends and the Sea in Madison, CT showed us the open field in family, I was grateful to feel home-ful, not homeless. It which she’s been dreaming of starting a community was the beginning of period in which I had to develop of tiny homes and gardens. Sr. Liz Langmead from a new level of trust and a willingness to be in some the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart showed us

14 ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER CONVENT Visiting the Dominican Sisters in Springfield, Illinois on a cross-country roadtrip. Photo by the author

around her nearly empty convent in Towson, MD. the needs of our times? We circulated the call among One of her community’s primary ministries has been sisters we’d met since the first gathering, curious to providing asylum for refugee women. Now only a few see if it would spark any interest at all. sisters are left living in the convent, with the capacity Inviting younger folks across genders and faith for dozens more. Imagine the win-win-win potential tranditions into a community of women religious of sisters with the wisdom and practical experience would indeed be a bold leap of faith. But there has of providing asylum, the physical space to do so, and been a stream of movement in this direction for a younger generation eager to live in community and decades. to be of service. Every visit revealed beautiful collab- At a sidewalk book sale in Philadelphia, I hap- orations just waiting to happen. pened upon a copy of a 1996 book by Sr. Barbara Throughout all of this we were wondering how to Fiand, “Where Two or Three Are Gathered.” To my move into deeper relationship, beyond occasional surprise, it contained an especially poignant vision conversations and visits, to something more. There for the future of religious life, drafted jointly by the was a growing sense that the more we leaned into LCWR and the Conference of Major Superiors of authentic, mutual relationship, the deeper the field Men. In 1989, these important leadership bodies of listening could become, and the more possible envisioned “transformative elements” of religious life it might be to activate the healing and liberatory and wrote: potential of these connections. Seeking the next step, “Religious in the year 2010 will serve a pro- I drafted a call for a “pilot residency,” in search of a phetic role in the church and society. They community of women religious who might feel called will live a spirituality of wholeness fostering: to open their doors for a bounded period of time to participation and harmony among all peo- a group of younger seekers with a commitment to ple, healthy personal and interpersonal rela- similar values and work in the world.3 tionships, reverence for the earth, integration By living in community together, might we begin of spirituality and technology on behalf of to uncover new ways to future the charism and to the gospel. Their communities will be charac- carry on important social justice work? Could we terized by inclusivity and intentionality. model, in one or two sites, some new way of collabo- rating across generations and faith traditions to meet Our communities may include persons of different ages, genders, cultures, races, and

15 sexual orientation. They may include per- have struck each of us as completely far-fetched. sons who are lay or cleric, married or single, After many moments in which it seemed like it as well as vowed and/or unvowed members… might all fall through, the Sisters of Mercy in Burl- Our communities will be ecumenical, pos- ingame finally got the green light from the national sibly interfaith: faith-sharing will be consti- leadership in Omaha, Nebraska. In September 2018 tutive of the quality of life in this context of we learned that our 6-month “pilot residency” would expanded membership. Such inclusivity will begin in just two months. Five millennials—two wom- necessitate a new understanding of mem- en and three men—were on board.4 bership and a language to accompany it. The weeks leading up to our arrival at Mercy Cen- Religious life still includes religious congre- ter felt like the lead-up to the launch of a spacecraft. gations of permanently vowed members. We were all, sisters and millennials alike, astronauts who, unbeknownst to us, had been preparing for this Seeds for the kinds of experiments we were imag- mission for years—unaware of our future co-pilots, ining with Nuns & Nones had been planted decades until now. We weren’t under the illusion that it would ago—by both women and men religious. But the gap be an easy mission, or particularly comfortable in between the articulation of possibility and its incar- outer space, or inner space, or wherever we were nation can be vast indeed. headed on the far frontiers of religious and commu- By the summer of 2018, we started to get signals nity life. But I believe we all shared the sense that that the Sisters of Mercy in Burlingame, CA were in- sometimes you have to go out there for some new terested in possibly saying “yes” to a Nuns & Nones perspective, so as to uncover and report back a differ- Residency. This made sense; relationships with these ent story about what’s possible. justice-oriented sisters were already warmed up from previous gatherings—and having spent two weeks * * * there earlier in the year certainly helped. Suzanne Buckley, director of Mercy Center, was also one of Mercy: Week One our most energetic champions, keen to see some- e didn’t have air masks—and even if we did thing happen. Wthey wouldn’t have worked for those of us Being the largest order of women religious in the with beards. (We learned from a sister who had been U.S., in the midst of a national unification process, fitting masks for folks at a nearby hospital that peo- meant that moving forward with a pilot community ple with facial hair need full-on “hoods” to prevent with the Sisters of Mercy would require approval particles from getting in.) So, we spent most of that from the national leadership, in addition to local smoky first week at Mercy inside our quarters. buy-in. Thus began several months of deliberation The side of the building we live in is the former and dialogue with national leadership, spearheaded Novitiate, where women entered, often in their mid- by Sisters Judy Carle, Judy Cannon, Joan Marie to-late teens, to begin the six-year journey toward O’Donnell, and Patsy Harney. Meanwhile, I began taking final vows. circulating the possibility of the residency with some The timeline of this wing tells a story that reso- close friends and collaborators, in the Bay Area and nates across orders of women religious. It was built beyond, who’d been a part of Nuns & Nones and pre- in 1964 to accommodate the growing number of vious journeys together. women entering the Sisters of Mercy. Membership We too entered a process of discernment. Saying peaked in 1966, followed by a steady decline. By 1981, “yes” to rearranging our lives to spend six months the wing was so scarcely inhabited that the sisters in a convent in the suburbs would surely require a decided to repurpose this half of the building as strong sense of purpose and trust. Many of us were in “Mercy Center”—a spirituality and conference center moments of transition, sensing the need to orient dif- with 90 bedrooms and a dozen meeting spaces, serv- ferently to work, spirit, and community. Compelled by ing the needs of a broader community of nonprofit the relationships we had already begun with these sis- groups and spiritual seekers. ters and with each other, we found ourselves inching We live along a fourth floor corridor, each in a ever closer to a reality that, just a year earlier, would small room outfitted with a twin bed, simple desk,

16 closet, and sink. My north-facing windows overlook And new directions we indeed embarked on. oak and eucalyptus trees and the hillside sprawl Although we almost never stepped outside that first of wealthy suburban Burlingame. The commute to week, it wasn’t too isolating. Peeling apples with Sr. work is the three flights of stairs down to our shared Judy Carle, we learned about upcoming mergers of office space, with décor meticulously curated by Sr. major healthcare systems and heard updates on the Suzanne Toolan, age 91, an internationally acclaimed people in immigration detention centers that the composer and foundress of multiple nonprofit community has been accompanying. At the Zendo organizations. Not a single cross on the wall—and on the ground floor we sat with Father Greg Mayers, two images of Moses! A a redemptorist priest gesture of welcome to and Zen Roshi. In the the two Jews among our auditorium, we joined the group of five? The residency would be an celebratory final meeting At our informal wel- opportunity to incubate our own of an interfaith coalition come reception, the room featuring reflections on was full and buzzing with version of intentional community, solidarity and action from sisters, staff, and other a laboratory of commitment in Muslim and Christian friends of Mercy. Over leaders, youth reciting coffee and cookies, we which to figure out what our from the Koran, and the introduced ourselves and expectations were of ourselves Mercy High chorale. At met our generous hosts, the meeting, Sr. Carol getting a deeper feel for and each other—while also Baetz, in her late 80s Mercy hospitality and the sustaining our work commitments with sparkling blue eyes, tradition of bridge-build- shared that we are all one, ing that goes all the way in the world. What were our core but need to know that and back to Catherine McAu- values, and how would we create feel that through direct ley, the foundress. experience and embodied Sr. Marian Rose Power a structure to nourish them? action. welcomed us by lifting We had the first of up a bag full ingredi- what would become our ents—apples, sugar, and a pie crust—promising weekly Shabbat dinners with sisters, full of song, they’d return in the form of a warm apple pie when spacious sharing, and a homemade meal, complete we called the phone number on the card addressed to with a challah covered in a dishcloth depicting nuns the “Nones,” saying we were ready. in habits. The challah was blessed, broken, and Sr. Joan Marie O’Donnell read aloud a blessing shared. Like our lives. Like the eucharist. We be- she wrote for the occasion: came com-pan-ions in the truest sense of the word, breaking bread together. I sensed a line of ancestors Faithful guide of those who journey standing behind and above each one of us, watch- Take our hands as we walk the road ing on, smiling. Through the unnamed wilderness What we had begun here was not a program, not In search of the place of our belonging. a new curriculum in spiritual formation or interfaith Faithful companion, assure us of your presence community-building. Unlike the novices who’d en- In the foggy land of “I don’t know” and tered this very same place decades before, our time the “not yet”. would not be defined by hierarchical structures and rigorous rules, but by real-time inquiry and mutu- Source of Wisdom and Guidance, ality. We would make the road by walking, creating Be the stay that leads us to the horizon of structures based on the needs and insights that hope and new life. emerged. Shine truth onto our path Within just days we could feel how the sisters And bless us as we move in new directions… were creating a receptive, listening, and spacious

17 container for whatever it was that we were all here homeless. To this day, nuns get free rides on public to learn together. Any signal we put out was swiftly transit as a token of gratitude for their contributions responded to. One day after I made a brief remark to the city. expressing a desire to learn more about the founding I was glad to leave the city and return to the story of the Sisters of Mercy, a colorful shoebox full refuge of Mercy Center. I only wished we could have of carefully selected books and pamphlets appeared opened up space in this largely empty building for in our office with a note. When a visiting friend made the hundreds displaced by fires raging nearby. it known that she was a weaver, sisters who weaved showed up at all hours of the day to connect with her. * * * In the meantime, we began to explore our own spiritual practices and rhythms of sharing in com- Refugia munity. The residency would be an opportunity to fter fire ravages a forest, there are often small incubate our own version of intentional community, Apockets of life, islands of green among the ash, a laboratory of commitment in which to figure out which—almost miraculously—remain unharmed and what our expectations were of ourselves and each intact. These areas, called fire refugia, shelter species other—while also sustaining our work commitments that would otherwise be wiped out, becoming the in the world. What were our core values, and how seedbeds from which the forest regenerates. They would we create a structure to nourish them? On a don’t have to last forever to make a difference; even personal level, it felt like these might finally be the short-lived fire refugia can be the saving grace for conditions I’d been searching for to cultivate a dif- local biodiversity. ferent ground of being from which to operate when I Scientists don’t know exactly how and why they left the residency six months later. occur, but they are essential to life after destruction. The only day during that first week that I did If we were able to somehow map them, understand leave the convent for an event in San Francisco, the how they work, and develop a strategy for preserv- discordant sights on a single street corner accentu- ing them, “that would be sort of the Holy Grail,” ated the apocalyptic sky from the fire in the north. according to one biologist in a recent New York Upon getting out of the car, I watched folks crossing Times article.5 the street wearing air masks, walking their leashed We may not yet be able to understand and nurture dogs with eerie normalcy. To my right, a half-clothed these ecological refugia, but we can work to preserve man draped in a blanket was swaying and talking to and create the spiritual, cultural, and civic refugia himself. To my left, five or six people (unmasked, and needed in these times. Amidst catastrophic climate likely Central or South American) climbed all over a change and vicious economic inequity wrought by giant black SUV, scrubbing it by hand at a bustling centuries of patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, car wash— all on a day where the sky was still a dark and settler colonialism, we are in dire need of what gray and there were more parts per million of carbon we might call refugia communities, working across dioxide in the air in the Bay Area than in Beijing or generations, cultures, and faith traditions to create Delhi. new seedbeds from which life can flourish. “This is what the end of the world looks like,” I Of course, myriad versions of refugia commu- thought to myself. Not some abrupt fiery finish, but nities already exist all around us in the form of this steady escalation of inequity, devastation from neighborhoods where people truly know and care climate change, and loss of meaning and community, for each other, mutual aid societies and networks, amidst continued attempts at business-as-usual. faith groups and religious communities offering And yet it probably would have read as a fairly sanctuary, intentional communities with open doors, cheerful scene for the Sisters of Mercy who arrived cultural centers keeping traditions alive, schools that to San Francisco in 1854, amidst terrible cholera and nurture whole humans, land-based centers practicing an influx of migrants who didn’t have access to basic sustainable agriculture and earthcare, democratical- services. Or in 1906, after the Great San Francisco ly-governed worker-owned cooperatives looking out Earthquake, when sisters rushed to aid create pop-up for the wellbeing of all. hospitals in tents around the city and to take in the We can’t know what the future holds—though

18 A WELCOME REFUGE View from the bedroom window at Mercy Center during the California fires. Photo by the author

Amidst the crisis of isolation and the hunger for belonging, we need viable, visible models of community for people who would readily give up the profit margins for the prophet margins. We need community structures of support for those called to take a visionary stance on the far edge of the status quo, working toward collective liberation and ever-deepening mutual relationship with all of creation. Women religious give us one such model, and can be critical midwives of new forms of community of spirit in service. ~

19 GENEROUS LISTENING Sr. Barbara Hansen, OP, during breakfast at a national Nuns & Nones gathering at the Fetzer Institute. Photo by Rhino Media

recent UN reports on climate change offer harrow- religious pursuit of wealth in favor of a more humble ing clues. But we do know that the challenges com- and grounded life of meaning-making and tikkun ing our way will need to be met by communities, olam (Hebrew for healing of the world) in commu- not individuals. At a moment when the hunger for nity? Might we imagine and create new kinds of community is so palpable—across people of all ages “orders” to meet that yearning? and backgrounds—what might it look like to more Amidst the crisis of isolation and the hunger for intentionally, collectively take on the task of creating belonging, we need viable, visible models of commu- refugia communities that are intergenerational, inter- nity for people who would readily give up the profit cultural, spiritually grounded, and socially engaged? margins for the prophet margins. We need commu- How might such communities help nurture the moral nity structures of support for those called to take a and spiritual capacities required to both grieve and visionary stance on the far edge of the status quo, live courageously amidst planetary destruction? How working toward collective liberation and ever-deep- might they practice and spread a culture of embod- ening mutual relationship with all of creation. ied hospitality and sanctuary in the face of devasta- Women religious give us one such model, and tion and displacement? can be critical midwives of new forms of community Monasteries emerged during the Dark Ages as of spirit in service. Based on decades of experience places to steward wisdom traditions amidst socie- living in self-governing, women-led, resource-shar- tal disarray. What if, in this age, we are called not ing, justice-oriented, spiritually-rooted, risk-taking, to create isolated sites of contemplation and study, “counter cultural” communities of contemplation and but, rather, communities of spirit in service—in plain action, sisters have a wealth of wisdom to share with sight? Urban monasteries; Houses of Belonging; a younger generation setting out to serve and heal in engaged intentional communities; reimagined forms a fractured world. of “religious life” dedicated to creating the condi- Through Nuns & Nones we are seeing that sis- tions in which we can become more human humans; ters’ charisms have natural inheritors in a younger places to bring our creative capacities to healing and generation of seekers. In building these bridges and tending the earth and one another; and places to step relationships, might we enable a continuation and outside of extractive systems and steward, renew, and transformation of religious life that—far from being pass on wisdom traditions. an ending or a “diminishment”—is part of the birth Given the opportunity, the right structures, might of a new wave of prophetic communities? there be untold millions who would forgo the almost In her 2018 presidential address at the LCWR’s

20 annual assembly, Sr. Teresa Maya spoke about the “do justice, love tenderly, and walk humbly with your critical call to nurture community: God,” whoever that God may be. Our mission as leaders for this time is as The unfolding work of Nuns & Nones will take simple as it is ancient: community. This many forms, with groups of women religious and is what we do best; this is what we have younger folks within—and outside of—many faith always done through all our ministries. We traditions finding next steps rooted in local contexts lead for community. There is nothing more and relationships, uncovering place-based possibili- important, more radical, more necessary for ties that can’t be dreamed of in the abstract. But, just us than to lean into our apostolic call to nur- to spark imagination and point to some of the many ture and foster community wherever we find paths forward: it, wherever we are, with whatever means we Imagine “pilot residencies” of younger organizers have, whether it is prayer, solidarity, pres- and activists, intentional communities in the mak- ence, sponsorship, or our blessing.... ing, living and learning alongside communities of women religious across the country (or world). Com- Pope Francis reminds us in his most recent munities could issue charism-specific invitations, exhortation that “no one is saved alone.” partnering with younger folks who are called to the Eruptions and disasters require community. same issues that women religious have been working Preparedness for what is coming needs to on for years, from climate justice to immigration to be done in community. The only way for us racial justice. Residencies could also focus on spiritu- to hope in this moment in time is as commu- al formation and serve as apprenticeships in prophet- nity: hope is the gift of communion. ic community, preparing groups to form new place- How might sisters and millennials, along with based communities of spirit in service. Imagine allies across generations and faith traditions, work residencies that go beyond six months and actually together to create the refugia communities needed become some new kind of covenantal community. now and in the decades ahead? How might we nur- Imagine empty convents filled with visionary new ture and incubate new communities that themselves communities of spirit rather than being sold on the share the call to “foster community wherever we find speculative market, carrying on the charism through it?” Communities that prioritize our common hu- justice work and community-building. Envision the manity over divisive dogma and that heed the call to community gardens and permaculture projects that

SHARING SPACES Sr. Liz Langmeade, MSHS, Rebecca Parrish, Priya Parrish, Sr. Mary Trainer, RSM, and Sr. Annmarie Sanders, IHM, at a tour of the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Photo by Rhino Media

21 SHARING STORIES Bay Area Nuns & Nones gathering. Photo by the author

could come to life on otherwise empty land, through seekers helping document sisters’ stories through new partnerships. Think of all of the alumni of ser- oral histories, drawings lessons from their decades of vice corps programs—Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Mercy humble activism and life in community. Volunteer Corps, Quaker Service Corps, and dozens And imagine all of this approached with a lens of others—who’ve already had transformative expe- of healing justice, an action-oriented awareness riences living in community, deepening in spiritual that the wealth that has enabled so much of this formation, and being of service to the world, and are country’s civic, social, and religious infrastructure looking for a community that they can join for the is rooted in histories of enslaved labor, violently next chapter of their lives. enforced assimilation, and stolen land. Imagine Imagine the generative capacity of wise elders, these new communities actively engaged in the imaginative youngers, and underutilized space and work called for in the Movement for Black Lives land, in meeting the needs of the moment and pre- policy platform and by Indigenous rights activists. paring for the challenges that lie ahead: sanctuary for Native reservations currently occupy just 2% of the people displaced by economics, violence, or climate land promised in the original treaties. What does change; organizing and movement hubs; schools for that mean in the context of land transition and at a spiritual formation; training grounds for street medics; moment in which we desperately need the environ- seed libraries; staging grounds for new projects and mental and cultural wisdom embedded in practices enterprises that create meaningful livelihoods for peo- of indigenous land stewardship? ple outside of the structure of extractive capitalism. Throughout her speech, Sr. Teresa Maya returned Imagine a visionary, cross-generational team of to a central image and metaphor very akin to fire sisters and allied partners with relevant expertise—on refugia. She spoke of religious life approaching everything from community land trusts, to coop- a spectacular finale, like a volcano erupting, and erative organizational development, to restorative reminded sisters that amidst the ashes and lava, new justice, permaculture, and theology—available to sup- life can grow: port with the needs and dreams of various communi- ties in transition and transformation. Ultimately, the task of our leadership is to When social or environmental crises arise and an make the color real for our communities! “all call” goes out to sisters to take action or to send Leadership must vision beyond the prepa- community members—as recently happened at the ration for the final eruption. We need to border—imagine a “nun plus one” program, where point to the wildflowers already showing younger folks could journey with sisters, accompany- up among us. We need to encourage the ing and learning with them through action. belief that the wildflowers can grow from Imagine a generation of younger organizers and the ashes…

22 We have a few good years to bless the next We widen the field of grace when we warm it up with generation with our wisdom and our trust, the relational trust accrued over time. to kindle in them the hope of God’s vision Showing up fully to nurture the possibilities of for humanity...our time in leadership will this moment will also require financial resources, not be complete until we have called all of organizational structures that nourish authentic our sisters to share the Why of their ex- relationship, and focused awareness. Something is traordinary lives… happening organically, but time is of the essence and, as one sister put it, “we can always make a little Our nuns, our sisters, our communities more space for Spirit to move in.” need to go forth into these conversations Making “a little more space” means investing in with the ‘nones.’ I have hope in the conver- the bridge infrastructure through which these new sations being convened by the Nuns and possibilities can take shape, shifting narratives in the Nones movement. religious life from diminishment to renewal and This is a rare and precious moment, a kairos transformation. Communities that are inspired by window for charism transmission and social transfor- these possibilities can bring all kinds of resources— mation, rooted in mutual respect, deep listening, and money, time, expertise, space—to the table in support authentic relationship. In a society in need of new of emergent visions. Line items that might once have models of intergenerational exchange and eldership, been allocated for the novitiate, for example, might sisters can be natural and valuable companions and be reallocated for organizers and programs support- mentors for new communities and projects seeking ing new forms of charism transmission and commu- to give birth to ways of being and thriving, outside of nity formation. an extractive, capitalist society. Working together, religious communities, mil- From the ashes of the volcano, we can spark a lennial organizers, and allied philanthropic and social and contemplative movement that takes as its thought partners, can create a just-in-time ecosys- building blocks a different architecture of communi- tem of support for regenerative transition, transmis- ty, figuratively and literally—that counters atomiza- sion, and transformation. tion, division, and the privatization of love through The kinds of ideas set forth here are not the only communality, prophetic imagination, and robust ones emerging from Nuns & Nones, nor are they pos- rhythms of action and contemplation. ited as the future of religious life. They represent one To launch this regenerative arc of new prophetic direction to move in, among many others. In times communities, we must gather our collective breath of great change and uncertainty, when the end of the to blow on the embers while they are still hot. With world as we know it feels close at hand, we need both religious communities aging and making critical the wisdom of elders and the imagination of youth to decisions about their futures, we are called to live keep finding paths forward. Together, we can contrib- into the paradox of a moment in which there’s too ute to the “revolution of tenderness” that Pope Frances much at stake to rush—or to wait too long. We must has called for, creating refugia communities that help proceed with thoughtful care and take bold leaps. We make the revolution appealing, even irresistible. must move at the speed of trust and with the fierce urgency of now. * * * Throughout the Nuns & Nones journey I’ve caught glimpses of what it looks like to do just that. We Give Thanks In our circles of listening and co-creation, there’s been space enough for like-hearted sisters and mil- hanksgiving Day lived up to its name, as we all lennials to build bonds of trust and care—and then to Twoke with gratitude to the first day of blue sky and invite trusted peers along for the journey. Together, fresh air since our arrival. Eager to get outside before we quicken the pace of collective possibility when joining the sisters for a feast at noon, I threw on a coat we invite along the friends with whom we’ve been and climbed the hill, past Burlingame’s fancy homes, building trust for years before this particular calling. big cars, meticulously landscaped lawns, toy drones,

23 AN ONGOING CONVERSATION Eli Feghali and Sr. Celeste Marie Nuttman, RSM, carry on the conversation after a salon on the vow of chastity at Mercy Center. Photo by Alan Webb

and up to a nature reserve with moss-covered elms ready on their way. twisting alongside a babbling creeks. At an outcrop- We give thanks, for unknown blessings al- ping that might once have been a lookout, one can see ready on their way. into the San Francisco Bay and watch planes land at We will not look back in anger. nearby SFO. This must have been a fertile valley for Or forward in fear. the Ramaytush Ohlone, its original inhabitants, and But around in awareness. the people especially on my mind this day. Everything had a new vibrancy now that the The sisters responded together with a song of smoke had cleared. Able to smell the plants again their own, voices soft and high: and get lost in their colors, it felt as if I’d finally ar- Where charity and love are there is God. rived, one week after showing up. The love of Christ has gathered us together At noon, three of us “Mercy Millennials” walked Rejoice, rejoice and be glad. over to Marian Oaks, the assisted living center for sisters on campus, and were greeted by Sr. Lillian When therefore we assemble Murphy, who spent 27 years as the CEO of Mercy Let us be of one mind... Housing (which now serves 72,000 people in 42 Let Christ our God states). The women living here may be more elder- Our God dwell in our midst. ly and frail, but get them telling stories and Mercy Over the following weeks, our makeshift com- spunk and zeal are on full display. A priest once re- munity of five resident millennials began to explore marked that the Burlingame Mercies were like “loco- what it meant to assemble and try to “be of one motives dressed in velvet,” a description sisters must mind” in community decisions and rhythms, while have felt was accurate enough to let it stick. Some of also following our own paths. the older sisters, in particular, blend a no-nonsense The more time I spend in convents, the more I get-things-done sensibility with an air of sophistica- feel called to deepen in my study and practice of tion and class. Judaism. (These past two years have also been full of We enjoyed a classic Thanksgiving feast in the rabbis!) And, the more time I spend with both sisters dining room and, prompted by Sr. Judy Carle, one and rabbis, the more I feel invited into the study and of our main host sisters, introduced ourselves and embodied or experiential awareness of the mystical offered up a song of thanks: truths at the core of all religious traditions. I’m grate- We give thanks, for unknown blessings al- ful to have been exposed to enough Christian mysti-

24 cism, for example, to hear in that Thanksgiving song from Pittsburgh and to points near and far a theology of profound interdependence, non-duality, flung… and unifying love. Coming back late one evening from a Chanukah Casting the fire of mercy in places of poverty, party in Oakland, we met a receptionist at the front sickness and ignorance. They have served in desk who we hadn’t seen before. She was thrilled that prisons and schools, hospitals and parishes, we’d returned late enough to coincide with her shift; shelters and immigration centers. she’d read all about us and was excited to chat. They have offered their simplicity, their hard “So, are you thinking of becoming a priest?” she work and their tender courageous voice for asked me. justice… “No…” I shook my head, not sure how else to respond. They have poured themselves out in simple “Oh, a rabbi?” she tried again. delight and patient suffering and cherished the “No, I don’t think so,” I responded, and hesitated. union and charity that is a most prized legacy. “But maybe a Brother,” I shared, looking at my com- Through the Grace of God, the Sisters of Mercy rades, not entirely sure of what I meant, but feeling knew the mystery of growth and diminishment. some truth to the statement. In mid-December, we were invited to the chapel And trust in a future full of hope…. for a Foundation Day service, commemorating the founding of the Sisters of Mercy. Every year, Mercy Therefore, today, God continues to speak to the sisters around the world mark this occasion and heart of our community, calling us to contem- collectively renew their vows. Unlike mass or Christ- plate the presence of the Holy in a discordant mas or Thanksgiving, this was a particularly intimate world, to discover anew the seeds of God’s celebration for the community. promise as fire in our hearts… The lights in the To let the fire surge in chapel were low and the us with new energy, we candles lit. Only the first Through the extension of are called to embrace few rows of pews were hospitality and kindness, we make a revolution of ten- occupied. Alan, a fellow derness! Therefore we millennial resident, and I one another kin. And in doing so, proclaim this day with were the only men in the we risk transformation; we invite joy and thanksgiving. room—and probably the only people under the age and embrace the god of change No priests, no dogma, of 60. Everyone else was and the possibility not even scripture. But either a Sister of Mercy a community of strong or an Associate (the term of new life. women renewing vows to for lay folks who’ve made one another and to their a special commitment to sacred call—with words that were also being sounded accompany the sisters). at services throughout the twelve countries repre- Expertly accompanied by Sr. Suzanne Toolan on sented by the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the the piano, a community choir of tender voices lifted Americas. and echoed in the vast chapel. One by one, women I felt privileged to witness this precious moment, took to the podium to read reflections on this day, held by and for women who have done so much for celebrating their foundress and the women who went the world, and whose stories may never be fully told. before them: What would this service look like in ten or twenty years? What would Mercy look like in another 175 For 175 years, by the tender Mercy of our God, years? In some ways, it didn’t matter. There was deep the sisters have brought their hearts to misery “trust in a future full of hope.”

25 Nuns & Nones pilot residents and visiting collaborators stand in the sunshine outside of Mercy Convent in Burlingame: Sarah Bradley, Milicent Johnson, David Bronstein, Rachel Plattus, Adam Horowitz, Sr. Judy Carle, Alan Webb, Christina Tran, Brittany Koteles, and Katie Gordon.

We were invited downstairs to join for a celebra- way of being in the world, without yet knowing what tory meal in the dining hall. The large portrait of the we will be walking on to. Virgin of Guadalupe was decorated with bright paper To know that we are not alone in this journey flowers for the occasion. Foundation Day brought makes all the difference. To share these in-between Mercy Sisters from around the region back together times with women religious is among the most sur- at the Burlingame Motherhouse, and the room was prising, mysterious, and deeply nourishing gifts of abuzz with a cheerful, familial din. my life. Facing uncertain futures, each and all, we ac- I’d only been here for a month, but somehow, I company one another in friendship and care, forging was part of that family. As we stood in the buffet line, the sacred trust from which a new story can be born. I exchanged hugs with sisters I knew and with others I was meeting for the first time. * * * “Thanks for inviting us to join you tonight,” I said to a sister in line. She responded with a smile. “We’re glad you’re here, Brother Adam.” Through the extension of hospitality and kind- ness, we make one another kin. And in doing so, we risk transformation; we invite and embrace the god Footnotes of change and the possibility of new life. What that 1 https://usdac.us new life will look like, for me, and for fellow travelers, 2 However Long the Night: Making Meaning in a peers and sisters both, is not yet known. Time of Crisis. A Spiritual Journey of the Lead- Think of this, then, as a dispatch from the chrys- ership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). alis—a story of transformation told in the middle of Edited by Annmarie Sanders, IHM living it. Consider this, too, as an invitation to join in 3 Invitation sent in search of partner community the unfolding. for residency https://bit.ly/2IZpTQi Embarking on this residency at Mercy Center, my 4 About the Mercy Center residency peers and I have not “left the world behind.” Like the http://mercy-center.org/ProgramsMC/ sisters, we are tending, daily, to organizations, move- MillennialResidency.html ments, people, and communities far beyond these 5 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/science/ walls. But it does feel like we have walked out of one wildfire-biodiversity.html

26 Through Nuns & Nones we are seeing that sisters’ charisms have natural inheritors in a younger generation of seekers. In building these bridges and relationships, might we enable a continuation and transformation of religious life that—far from being an ending or a “diminishment”—is part of the birth of a new wave of prophetic communities?

To learn more about Nuns & Nones and to sign up for organizational updates, visit www.nunsandnones.org.

To sign up for occasional personal updates and future pieces of writing—or to be in touch directly— please visit www.adamhorowitz.org. BACK COVER: Sr. Pat Ryan, RSM, at the chapel in Marian Oaks, the assisted living center for Sisters of Mercy in Burlingame. FRONT COVER: Entry gate to Mercy Center/Mercy Convent Photos by the author

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