Drawing on the wisdom of formators throughout the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, other religious communities, and formation professionals, this handbook provides suggestions for a comprehensive initial formation program.

Handbook for

Initial

Formation for

Sisters Best Practices within the U.S.

Federation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph

CSSJ Handbook for Initial formation

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………….2 Preface……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………...... 4 Philosophy of Incorporation…………………………………………………………………………….……………………………....5 Confidentiality………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………...6 Formation Personnel……………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………….…10 Vocation Discernment………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………....15 Candidacy…………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………….…………..….20 Novitiate …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….…...28 Initial Profession ………………………………………………………………………………………………….….……….………….….41 Emerging Trends, Best Practices, and Resources…………………………………………………………………………….…46 A Space for Transformation: Guiding Principles for Communities Welcoming New Members by Colleen Gibson, SSJ……………………………………………………………………………………..…………………...46 What Does Intergenerational-designed Housing Look Like?...... 52 Graces Given: A Reflection on the Importance of Immersive Experiences in Initial Formation by Colleen Gibson, SSJ…………………………………………………………………………………..…………………...….56 Graced Whole-making and the Evolution of Social Justice by Susan Wilson, CSJ……………….…...61 The Voice of Younger Women: A Summary of the Survey of Newer Members on Creating Welcoming Communities …………………………………………………………………………………………………..….64 Summary of Survey Data from Women of Differing Ethnicities from the Dominant Culture of Their Congregation…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………70 Encountering Difference: Creating Unity: Accompanying Younger Seekers in Vocation Ministry by Celeste Mokrzycki, SSJ and Mary Rowell, CSJ ……………………………………………………………..…....86 Appendices: Appendix 1 Core Curriculum …………………………………………………………………………..…………………….….…91 Appendix 2 Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults: A Concept for Religious Formation ..….…………...95 Appendix 3 Identity Values ……………………………………………………………………………………………….………..99 Appendix 4 Core Values ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….103 Appendix 5 Sample Forms and Rituals ………………………………………………………………………………….…....108 • Applications o Checklist o Medical Health Form o Dental Form o Mental Health Form o Psychological Form o Letters of Recommendation o Membership Application Form • Assessments o Vocation Summary Assessment 2 o Candidate Evaluation Forms o Sample Template for Evaluation o Novice Self Evaluation o Evaluation by Director • Rituals and Forms o Candidate Welcoming Celebrations o Act of Reception o Declaration Concerning Remuneration o Template for Ritual of Initial Profession o Template for Ritual of Perpetual Profession

Appendix 6 Sexual Abuse Guidelines………………………………………………………………………………………….154 Appendix 7 State of the Heart and Order of the House ……………………………………………………………..155 Appendix 8 Separation Guidelines …………………………………………………………………………………………….162

3 Preface

Formation is a lifelong process that sustains each of us as we are called to engage with our charism of the Sisters of Saint Joseph as vowed religious women. Lifelong formation is an approach that incorporates development and education from initial vocation work to helping sisters, associates, and agrégées age well. This document is focused on initial formation for vowed life. The initial formation process needs to be relevant, cohesive and integrated so that it leads to personal growth and progressively responsive actions throughout our lives.

This handbook provides a unified vision of the process of initial formation for the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. It is meant to support congregations and offer them useful guidelines for incorporation of new members into their life and mission. These are best practice standards gleaned from the tested practices of several congregations and carefully considered by the Lifelong Formation Committee. Each congregation is encouraged to review, assess, and adapt these standards at their discretion according to their unique circumstances.

Another document produced by the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, “Readiness Indicators for Initial Formation (RIFF),” is a helpful companion piece for this handbook. It provides goals and behavioral indicators for each stage of formation.

This handbook enhances the formation experience by a mutual understanding of the expectations and observable progress required for each period of formation. It supports formation directors with a structure that provides direction for the process of initial formation with an emphasis on charism and spirituality specific to the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

4 Philosophy of Incorporation into Consecrated Religious Life

Religious formation is a lifelong developmental process of ongoing personal growth and integration of a call to intimacy with God lived in community. This experience of inner transformation is the fruit of a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ whom the sister desires to meet in those she serves in ministry and those with whom she shares her life in community. Through contemplation the sister opens herself to the mystery of the Trinity and strives to emulate their virtues. Initial formation begins with a woman's entrance into candidacy and concludes with her profession of final commitment. Sisters on the formation team journey with the women who come to the congregation in order to assist and encourage them in developing the values of the consecrated life including but not limited to inclusivity, zeal and generosity, humility, prayer, reflection, lifelong conversion, and joy.

We believe that no formation program can develop and sustain its new members apart from the real challenges, strengths, and difficulties of our life together. In this light, we strive to deepen our relationship with God and one another while continually discerning the changing needs of the people of God so as to be a vital presence to those whom and with whom we serve in ministry.

We are women who recognize religious life as primarily the gift of God and who are convinced of the contribution of religious life in the Church and world of today and tomorrow. Therefore, with the grace of God and the action of the Spirit, we seek to welcome new members and sustain their ongoing commitment.

The formation process of the Sisters of Saint Joseph assists the woman to: • grow in holistic personal development (emotional, intellectual, physical, psychological, spiritual, theological) which will then lead to confirmation of the woman's call to religious life • live the mission and charism of the Sisters of Saint Joseph • become integrated as a contributing member of the congregation • develop, encourage, and deepen a sense of the mission through ministry

The formation/discernment process is a gift exchange which considers the uniqueness of each individual and is attentive to the movement of the Spirit of the charism in each person’s discernment and faith development. With the awareness that the charism is already present within the individual seeking membership, the formation process seeks to deepen the charism’s power, influence, and integrity in her life. We affirm that a personal and communal desire to be open to the movements of grace and the influence of the Holy Spirit is essential to fidelity to God's call. The women who walk with us also give us many gifts offering new perspectives and helping us to see our lives together through a new lens.

5 Confidentiality

At each stage of the formation process — from initial vocation discernment throughout initial profession — it is the responsibility of the director to safeguard and ensure the integrity of the discernment and formation process according to the congregation’s constitution and policies, as well as to the established ethical norms of vocation and formation ministries. Each director observes strict confidentiality in regard to a woman’s process and discloses to the congregational leader, and when necessary the general council and the next formation director, only the information which is relative to the criteria established for that stage of formation.

Confidentiality during the Vocation Phase For many women, participation in the initial inquiry phase comes about for reasons that may be tentative or unclear even for the woman making an inquiry. An initial consideration of religious life often takes place in the context of a complex set of practical realities and circumstances related to her employment or academic pursuits, family, friends, colleagues, and faith community.

In addition, while consecrated life in the Church is a public witness and life, the discernment of this life as a possible option for living out one’s baptismal call is not necessarily of a public nature.

This initial inquiry period is a privileged time of questioning and self-discovery and is supported by providing a woman with the greatest degree of freedom from external influences. For this reason, as well as for the reasons noted here, the confidentiality that the vocation director observes is essential.

While a woman making an inquiry or in the discernment process is free to disclose to others the nature, content, and characteristics of her process, the vocation director observes confidentiality with regard to an inquirer’s identity and the particular circumstances of her life.

Periodic updates to the congregational leader and the general council contact for vocation/formation about the status of a woman’s inquiry are offered by the director in a spirit that reflects both the nature and content of the inquiry and discernment as well as the nature of the relationship between an inquirer and the congregation.

When a woman requests entrance into the candidate phase of formation, the vocation director writes a summary assessment of her readiness for the next phase of formation. In this summary assessment the director includes the following: 1. Overview of the experiences the vocation director has had with the woman 2. Documentation concerning the woman’s capacity and willingness to fulfill the criteria for the candidate phase 3. Documentation that she meets the criteria in the Code of Canon Law — cc.642-643 4. Rationale of why this is the right next step 5. Identification of what challenges might be present as she pursues this next phase of formation 6. Level of recommendation for this next step

6 Recommendations: 1. If the vocation director does not recommend the woman to continue, she tells her directly. The vocation director writes a brief summary of the situation and files it with her records. The vocation discernment process stops there, although the vocation worker may continue to meet with the woman for a brief time of transition to provide pastoral support 2. The vocation director can recommend the woman without reservation 3. The vocation director can recommend the woman with reservation and indicate the challenges or concerns that she has. She and the woman can give suggestions of how to address them

For those women that the vocation director recommends, the summary assessment is shared with the woman. At the completion of this sharing the woman signs the summary assessment. Her signing does not indicate agreement with what is written, but rather expresses understanding that this is the information that will be shared. This document is then shared with the congregational leader, the general council, and the next formation director. This summary assessment is kept in the woman’s file, which is held by the current formation director. All other information that has been acquired about a woman through the assessment process is kept in her personal file in a secure location determined by the congregational leader.

Once the woman has been accepted into the candidate phase, the vocation director, the woman, and the candidate director hold a transition meeting. Within these meetings, in the context of faith sharing, the following areas are addressed: a) the woman’s strengths and the woman’s reflections on how the process has been for her, including the kind of work that the woman has done to date; b) the areas of personal growth that need to be addressed; and c) any other important information that is needed to assist in her ongoing formation.

Sharing of Sensitive Information Considering the sensitivity of some information and the need for minimal intrusion in a person’s life, the following areas require inquiry and attention. They are suggested for exploration with the recognition that they may be points of both grace and growth during the process of formation/discernment.

• Childhood Abuse: The following information needs to be shared with the vocation director and the congregational leader: The awareness the woman has about herself as a result of the abuse. The kind of personal work the woman has done. How has she healed? How has she recovered from this experience? Specific personal content does not need to be shared.

• Addictions: The following information needs to be shared with the vocation director and the congregational leader: The type of addiction it is. How long she has been in recovery and if there is any aspect of her recovery that could impact the formation process. What does she need to stay in recovery?

• Sexual Orientation and Sexual History: Since a woman’s sexual orientation and/or sexual history could seriously impact her formation process, this information needs to be shared with the congregational leader and the formation director working with her. The following information needs to be shared: What kind of personal work has the woman done in this area? Does this work allow her the freedom needed to live the vowed life?

7 • Counseling: It is important that the woman is aware that over time the formation process will often call forth the need for further healing and that short term counseling may be recommended. We are always called to conversion as we grow deeper in our relationship with God.

Information Sharing throughout Formation The formation director provides periodic updates to the general council contact for vocation/formation about the status of a woman’s progress in each phase of formation. The criteria established for this stage of formation is the framework which guides these updates. The general council contact for vocation/formation shares these updates with the congregational leader and the rest of the general council, as needed.

If the formation director believes that the congregational leader alone should receive an update due to the sensitivity of the information, she informs the leadership contact for vocation/formation of this and goes directly to the congregational leader.

At each transitional phase of formation, beginning with candidacy, the current formation director will write a summary assessment that includes the following:

1. An overview of the ministerial experiences the woman has had in this phase of formation 2. Summary of the communal, ministerial, and personal evaluations completed on the woman 3. Documentation of how the woman has met the goals of the current phase of formation 4. Rationale for why this is the right next step 5. Identification of what challenges might be present as the woman pursues the next phase of formation 6. Level of recommendation for the next step

The formation director shares this assessment with the woman in formation and has her sign that she has read the document. This summary assessment, the woman’s personal evaluation, and all of the evaluations written by the formative community are sent to the general council for their consideration and vote.

If there is a change in the general council during the woman’s formation, the congregational leader has the right to transfer any information that she deems relevant to the incoming congregational leader.

Formation and Permanent Files A woman’s formation file is the responsibility of the congregational leader and is kept in a secure location of her designation. The current formation director may have access to the file with the exception of the summary report of the psychological exam. This report may be viewed only with the consent of the woman.

At the time of perpetual profession the following information is kept in the member’s permanent file. 1. Application form including autobiography and vocation history 2. Medical records 3. Sacramental certificates 4. Academic records, transcripts, etc. 8 5. Signed consents acquired throughout the formation process 6. Letters of request by the woman for each phase and responses by the general council to the woman 7. All other legal and canonical documents such as: wills, declaration of remuneration, profession of vows, etc.

If a woman leaves prior to perpetual profession, then her records will be returned to her upon written request. The congregation, usually the formation director, will summarize the woman’s experience with the congregation and maintain all other appropriate documentation.

9 Formation Personnel

Formation Team: The formation team, with the approval of the congregational leader and the council, creates, coordinates, implements, and evaluates the initial formation program in a spirit of mutuality and discernment. This team of perpetually professed sisters journey with the woman in initial formation to provide spiritual, educational, social, emotional, ministerial, and cultural opportunities for growth and integration into the life and spirit of the congregations of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Each director who serves in one of the roles of formation will receive the appropriate and necessary training to fulfill these positions.

Formation Team Roles

Director of Formation: The director of formation engages in a ministry of companionship, guidance, and collaboration with sisters on the formation team.

Vocation Director: The vocation director assists a woman in exploring God’s personal invitation and accompanies her as she discovers how, where, and with whom God calls her. As is appropriate, the vocation director invites the woman to consider ministry and religious community as a way to live out her relationship with God and others. Vocation ministry of the congregation is expressive of our spirit as Sisters of Saint Joseph and as women of the Church.

Candidate Director: The candidate director companions the woman who comes to the congregation for continued vocation discernment and integration into the religious life led by Sisters of Saint Joseph. The director supports, encourages, and challenges the candidate as she is gradually introduced to the life, spirit, and works of the congregation as women religious in the Church.

Novice Director: The novice director is responsible for ministry with the novice that encourages and supports her initial incorporation into the congregation through the novitiate program and the continued discernment and understanding of her vocation.

Initially Professed Director: The initially professed director companions the sister in initial profession as she deepens her appreciation for and understanding of the charism, mission, ministry, and community life of the congregation. This sister offers support and encouragement for ongoing integration into the life and works of the congregation leading toward discernment of readiness for perpetual profession.

10 Congregational Leader: 1. The congregational leader meets with the director of formation, the novice, and the vocation director on a regular basis to discuss the ministerial aspects of their roles and to develop a relationship and understanding of formation and the women involved. 2. The congregational leader generally meets with the woman in formation before she begins the next stage of initial formation. 3. The congregational leader presents the woman in initial formation to the general council for a consultative vote for admission to each stage of formation and profession. 4. The congregational leader accepts the sister to profess vows within the congregation and notifies her by letter.

Selection and Terms of the Formation Team After a discernment process determined by congregational leadership which includes the raising of names by the congregation, the congregational leader with the approval of the general council appoints members of the team. They serve at the discretion of the general council with consideration to the principles of stability, aptitude, and requisite skills.

The Team follows these processes: 1. After acquiring a release of information waiver from the woman applying to the congregation, the vocation director and the congregational leader may see the psychological report and behavioral assessment of all who make application to the congregation. 2. After a period of discernment, requisite application, and consultation with the formation team, the vocation director recommends an interested woman for candidacy to the congregational leader. 3. Both the woman and her director prepare a written assessment of her progress in the formation process. 4. Written assessments for candidates, novices and initially professed sisters are read only by the woman in formation, her director, and the congregational leader. The person’s director presents a verbal, general summary of significant points to the formation team. In turn the congregational leader makes a similar general summary to the general council. These written reports remain in the confidential file of the congregational leader. All assessments are destroyed at the time of perpetual profession. 5. The director is responsible for recommending a candidate, novice or initially professed to the formation team for novitiate, first vows, renewal of vows or perpetual vows. The formation team then makes a recommendation to the congregational leader. The congregational leader presents the woman in initial formation to the general council for a consultative vote. The congregational leader accepts women for candidacy, novitiate, and profession of vows. 6. At the time of perpetual profession, the materials i.e. reports and letters in a person’s file held by the congregational leader are destroyed, except for her autobiography, sacramental, canonical, and legal records.

11 Vocation Mission Statement:

The Sisters of Saint Joseph through their joyful, visible, vibrant, and holy presence will invite Roman Catholic women to become aware and available to God’s unique call in their lives, with a special emphasis on vowed membership.

Goals: 1. To enliven a commitment by every member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph to share in the mission of vocation ministry 2. To make the Sisters of Saint Joseph and its mission known, in collaboration with the appropriate congregational offices, especially to women who could be invited to share in the life and ministries of the congregation through vowed membership 3. To foster a culture of vocation within the congregation as well as in the broader community, with an emphasis on youth, while also working with older inquirers 4. To foster a culture of vocation in and for the Church and communities by working collaboratively with individuals who have influence in the lives of inquirers (parents, grandparents, youth ministers, teachers, etc.); other vocation directors in the diocese, and the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) 5. To accompany and facilitate the process for women discerning entrance into the congregation

Term of Office: The general council appoints the director of vocations for a period to coincide with their term of office and provides an annual evaluation.

General Qualifications: The director of vocations should have the following general qualifications: 1. A deep love for the congregation and a desire to live in the spirit of the Sisters of Saint Joseph as expressed in the constitution 2. A discerning heart, rooted in a deep faith; respect for the unique movements of grace in others; and the ability to facilitate discernment in others 3. An understanding of personal differences, appreciation of ethnic and cultural diversity, and respect for individual growth and development 4. The maturity that is evidenced through self-confidence, openness, and a sense of humor 5. An ability to deal with confidential matters 6. An ability to balance work and leisure as well as professional and personal presence to others 7. Sufficient education and experience in these areas: a. Community living b. Psychology of human development, especially as related to initial stages of religious life c. Traditional and contemporary spirituality d. Contemporary theology of religious life and the vows e. Spirit and charism of the congregation f. Mission and ministry g. Social justice principles and issues 8. Organizational, relational and counseling skills 9. Flexibility and creativity 12 10. A sense of the congregation and its ministry within the Church 11. Willingness to envision the future

Specific Qualifications: She must be perpetually professed, professionally and personally competent for this ministry and committed to the ideals of the congregation and its stated focus and direction.

Accountability: The vocation director is an agent of the congregation and is directly accountable to the congregational leader or general council contact for vocation/formation.

Responsibilities of the Vocation Director: 1. Overall Responsibility: The vocation director assists each woman in exploring God’s personal invitation and accompanies her as she discovers to which vocation God is calling her. The vocation director invites each woman to consider ministry and religious community as a way to live out her relationship with God and others. The vocation director identifies whether the woman’s vocational call is expressive of our spirit as Sisters of Saint Joseph. 2. Specific Areas of Responsibility: a. Develops a vocation ministry expressive of our Gospel commitment and our spirit as Sisters of Saint Joseph, women of the Church. b. Coordinates internal vocation ministry: i. Provides direction for vocation ministry to the Sisters of Saint Joseph ii. Encourages, educates, and involves the congregation in vocation ministry through newsletters, blessings, meetings, individual contacts, annual reports, etc. iii. Coordinates vocation ministry resource materials available for use by the congregation iv. Plans, implements, and evaluates vocation ministry education and promotion efforts by the congregation v. Participates in opportunities for on-going development of ministerial skills as vocation director, such as discernment, accompaniment, assessment, presentations, and deepening of the charism in her life vi. Submits an annual budget, which includes funding for travel, communications, resource materials, workshops, and programs vii. Works collaboratively with other congregational departments to get out a coordinated message about CSSJ vocation opportunities viii. Fosters conversation and development of houses of discernment ix. Makes recommendations to general council on programs required for ongoing formation of the congregation c. Coordinates External vocation ministry: i. Plans/participates in vocation activities in schools, hospitals, parishes, and on diocesan levels ii. Participates in women’s activities on college campuses and in other groups iii. Brings together women who are interested in religious life

13 iv. Tells the story of religious life as a life-giving and fulfilling way of living as Jesus did v. Collaborates with other vocation directors (NRVC, CSSJ Federation, and dioceses in which they serve) vi. Collaborates in the diocese to have joint vocation events vii. Updates and distributes vocation resources viii. Ensures that the congregational website is up to date on vocation resources and events ix. Explores ways of outreach to new publics d. Facilitates Vocation Discernment: i. Journeys with women inquiring about membership in the congregation ii. Meets regularly with each woman to enable the interested woman to gradually share her story of faith and God’s movement in her life, while the vocation director becomes familiar with the woman’s self-concept, attitudes, social maturity, physical, and emotional health iii. Identifies in the woman's life experience evidence of the CSSJ charism and spirituality iv. Accompanies each woman personally as she continues to discover who God is calling her to be and encouraging her as she deepens her understanding and acceptance of God’s action in her life v. Explores the woman’s possible ministerial interests and direction vi. Introduces the woman to the sisters in the congregation and invites her to participate in community activities and programs e. Counsels and directs the woman through the specified entrance procedures: i. Makes recommendation to the congregational leader for acceptance into the candidacy program ii. Collaborates with the candidate director to establish ministry opportunities and community life settings for the incoming candidate iii. Plans the celebration of acceptance into candidacy program iv. Maintains contact with others involved in vocation ministry v. Meets regularly with members of the formation team and periodically with the congregational leader

14 Vocation Discernment

Purpose: The purpose of vocation discernment is to seek confirmation of the authenticity of a woman’s call to consecrated life in the Sisters of Saint Joseph. It is a mutual process between the inquirer and the congregation to assess her aptitudes, natural inclinations, and skills in relationship to the nature of religious life and its manifestation in this congregation, as well as her readiness to embark on an intense formative experience toward vowed religious life in the congregation.

Vocation Director Responsibilities: The vocation director assists women in exploring God’s personal invitation and to accompany each as she discovers how, where, and with whom God calls her. As is appropriate, the vocation director invites women to consider ministry and religious community as a way to live out her relationship with God and others. Vocation ministry of the congregation is expressive of the spirit as Sisters of Saint Joseph and as women of the Church.

The following components assist the woman in exploring a possible call to the Sisters of Saint Joseph: 1. Accompaniment by the vocation director in exploring a possible call to religious life 2. Meeting with the vocation director — either in person or via technology — at least once a month 3. Sharing with the vocation director and others, as appropriate, her story of faith and lived experience and discernment of God’s movement 4. Ongoing conversation around the following topics: a. Personal history b. Decision-making c. Family d. Friendship e. Relationship with God f. Church g. Commitment h. Religious life i. Service j. Her sense of self and of her sexuality k. Multicultural awareness l. Professional history m. Meaning and experience of community 5. Interaction in a variety of ways with Sisters of Saint Joseph 6. Spiritual direction on a regular basis, as possible 7. Participation in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church 8. Participation in a retreat (weekend or longer) as a part of the discernment process 9. Introduction to the charism and history of Sisters of Saint Joseph and the life and vision of Father Medaille 10. Opportunities for continuing education and deepening of her experience in the Catholic faith, as necessary 11. Completion of the application process if the discernment leads to the decision to continue in the process

15 Process for Formal Application: The formal application process includes completion of and submission of: 1. Application questionnaire 2. Autobiography 3. Background check and financial credit check 4. Official educational transcript 5. Copy of baptismal and confirmation certificates 6. Proof of annulment or death certificate as applicable 7. Behavioral assessment interview 8. Letters of recommendation 9. Two Interviews with members of the formation team (if applicable) or other designated persons 10. Medical and dental records (within the last 12 months) 11. Psychological testing as arranged by the vocation director 12. Release of information forms for all medical and psychological reports to vocation director and the congregational leader 13. Formal letter of request to the congregational leader 14. Interview with and acceptance by the congregational leader

Process Upon Completion of the Application 1. Vocation director reviews all the elements of the application with the applicant including the vocation director’s written recommendation. The vocation director will then have the applicant sign off on the written recommendation as to whether she agrees or disagrees with the vocation director’s recommendation 2. Vocation director submits the entire application and written recommendation to the congregational leader 3. Congregational leader sets up an interview with the applicant 4. Applicant submits a letter to request acceptance in the candidate phase of the formation process 5. Congregational leader consults and shares her recommendation with the general council concerning admission of the applicant 6. Congregational leader makes her decision concerning admission to the candidate phase. 7. Congregational leader writes a letter to the applicant concerning her decision 8. Once the applicant is approved to the candidate phase, a meeting is then scheduled with the applicant, the vocation director and the candidate director to review the vocation director’s written recommendation together and to begin the process of transition to the candidate phase

Criteria for Acceptance into the Candidate Phase The criteria below are used to determine: 1. The content of the mutual and ongoing discernment process between a woman and the congregation 2. The readiness of the woman to progress into the candidate phase of formation 3. The evaluative steps in which the woman and the vocation director engage in prior to a woman’s entrance into the candidate phase

16 Each criterion is followed by possible outcomes or behaviors, which provide evidence that the criterion has been met.

A woman who is admitted to Candidate phase will demonstrate a capacity and willingness for:

1. Continued growth in her relationship with God as evidenced by: a. Fidelity to personal prayer life b. Openness to various forms of communal prayer c. Demonstrated ability for faith sharing d. Regular spiritual direction (ordinarily monthly) e. Spiritual reading f. Reflection on scripture g. A directed retreat experience

2. Awareness of herself as part of the Roman Catholic Church as evidenced by : a. Participation in the sacramental life of the Church b. Awareness and appreciation of the local and global Church c. A basic awareness, understanding, and commitment to the Catholic faith in the spirit of the Vatican II documents d. Demonstrated openness to and ability to pursue further catechesis and faith formation e. Presence of a Christo-centric faith life

3. Sharing self, skills, and talents with others and to create and live community with an openness to differing world views as evidenced by: a. Authentic and fundamental orientation of life toward others b. Service in a civic or church community c. Genuine generosity of spirit d. Respect for diversity e. Recognition of the struggle involved in interdependent living

4. Identification with religious life in the Church, the congregation and the Charism as evidenced by: a. Awareness of and appreciation for the reality of religious life in the Church and world today b. Awareness of and appreciation for the public nature of the witness of religious life c. Appropriate participation, presence, involvement in congregational events, and celebrations as she grows in her experience of sisters, associates, agrégées, and partners in mission, and ministry d. Basic awareness of Sisters of Saint Joseph mission and ministries e. Desire to move toward and grow in living the vowed life of poverty, chastity, and obedience as outlined in congregational documents

5. A beginning appreciation of the congregation as evidenced by : a. Awareness of and appreciation for congregational issues, concerns, publications b. Realization of the national and international aspects of the Sisters of Saint Joseph

6. Developing skills for interdependent living as evidenced by: a. Demonstrated ability to be both initiating and responsive as needed 17 b. Responsibility for her life, life direction, choices, and decisions c. Knowledge of, awareness of, and appreciation for personal boundaries for herself and others d. Openness and respect for diversity of thoughts, ideas, awareness, and experience e. Ability to balance need for solitude and interaction f. Beginning awareness of and appreciation for her relationship to the common good with an attitude of simplicity and generosity g. Demonstrated ability for appropriate self-disclosure h. Desire to participate fully in community living

7. Developing skills for shared decision-making as evidenced by: a. Age-appropriate autonomy b. Desire and demonstrated ability to interact honestly, negotiate, compromise, state preferences, opinions, and suggestions c. Desire and demonstrated ability to manage conflict in appropriate and productive ways d. Demonstrated ability to reflect on and share her personal experience with others including her director

8. Continuing openness to and capacity for the challenge of growth as evidenced by: a. Age-appropriate personal development and integration b. On-going dialogue and discernment with designated persons c. Personal honesty with self and others d. Movement toward a healthy self-concept e. Demonstrated choices for personal growth, i.e. ongoing education, professional development, development and maintenance of hobbies and other interests f. Evidence of a fundamental choice for wellness g. Interior freedom to make a choice h. Evidence of emotional, intellectual, psychological, and physical capacities to minister to others and live in community i. Desire for and ability to pursue further study in needed areas j. Demonstrated ability for reflection on personal experiences k. Awareness of her personal gifts and limitations

9. Developing skills for intimacy and celibacy as evidenced by: a. Mutual and reciprocal relationships with peers b. Healthy relationships with both men and women c. Ability to balance solitude and interaction d. Demonstrated ability for appropriate self-disclosure e. Growing capacity to be alone in a life-giving manner f. Freedom from genital sexually expressive relationships for at least one year

10. Growing awareness of justice issues as evidenced by: a. A sense of civic responsibility b. A concern for the basic human dignity of all persons

18 11. Working toward freedom from financial and legal bonds which would impede membership as evidenced by: a. No personal debt (educational debt addressed separately) b. Free from financial responsibility for children and parents c. Church annulment if divorced d. No immigration status issues that would impede membership e. No criminal history that would impede membership

Guiding Principles for the Entrance Ceremony for the Candidate Phase 1. The ceremony proceeds with a sense of a natural progression from the last phase of vocation discernment to the next phase, which is the novitiate 2. The welcome takes place at the site which is the center of the community and inclusive of those who live there 3. The congregation is reminded through education that the candidate phase is a natural but reversible next step in the discernment process 4. The rite of welcome is generally based upon the RCIA model 5. The local community where the woman will be living is invited 6. Other women who are involved in the vocation discernment phase may also be invited 7. The ritual should be simple. The woman and her local community should be given a rubric to follow that allows them to develop the specifics. The vocation director is responsible for the oversight of this ritual 8. Vocation director and candidate director are involved in the service as well as the congregational leader 9. The congregation is invited to write letters of welcome, which will be given to the woman that night at the end of the ritual

19 Candidacy

Purpose of Candidacy: Gradual transition into the spirit, life and works of the congregation takes place in the context of a local community while the candidate continues her previous employment or the congregation may designate a ministry for her during this period. The vocation director and the general council select this local community, referred to as the sponsoring community.

During this time of transition, the candidate continues to deepen her understanding of discipleship that flows from personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The individual continues to discern God's movement of grace and direction in her life and decides if she is called to religious life in the congregation. Emphasis is given to her growth in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ and responsiveness to the action of the Spirit in her life as a Christian. The candidate realizes the importance of a relationship with God in prayer. Candidacy provides the candidate and the congregation opportunities for on-going discernment of a woman’s vocation within the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Period of Candidacy: During the period of candidacy the candidate continues to be employed while living and participating fully in the life of a local community, deepens her personal and communal prayer life, participates in the life of the local church, and engages in ministry while reflecting on her experience.

Particular attention is paid during this phase to the awakening, emergence, and presence of the charism within the candidate. Generally, the period of candidacy is one year. At times, an extension of up to one additional year may be requested by the candidate or recommended by her director.

Persons Involved and Their Responsibilities: A candidate is a woman who, after initial discernment of a call to religious life and an attraction to the charism, lives with a faith-filled community of the Sisters of Saint Joseph for a period of time before the novitiate.

The Sponsoring Community is selected from among the congregation’s local houses based on the quality and fidelity of their lived experience of community life. The sponsoring community welcomes the candidate into the fabric of daily prayer, ministry, and community. Life together is one of mutuality, support, and gradual introduction into the spirit, life, and works of the congregation.

Responsibilities of the sponsoring community: 1. Lives communal life in fidelity to CSSJ life as presented in the Constitution 2. Reflects upon and integrates the CSSJ Core Values 3. Witnesses to personal, ongoing, faith conversion 4. Shares life in community with all its responsibilities, accountability and benefits in a way that is mutually supportive 5. Extends inclusive hospitality in the community's relationships with religious women and men, as well as with the laity 6. Offers opportunities for the candidate to interact with associates, agrégées (if the Congregation has them), and partners in mission and ministry through gatherings and events 7. Participates in regular communal prayer incorporating a variety of styles and formats

20 8. Participates in regular faith sharing and the state of the heart and order of the house 9. Discusses ministry experiences in light of faith and the charism 10. Is willing to discuss with the candidate the positive and negative aspects of life together and personal behaviors as one would with any sister 11. Shares and lives out the chapter directional statement 12. Dialogues with the candidate director and the candidate regarding the experience of life in community 13. Offers insights into the assessment of readiness for movement into the novitiate

Process and content used in the orientation of the sponsoring community: The director of candidates works with the formative community to orient them to the reality of welcoming a candidate. This orientation will be tailored to the age and specific needs of the candidate and the current living practices of the community. Issues to be addressed could include but not be limited to the following: 1. Communication styles as it pertains to a specific age group 2. Discussion of current formation program in light of the formation of community members 3. Roles and expectations of candidate, director, contact person, and local community members

The candidate director is a Sister with the necessary gifts for mentoring and is appointed by the congregational leader after consultation of the formation team and the general council. The director companions the candidate through experiences of life, spirit, and works of the congregation. The director is not usually a member of the candidate’s sponsoring community.

Overall responsibility of the candidate director: The candidate director is responsible for the ministry of companionship with the women coming to the congregation as the next stages of vocation discernment and integration into the religious life led by Sisters of Saint Joseph. The director accompanies the candidate through experiences that introduce her to the life, spirit, and works of the congregation as women religious in the Church.

Specific areas of responsibility of the candidate director: 1. Provides support to the candidate and the sisters with whom she lives in relationship to the initial formation process 2. Relates to the sponsoring community and reviews the “values” appropriate to the candidate. The director periodically visits the candidate within the context of her sponsoring community and is available to the sponsoring community and the candidate for mutual dialogue regarding the candidate's progress 3. Discerns with the candidate in coming to a clearer desire to live out her baptismal commitment in a common bond of love through community living and through integration of the “values” 4. Meets regularly with the candidate in order to assist her in recognizing the unique and individual movement of the Spirit in her life and in being faithful to her prayerful response to the Lord made in a community setting 5. Recommends that the candidate participate in discussions/workshops provided for the congregation and for those in initial formation 6. Recognizes the candidate’s personal gifts and, working with the formation team, provides opportunities and experiences touching the whole person, for her continual personal, religious, and educational growth 21 7. Attempts, together with the candidate’s sponsoring community, to extend the candidate’s awareness of the Church, society, and ministry with the poor 8. Consults regularly, and when unusual circumstances require, with the director of formation and/or the formation team regarding the candidate 9. Writes an assessment of the candidate’s growth in her life in community and her readiness for novitiate. The candidate and congregational leader receive a copy of the written assessment. The congregational leader shares the candidate’s progress with the general council 10. Gives a verbal summary of the candidate’s assessment to the formation team 11. Makes a recommendation of a candidate, after consultation with the candidate’s sponsoring community, to the formation team for the candidate’s admission to the novitiate. The formation team then makes a recommendation to the congregational leader. The congregational leader presents the woman in initial formation to the general council for a consultative vote. The congregational leader accepts the candidate for novitiate 12. Plans the celebration of entrance into the novitiate with the novice director and the candidate 13. Serves on the formation team and contributes to the ongoing development of the ministry of formation

Formation Team: Receives the recommendation of the vocation director for acceptance to candidacy. In consultation the team makes recommendation to the congregational leader for acceptance into the candidacy program.

Congregational Leader: Receives recommendation for acceptance into the candidacy program. The congregational leader provides an overview of the candidate’s readiness with the general council for a consultative vote. If the general council affirms the candidate’s entrance into the novitiate, the director and the congregational leader will notify her in person and in writing.

Assuming there has been regular dialogue between the director and the candidate about her progress toward novitiate, there may be indication that religious life may not be God’s call for the candidate. Should the candidate not be permitted to advance to the next stage of formation, the director and the congregational leader will notify her in person and in writing. Should this be the case, arrangements will be made for her transition from the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Role of the Spiritual Director: Facilitates with the candidate her discernment regarding her vocation. The candidate assumes the costs.

Role of a Private Counselor/Therapist: When deemed appropriate, a private therapist works with the candidate on issues of personal growth. The candidate assumes the costs.

Financial Arrangements: Before coming to the community, the candidate makes arrangements for the disposition of her finances and material possessions and for holding them in reserve. Ordinarily, she keeps her salary and pays an agreed upon amount for room and board. She will continue to pay for upkeep of her own car, her health insurance, and other expenses agreed upon between the candidate and the congregation. The candidate assumes all educational expenses and outstanding debts. 22

While moving towards interdependence, the candidate does not relinquish her personal financial assets. These are held in reserve and not accessed by the candidate while in the initial formation process.

Procedure for Entering the Novitiate 1. Two months prior to the end of candidacy, the candidate formally requests admission to the novitiate from the congregational leader 2. The candidate’s director makes a recommendation of a candidate, after consultation with the candidate’s sponsoring community, to the formation team for her admission to the novitiate 3. The formation team then makes a recommendation to the congregational leader 4. The congregational leader presents the woman in initial formation to the general council for a consultative vote 5. The congregational leader accepts candidates for novitiate 6. The candidate will make a retreat of at least three days prior to entering the novitiate 7. The reception into the novitiate is celebrated by a simple prayer service

Criteria for Acceptance into Novitiate Phase The criteria below are used to determine: 1. The content of the mutual and ongoing discernment process between a woman and the congregation 2. The readiness of the woman to progress into the novitiate phase of formation 3. The evaluative steps in which the woman and the candidate director engage in prior to a woman’s entrance into the novitiate phase

Each criterion is followed by possible outcomes or behaviors, which provide evidence that the criterion has been met.

A woman who is admitted to the novitiate phase will demonstrate the following in her life: 1. Ongoing growth in her relationship with God as evidenced by: a. Fidelity to a regular personal prayer life b. Openness to and participation in various forms of communal prayer c. Demonstrated ability for faith sharing, state of the heart, and order of the house d. Regular spiritual direction (ordinarily monthly) e. Spiritual reading f. Reflection on Scripture g. Directed retreat experience of at least 6 days approved by the candidate director

2. Awareness of herself as part of the Roman Catholic Church as evidenced by: a. Participation in the sacramental life of the Church b. Awareness and appreciation of the local and global Church c. A basic awareness, understanding, and commitment to the Catholic faith as embodied in the teaching of Vatican II d. Demonstrated openness to and ability to pursue further catechesis and faith formation e. Presence of a Christo-centric faith life

23 3. Growing ability to share self with others and to create and live community with an openness to differing world views as evidenced by: a. Authentic and fundamental orientation of life toward others a. Demonstrated participation in civic, community or church service b. Genuine generosity of spirit c. Respect for diversity d. Recognition of the struggle involved in interdependent living

4. Identification with religious life in the Church, CSSJ congregation and charism as evidenced by: a. Awareness of and appreciation for the reality of religious life in the Church and world today b. Awareness of and appreciation for the public nature of the witness of religious life c. Appropriate participation, presence, involvement in congregational events, celebrations etc. d. Basic awareness of CSSJ mission and ministries e. Desire to move toward and to grow in living the vowed life of poverty, chastity, and obedience as outlined in congregational documents

5. A deepening appreciation of the congregation as evidenced by: a. Awareness of and appreciation for congregational issues, concerns, publications b. Realization of the national and international aspects of the Sisters of Saint Joseph

6. Ongoing development of the skills for interdependent living as evidenced by: a. Demonstrated ability to be both initiating and responsive as needed b. Assumes responsibility for her life, life direction, choices, and decisions c. Knowledge of, awareness of and appreciation for personal boundaries for herself and others f. Open to and respect for diversity of thought, ideas, and experiences g. Ability to balance need for solitude and interaction h. Growing awareness of and appreciation for her relationship to the common good with an attitude of simplicity and generosity i. Demonstrate ability for appropriate self-disclosure j. Desire to participate fully in community living

7. Ongoing development of the skills required for shared decision-making as evidenced by: a. Age-appropriate autonomy b. Desire and demonstrated ability to interact honestly, negotiate, compromise, state preferences, opinions, and suggestions c. Desire and demonstrated ability to manage conflict in appropriate and productive ways d. Demonstrate ability to reflect on and to share her personal experiences with others including her director

8. Continuing openness to and capacity for the challenge of growth as evidenced by: a. Age-appropriate personal development and integration b. On-going dialogue and discernment with designated persons c. Personal honesty with self and others d. Movement toward a healthy self-concept e. Demonstrated choices for personal growth, i.e. ongoing education, professional development, development and maintenance of hobbies and other interests 24 f. Evidence of a fundamental choice for wellness g. Interior freedom to make a choice h. Evidence of emotional, intellectual, psychological and physical capacities to minister and live in community i. Desire for and ability to pursue further study in needed areas j. Demonstrated ability for reflection on personal experience k. Awareness of her personal gifts and limitations

9. Developing skills for intimacy and celibacy as evidenced by: a. Mutual and reciprocal relationships with peers b. Healthy relationships with both men and women c. Ability to balance solitude and interaction d. Demonstrated ability for appropriate self-disclosure e. Growing capacity to be alone in a life-giving manner f. Freedom from genital sexually expressive relationships

10. Continuing to grow in awareness of justice issues as evidenced by: a. A sense of civic responsibility b. A concern for the basic human dignity of all persons c. A basic understanding of Catholic Social Teachings

Preparation for the Start of the Novitiate The following topics are to be addressed prior to entrance into the novitiate. The candidate director is responsible for addressing these topics with the candidate. The time line for the discussion is individualized to the specific needs of each candidate. The topics are: 1. Termination of her current place of employment 2. Determination of her retreat and vacation time 3. Identification of the ways she can slow down her life style through the discernment of activities, relationships, committees, and ministries that she will need to limit or let go of during this next phase of her formation 4. Transition from candidate director to novice director: Plan for 3 three-way conversation between the candidate, candidate director, and novice director which would include the following elements: a. To assess the candidate’s need for a short-term ministry assignment during the transition time b. To assess the candidate’s educational needs with respect to theology, scripture, sacramental life, morality, Church history, spirituality, prayer, and Catholic Social Teaching c. To determine how the novitiate program needs to be individualized to meet the needs of the candidate d. To recommend pre-novitiate readings e. To answer any questions or concerns the candidate may have

Policy Concerning Vacation prior to Entrance into the Novitiate: 1. The candidate is financially responsible for her vacation time (about 2 weeks) which is taken prior to the start of the novitiate 25 2. Plans are discussed in advance with the candidate director

Entrance into the Novitiate: The candidate may formally request entrance into the novitiate when she: 1. Gives evidence of having fulfilled the goals and the candidate program criteria 2. Meets the criteria for entrance into the novitiate 3. Indicates a desire to begin the novitiate phase of formation

Procedure: 1. Mutual discernment of readiness by the candidate director and the candidate 2. A letter of request sent by the candidate to the congregational leader at least three months before reception into the novitiate 3. A report and formal recommendation is made by the candidate director and is reviewed with the candidate. The candidate director will then have the candidate sign off on the written recommendation as to whether she agrees or disagrees with the candidate director’s recommendation. She will then submit her report and formal recommendation to the congregational leader 4. The congregational leader interviews the candidate and follows congregational constitution to complete voting and acceptance of candidate 5. A letter is sent from the congregational leader to the candidate informing her of their decision 6. The congregational leader contacts the candidate director and the rest of the vocation/formation team of their decision 7. Once the candidate is approved for the novitiate phase, a meeting is then scheduled with the candidate, the candidate director, and the novice director to review the candidate director’s written recommendation together and to begin the process of transition to the novitiate phase

Timing of Move to the Novitiate by the Novice(s) The timing of the novice’s move to the novitiate is shortly before reception.

26 Document Disposition for Reception

KEY P: Released to Community D: Destroyed President/Congregational Leader N: Released to Novice Director C: Confidential File (sealed; opened only by congregational leader) A: Released to Admissions Committee (if G: General New Membership File applicable) I: Released to Formation Director (at F: Community Permanent File transition meeting) W: Given to woman : Community Finance Office File Document At Reception At Departure D N G F D F C W Autobiography   Request for   Reception

Reception into the Novitiate There is a simple prayer service following the "Norms for the Rite of Initiation into Religious Life" published in the Rite of Religious Profession (c) 1989. Sensitivity to cultural traditions should be included in the preparation of the ceremony and consideration should be given to a collaborative and inclusive planning of the ritual.

By its nature the ceremony is simple and attention should be given to those invited, i.e. the sisters in the congregation who have been closely involved with the candidate, sisters from the candidate's current residence, the novitiate community, the sister(s) who accompany her, her spiritual director, the congregational leader or her delegate, the general council, the vocation and formation directors, the women in discernment and immediate family of the novice(s) in keeping with congregational practice. The novitiate community is encouraged to welcome extended family and friends at another time.

The reception into the novitiate includes a signing of the Act of Reception and Declaration Concerning Remuneration. (See Appendix 5)

27 Novitiate

Purpose and Time Frame: Religious life begins formally with the novitiate. The novitiate experience provides an opportunity for the novice to deepen her commitment to prayer, community living, and service and as well as her understanding of the charism and mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. The purpose of the novitiate is twofold: 1) to deepen one’s relationship with Jesus and open oneself to the mystery of the Trinity in the experience of prayer, and 2) to grow in greater clarity of the theology of religious life and the meaning of the vowed commitment in the Church and today’s world. This period of religious life generally does not exceed two years and it is a mutual process of discernment between the novice and the congregation to discern her call to the profession of vows.

Persons Involved and Their Responsibilities: Novice Director: Canon law and the congregation’s constitutions should be considered as to how the novice director is chosen/appointed; her length of term; full or part-time status; specific and general qualities; accountability and whether she resides with the novice or not.

Responsibilities: 1. Coordinates the novitiate phase of formation for the congregation: a. Provides direction for the novitiate phase of formation b. Educates and involves the congregation in this phase of formation through communications, meetings, reports, and individual contacts, etc. i. Encourages and invites congregational members to participate in the novitiate experience ii. Educates and updates the congregation regarding programming and processes that are a part of the novitiate phase of formation iii. Provides ways of eliciting insights and perspectives from sisters regarding the congregation’s novitiate phase of formation which may include: a) Invitations to specific novitiate presentations b) Visits to ministries c) Inclusion of sisters in small group discussions with novices d) Local house meeting discussions on the same topics novices are discussing with requests for written responses e) Input for congregational communications c. Coordinates the resource materials for the novitiate phase of formation

2. Coordinates discernment process with the woman in the novitiate phase: a. Engages in weekly meetings with the novice to provide the opportunity to discuss such elements as: i. Novitiate phase — her involvement in and integration of her classes, workshops, ministry placement, and communal life ii. Psychological and emotional concerns iii. Feedback of novice’s experience of spiritual direction as positive and effective iv. Lifestyle, including clothing and personal appearance, and the use of communal/personal resources such as cars, technology, use of money, etc.

28 v. Family relationships, friendships with sisters in the congregation and others, interaction with various groups and individuals vi. Priority and use of time — balancing prayer, solitude, study, work, community, leisure, and family visits vii. Vacation planning viii. Retreat planning ix. Medical concerns (follow through with any medical consultations) x. Request to make first profession of vows in congregation b. Provides appropriate counsel toward prayer, spiritual direction, apostolic involvement, interaction with the congregation, and personal development c. Develops and enables programs and experiences that will aid the novice and the congregation in the process of continuing discernment of membership within the congregation: i. Participation in the CSSJ Federation novitiate phase and gatherings (See Federation novitiate section for specific information) ii. Study of congregational documents and history, and spiritual groundings iii. Continued studies in theology or pastoral ministry as needed iv. Various apostolic ministry experiences and continued education as needed v. Workshops and seminars addressing topics of personal growth d. Discerns with the novice her readiness for movement to the next stage of the initial formation process through regular accountability of her progress to congregational leadership e. Submits recommendations to the general council for women in the novitiate phase of initial formation. These are to occur at the conclusion of the first year and prior to first profession of vows. f. Meets regularly with the directors of vocations, candidates, and initially professed to assist women in transition periods from candidacy to novitiate, as well as novitiate to initial profession: i. With the candidate director and the candidate — to develop a process for determination of the woman’s readiness to participate in the novitiate phase ii. With the candidate director and the candidate — to plan and implement a reception ritual iii. With the candidate director and the candidate to discuss areas requiring further study or experiences iv. With the director of initially professed and the novice – to plan and implement the ritual for first profession of vows v. With the director of initially professed and the novice to discuss areas requiring further study or experiences g. Shares with the novice her acceptance into the initial vow phase of formation and in collaboration with congregational leader informs the congregation h. Meets with the directors of vocation, candidate, and initially professed for short term and long range planning involving vocation and initial formation processes of the congregation

3. Develops and facilitates the systems and processes that will provide presence, support, and programming with and to the women in the novitiate phase of initial formation: a. In collaboration with the general council, other directors of initial formation processes, 29 and sisters responsible for ongoing formation: i. Develops and implements programs and experiences that provide opportunities to deepen the congregational members experience and understanding of their own vocation. For example, begin to offer materials that the novices are using and suggest that the congregational members also use them. (ex. State of the heart, theological reflection, etc.) ii. Coordinates offerings where involvement of the entire congregation would prove most helpful in addressing membership/formation issues with respect to the novitiate phase of formation. These offerings could include: a) Requests that the congregation pray for the novices daily b) Provides every local community with an outline of the topics that will be addressed in the Federation novitiate c) Offers occasional sessions where the novices share their experience of the novitiate d) Provides articles with focused questions to each local community e) Has conversation circles around formation topics

4. Functions in the following roles: a. Contact to the congregational leader or her delegate b. Contact to the general council contact for vocation/formation c. Facilitator of ministry experience d. Facilitator of theological reflection of novices e. Facilitator of the evaluation process

5. Administers the novitiate process: a. Annually assesses the processes and programming of the novitiate to determine strength and weaknesses b. Purchases and updates novitiate resource materials c. Maintains up-to-date policies and procedures for the novitiate in the vocation/formation manual d. Submits an annual budget and keeps financial accounts e. Maintains up-to-date records and files on each novice f. Collaborates with the directors of vocation, candidacy, initially professed, and office of mission advancement or other congregational office, as appropriate g. Meets with the general council contact for vocation/formation on a monthly basis i. Sets personal and novitiate goals annually and assesses them with the vocation/formation team and the general council ii. Participates in an annual performance review and assessment by the general council h. Collaborates with formation ministers from other congregations: i. Participates in gatherings and projects of the CSSJ Federation vocation/formation ministers ii. Participates in gatherings and projects on formation at the regional level iii. Participates in the National Religious Formation Conference and other regional and local organizations i. Participates in on-going professional development through conferences, classes, 30 workshops, seminars, projects, readings, and programs: i. Participates in monthly supervision with an external qualified professional with expertise in supervision, formation, and spiritual direction ii. Receives appropriate training for the ministry, such as that available from the Religious Formation Conference, Institute of Religious Formation, etc. Novice: Responsibilities of the Canonical Novice: 1. Journeys with the director of novices to come to a deeper relationship with God, self, and others to reflect the movements experienced in her heart and in her actions and life 2. Receives instructions on matters of religious life, prayer, congregational history, constitutions, community living, and the vowed life 3. Participates in personal spiritual direction with a trained and/or qualified spiritual director 4. Engages daily in activities and in solitude that nurtures and deepens her relationship with God 5. Meets weekly with the director of novices to discuss the integration of her lived experience of religious life, community life, studies, ongoing development, and progress toward vows 6. Engages in course work related to spirituality, theology, and philosophy as is appropriate for her formation as a woman religious within the Church 7. Participates in inter-congregational classes, workshops, and renewal days 8. Experiences limited involvement in ministry 9. Reflects on and develops an understanding of the concept of apostolic spirituality and gradually integrates contemplation and active ministry 10. Actively involves herself in the life of the novitiate community, sharing responsibilities of communal living (prayer, charges, cooking, shopping, goal setting, etc.) 11. Communicates openly with the novice director regarding formation issues, goal development, discernment of her vocation, integration and balance of community living, spiritual life, relationships, and ministry 12. Initiates appropriate consultation with the novice director in decisions regarding ministry, education, retreat and vacation planning, and similar matters 13. Participates in congregational events 14. Lives within the financial arrangements that are described in the congregational documents 15. Participates in a cross-cultural experience or an experience with the materially poor or oppressed. This is to be preceded by preparation and followed by theological reflection 16. Writes a self-reflective assessment twice during the year on her incorporation into religious life 17. Discerns with the director of novices at the end of her canonical year her desire to remain in the congregation and whether to continue in the novitiate 18. Makes a six or eight-day retreat at the end of her canonical year if she discerns to continue her novitiate Responsibilities of the Non-Canonical Novice - This period is tailored to the needs of the individual 1. Daily engages in activities and solitude that nurture and deepen personal spiritual life in relationship with God 2. Lives in the novitiate community except when she is engaged in a ministry experience 3. Meets at regularly scheduled times with the director of novices to discuss integration of the novice's lived experience of religious life, community life, studies, ongoing development and progress toward vows 4. Receives instructions on matters of religious life, congregational history, constitutions, community living, and an intense preparation for the vowed life 31 5. Participates in personal spiritual direction with a spiritual director who generally is not a member of the congregation 6. Engages in course work related to spirituality, theology, and philosophy as is appropriate for her formation as a woman religious within the Church 7. Participates in inter-congregational classes, workshops, and renewal days 8. Participates in classes and develops skills that prepare her for ministry as an apostolic religious woman 9. Involves herself in ministry to deepen her understanding and experiences of apostolic religious life 10. Writes a self-reflective assessment on her incorporation twice during the year

Responsibilities of the Novitiate Community The novitiate community welcomes the novice into the everyday fabric of daily prayer, ministry, and community. Life together is one of mutuality, support and gradual introduction into the spirit, life and works of the congregation. Together they work to establish a community that: 1. Lives communal life in fidelity to CSSJ life as presented in the constitution 2. Shares life together with all its responsibilities, accountability and benefits in a way that is mutually supportive 3. Witnesses to personal, ongoing, faith conversion and integration of the core values 4. Participates in regular communal prayer incorporating a variety of styles 5. Engages in regular faith sharing, state of the heart, and order of the house 6. Shares in and lives out of the current chapter directives 7. Offers inclusive hospitality in relationships within and outside the local community and congregation 8. Discusses ministry experiences in light of the faith and the charism 9. Demonstrates willingness to discuss with the novice any aspects, both positive and negative, regarding life together and personal behaviors as one would with any sister 10. Dialogues with the director of novices and the novice regarding the experience of life in community. Members of the local community offer insight into the assessment of readiness for movement toward vows * The director of novices may or may not be a member of the novitiate community.

The novitiate community’s role is to: 1. Model community living 2. Draw the novice into its community life through an open, welcoming presence 3. Maintain dialogue around community life issues using effective communication skills 4. Have the professed sisters able to communicate effectively among themselves 5. Be aware of and support the profound life changes a woman is called to through the formation process 6. Support the novice director and the novitiate program 7. Receive the novice’s goals and support her as much as possible in meeting them 8. Identify as a community (including the novice) a goal (or goals) that would be worked on during the novitiate experience 9. Participate in the evaluation process of the novice according to the guidelines set out by the director of novices 10. Engage in dialogue with the novice director as needed

32 The novitiate community is expected to: 1. Have an intentional attitude of presence for and with each other through activities such as regular meals together and socializing with each other 2. Have regular communal prayer, as well as a commitment to private prayer 3. Have regular participation in the sacramental life of the Church 4. Have weekly state of the heart as a community 5. Use effective communication skills as a whole and among the professed sisters in the community 6. Strive to live the same criteria as women in discernment and formation 7. Strive to live the mission and charism of the Sisters of Saint Joseph as expressed in congregational documents 8. Be open and available to the diversity of age and experience of women entering the novitiate 9. Have the desire and willingness to be a novitiate community 10. Be knowledgeable and supportive of the formative process

Congregational Leader The congregational leader will take responsibility for all formation matters as delineated under canon law; uphold the right to delegate specific formation tasks to the responsibility of the general council contact for vocation/formation as noted in the constitutions; take responsibility for membership concerns and possible confidential situations; participate in three-way conversations with the novice and director; take responsibility for conflict resolution as necessary in matters involving the novice and the novice director.

Assuming there has been regular dialogue between the novice director and the novice about her progress in the novitiate, there may be indication that religious life may not be God’s call for her. If mutual discernment confirms this decision, the novice will meet with the novice director and the congregational leader to declare her intention to depart from the congregation. She will put her decision in writing. Should a novice not be permitted to advance towards vows she will be notified in person and in writing by the novice director and the congregational leader. In both cases, arrangements will be made for her transition from the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

General Council The congregational leader has canonical responsibility for formation and reports as needed to the general council. Reference to individual constitutions delineates specific details and may include a delegation of responsibility to a contact or liaison from the general council to the novice director. The general council, in collaboration with the vocation/formation directors, is responsible for choosing the location and composition of the novitiate community.

Spiritual Director Facilitates the discernment of the individual regarding her vocation and never meets with the formation director or congregational leadership. The congregation assumes the cost of spiritual direction.

Counselor During this time issues of personal growth may arise that need attention. A counselor may work with the individual novice on a short-term basis after consultation with the congregational leader. The congregation assumes the cost of counseling. Generally, the novice director would accompany the

33 novice to the first counseling session and periodically, the congregational leader or novice director can request a three-way or four-way conversation.

Financial Policy for the Novitiate Before the beginning of the novitiate, the candidate and novice director will discuss arrangements about the management of debts, loans, mortgages, and titles of ownership. The woman is discouraged from permanently disposing of any properties prior to the novitiate, but some arrangement must be made for those items that she will not bring with her (car, television, furniture, etc.).

The congregation is responsible for the novice’s health coverage. The congregation can choose to either enroll the novice in the congregational health plan or maintain the novice’s current policy. The decision is individualized and based on input from both the novice and the congregational treasurer.

The usual living expenses and novitiate program expenses are the responsibility of the congregation. The novice and novice director in consultation with the congregational leader will discuss extraordinary expenses (long distance home visits, counseling, etc.).

The novice-to-be should be aware that if in the future she takes a vow of poverty she will forego the independent use and disposal of temporal goods. Ordinarily, property (for example, money, stocks) belonging to a woman before her religious profession can become her patrimony. Before her first profession she would make an act of cession of the administration of her property and would designate the purpose to which the income would be allocated.

The signing of the Declaration Concerning Remuneration is completed at the beginning of the novitiate phase of formation as noted in the section about reception into the novitiate. (Appendix 5)

Post-Ceremony Reflections: Mystagogia Mystagogia is the term the Church uses for the time between Easter and Pentecost, when the newly initiated gather to reflect on their experience in the rites of initiation. The leaders help them to understand the theology that underlies the rites. As people experience ritual they may see and hear different things. Sharing helps to flesh out memories of the experience, deepen our appreciation for what has occurred, and enables us to learn more about how ritual works.

Process: The new novice gathers with her director and other significant sisters and other new members in the community, usually the morning after the ceremony. The environment can include a candle, copies of the program from the ceremony, and anything else from the ceremony that might be appropriate.

Three parts of the process based on the reflection developed by the National Forum on the Catechumenate: 1. The leader of the group, usually the director of novices, reviews the ceremony by walking through some highpoints — songs, parts of readings and prayers, a phrase or two from the homily. This is done in a reflective manner, with everyone else invited to listen deeply 2. The leader suggests beginning the conversation with memories found in the right brain, evoking those by asking: What did you see, hear, and feel at the ceremony? The conversation should flow

34 freely without concern for repetition or chronology. There are no wrong answers – whatever anyone experienced is valid 3. The leader turns the group to the left brain, asking: What does this tell us about God? About us? About the Community? About ritual? What can we learn through this celebration? It is fine for participants to have what may seem conflicting ideas — everyone experiences ritual differently, and the richness of expressing this is valuable

It may be helpful to conclude by presenting to the novice a copy of the ritual, the readings, the homily and intercessions, to assist in her ongoing mystagogia.

Experiences and Expectations of the Novice The Incorporation into the congregation fosters the gradual integration of core values that reflect the qualities of a Sister of Saint Joseph today. These values are steeped in the CSSJ spirituality and mission. As the woman moves through the formation process, the hope is that there will be a gradual growth and deepening in her identity as a Sister of Saint Joseph through the living out of these values.

Program Elements for the General Novitiate

Schedule: Daily: 1. Private prayer, communal prayer, spiritual reading, examen, celebration of the liturgical year, etc. 2. Eucharist when possible 3. Study 4. Sharing in community

Weekly: 1. Classes 2. Ministry (4-6 hours) 3. Interaction with the members of the congregation at large or with a specific group 4. Opportunities for integration of the novitiate experience through theological reflection 5. Reflection on the maxims, the founding documents, the constitution 6. Opportunities for leisure and culture 7. Sharing with the novitiate community (faith sharing, socials, house meetings, etc.)

Monthly: 1. Retreat day — individually and with the local community 2. Spiritual direction 3. Opportunities for multicultural prayer experiences 4. Meetings with novitiate director 5. Attendance at congregational meetings 6. Membership in a conversation circle 7. Meetings with mentor if applicable

Annually: 1. Retreat— six to eight day directed retreat — time and place determined by the novice after discussion with novice director 35 2. In depth ministry experience with other cultural/economic groups 3. Assessment/evaluation of novice and novitiate program

Other: 1. Participation in congregationally sponsored events (e.g. funerals, jubilees, assembly days, Saint Joseph's Day etc.)

Ministry Apostolic experiences for the woman in the novitiate phase of formation are consonant with the purpose and goal of this phase of formation. The general goals are: 1. To help the woman continue to grow as a vowed woman of faith, mission, and community within the Church 2. To give the woman a broader experience of ministry in a situation different from her own social, economic, and cultural background 3. To provide an opportunity for the woman to reflect on her faith response to an experience of being present with those who live with situations of poverty, helplessness, and powerlessness

Ministry Placements Ministry placements will be based on our mission values, and charism to “quarter the city” and try to serve unmet needs, uniting neighbor with neighbor, and neighbor with God. Such ministries might include serving: children, prisoners, the elderly, the lonely, the sick, youth, persons with chemical dependency problems, families, the oppressed, the homeless, the unemployed, and others in either city, rural or mission environments as appropriate for the individual novice.

Throughout the novice’s ministry placements theological reflection with others who work in similar or related ministries may be considered.

Community Life The novice will continue to learn what it means to live shared life in community. This will be accomplished through living in a novitiate community, sharing with senior sisters about their lived experience, participating in congregational events, individual and corporate reflection, and through individual direction.

It is expected that the novice will participate fully in the local community. This includes her responsibility for leading house meetings, retreat evenings, shopping, charges, and cooking. It is hoped that over time her growth will exhibit movement from independence to interdependence.

Private Reflection/Theological Reflection In formal and informal ways the novice will be encouraged and helped to develop her capacity to reflect on her experiences in order to deepen the meaning of these in her own life. She will be given help in integrating this into her faith relationship with God through various types of theological reflection.

Spiritual Direction An important aspect of the novitiate program is the individual spiritual direction of the novice. The purpose is to provide the novice with an opportunity:

36 1. To talk about her own continued growth as a human person who is becoming a woman of faith, ministry, and community 2. To receive help in integrating all the different aspects of her life 3. To receive help and clarification in discerning if she is called by God to religious life in this congregation

Specific content that is recommended for direction sessions is as follows: 1. Prayer life — growth in her faith relationship with God 2. Discern the desire, the ability and the actual presence of the charism to live a life of vowed poverty, chastity, and obedience in this congregation 3. Discern the necessary freedom to be able to make a commitment

Procedure toward First Vows: Before the completion of the novitiate, the novice, and the director, through mutual discernment, come to a decision about the novice’s vocation in the congregation. Consideration is given to the following: 1. Discernment with the director of novices about readiness to make first vows and submission of a letter of request to the congregational leader about 4 months prior to profession of vows 2. A meeting of the congregational leader and the novice after receiving her request for vows 3. Completion of a will at the time of first profession and a written statement for the cessation of administration of her financial assets as she continues as an interdependent member of the congregation 4. Six or eight day retreat before first profession 5. First profession of vows as a Sister of Saint Joseph in a public ceremony including members of the congregation, family, and friends. A simple reception usually follows

Principal Purpose of the Canonical Year The principal purpose of the canonical year is to strengthen the novice in the essentials of religious life, especially in the living of chastity, obedience, and poverty, and by prayer, study, and life in community, to enable her to learn the spirit and traditions of the congregation, and deepen her relationship with Jesus.

Ordinarily, a portion of the novitiate period is spent within the Federation novitiate and the remaining time will be within the novitiate community.

Process: The following components assist the novice to discern and deepen her incorporation into the Sisters of Saint Joseph: 1. Participation in the CSSJ ten-month Federation novitiate experience 2. Study of the constitutions and the vows as they are lived in the congregation 3. Theology and history of religious life 4. Prayer and spirituality 5. History of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in general and Sisters of Saint Joseph of the home congregation 6. Practicum on the living history of the older sisters 7. Cross cultural experience/s with the opportunity for theological reflection on these experiences 8. Visits to CSSJ and Inter-congregational houses and ministries as appropriate 9. Study of the Vatican II documents

37 10. Personal growth (integration of human sexuality, psychosocial development, and holistic lifestyle) 11. On-going theological reflection on social, economic, political, cultural realities as experienced by the novice throughout the novitiate phase 12. Purposeful interaction with associates, agrégées, partners in mission and ministry, and collaborators 13. Ministry experience with limited involvement 14. Interfaith experiences 15. Purposeful interaction with others in formation 16. Opportunities for extended prayer, quiet, and solitude 17. Retreat at the end of the canonical year

Classes, workshops, and seminars will be presented in a variety of styles. Methods will vary according to the novice's educational background, ability, and learning style, keeping in mind the purpose of the novitiate and the uniqueness of each person's conversion process and call.

Federation Canonical Novitiate

Philosophy The collaborative canonical novitiate experience of the United States Federation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph is rooted in our shared spirituality and in our charism of unity and active, inclusive love. This rootedness energizes us to move together into the future for the sake of the mission of Jesus, “that all may be one.”

Purpose This collaborative canonical novitiate experience is framed within a vision of religious life that is prophetic, holistic, and sustained in a contemplative attitude. This experience has as its purpose: 1. To deepen each participant’s spirituality which opens her to further interior transformation 2. To provide a contemplative atmosphere, which reverences the growth of each participant’s relationship with God, self, and the dear neighbor 3. To facilitate each participant’s ongoing formation into a. Evangelical apostolic religious life b. CSSJ tradition c. Values and lived experience of each novice’s own congregation 4. To broaden and deepen each participant’s immersion in an experience of CSSJ identity and mission 5. To facilitate an on-going spirit of discernment 6. To share the gifts, graces, and expertise of CSSJ personnel 7. To create an opportunity for peer interaction, challenge and support 8. To challenge each participant to respond creatively to present and future realities of religious life

Design This experience will include regularly scheduled opportunities for: 1. Personal, communal, and liturgical prayer along with sharing the state of the heart and the order of the house 38 2. Structured time for extended prayer, quiet, and solitude 3. Presentation and study of CSSJ content 4. Meetings of each novice with a designated Federation director 5. On-going spiritual direction from an identified pool of available, qualified directors 6. On-going communication with the home congregation novice director 7. Participation in ministry experiences 8. Integration and assimilation of novitiate experiences through theological reflection 9. Participation in inter-community novitiate program 10. Exploring each participant’s congregational reality by frequent referral to and study of her own Constitution in tandem with our core documents 11. Involving the sending congregation in the personal and communal life of the novice(s) 12. On-going assessment with input from the novice, the Federation novitiate director and the sending congregation formalized at various periods during the novitiate 13. Unstructured time for leisure, play, and the aesthetic aspects of life

Content The ten-month novitiate will include quality time for exploring, processing, assimilating, and integrating: 1. CSSJ content — charism, spirit and spirituality, mission and ministry, history, maxims, primitive documents 2. Prayer forms/experiences — personal and communal 3. Processes for personal/communal discernment 4. Interdependence/community living skills 5. Vowed living

Timing of Federation Experience The timing of this experience will be based on each novice’s needs, her congregation and the availability of the Federation novitiate. The program typically starts in August of each year and ends the following June. Based on when a woman starts her novitiate phase of formation will have a role in the timing of this experience.

39 Document Disposition KEY P: Released to Community D: Destroyed President/Congregational Leader V: Released to Vocation Minister C: Confidential File (sealed; opened only by congregational leader) A: Released to Admissions Committee (if G: General New Membership File applicable) I: Released to Formation Minister (at F: Community Permanent File transition meeting) W: Given to woman : Community Finance Office File Document At Temporary At Departure Profession D C G F D F C W Information Form Birth Certificate  Sacramental Records   Profession of Faith Verification   Immigration Records   Documentation of Free Status   Official Transcripts   Professional Certificates/Licenses   Professional Resume   Letter Requesting Entrance   Autobiography  Psychological Behavioral Assessment  Health Records  Legal History  Financial Information  Letters of Reference  Release Form  vocation minister’s Recommendation  Admissions Committee’s Recommendation  Healthcare DPA   Remuneration  Cession of Administration    Will   Request for Reception   Request for Temporary Profession of Vows  

40 Initial Profession

Purpose of Initial Profession: Initial profession is a time of deepening integration of the vowed life. During this time of fuller integration into the life and work of the congregation, the sister reflects on her experience in prayer, community and ministry, and she seeks ongoing integration that will lead her to request to live her commitment for life as a Sister of Saint Joseph.

Period of Initial Profession: The duration of initial profession follows the practice outlined in each congregation’s constitutions. The canonical period of initial profession is not less than three years and usually does not exceed six years. The congregational leader can extend the time of initial profession, but not beyond nine years.

Profession of Vows: First profession of vows and the renewal of them follow the practice described in the congregation’s constitutions. The initially professed sister requests renewal of vows in consultation with the formation team and is approved by the congregational leader.

In preparation to request the renewal of vows, the initially professed writes a yearly personal assessment of her own growth and movement toward perpetual profession as a woman religious within the congregation and shares this with her director who offers a summary of the assessment to the formation team. The congregational leader reads the sister’s personal assessment.

The sister then writes a letter to the congregational leader requesting to renew her vows. This entire process takes place three months prior to her renewal of vows.

Persons Involved

Initially Professed: The initially professed sister is a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph who has completed the novitiate and has professed vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Expectations of the Initially Professed: The incorporation into the congregation fosters the gradual integration of core values that reflect the qualities of a Sister of Saint Joseph today. These values are steeped in the CSSJ spirituality and mission (Appendix 4). As the woman moves through the formation process, the hope is that there will be a gradual growth and deepening in her identity as a Sister of Saint Joseph through the living out of these values and the vowed life according to her congregation’s constitution.

Director of Initially Professed: The director of the initially professed sister is a perpetually professed sister appointed by the congregational leader in dialogue with the formation team. This sister meets regularly with the initially professed sister for the purposes of support and encouragement of ongoing integration into the life and works of the congregation leading toward discernment of readiness for perpetual profession. An initially professed sister processes all issues related to her life in the community with her director. The director makes recommendations to the formation team who in turn makes recommendations to the congregational leader and her general council.

41 Overall Responsibility: The director companions the sister in initial profession assisting in her movement toward perpetual commitment while deepening her appreciation for and understanding of the charism, mission, ministry and community life of the congregation.

Specific Areas of Responsibility: 1. Spiritual Development a. Discerns with the initially professed sister her ability to live religious life fruitfully as she moves toward perpetual profession b. Suggests and directs opportunities for retreats and workshops c. Meets regularly to discuss the vowed life and her faith experience d. Helps the initially professed sister to interiorize the concept of apostolic spirituality by integrating contemplation and active ministry e. Assists the initially professed sister in securing a spiritual director f. Shares sufficient information about her progress so that the formation team, congregational leader, and general council make an informed decision regarding her movement toward perpetual profession g. Assists the initially professed sister in the development and fulfillment of perpetual vow preparation plans

2. Personal Development a. Encourages initiative for personal growth, integrating spiritual development, physical well- being, community living skills, and ministry b. Assists in developing interpersonal relationship skills c. Encourages and provides an opportunity to work with persons who are poor, to work in a cross-cultural setting or to work in an area related to issues of justice d. Consults with the formation team and makes recommendations to the congregational leader regarding housing e. Initiates an annual reflection process with the initially professed sister and her local community to obtain feedback on her growth in community living f. Reflects on an annual basis with the initially professed sister on her own self-assessment and the response of the local community g. Facilitates the initially professed sister's immediate preparation for perpetual vows

3. Professional Development: a. Assists the initially professed sister in developing intellectual, ministerial, and professional competence b. Monitors academic growth of the initially professed sister based on her professional goals and the core curriculum for initial formation c. As needed, develops an internship program in consultation with the Office of Ministry, the initially professed sister, and the place of ministry d. Consults with the congregational leader and makes recommendations regarding ministry assignments for the initially professed sister e. As pre-arranged with the initially professed sister and the ministry supervisor, the initially professed sister schedules an annual meeting with the ministry supervisor to share her strengths, skills and areas of needed growth. Together with her supervisor,

42 recommendations are made that will assist the initially professed sister in becoming a more effective minister

4. Relationship to the formation team: a. Serves on the formation team and contributes to the on-going development of the ministry of formation, including the formation budget process b. Collaborates for program development in the best interests of the initially professed sister c. Writes an annual assessment of the initially professed sister’s personal, spiritual, and ministerial development as a woman religious and her readiness for renewal of vows and/or preparation for perpetual profession d. Shares this assessment with the initially professed sister and congregational leader. A verbal summary is given to the formation team e. Makes a recommendation to the formation team regarding the initially professed sister seeking to renew her vows or to begin a year of preparation for final vows. The director of the initially professed sister makes recommendations to the congregational leader in the form of a letter

Local Community: A local community is selected in dialogue with the director, the initially professed sister and the local community. The formation team approves the selection, with final approval by the congregational leader and her general council. The local community is selected from among the houses of the congregation based on the quality and fidelity of their experience of community living and how it fits for the woman. The local community welcomes the initially professed into the everyday fabric of daily prayer, ministry, and community. Life together in community gives witness to mutuality, support and living out of the spirit, life and works of the congregation.

This community of sisters welcomes the initially professed into the life of the congregation as lived on the local level. Life together is one of mutuality, challenge, and support in living faithfully the spirit, life and works of the congregation.

All members of the local community strive together to: 1. Live communal life in fidelity to CSSJ charism and mission as called for by the constitution 2. Witness to on-going personal development, deepening relationship, and conversion 3. Share life in community with all the responsibilities, accountability, and benefits in a way that is mutually supportive 4. Offer inclusive hospitality in relationships within and outside the local community and congregation 5. Incorporate a variety of styles of regular communal prayer 6. Participate in regular faith sharing and/or sharing of the heart 7. Discuss ministry experiences in light of the charism and faith stance 8. Share and live the current chapter document 9. Discuss in community any positive and negative aspects regarding life together and personal behaviors. 10. Dialogue with the initially professed sister and her director regarding the experience of life in community, offering insight to the assessment of readiness for movement toward perpetual commitment

43 When issues surface within the local community around the initially professed sister that impact community life and cannot be resolved by the local community, the initially professed sister initiates dialogue with her director for assistance. The director coaches the initially professed sister on how to work toward resolution. If these efforts are ineffective, the director may initiate a conversation with the formation team and together they may seek a resolution with the initially professed sister and/or the local community.

Congregational Leader and Her General Council: The director of the initially professed sister consults with the congregational leader and her general council when necessary, such as, when a question of leaving the congregation initially surfaces, a major difficulty with local ministry, psychological services are requested, or a request for change in ministry or local community housing.

Role of congregational leader: 1. The congregational leader meets with the woman in formation before she begins the next stage of initial formation. 2. The congregational leader presents the woman in initial formation to the general council for a consultative vote for admission to each stage of formation and profession. 3. The congregational leader accepts the Sister to profess vows within the congregation and notifies her by letter.

Assuming there has been regular dialogue between the director and the sister in initial formation about her progress toward profession, there may be indication that religious life may not be God’s call for her. Should a sister not be permitted to advance to the next stage of formation or moving toward perpetual profession, the director and the congregational leader will notify her in person and in writing. Should this be the case, arrangements will be made for her transition from the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

A year of preparation for Final Vows must include: 1. Mid-way through the year, the director and the initially professed sister moving toward final vows assess her progress in preparation for final vows. The director shares the highlights with the formation team, as well as the congregational leader and her general council 2. The director writes an assessment of the initially professed sister’s readiness for final vows and shares it with her; after which it is shared with the formation team and the congregational leader 3. Initially professed sister writes a self-assessment indicating her readiness and desire for final vows and shares it with her director; after which it is shared with the formation team and the congregational leader 4. The sister moving toward final vows writes a letter to the congregational leader formally requesting final vows 5. A meeting of the initially professed sister with the congregational leader 6. The director writes a formal recommendation of the sister asking for final vows to the formation team. The director makes her recommendation to the congregational leader and the council 7. The initially professed and director meet with the congregational leader and council regarding her request to make final vows 8. The congregational leader notifies the initially professed sister by letter if she has been admitted to perpetual profession 9. The director assists the initially professed, in consultation with the director of liturgy, in planning the celebration for profession of final vows according to the Rite of Religious Profession 44 10. Perpetual profession takes place during Mass according to the Rite of Religious Profession. The profession of vows is according to the formula in the congregation’s constitution

A year of preparation for final vows may include: 1. A special program before final vows, such as, a thirty-day Ignatian retreat, a CSSJ Federation program, a pilgrimage to Le Puy, or an inter-congregational final vow workshop 2. A review/discussion of the constitution with special emphasis on the vows with her director and other sisters 3. A six or eight-day directed retreat

45 EMERGING TRENDS, BEST PRACTICES, AND RESOURCES

A Space for Transformation: Guiding Principles for Communities Welcoming New Members By: Colleen Gibson, SSJ

If the first two decades of the 21st century have revealed anything, it is that the age we live in is one of change. It is an age of rapid change, ever increased by the pace of technology and the abundance of access to information. Standards that once held true are no longer useful or effective. Priorities and perspectives are in flux. In some cases, the changes that characterize this day and age could be classified as disruption — what has been is no longer. And yet this change, while disruptive in ways, is more deep seated. To navigate a world in flux, we must approach change not as grounds for abandonment but rather as means for transformation.

Religious Life in the 21st century is a shining example of this age of change and the ensuing call to transformation. While many areas of religious life could be used to illustrate these active changes and the subsequently necessary transformation, the manner in which religious congregations choose to welcome new members provides a microcosm of what is required to move forward, in a life-giving manner, toward the future.

Just as the world has changed drastically in the past few decades, religious life and those entering religious life have shifted too. The processes that once worked to welcome new members have had to be adapted over time; often times these adaptations have occurred on an “as needed” basis when the need (i.e. new members) present themselves. As such, new members enter into updated, but perhaps not transformed, processes of welcome.

In the past by simply adapting existing systems of welcome, there was a failure to consider what the shifting realities and priorities of contemporary religious life truly required in creating welcoming and sustaining communities for all members. Thus, in order to create transformative processes of welcome, it is imperative that communities consider what it means and requires to welcome new members today and in turn, what shifts in priorities and perspective must occur to create intentional communities that serve the needs both of new members and of the congregation.

Embracing the call to address and define the shifting reality of welcoming new members, the U.S. Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph convened a committee in the Summer of 2018 to consider what it means to welcome new and diverse members into community. Comprised of professed members from throughout the Federation, including elected leaders, those with formation experience, newer members, and those trained in and from intercultural background, the committee examined the need to develop more welcoming communities for the life of new members and congregations as a whole. To this end, the committee devised a set of core principles for congregations to consider as guides in creating sustaining (and sustainable) communities of welcome to move into the future.

46 Core Principles: 1. Self-Discovery and Personal Growth 2. Relationship Building 3. Congregational Integration 4. Mutuality and Transparency 5. Clarity of Purpose with Flexibility of Means 6. Communication and Communal Growth 7. Personal and Communal Investment and Engagement

While designated with specific attention to new members, these core principles are not unique to the needs of new members. In fact, it should be recognized that these values are key to intentional living and would be of benefit to all members no matter how long they have been in community.

The purpose of naming these principles, however, is to clarify the way in which attentive and intentional planning of community provides a foundational experience in which to welcome and nurture the vocation of a new member. Special care should be taken in trying to provide for these core principles as they relate to the realities of religious life in the 21st century.

1. Being Known: Self-Discovery and Personal Growth

One of the great gifts offered by community living and religious formation is the opportunity for self- discovery and personal growth. Living with others gives us the opportunity to learn more about ourselves in a multitude of ways. We discover how we relate to others and how we react to and manage situations of stress, conflict, and/or invitations for personal reflection.

In creating welcoming communities for newer members, it is important to recognize that community is a key part of this formative process through lived experience on a daily basis. It is in local community that we come to be known and it is essential that a community that welcomes a new member makes every effort to get to know the new member. This might seem like an obvious and natural part of building community and for good reason (it is!), yet in the midst of busy schedules and ministries that demand emotional engagement, the effort required to create space at home for a new member can often be ignored or overlooked. Yet, it is only in a community where one feels valued and feels like those she shares life with are invested in her (as she rightfully should be in them) that relationships can be built and honest self-reflection and personal growth can take place.

The desire to “be known” is underscored over and over by new members as a desire within community, both locally and congregationally. If a new member is to seriously consider commitment to a congregation, they must feel that they are known. This sense of “being known” then allows for continued self-disclosure and growth in and through community.

2. We’re All Adults Here: Fostering Adult Relationships

The new members that we welcome to community today come from a variety of backgrounds and with myriad life experiences. One thing, though, that all new members have in common is this: they are adults.

47 Unlike previous generations, when new members generally entered religious life in their late teenage years, new members today have greater experience of life and have expectations of the relationships they will be able to build in community. Because of the nature of the formative process, new members can often be made to feel like newcomers with more to learn than to share. The result of such a stance can make adults feel as if they are being treated like children and while the new member may be a novice in relation to consecrated religious life, they are not inexperienced in living. Remembering this fact is the basis of forming a strong welcoming community where mature adult relationships are the norm not the exception.

The expectation of a welcoming community would be that all members are capable of mature adult relationships. Mature adult relationships are respectful of boundaries, grounded in mutuality, invite deep communication, and receptive to the individual — who she is and who she is becoming. However a community is selected or formed to welcome a new member it must be ensured that all members are capable of fostering adult relationships; special attention to this priority helps create a community that can not only welcome but which can form those who are a part of it.

3. This Is Who We Are: Congregational Integration

Unlike other local communities, the community which is designated to welcome a new member takes on the added charge of actively embodying and conveying to a new member the essential beliefs and practices of the congregation, including but not limited to mission, charism, and spirituality. This is done both implicitly and explicitly. It is the job of the local community to model for the new member what it means to be a member of the community (both on a local and congregational level). New members are still discovering the heart of a congregation and so each moment — be it in communal prayer, in preparation for meetings, or in day to day life — is an opportunity for greater learning.

For a congregation, the local community is ground zero for this essential integration. How one lives and experiences the charism in these early stages of formation is determinative of how they become a part of the whole. Seeing sisters dedicated to this life is tantamount to a new member gaining an understanding of the congregation and discerning her call to membership. A welcoming community also takes on the informal role of helping a new member to understand the culture of a congregation. This may mean answering questions about how or why things are done a certain way and also require members to consider what a new member might not know and anticipating this, help her to better understand without forcing a norm or making her to feel like an outsider.

4. A Shared Experience: Mutuality and Transparency

In any local community, there is the expectation of mutual sharing and transparency. In a community designated to welcome a new member, the need for mutuality and transparency among members takes on a more nuanced nature.

Together, new and more established members embark on the journey of building community. This journey required a mutuality that recognizes that the experience that is being had is shared. We share in the duties of a household and in the expectations of what makes community. Naturally, different members of the community may take on different roles; this is especially true if formation personnel live in the community or if a member is designated as a local contact person connecting the formation 48 program to the local community. This designation can create subtle divisions within community, which should be recognized from the start. Furthermore, the evaluative element of a local community in the life of a new member can create distinctions between new and more established members. To alleviate this tension, mutuality of being in community and transparency in personal sharing and communal discussions can be helpful. We share life and so we should be able to share openly with one another as we live together.

There are, however, some caveats to mutuality and transparency in a community that welcomes new members. Because of the divisions discussed above, there are times when mutuality may be amended to accommodate matters that apply only to professed members. In other cases, transparency may be limited to “as transparent as possible” because of the nature of the formative process and what needs to be dealt with or adjusted by the community to allow for a healthy community setting.

5. Same Why, Shifting How: Clarity of Purpose with Flexibility of Means

Shifts over time in how new members are welcomed into community has often meant changes to the processes that congregations employ. How we welcome members is different, taking into account the realities of religious life today and the reality of the life experiences new members bring with them. Shifting the way we do things to meet these needs and realities is part of our new reality. Yet, despite the many changes and shifting priorities at hand, in order to create welcoming communities, there must be a clear purpose around which to base our actions and community.

A clear purpose informs all aspects of a welcoming community. It is the reference point for the way a community lives its life together, helping the community, both as a whole and as individual members, to live intentionally towards a common goal. By having a clarity of purpose, the community is able to work together towards a common end, to discern the best means by which to achieve their stated purpose, and to evaluate their efforts through the lens of the stated purpose of their community.

Even with a defined purpose, creating communities that are welcoming to new members is a process. This may mean adjusting how a community functions as experience dictates change. As a community develops and adjusts to welcoming a new member, the means of doing so may need to adjust as well. To this end, we must be flexible recognizing 1) that each new member is different and 2) that our expectations and/or plans of action for community may need to change in order to better serve the overall purpose of the local community and the experience it provides to new members. This allow us to individualize the formation process while maintaining and upholding the clearly stated goals/purpose of the community.

6. We’re All in This Together: Communication and Communal Growth

The success of communal living is dependent on the quality of communication within a local community. Much like mutuality and transparency, a commitment to open communication and communal growth helps us to be our best selves and to create a welcoming community for all members. Here communal growth is defined as personal growth for all members (not just the member who is being welcomed), which in turn enhances the life of the entire community.

49 As we know, formation is a lifelong process. Thus, in choosing to be a part of a welcoming community, members also choose to intentionally continue their personal growth for the good of the community as a whole. This is not (nor should it be) an exclusive marker of a welcoming community; truly all members of the congregation should be taking responsibility for their ongoing formation. However, in a formation community it is essential that all members be committed to “doing their work.” This includes regular spiritual direction, ongoing spiritual and intellectual enrichment, practicing good communication skills, maintaining healthy and balanced relationships both within and outside of local community, being mindful in their use of technology, and caring for the whole self (body, mind, and spirit).

7. Commitment, Engagement, Investment: Personal and Communal Buy-in

Underlying any welcoming community is the commitment of its members to its expressed purpose. Accordingly, to create a welcoming community for a new member there must be buy-in from members individually and as a group. This buy-in signifies a commitment to core principles listed above as well as to the unforeseeable circumstances that come with fostering a new beginning and transformation in religious life in the 21st century.

The formation of a welcoming community signifies buy-in by a congregation to the future of religious life and as such, welcoming communities should be supported in their efforts to form and welcome new members. The voices of local community members are important to this process and should be valued as they reflect an investment of self not only in local community but in the life of the community at large. Congregations must also consider the level of engagement required with a welcoming community; support must extend beyond simply establishing (or designating) a local community to welcome a new member to make sure that a community is sustained in its efforts. These needs for support will differ based on the community and circumstances but it is the responsibility of the congregation to make an active engagement in helping to sustain a welcoming community.

Beyond the larger governing structure, buy-in is required by those who take part in a welcoming community. Members need to have the time, energy, capacity, skills, and desire to take part in the task of welcoming. Since these members (ideally) are selected through a process of mutual discernment and by invitation of the congregation, there is an expectation that they will understand (and commit to) the requirements of being a part of a welcoming community.

One’s ability to commit to and fully be engaged with what it means to be a member of this type of local community should be discerned on a yearly basis. This type of evaluation gives members the freedom to honestly assess their commitment to and capacity for being a member of such a community and to then decide if it is prudent for them to continue as a member. By conducting such discernment communally, the community is able to perpetuate a spirit of accountability and to keep the express purpose of welcoming new members at its fore.

Guided and Grounded: Making a Way for Transformation

Creating a welcoming community takes work. It is a combination of effort on the part of individuals and a congregation, as well as the imprecise science of communal chemistry. In the end, though, success in creating a community that is ready or fit to welcome a new member is a tough thing to measure. The core principles outlined above don’t guarantee success, but they do provide touchstones for the 50 essential elements to help ground a community and create a more welcoming atmosphere. In many cases, these principles require trial and error, as do many elements of communal living. However, these principles do indicate the shifts that must take place within members and communities to make a way for communal and personal transformation. Such transformation is to the benefit of all parties involved — new members, established members, and congregations as a whole — as we face the ever-changing reality of religious life in the 21st century.

Guided by and grounded in the essence of what these principles indicate about the call to religious life and what authentic and welcoming community looks like, a community can make a space for new members to be welcomed. Creating such a space means not only opening a house of the congregation to a new member but opening a community and ultimately a congregation to transformation. We must be open in order to move forward. We must be open and free enough to be formed and re-formed by the life we live and profess. We must be willing to examine our priorities and shift our practices to better align with who we claim to be. And, we must trust that the Gospel call we embrace is the root of the life we share and the gift we offer to the world and to one another in the communities we form.

51 What does intergenerational-designed housing look like? By: Sr. Patty Johnson, CSJ

Religious communities face a double-edged problem when it comes to finding housing options for intergenerational living these days. At the time that many of our sisters are needing additional physical and service supports to remain in the local housing they currently reside in, younger members are joining congregations and looking for a meaningful community life. Many of the younger members do not belong to the dominant culture of the congregation. How can we design a living space that will be conducive to the needs of both groups? This paper presents concepts to consider when designing living spaces for those in initial formation that will truly allow for vital intergenerational living. Intergenerational living for those in initial formation and seasoned professed sisters requires creative thinking and planning. Vital community living is the goal. Younger members should not feel that they become a work force for elderly sister care. Senior sisters who can live vitally in a home-like atmosphere may need supportive services provided by non-community members to age in place. An ideal house or living space would allow for three to seven professed sisters to live with one to three sisters in initial formation. One would hope for a six to eight bed-room house or community space. Reasonably sized rooms with good natural lighting adds to the homey ambiance that is desired. Unfortunately, these housing opportunities are extremely rare. Often religious congregations must decide whether to renovate a current property or build a new one to achieve the hoped-for environment. Renovations can be costly, but they also allow a congregation to remain in an area where they have had historic connections. Constructing a new building can be less expensive and often allows for greater flexibility in design. If building a new facility, one might consider planning for a purpose for the building after its need as an intergenerational house is no longer necessary. Hoffman Planning, Design & Construction, Inc. has been working with a concept called “Green House Project1” for people needing nursing care. Green House creates a stand-alone house with 10 bedrooms on one Bedrooms are in blue surrounding the green communal living space, with the gray floor. The Green House Projects allow a non-residential showing services areas like laundry and staff to provide 24-hour care in a home-like environment. storage. This type of lay out would work for intergenerational living and have resale value for people setting up care facilities in the future. For intergenerational living, the architecture, lay-out, and furnishings should create a welcoming and inclusive impression. The building will impact the quality of community life and so attention to important factors is essential. Many architects are beginning to think about this for religious communities and the broader public.

1 The Green House Project - https://www.thegreenhouseproject.org/ 52 The most critical component of a multi-generational home is its ability to offer spaces that can be used for multiple functions, and spaces that allow multiple preferences within any one space. When planning for multiple functions, the trick is not to design or customize an area to the point where it can’t be modified. A bedroom should be able to become a study, then a playroom, then a media room and respond to the families’ needs over time. Forward planning of utilities such as plumbing and electrical wiring, even internal framing, is therefore crucial, and can potentially save costly renovations in the future.2 Sometimes when building or renovating a space for sisters, a humbler approach with smaller bedrooms, and fewer modern conveniences may be desirable. However, often with careful planning with future uses in mind, two smaller bedrooms for sisters can be designed to easily convert to a single apartment in a home for adults receiving specialized care. Recognizing the intergenerational needs of the group, an ideal house would be on one floor or have elevator access to all floors. When this is not possible, then it is essential that the living space have multiple ground/first floor rooms, including bedrooms that are universally accessible and equipped with showers, and laundry facility on ground/first floor. The community will need to be sensitive to the dynamic of those activities to which the persons who are restricted to the ground or first floor are excluded. New construction should have no excluded space. Whether renovating or building a new situation, ensuring that universal design is integrated into the plan is essential for the long-term usefulness of the building. “Universal design means simply designing all products, buildings and exterior spaces to be usable by all people to the greatest extent possible. Universal design is not a design style, but an orientation to design, based on the following premises:

• Disability is not a special condition of a few;

• It is ordinary and effects most of us for some part of our lives;

• If a design works well for people with disabilities, it works better for everyone;

• Usability and aesthetics are mutually compatible.” 3 “A focus on universal design helps create a home that can be used by people of all ages, abilities and mobility levels, without the need for adaptation or specialized interventions. For many, this will include the removal of steps and split levels, the provision of wide corridors and open spaces as well as the use of sliding doors and non-slip surfaces. Bathrooms and toilets in particular must be cleverly thought through, to ensure comfort and safety, while still managing to be aesthetically pleasing.”4 If grab bars are not built in at initial occupancy, blocking within the walls can make it easy to add them at a later time.

2 A Place for the Whole Family: Designing for Multi-Generational Living, Modscape, https://www.modscape.com.au/blog/place-whole-family-designing-multi-generational-living/ 3 Universal Design, http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/universaldesign/ 4 Modscape 53 A barrier-free entryway communicates the welcome for all people. Efficient pathways for circulation between spaces allows all to feel at home. When needed, a lift or ramp allows those with disabilities to access areas throughout the living space. Multiple communal gathering spaces allow sisters to have a place to gather and provide an alternative to being in a bedroom. There is a need for more than one communal space to allow for visitors, watching tv, and allowing for a space for those of the non-dominant language of the house to visit or watch TV in their first language. Recreation space and exercise equipment is helpful. Some of these communal gathering spaces could be converted to guest space or office space, as needed. Often congregations are opting for an open plan where the dining room and kitchen are connected. This allows for easy flow and serving while allowing sisters the opportunity to gather informally while meals are being prepared and the table set up. An island in the kitchen often makes it convenient for more than one person to be involved in meal preparation. “Most religious community projects include ensuite bedrooms, which gives greater privacy than the shared bathrooms of their more institutional predecessors. This privacy, however, comes at a higher construction cost, and it uses more space. Bedrooms should be large enough to accommodate a desk and/or reading chair in addition to the bed, dresser, and closet. This provides the resident with a private retreat from the communal realm.” 5 Some congregations have begun adding a kitchenette and bedroom space of 650 square feet to make the space more valuable for repurposing. The entire living space should be technology-friendly with high speed Wi-Fi reception throughout. Reasonable soundproofing will allow for privacy and the ability to play differing kinds of music and videos at different times throughout the day and evening without disturbing others. “With the advent of smart homes, technology has further enabled multi-generational living that can monitor and adapt to the changing needs of inhabitants. Heating may be different in different parts of the house, benches can raise or lower depending on who is home, and screens can open or close to provide privacy or create a sense of shared space. Information technology, in particular, is evolving so rapidly that it won’t be long before many jobs can be completely done from home. The need for multiple family members having a dedicated workspace is becoming more and more common, and the need for these spaces to be closed off from day to day living, becoming equally important.”6 Having a chapel for individual and communal prayer is desirable. It is often close to one of the communal gathering places. “The chapel windows can reveal the special function of the space to the public through the use of art glass. This specialty glass will also manipulate and transform the natural light into one of the most important architectural features of the chapel design. The glass design and artwork can also be an opportunity to tell the story of the community.7 Yard space that might include a patio or garden also can serve as communal gathering spots.

5 Architecture and design can enhance your community life, by Jack Kelley, available on the NRVC website 6 Modscape 7 Architecture and design can enhance your community life, by Jack Kelley, available on the NRVC website 54 In choosing a neighborhood within which to set up these communities, options to look for include nearby senior programming, volunteer opportunities, healthcare supports available, close to public transportation, near-by opportunities for good liturgy, and stores and restaurants to purchase different cultural foods. Adequate and safe parking is needed. Sometimes this is situated in the back, off the street to allow for safer late-night entry. Housing that is close to other professed sisters, no more than 30 minutes’ drive, is preferred. The house should have adequate storage space for this number of adult women. Due to the fact that this living situation is for those in formation, a home office in the space can be helpful. Challenged by Laudato Si’, renovations and buildings should address the issue of environmental sustainability (green design). Solar power, efficient HVAC systems and better insulation in the walls can make a positive contribution to the environment. Careful choice of windows can also help with environmental control. Creating vital and viable intergenerational communities is an important part of any initial formation plan. Those looking at religious life must see that healthy community life is a high priority for the congregation. The quality of housing available for intergenerational living sends clear messages about that priority.

55 Graces Given: A Reflection on the Importance of Immersive Experiences in Initial Formation By: Colleen Gibson, SSJ

Boarding a plane bound for France in the Fall of 2017, I found myself unsure of what awaited me upon arrival. For as long as I had been associated with my congregation, I’d heard stories about Le Puy and what had begun there. Pictures of the terracotta roofs and of the kitchen hearth filled my head, memories of things as yet unseen and yet already deeply known. Over nine years of formation, these images and the story of our foundation had become a part of me. Teaching college students about our heritage, I used these as points of reference, drawing parallels between the ills of the day our first sisters faced in 17th century France and the ills we meet on the streets of our own city.

Sitting on the plane awaiting takeoff, I wondered if what I had been taught and what I’d imagined could stand up to reality. We can never really know the grace of an experience until we undertake it, or as Father Medaille would say “Never go ahead of grace by an imprudent eagerness, but quietly await its movements” (Maxim 84). Grace comes as God wills it, freely and dynamically, if we are open. By the end of my time in Le Puy, I would discover that the graces that had been planted went far beyond mere sight seeing.

I, along with 24 other Sisters of St. Joseph from around the world had been invited to the International Centre to take part in an intensive workshop on intercultural dialogue and non-violent communication. All of us were either in initial formation or recently finally professed and so were able to share our own experiences and realities of living religious life.

The diversity of our membership was an integral part of our learning, both formally through various learning processes and informally in the experiences, conversations, and interactions we shared. We came from 15 different countries and a total of 14 different congregations from around the world.

The 10-day workshop designed and implemented by the Global Coordinating Group of the Sisters of St. Joseph was funded by the Hilton Foundation. Designed to provide training and formation in areas seen as essential to living religious life into the future, the workshop focused primarily on how to live in an intercultural world, what empathy is, and how to manage and facilitate conflict resolution.

Classes, which ran from nine in the morning until sometimes as late as nine at night when we had cultural showcases, were given in/translated into four official languages (Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English), but at meals and when we toured the city, we were left to our own creative devices to communicate.

This made us stronger in the process, bringing with it valuable lessons about what it means to include the one on the margins, what it feels like to be misunderstood, and how to step out of your own comfort zone for the good of the whole. Sometimes I would find myself listening in French, roughly translating into English and passing that translation on to someone who’d speak Spanish for those who couldn’t understand. It was a humbling experience, requiring patience, perseverance, a healthy dose of humor and lots of hand motions.

56 In the classroom, we were seated according to language groups. This allowed for deeper reflection on a small group level, and then interpretation was provided for large group feedback. Among those who spoke English, the three sisters from the United States, one sister from Canada, and eight sisters from India were divided between two tables.

Here, though we shared a common language, we soon realized that our experiences of religious life differed greatly. To have a conversation, we had to discover each other’s cultures; this meant being curious, actively listening, and trying to interpret things in a non-violent and non-judgmental way. It wasn’t always easy, but it taught us lessons that it could take a lifetime to learn from a book.

Truly, it was the experience of being together that laid the groundwork for our intensive study and reflection on the topics of intercultural dialogue and nonviolent communication. We had to learn to trust one another and to be vulnerable in the process. Whether it was heartfelt sharing around the future of religious life, discussions about managing conflict in community, or putting on skits about communicating openly — we were in it together.

From the ridiculous to the sublime — some topics proved to be universal. Everyone has had the experience of someone not changing the toilet paper roll when it’s empty and everyone knows what it feels like to be judged wrongly in a community situation. In our sharing, be it in words or through activities, we found a common bond of the charism and sisterhood we share.

To be a Sister of Saint Joseph is to be about unioning love with God and neighbor whether you’re in Madagascar, Lebanon, Switzerland, Honduras or the United States. Our living situations might differ, but our hearts are joined in the call we’ve answered. By our answering that call, we belong to one another. Beyond any language or experience, the truth is that we are bound by the love of God and neighbor without distinction.

Now I wake up in the morning to text messages from our sisters in India. As I am beginning my day, theirs is just coming to an end. We’ve begun to say to one another that where one of us leaves off another one begins. There’s something universal to our relationships. Wherever we are, we are sisters — living lives vastly different and yet living the mission and answering the call in a strikingly similar way. As we parted ways at the end of our days together, I found myself deeply moved by a sense of both loss and connection. How in ten days’ time could we grow so close? I wondered. But then again, based on all we shared and invested, how could we not?

Flying home, I found myself reflecting on the many experiences of Le Puy and our foundations. From the kitchen to the cathedral, there was a grace to the space I’d been invited into in my time away, but even more the sacred space of my sisters — space found in one another — was what I cherished most.

What I had expected to be a time of deep enrichment in our heritage and the places of our origins instead turned out to be a time of even deeper enrichment as I found myself engrossed in the life of our Little Institute today — a life alive in my sisters and a life that I discovered swelled up deep within me.

Beyond terracotta roofs and the kitchen floor, in the shadow of San Michel and the Cathedral, key formative experiences were happening within me. Grace was taking its place and I was being made open enough to receive it. 57 Paramount to these formative experiences were three crucial lessons/graces that the experience fostered within me — lessons in identity, integration, and empowerment.

As a sister in initial formation, I believe these are lessons that have been core to my progression towards a more substantial (and permanent) commitment in religious life, reflecting a deep and lasting impact on my vocational journey. While the grace of each experience is particular to each individual, I believe these lessons hold great formational potential for any sister, especially those in initial formation.

Identity: “This is who I am and who we are”

The emotion that overtook me as the experience in Le Puy came to an end had roots in the lesson of identity. Over the course of ten days, I had discovered/uncovered a piece of my identity. With sisters at a similar point in their religious life, I shared a level of energy and experience that bridged language and cultural barriers. We belonged to one another. These were my sisters and we were unquestionably Sisters of St. Joseph.

Throughout the workshop, our CSSJ spirituality had been discussed and we were invited to define what it means to be a Sister of St. Joseph. Together we gave voice to who we are and the charism we have discovered within ourselves. This process of sharing, rooted both in our spirituality and history as well as the lived reality of our lives, created grounds for support and mutual identity.

The international nature of our congregation (not always apparent in our home congregations) was front and center. Being together broke down barriers — we were not a sister from Philadelphia or a sister from Orange or a sister from Bolivia... No, we were sisters engaged in the world and we came to value this international relationality, more deeply understanding that the life I lead where I am from is united with my sister halfway around the world.

Building relationships with one another helped us to grasp this identity. Through laughter and tears, we committed ourselves to one another and recommitted ourselves to the mission that drew us (and continues to draw us) to this life. We found that the struggles we felt alone in were in fact universal and understood. Many sisters remarked that the freedom of being together was the freedom to truly be yourself. We found joy in one another and joy in true being — an unmistakable sign of the Spirit at work and a unifying factor that reaffirmed the call to live as a Sister of St. Joseph.

Integration: “Living the life you’re called to live”

While the future of religious life may be unclear, there are clearly some skills that will be helpful moving forward. As our world becomes more and more connected, what once seemed vast and distant begins to shrink. And as the world shrinks and we recognize the interdependence of our being, the skills of intercultural relations and conflict management become more and more important. Our call as Sisters of St. Joseph to create union in the world is reliant on our ability to know and use these concrete, practical skills.

The experience of having to navigate the many barriers to communication in Le Puy provided firsthand experience of what it feels like to be misunderstood, to try to communicate, and to consider the cultural differences that factor into our relationships with one another. Having to navigate these differences in 58 real time provided an opportunity to grow in patience and empathy. Navigating the experience allowed us to translate theory into feeling through experience, allowing for an integration of material that has far greater potential for lasting effect.

Returning to the United States, I found myself more aware of the cultural differences I encounter daily, both in ministry and within local community. This increased awareness called me to action and required an adaptation of behavior as a result of what I learned in Le Puy.

Bringing the lessons about intercultural dialogue as well as conflict management home was an exercise in integration. Applying these lessons outside the classroom made them more real and taking the time away (in Le Puy) to discuss and reflect on these core aspects of our communal lives was an opportunity to integrate the workshop’s material on a deeper level.

As communities become smaller and diversity more apparent, the skills from this workshop will be the pathway to the future. Empathy calls forth relationships as well as beckoning us to live for justice. When we understand the feelings of oneness and otherness on a global scale we can better adapt to, welcome, and change the world in which we live.

Empowerment: “Sharing as a shared experience”

One of the greatest gifts of the experience in Le Puy was the ability to share it with my sisters upon returning home. In most cases when we return from workshops or retreats, the time given to share is minimal; putting experiences and what they’ve meant into words is difficult and finding those who can hold our personal reflections can sometimes be a challenge.

The experience in Le Puy, however, was different. Part of the grant which funded the workshop stipulated that participants should present the material to sisters upon returning home in a workshop format that would share the skills and experiences taught in Le Puy. This mandate created grounds for empowerment, which is often missing for sisters in initial formation. More often than not, newer sisters are taught about topics and issues. While this is part of the formation process, if it is the constant mode of instruction newer members can find themselves disempowered and lacking confidence, as if they have nothing to offer the congregation at large.

Giving newer sisters the opportunity to teach their sisters is thus an opportunity to reverse this process- empowering membership, affirming the contributions newer members have to offer, and equalizing relationships by underscoring that formation is an ongoing process in which we learn from one another. For me, the process of teaching my sisters through a series of workshops based on my time in Le Puy allowed me to claim my voice in a significant way; it also allowed sisters to get to know me in a new way and to have a shared experience with someone in formation. This shared experience sparked conversations that benefited the congregation as a whole and helped to build relationships through vulnerable sharing and reflection among sisters.

The invitation to take part in the 10-day workshop in Le Puy also served as an affirmation of my congregation’s confidence and investment in me as a member; it also empowered me to claim my own inner authority as I returned, serving as a teacher rather than always having to be the student. Such

59 empowerment was liberating and heightened the sense of identity and integration I’ve spoken about above. ___

In the end, what I couldn’t imagine before taking part in the Le Puy workshop turned out to be an experience that exceeded what I could have imagined. The formative nature of my time in Le Puy was directly linked to the connections it created with my sisters from around the world and our heritage. Through opportunities for empowerment, integration, and affirmation of identity, I was enriched and graced. Opportunities such as the one I was blessed to have are key to initial formation of vowed members, providing shared experiences, applicable skills, and supportive relationships not only for today but into the future.

Maxim 84 reminds us to “never go ahead of grace… but [to] quietly await its movements.” Grace takes time, but it also requires a firm foundation to take root in; by providing formative experiences similar to the 10-workshop in Le Puy, we don’t go ahead of grace, but we nurture the gift of the initial formation experience. By allowing those in these stages, those who are deepening their lives and commitments as Sisters of St. Joseph to move gracefully into the future together, we create space to dream what will be and allow God to imagine all things as possible in the graces we are given and receive.

60 Graced Whole-making and the Evolution of Social Justice By: Susan Wilson, CSJ

The evolution of social justice is one of the ways in which the evolution of consciousness manifests itself. As consciousness evolves toward greater complexity and whole-making integration, so too does the work of justice. Likewise, just as different worldviews, or levels of consciousness, can lead to polarizations in society, our whole-making approaches to justice can be quite different, and even contradictory, when we operate from different worldviews (e.g., affirmative action promotes fairness by accounting for systemic barriers vs. affirmative action undermines fairness by treating people differently in a selection process).

Fortunately, grace operates within every worldview, making it possible to dialogue across differences and learn from them. More to the point, our efforts at graced whole-making do not try to re-make relationships according to an image of wholeness in our worldview. Rather, they seek to uncover and participate in a God-given wholeness which already exists but has not reached its fulfillment. This God-given wholeness is imaged in the charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph as “the total double union.” It’s an image which emerged from a very different worldview, but one which still functions today to awaken us to the radical relationality of humanity with God, each other and every kind of neighbor in the universe.

The theological symbol of Trinity places “the total double union” within God’s economy of salvation, giving radical relationality its context and meaning, with God’s communion of love as its purpose. God ceaselessly pursues us to become partners in this whole-making work and graced consciousness understands wider economic, social, and ecological relationships in the light of this over-arching narrative: The economy is embedded in and interacting with society; both the economy and society are embedded in and interacting with earth community; and all are embedded in and interacting with God to serve Love’s communion. This is, in very broad strokes, the right relationship which social justice seeks through uncovering wholeness and participating in graced whole-making.

Uncovering wholeness

A key element of uncovering wholeness is growth toward a greater appreciation of the whole human psyche. All relationships are deeply affected by both conscious and unconscious dynamics, shaping complex interactions between individual human persons, society, earth and God. The work of justice relies on an understanding of the relationship between inner change (within both individual and cultures) and the transformation of structures and systems in society, politics, and the economy. It means interacting with the unconscious energies operating in conflict situations and making them more visible so that, as we become more aware, we can examine them, dialogue about them and choose more consciously how we’ll respond.

In uncovering wholeness, each of us is called to be a contemplative witness. As we observe conflictual or unjust situations with God, we tap the sacred stillness which underpins all of life. In this stillness, grace can uncover unhelpful assumptions which harm relationships and open us to be touched by the people and situations around us.

61 Both individually and collectively, contemplative witnessing helps us recognize when we are projecting our own unwanted shadow traits onto another person or group whom we then dismiss, criticize or attack. It also helps us see the unconscious impacts of language, exposing how political leaders frequently use language and images to gain access to the collective unconscious and manipulate in ways which tap our fears, prejudices, attachments, and urges to control. Consider, for example, the de- humanizing language of political leaders who suggested their country was being “infested” with migrants. When such images operate unconsciously, they have free rein. Conversely, when thought is conscious, we can discuss it, question it, and choose how we’ll respond.

Uncovering wholeness also means recognizing the systems of which we’re a part (social, cultural, spiritual, environmental, political, and economic) and seeing how we’re impacted by these systems. This kind of contemplative witnessing enables us to see the ways in which profoundly unjust policies and systems have affected our thinking and impacted our lives; it illumines how collective shadow patterns have been concretized in unjust social, political, and economic structures and systems, leading to poverty, racism, classism, sexism, ecological damage, militarism, and social violence. In so doing, contemplative awareness of personal and collective patterns of feeling and thinking can reveal critical leverage points for both inner transformation as well as systemic change.

Participation in whole-making

Participation in whole-making is about creating change. We need to see the ‘whole’ to get to the heart of the matter, and once we’ve reached the heart of the matter, some new paths forward begin to emerge.

It’s a challenging call to the kind of discernment for which the great prophets, including Jesus, are known: To be attuned to God’s presence and activity not only in ourselves but in the world; to be attentive to the ways relationships and struggles, as well as social and political events, can hold sacred energies of healing, transformation and new life; to understand how following such energies will lead us more deeply into truth, compassion and justice, more deeply into the communion God is creating here on earth.

The theological concept of “reading the signs of the times” emerges from the understanding that God is at work in our world; that together we human beings can come to a sense of God’s activity in our lives; and that God desires us to become attuned to, and cooperate with, divine action for transformation in the world. As such, it is a discernment which is rooted in both contemplation and justice.

The practices of State of the Heart and Order of the House are important tools for engaging in this type of discernment. By exploring interactions between interior spiritual movements and wider personal, communal, systemic, and planetary relationships, we become more attuned to the whole-making dynamics in these relationships.

Such interactions will always be complex. Identity politics are fueling a stream of social movements in North America: women’s rights, civil rights for racialized groups and LGBTQ2 persons, decolonization of relations with indigenous persons as well as greater equity for persons living in poverty, labourers, migrants/immigrants and refugees, to name only some. Then there are subsets of environmental movements focused on care of forests, lakes, soil, climate, air quality, ozone layer, oceans, plant and 62 animal species, and more. The continually shifting ground can be disorienting for some, empowering for others.

Discernment allows us to see that, rather than fracturing the whole, the multiplication of social and environment movements is critical in working toward the flourishing of people and planet, and the emphases on social location and the intersection of oppressions are necessary to ensure none are left behind. Furthermore, discernment draws our attention to the underlying unity. As Laudato Si’ highlights so well, the “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (LS 49) are interconnected, most fundamentally through the globalized economy with its unsustainable models of production and consumption.

A critical challenge for people of faith is to recognize, amidst the messiness of social and environmental movements, which energies to follow and amplify. Equally important is the challenge to open ourselves to be awakened and transformed by authentic energies of healing, whole-making, and new life in these movements.

The Christian mysticism at the core of the charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph prepares us for these challenges as it nurtures, within us, a contemplative heart laced with prophetic and political energies. It’s our path to partnering with God in graced whole-making.

63 The Voice of Younger Women: A Summary of the Survey of Newer Members on Creating Welcoming Communities

Enrichment through exposure to multiple voices

As part of the its work, the Welcoming New Members Design Team recognized the importance of hearing the voices of new members and gathering the wisdom this cohort has gleaned from its members’ lived experience of entering religious life and being welcomed into local communities. To this end, the team designed a survey that was distributed to newer members throughout the Federation in the hopes of enriching and refining its own findings and recommendations for creating welcoming communities for newer members.

Conducted in November 2018, the survey of newer members was distributed to 44 members of the newest cohort in the Federation. Of the 44 members solicited, a total of 23 responded to the survey. With an average of just over 12 years in religious life, respondents provided a critical diversity of experiences and an even distribution across the spectrum of ages with members ranging in entrance ages from in their 20’s all the way to those over 60 years of age. Their total years in religious life ranged from under a year to multiple decades.

The responses of these members helped to give a broad view of religious life today and provide keen insight into the needs, desires, and impediments connected to community living for newer members coming to our congregations. Viewed in light of the guidelines the committee independently developed for creating welcoming new communities, their responses help to bolster the committee’s recommendations to those seeking to develop welcoming communities and underscore essential elements of community life for newer members.

What We Heard: The Results

Newer members were invited to give written responses to four critical questions:

1) What have you found to be most helpful in creating a good community experience? 2) What have you found to be impediments to a welcoming community? 3) What are key components of a welcoming community? 4) What suggestions do you have for creating welcoming communities?

The responses provided for each question are collated in the attached document; however, when we consider the responses given as a whole a few common themes emerge:

Most Helpful:

When asked what was most helpful in creating a community experience, newer members pointed to practices that help to foster healthy community living. Using words such as intentionality, openness, acceptance, mutuality, respect, and communal prayer, meals, sharing, and fun, respondents underscore the need for mature adult relationships to create a space of welcome. Part of creating such an environment is being aware of such factors when inviting

64 congregation members to become a part of/to discern starting/entering a welcoming local community.

Respondents also pointed to local communities that were inclusive (welcoming members as they are and striving to make sure everyone is included), flexible (willing to create and consider ways of being together and doing things anew), balanced (where all members were taking care of their own spiritual, physical, and mental health needs), and where expectations — both individual and communal — were clear and where dialog around such expectations was open and honest. The importance of clear expectations surfaced in multiple responses with those surveyed highlighting that expectations are not exclusive to only the newer member but should be expressed for all members of the community and that such mutuality of expectations requires realistic considerations of what is possible, gentleness in accountability, and honest conversation about needs and desires of all members. When these elements were present, newer members reported a nurturing and nourishing environment in which to be welcomed.

Impediments:

When these helpful elements were lacking was when respondents reported impediments to community living and a sense of welcome. Newer members most often mentioned close- mindedness and inflexibility as the biggest impediments to welcoming communities. These two feelings were felt or experienced in numerous aspects of communal life. For some, it meant a push towards a “culture of assimilation,” in which newer members are forced (whether explicitly or implicitly) to “get with the program” and adapt to established ways of being together and community living. Others highlighted frustration with non-recognition of the wealth of life experience new members bring with them when they enter religious life. Others wrote of the unspoken expectations in community and/or different expectations for vowed members vs. formation members.

Another set of impediments brought to light by the survey is the lack of networks of support. Creating welcoming communities takes a village; the local community is important to this effort, but it also is not the be-all-end-all of welcoming new members. Thus, the larger sense of welcome must be tended to in creating welcoming communities. Impediments to this, as named by newer members, include a lack of viable communities to designate as formation communities, a lack of companionship on the journey, a dearth of peers/peer connections, an unwillingness to vision for the future, and an ignorance on the part of community members in understanding current/modern formation processes and practices.

Key Components:

When asked to name three key components to welcoming communities, respondents gave a variety of answers. Yet, a deeper, more nuanced look reveals a few essential pieces identified throughout their responses.

First, newer members repeatedly named openness to the new person and to a new way of doing things as essential to a welcoming community. This openness includes an active effort by more established members to include newer members in community life and congregational life. At its 65 most basic level, it hinges on genuine relationships and the capacity and intentional action of taking interest in others.

The second theme to emerge is dialog and candid conversation. This element has a direct relationship to openness and inclusion. When we can talk about what matters in our lives as individuals and as a community, we grow together and welcome one another. Honesty is essential here, as is mutual respect for those we share life with and a willingness to dialog about everything from everyday life to larger issues in community, congregation, and the world.

The third essential element named by newer members speaks to the desire of why one comes to religious life: authenticity of vowed life. For CSSJ sisters, this also includes the practice of sharing the State of the Heart and Order of the House. New members long for such engagement and feel welcome and free to live life in community when the essence of our vowed life is held in esteem and modeled daily.

Beyond these three elements, numerous others surfaced in the survey. Many of these other elements can be seen in support of the top three. They are part of living and creating welcoming community and include humor, levity, peer support, conflict management, direct communication/not triangulation, acceptance of diversity, and a willingness to spend time together both formally and informally.

Suggestions moving forward:

To better create welcoming communities, newer members surveyed offered an abundance of suggestions. Most of these suggestions dealt with those selected to live in welcoming communities. Concerning members of welcoming communities, it was suggested that sisters in community should be those with healthy dispositions, who are doing the work of on-going self- reflection and formation, striving toward balance, and bring the fruits of such efforts to community. Members of welcoming communities, it was suggested, need to be willing to be learners as well as mentors. Such willingness includes an active pursuit of understanding when it comes to living with newer members from a different culture, race or generation.

Suggestions also branched out to include how communities themselves function. Chief among the suggestions in this regard was the communication of expectations and priorities in and as a community. This could also include mixing up staid cultures (having members across the congregation move) and mutual story sharing among members so all come to know one another. Finally, it was suggested (and rightly so) that communities should help new members to integrate into the larger congregation.

Continuing to Listen

The insights offered by newer members provide a glimpse into the most recent experiences of being welcomed into our congregations. For this reason, this group is an invaluable resource to creating and developing welcoming communities. Their experience makes real what could otherwise potentially only be considered in theory. The committee would encourage that these voices continue to be heard and asked participants if they would be willing to further offer insight if called upon (for a panel or 66 something of the sort.) Eleven respondents volunteered to be available for such follow-up. Hopefully, by listening to their voices and examining more deeply the responses provided to this survey we can better create communities of welcome to nurture and nourish our newest member and ultimately the future of religious life through life-giving experiences of community living.

New Member Survey – Gathering the Responses

How old were you when you entered religious life? 20-29 30.43% (7)

30-39 8.70% (2)

40-49 30.43% (7)

50-59 17.39% (4)

60+ 13.04% (3)

TOTAL 23

How many years have you been in religious life? 23 Participants Years in Religious Life from 1 to 40 years Average 12.15 years

Considering your experience(s) living in community, what was most helpful in creating a good community experience? Most mentioned: -Intentionality -Openness -Acceptance -Mutual Respect & Sharing -Communal prayer, meals, sharing, fun Also mentioned: -Common understanding of expectations -Inclusiveness -Flexibility -Variety in age and number (4-6) -Creating community anew -Curiosity towards one another rather than judgement -Awareness of your own needs -Good mental health

67 What have you found are impediments to a welcoming community experience? -Closemindedness — Unwillingness to consider new/different ways of living, doing things (most often mentioned) -Lack of local communities to choose from for new members -Culture of assimilation -Living in a small (2 others) local community that was already well-established -Different expectations between those in formation and sisters -Unspoken expectations -Lack of peer interaction/companionship -Lack of continued relationships after formation -Lack of discussions on futuring, vision, new ministries -Sisters set in their ways -Lack of recognition of new member’s life experience -Lack of understanding and recognition of formation process now -Passive-aggressive behavior

What would you consider to be three key components of a welcoming community? Most often named: -Openness to someone new and new ways of doing things -Authentic living of vowed life -Mutual respect and dialogue -Regular practice of State of the Heart and Order of the House -Genuine interest in others -Inclusion in all things -Open and candid conversations about what matters Also named: -Ability to hold things lightly -Sense of humor -Peer group support systems -Good management of conflict that dispels triangulation -Accepting of broad diversity -Willingness to spend time with each other formally and informally

What other suggestions do you have for better creating communities of welcome for new members? ● Willingness to learn a new culture (race or generation). Create an openness for true mutual dialogue/respect where new members can speak their mind without being judged. Create a new cultural/intercultural living instead of assimilation where both old and new members could live/grow in intentional relationship. ● Established members need to be of a healthy disposition to welcome new members; they need to be willing to do their work (spiritual, personal, emotional) and do work as a local community. ● Conversations that matter must happen and communities need to reach out and welcome, creating avenues for relationship and helping new members integrate into the larger congregation. ● Learn to articulate what is important in a community setting.

68 ● Encourage professed members to move more frequently, so they have more recent experiences of being the "new person" in a house. ● Ask the new member to share about herself, what she needs, what she hopes for — and to have long-standing members share their stories, needs and hopes. Keep it mutual, not one-sided. ● Make the new person feel needed and included, especially in day to day things. ● The Sisters living on their own need to be willing to move in together to create an intentional community of at least 3 to 4 members who are willing to share and be on an equal footing ● Education of Sisters — some sisters do not understand why new members would want to join — live in experiences — listening to new members stories and having the sisters share their journey. ● Acknowledge the ready to be used gifts that each of us brings to Community; that while there is always inner work to be done, we are not 18! That formation is truly lifelong and for “late Vocations” it is really as much deepening as it is formation. ● Meet with people who might be interested and have them brainstorm together what life in common would look like for them — include the newer member in these conversations — ask people to commit to some specific expectations and evaluate periodically together. ● Don't forget to have fun together and to be curious about each other. ● Choose people who are willing to be learners as well as mentors. ● The local communities are willing to have honest conversations about what it is not working and are willing to work together for take the necessary steps to transform as a local community. Look for help outside the community if needed.

11 participants respond they are willing to be a part of a panel of newer members.

69 Summary of Survey Data from Women of Differing Ethnicities from the Dominant Culture of Their Congregation By: Sr. Patty Johnson, CSJ and Sr. Herlinda Ramirez Machado

In Sr. Adrianna Carla Milmanda’s 2019 address to the International Union of Superiors General, entitled Intercultural Life as a Sign of Prophetic Hope, she noted that intercultural living is one of the most pressing issues congregations face. She states, “Today, religious life, immersed as it is in an increasingly globalized world, is called to respond to the signs of the times, by becoming a cross-cultural and intercultural sign of the radically inclusive and egalitarian Project of the Kingdom of God.” As we reflect on the wisdom that twenty Sisters of St. Joseph who are not of the dominant culture of their congregation shared with us, we can see how we have benefitted from their presence among us, caused hurt, and begin to see how we can continue to grow and learn as we strive to live interculturally. The first thing one notices in this survey is that we are hearing the voices of 20 women from among a group of 3,740. As is noted in the survey, although most congregations have been working seemingly successfully in communities of different ethnicities and cultures, people from the non-dominant culture have not entered our congregations in the numbers that one might expect. Although there are many complex factors that influence the choice of a religious vocation, the survey shows evidence of our congregations creating less than a welcoming environment for these women. Some women have felt that they were considered intellectually inferior. Early in our history many sisters of the non-dominant culture felt pressure to assimilate the dominant culture and were discouraged from practicing or forced to abandon their ethnic and cultural practices. In more recent years, there has been a growing sensitivity to cultural differences. Congregations have held workshops and encouraged sisters to educate themselves. However, it is rare for a local community or congregation to show sensitivity and interest on an everyday basis for the cultural differences that exist among us. There is still some expectation of assimilation to the dominant culture. If we think of the iceberg metaphor that Sr. Adrienne refers to in her UISG address, most of the efforts that our sisters of the non-dominant culture point to as ways that our sisters try to show interest in their culture are from the most visible signs of culture such as food, literature, celebrating holidays, and language. One wonders how much real understanding of the central values and basic suppositions of the non-dominant culture is really occurring. Sr. Adrianna described interculturality as something that is beyond good relationships and tolerance of differences. She says, “The intercultural community is called to take a step beyond the tolerance of differences and to live a process of transformation or conversion that challenges it to create, as a result of this interrelation, a new culture.” A sign of hope that deep, intercultural sharing is occurring is evident is some of the comments on the survey. When asked “How does your living situation help you to feel a sense of belonging to your religious congregation and encourage/enable you to stay in your congregation?” the answers that were most mentioned spoke loudly of an intercultural experience occurring, with good local living situation, prayer life deeply valued, strong sense of belonging to the community, and Sisters feeling accepted for who they are. In the question asking “how does your religious congregation ensure that your voice is heard and your values and attitudes are understood?”

70 many responded that their voice was heard and there were opportunities to talk about values and attitudes. As we reflect on the responses that our sisters of the non-dominant culture have shared with us, lets think deeply about our call to unifying love and the openness to change our attitudes and behaviors. As Sr. Adrienne reminds us, “Interculturality…will have the extraordinary power to make our communities into the signs that today’s divided, fragmented, and conflictual world needs and is calling for.” Women of Cultures and Ethnicities Different from the Dominant Culture of Their Congregation: Survey Data Current Age 20-40 years old ….. 2 responders 41-60 years old ….. 1 responder 61-80 years old … 15 responders 81+ years old ……… 2 responders Total responders 20

Ethnicity Black or African American………….. 4 responders Hispanic or Latina………………………..6 responders Asian or Asian American……………..6 responders Two or more races………………………2 responders Other…………………………………………..2 responders

Number of Years in Religious Life 0 to 10………………….4 responders 11 to 25………………..2 responders 26 to 50………………..6 responders 51+……………………….8 responders

1. As a person from a different culture or ethnic group, how does your religious congregation ensure that your voice is heard and your values and attitudes are understood?

• Most mentioned o Most felt their voice was heard o Small group, committee and local and congregational structures seem to encourage sharing values and attitudes • Also mentioned o Although encouraged to express themselves, sometimes there was a sense that what was said was not listened to, prioritized or understood o Not feeling their perspective was making any resonance with the dominant culture

71 o Feel welcomed and accepted but have become acculturated and sometimes misses own culture (e.g., music, food, and language) o Sisters don’t make significant efforts to overcome language and accent barriers • Notable Quotes o “One part is being invited to the ‘table.’ … In regards to whether my voice is heard, my values and attitudes understood, this is something that will take a much longer time to know since relationships take time to build, seeds need to be planted and relationships need to be further nurtured over time. I consider myself to be relatively new to this Congregation. “ 2. What has gone smoothly and worked well as a woman ethnically or culturally different from the mainstream culture in your own religious congregation/province?

• Most mentioned o Treated the same as anyone else, respected, welcomed o Assimilating into “American” culture • Also mentioned o Must be assertive about what is needed (usually not asked) o It works most smoothly when a sister of the non-dominant culture asserts what is wanted and it is received without judgement o Encouragement to celebrate ethnic background and a willingness of others to step out of their comfort zone to experience a different culture o Sensitivity and responsiveness to how a non-Caucasian might feel in an all Caucasian group o Required assimilation in early formation was harmful for some • Notable Quotes o “I believe in the era I entered and having spent 8 years in the mainstream culture I was by training "Americanized" which allowed me to fit in. This was not necessarily the best way to be a part of the mainstream.” o “I feel welcomed and accepted by the congregation but there are times that I miss certain things from my culture. For example, music, food and language.” o “The best results have been gained by allowing the women of color to say who they are and what it is that they want without judgement from anyone.” o “I think it will be good to organize workshops about each culture often.” 3. Talk about a time that you experienced your local community successfully adapted to a culturally different environment? What made it possible?

• Most mentioned o Most of those surveyed could identify times of cultural exchange that were positive, especially around food, holidays, language and prayer o Opportunities to eat food of their culture was infrequent and sometimes not enjoyed by the dominant culture • Also mentioned

72 o Some communities make attempts at understanding things from a different cultural perspective but this is not consistently perceived as successful on the part of those in the non-dominant culture o Congregations seem to just be beginning to offer workshops to assist their sisters in understanding different cultural perspectives o Although most congregations have been working seemingly successfully in communities of different ethnicities and cultures, some have not been successful in translating what they bring to work into inviting women from these groups into the community or into the community-living situation with those who joined o When sisters can speak the other person’s language, it is appreciated

• Notable quotes o “I was invited to dinner with four friends at a very lovely restaurant. Walking in I noticed I was the only minority so I became the object of glances, stares, whispers from the diners at the tables. Noting my unease, one friend asked if the place was all right and what was wrong. I said I was the one non-white now the attention of the persons around us. She stood up and said we will go to another place that is welcoming to all. It was a moment of solidarity. I remained seated and said I had the right to be there as their guest and remarked that the other diners were considering the nature of the ‘other’ person -me. It was a moment of solidarity, of friendship, of being together.” o “Only through foods but rarely cooked my own ethnic food.” o “ I am encouraged to express my voice, however, I don’t feel listened to and the way I deliver it sometimes is misunderstood.” o “There was a real intention to listen carefully to what was needed on all sides. Judgments were limited – attempt made at an unconditional environment.”

4. Talk about a time where you experienced inclusion and understanding in your religious congregation.

• Most mentioned o Sisters felt most included when they were accepted and respected in their local community o Being elected to leadership, appointed to committees, or listened to in processes • Also mentioned o Some could not identify an experience of inclusion or understanding o Doing something with a sister from the dominant culture where there was give and take was positive o As missionaries, sisters noted that they received regularly letters from superiors and other sisters supporting them • Notable quotes o “When I was asked to participate on different committees that gave me the sense of inclusion.”

73 o “I feel accepted by my community members every day but am not sure they accept my culture.” 5. How have you experienced your religious congregation/province encouraging its members to honor your uniqueness?

• Being invited to share stories and offer gifts for benefit of congregation • Struggling to be authentically who one is • When the members of the dominant culture are non-judgmental • Congregations have become more sensitized to this and do it better now than in the past • Encouraging support for newer members and their unique styles of prayer, dress, music, language • Being willing to change a congregational stance on a cultural issue after provided with information by a sister not of the dominant culture • Some sisters do not feel encouraged by their congregation. They feel like they have to be and act like those in the dominant culture. They feel that their gifts are not recognized or appreciated • Some feel that the dominant culture often ignores those in the minority • Some ethnic holidays are not consistently celebrated or respected 6. How do you/your religious congregation challenge stereotypes and promote sensitivity and inclusion?

• Several sisters commented that their congregations do speak out to challenge stereotypes and promote educational opportunities to help raise awareness for members of their congregation. A commitment to translation of materials is noted as being one way to promote inclusion. Some seek out opportunities to interact with those of other cultures in significant ongoing ways. • Notable Quotes o “It is a little hard to break the habits of people who practice these things for 50- 100 years. We have many direct and indirect programs to educate sisters so they can become more sensitive to other’s viewpoints.” o “Sisters have more sensitivity towards Hispanics that they do for African Americans.” o “[We] are working in this topic, but we have to work more and being sensitive and open our hearts to include other cultures.” 7. What more do you wish could have happened to help you feel welcomed and understood as a woman who is ethnically or culturally different from the dominant culture?

• Most mentioned o They were discouraged from cultural practices o They were told they needed to “fit in” o Needing sisters to make a space to include them, to feel a belonging to the community and congregation o They were discouraged from preparing cultural foods which brought different smells into the house 74 • Notable Quotes o “I wish sisters welcome me as I am and to learn my own culture and subculture and not enumerate lists of expectations of me. The welcoming house needs to create a welcoming ritual to get to know each other.” o “I hope people (not only sisters) will try to understand the individuals, …not the stereotypical culture, e.g. you like to eat rice, food that is spicy… I know people try to make a connection but at the same time their approach is making the other person feel bad and looked down upon. There is more to [me] than these [stereotypes]. I had the privilege of living with a few Irish and Italian sisters. They all had unique stories to tell besides talking about St Patrick’s Day, Irish soda bread and eggplant parmesan.” o “I wish that my sisters would be conscious and stop making oversimplifications and categorized people with contra cultural values. Working against these ‘tags’ is not easy. Is not easy to be culturally different.” o “That in the beginning I didn’t have to work so hard to fit in with the dominant culture and there could have been an easier blending of the two cultures.” o “I needed to talk to other [sisters of my culture] to share experiences, issues and advocate for our needs.” o “Personally, I’ve always felt welcomed but in the past when I brought up the issue of racism it was pointed out to me that it was my problem. So, I stopped trying. Now I feel like some are interested in moving us into deeper conversation and self- understanding about their white privilege.” o “…among us we found the sense of welcome and worked at teaching the members of the dominant culture, our cohorts, about our families and ethnic life styles.” o “Help find a local community that would intentionally live with diversity and inclusion and have a facilitator on regular basis for accountability and for making a concrete plan of action with each one of the members. Full participation would be needed.” 8. What issues and challenges have you experienced as a woman ethnically or culturally different from the mainstream in your own religious congregation/province?

• Notable Quotes o “Communication is a big issue- feeling misunderstood the way I deliver might be taken differently as what I meant to say. There were times when I express my opinion, I felt contradicted or disagreed upon or put down.” o “Being judged as not having the intellectual capabilities or leadership qualities; those educated in Catholic school were judged more competent than those education in public schools.” o “There is a generational gap, technology gap, how we understand hierarchical structure gap and a fashion gap…. Now I can see some of the problems we are dealing with are not about culture and ethnicity but various ‘gaps.’ These gaps are coming to collide with each other’s needs and life styles. It is a challenge to

75 navigate all these things but we try our best to bridge the gaps and work with each other.” o “Privilege is invisible to those who have it.” So, having leadership help the dominant [congregational] culture open up to new ways of relating has been a constant struggle.” 9. How do you experience your congregation/province works to create an environment that is welcoming, inclusive and increasingly diverse?

• Most mentioned o More openness to ethnic foods o More sisters reading books by authors of different cultures • Also mentioned o Dealing openly in groups about ethnic differences o Experiencing mixed ethnic communities o More people of differing ethnicities who work with and for the congregation in positions of importance o Change is occurring very slowly • Notable quotes o “We are all together in ‘helping’ immigrants, others that are different, still from a stance of superiority.” o “[We] are making efforts to welcome and to create diversity in our communities but we need to take it seriously and make an intercultural conversion to create an environment where every woman from different cultures is welcome to our congregation.” o “Asking the question, ‘Do you see yourself in this process or statement?’ “ o “There was one African American who attempted to enter and she was given a difficult time.” o “I think if someone came, they’d be welcomed but again they’d have to do all the work of assimilating.” 10. How does your living situation help you to feel a sense of belonging to your religious congregation and encourage/enable you to stay in your congregation?

• Most mentioned o Good local living situation o Prayer life deeply valued o Strong sense of belonging to the community o Feel accepted for who she is • Also mentioned o Choose to live alone • Notable quotes o “It is the relationship, engagement and having fun together that includes our prayers and meals together.” o “Sometimes I wish there were one more woman of color [in my local community.”

76 o “I think we need more dialogue and time.”

11. How does your ministry experience help you to feel a sense of belonging to your religious congregation and encourage/enable you to stay in your congregation?

• Most mentioned o Ministry was a significant and life- giving part of their life o Their congregation was very supportive of their ministry preferences • Also mentioned o Respondents noted that most of their ministry has been in communities of color or diverse environments • Notable quotes o “It’s a lot of pressure for me to be free and not have to choose [ministry] because of the color of my skin.” o “Ministry grounds me in my participation in the mission.”

77

Intercultural Life as a Sign of Prophetic Hope

Sr. Adriana Carla Milmanda, SSpS

Sr. Adriana Carla Milmanda is a member of the Missionary Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit and current Provincial Superior of her province of origin: South Argentina. She is a Bachelor and Professor of Theology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, and she obtained a Masters in Intercultural Studies and the Bible at CTU (Catholic Theological Union) Chicago, USA. She has accompanied and worked mostly on projects designed for the promotion and empowerment of young people and women in situations of socio-economic vulnerability, both in Argentina and in the Fiji Islands, in the South Pacific. Since 2013, she has been part of an international committee that, in conjunction with the Society of the Divine Word, develops programs intended to raise awareness and to form the members of their Congregations as well as others who require it for Intercultural Life and Mission.

Original in Spanish

Dear Superiors General, It is an honor for me to be speaking today before you, who are the representatives of so many Congregations and so many Sisters dispersed throughout the whole world. This is certainly a situation and an experience that I never imagined, and I appreciate the confidence that the UISG shown me by inviting me. I, therefore, thank the organizers for granting me this honor, and I thank God for making my adolescent dream of “reaching the ends of the world” a reality. God, sooner or later, fulfills our deepest dreams… though in His own way and in His own time! … Instead of reaching every corner of the earth, He brings those corners to me, through you and so many other encounters that I have lived because of the theme of intercultural life and mission, which I have been deepening in a special way for a few years now.

As a Missionary Servant of the Holy Spirit, I belong to a Congregation where multicultural and international life and mission are an essential part of our founding history and of our charism. However, my particular interest in this topic was really sparked by my personal experience of joy, frustration, pain, and learning when I was sent to launch a new missionary presence in the Fiji Islands (in the Pacific). We belonged to our Congregation’s Australian province, and I had to live—in a span of 5 years—in community with Sisters from Papua New Guinea, Germany, Indonesia, India, Benin; and I am from Argentina. Most of the time, we were only 2, and only one remained for 2 years. At the same time, we were advancing on our path in a country that, in turn, is composed of the local population and an almost numerically equal group of people who have come from India. Motivated by this experience, full of joy, discoveries, pain, misunderstandings, frustrations, and much learning, I then decided to study the topic of cultures and mission from the academic viewpoint in order to process and learn from the experience that supports me in the present situations and encourages me as I look towards the future.

Contact and exchange between cultures of the most diverse corners of the world are increasing and being imposed on us in a progressively accelerated way. Favored by our globalized era’s means of communication and transportation, today, there are indeed very few groups that remain isolated from contact with others. The phenomena of migrations and massive displacements that are compulsive or provoked by violence, the climate change, political 78 or religious persecution, poverty, xenophobia or the lack of opportunities, means that every day millions of people are moving from one side of the world to the other.

In the last 20 years, multiculturalism and interculturality have become a cross-cutting issue that is debated in fields as varied as education, health, philosophy, and the business world, among others. At the theological level, we have been concerned for many years with the “inculturation” of the faith, the Gospel, the liturgy, the missionaries, and so on. Inculturation answers the question of how to incarnate the faith, shared by the missionaries coming from the “outside” or “ad-gentes,” in the local culture in such a way that the transmitted faith can become part of the local culture and be expressed through the symbolism, values, and imagination of that culture. This question responded to an ecclesial context where the mission was predominantly one-directional: from the “evangelized” countries to “non- evangelized” countries or pagans (as they were called). Today, the reality is much more complex and multidirectional, so that in missiology we have already begun to speak of the Church’s “inter-gentes” mission (instead of ad-gentes) and of inter-culturation, which, without canceling the still existing challenge of inculturation, incorporates the challenges and opportunities of the new multidirectional context in the world and the Church today.

Through the consecrated life, called to be at the margins of the Church, this reality also reaches us, makes us move, impacts us… within our communities and beyond, in the mission and the apostolates. However, I am convinced that we have a “treasure” of lived experience of which we are not even aware. Many of our Congregations were already at the forefront of multicultural life for nearly a century before the world started talking about it. For others, the experience is more recent. However, it is this capital of experience and knowledge that we are called today to share with one another and to put at the service of humanity and the Church. On the other hand, in order to capitalize on this wealth of experience, we are challenged to open up to the tools that other, more specific fields are developing on the basis of philosophical thought, communication sciences, education, sociology, etc.

This combination of life experience, theological reflection, and the indication of possible tools is what I am going to try to present today in the short time that we are going to share. Can intercultural life become one of the seeds of the prophetic hope that we, as consecrated women, want to sow in today’s world? I am convinced that the answer to this question is positive and that it is urgent for each of our Congregations and the entire Church to consider it.

Yet, the most pressing issue, about which most Congregations are concerned, is how to live it and how to do it. I will, therefore, try to present this topic in four steps: 1. Clarification of the concept of interculturality and related concepts 2. How to live in an intercultural key 3. The weakness and power to become a sign 4. The urgency of an intentional choice based on prophecy and for hope

1. The Concept of Interculturality and Related Concepts

We cannot approach the concept of interculturality without clarifying other terms that are related and/or frame what interculturality means and proposes:

Multiculturalism: When we talk about a multicultural group, event or life, we are highlighting the fact that its participants or members come from different cultures; for example, a parish, a company, a city, and even a country, can be multicultural. To emphasize the fact that people also come from different nationalities, we will say that the group is multicultural and international. However, this fact, in itself, does not imply any relationship or interaction between its members. I can live my whole life in a city inhabited by neighbors of different cultural origins, but this will not necessarily lead me to want to learn their language, taste their food, understand their values, etc. Using a diagram, we could represent the situation as follows:8

8 The following diagrams and the general way of presenting them are taken from Anthony J. Gittins, Living Mission Interculturally: Faith, Culture, and the Renewal of Praxis, Liturgical Press, 2015, 621–746 [Kindle]. 79

Trans-cultural experience: Now, let’s say that a person of culture “A” decides to move to the neighborhood of culture “B.” The person would be going into a cross-cultural experience. Note that we are talking about a “move” for a certain extent in time and not a mere tourist visit. The move, in this example, implies a degree of commitment and risk that is not assumed when we are just passing through and consider ourselves tourists, visitors, explorers or, at worst, conquerors or colonizers… On a diagram, it would look like this:

This experience of learning and adapting to another culture, different from the one in which we have been socialized, is called acculturation. Acculturation is, in itself, a challenging and enriching experience once we have overcome the stages that normally occur to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the magnitude of the cultural difference and a person’s personality and/or preparation. In general, these stages go from a first idyllic love of the “different,” to a deep rejection of that same “difference,” until a balance is reached between the appreciation for the qualities and the recognition of the shadows of the other culture and of one’s own.

When that balance is not reached, a person risks being stuck in a dream that does not correspond to reality (Sisters who “maternalize” the assumed culture and, then, act and speak of “them” as “poor little ones…” or who are unable to develop relationships with the local people, while all their friends and references continue being, despite the passing of time, those of their place of origin and they maintain excessive contact with them and/or with the news from home). Or, on the contrary, they suffer a cultural shock that plunges them into depression, apathy, hypochondria, excessive concern for their health and/or cleanliness, excessive sleep or food, etc. These are “symptoms” of a cultural shock to which we should pay close attention when they continue in time after a transcultural transfer.

I mention these processes that occur in transculturation because they often coincide with the formation of the multicultural community. It is, therefore, very important to bear in mind that in many cases people are not only adapting to the culture of a new place and perhaps also learning a new language—which, in itself, is already highly demanding—but are also, at the same time, interacting with multiple cultures within and maybe also outside of their community. Sometimes, when forming multicultural communities, we do not take into account or adequately accompany the personal processes of transculturation and inculturation that each of the Sisters is going through, on a personal level in parallel with communitarian and pastoral challenges. In fact, truly intercultural processes can only be initiated with people who have already lived through at least 3 years of transculturation.

Interculturality: Let us now use the diagram of cultures A, B, C, and D to illustrate the difference between multiculturalism and interculturality.

While the first diagram outlined the coexistence of different cultures in clearly demarcated compartments, in this second diagram we see arrows coming out of each group or person in the direction of the other groups or people, thus illustrating the interrelation between them. At the same time, the arrows do not indicate a single direction but rather 80 a round trip. Going to meet the other person and the other’s welcome. Moreover, the dividing lines are not continuous but punctuated, thus indicating that the boundaries between some cultures and others are no longer sharp and clear.

However, this diagram does not yet illustrate the intercultural community. Good relations, communication, and good coexistence—although very important and necessary—are not enough. The intercultural community is called to take a step beyond the tolerance of differences and to live a process of transformation or conversion that challenges it to create, as a result of this interrelation, a new culture.

In this diagram, we will call “E” the new culture that is the fruit of intercultural living. The “E” culture will be made up of a new and unique combination of some elements from each of the participating cultures, making each person feel at the same time “at home” while facing something “new.”

This combination will emerge as an always dynamic result of the process of interaction and of agreements reached between the parties. In this process, each community enriches itself with the values and lights brought by the other culture, but both also take on the challenges and face their respective shadows and blind spots (e.g., victimization, superiority or inferiority complexes, imperialist mentality, racism, historical prejudices, and so on). This model of community interaction between cultures, on a level of symmetry and equality, is diametrically opposed to the assimilationist model that prevailed (and still survives?!!) in groups where minority or presumably underdeveloped, uncivilized, cultures or “pagans” had to adapt, conform, and assume the superior or majority culture while abandoning their own. This assimilationist model is what governed most of our Congregations in the “recruitment” of vocations in the so-called “mission countries.” This assimilationist model is framed in an approach that implies integration as a hegemonic affirmation of the host country’s culture. According to this model, it is expected that the immigrant or the trained person, in our case, behaves and assumes the culture of the receiving society or community, putting aside or nullifying his/her culture of origin.

On the contrary, instead of seeking the “assimilation” that denies and wants to erase the differences, the model presented by interculturality seeks to know, value, deepen, and integrate these differences. As a result of the interrelation and encounter between cultures, we are invited to create a new “E” culture, in which we can all give the best of ourselves, share our gifts, and let ourselves be challenged by the encounter and the relationship with the “different,” so that our obscurities may be converted in the light of the Gospel. Humanly speaking, interculturality is a counter-cultural movement in which few people would feel comfortable or for which they would have to be prepared. Our cultures “program” us in such a way that we tend to relate to “ours” to defend ourselves from “the others,” “those who are different,” and their potential threats. On the basis of the faith and the power of grace, however, inclusion in equality is the Project of the Kingdom that Jesus preached and, as such, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Cultures: The terms just presented, in turn, lead us to briefly deepen our understanding of the term “culture.” This concept of anthropological origin does not have, as such, just one definition; it has been evolving over time and can be analyzed from hundreds of different perspectives. However, for our purposes, we are going to take the definition that presents “culture” as a way of life of a group of people—the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.

Culture, as such, does not exist; but there are people who embody a certain culture or use certain “cultural lenses” that give meaning to their lives and allow them to communicate with each other and to organize themselves. My culture is the best way that “my” people found to survive and develop in the context and place where we live. Therefore, no culture can claim the right to become the universal “norm” of other cultures. Our challenge, in the Church, is that, for centuries, our faith has been confused with the culture that mediated its transmission (both the 81 cultures that mediated the writing of our Sacred Texts and the Western culture that later extended the implantation of the Church).

Let us look at some characteristics of culture: culture is learned and transmitted through socialization in the primary and secondary groups in which we have grown up (the family, the clan, the neighborhood, the school, the city or the countryside, social class, religion, profession, and the different groups of identification and belonging in which we have been formed). Culture is stable and dynamic, it changes very slowly, but it is so much a part of ourselves that we do not know it until we “leave” it.

Only in contact with the “other,” with what is “different” do we begin to know our own culture and that of others… this knowledge is, then, given by comparison with the “others,” those who are “outside” our group. This division between “us” (women, Catholics, religious, professionals, Latin Americans, Argentines, southern, northern, etc.) and “them” (those who are not like “us”) protects us and gives us a sense of identity and belonging, but it also isolates us, challenges us, and fills us with fear in the face of the “unknown.” There are no higher or more developed cultures and less developed or inferior cultures, but different cultures. And each culture believes that it is the best because it is the best form that has allowed its group to adapt to the context in which it developed.

Getting to know a culture is very difficult. To illustrate this difficulty, it is compared to an iceberg of which we can only see the protruding surface, i.e. 10%, while 90% is below water. In the same way, the material elements of each culture (like clothes and typical foods, traditional artifacts, dances, etc.) constitute only the 10% that we can see, feel, hear, smell and name with ease. In the remaining 90%, which corresponds to the immaterial elements, we can distinguish in turn 3 levels: the first, partially visible, level to which we can access when we seek it intentionally (what is behind the language, communication styles, leadership, conflict resolution, etc.); the second level (one of the central values) is much more difficult to reach and examine; and the third level (that of the basic suppositions) is so deep and unconscious that we cannot really get to know it: this is what we take as “normal,” “given.”

VISIBLE

PARTIALLY VISIBLE

CENTRAL VALUES

BASIC SUPPOSITIONS

From this brief terminological framework, I will strive to make it clear to us that living interculturally is a vocation and a counter-cultural option, and that, as such, it appeals to the faith and to the life of grace. Humanly, we all tend to seek and interact with those with whom we feel identified and, therefore, understood, included, accepted. Conversely, what is “different” tends to scare us, challenge us, and make us distrustful. This distrust, especially for cultures that suffered the experience of the colonization or the invasion of their nations, is not unjustified or minor; on the contrary, it is a collective wound that lasts for generations and must be healed personally before engaging in a project of intercultural life and mission. Intercultural life is not automatically the result of the mere coexistence of people of different cultures; on the contrary, it must be intentionally constructed and assumed as a process of personal and community conversion. Unlike transnational companies that seek to use interculturality as a tool for improving

82 their sales, we are invited to transform it into a way of life that makes us more faithful in following Jesus and building the Kingdom.

2. How to Live in an Intercultural Key?

Culture, as we have been able to outline it, is something that goes beyond all the areas, aspects, and facets of our life. It is the very medium through which we organize our perception of reality, build a collective sense of the world that surrounds us (material and immaterial), and communicate. Hence, culture is compared to the lenses through which we look. At the same time, it is also compared to an iceberg, because culture permeates our life so intimately that it becomes impossible to know it objectively and to reach the deepest tones that give our lenses their color. Our values, moral codes, preferences, sense of respect, sense of authority, sense of order, our management of time, etc. … everything is crossed by the culture and the cultures of the groups of belonging in which we have been socialized. For me, this was a fascinating discovery that I was only able to recognize when I found myself in Fiji, in a culture so different from own.

How, then, can we open ourselves to this reality of multiculturalism and start living in the key of interculturality? How can fear or the dangerous mere tolerance of “different” be overcome so that we can begin to go out to meet other men and women? Interculturality, more than a topic, is a process; it is a new paradigm that wants to respond to the reality that surrounds us and imposes itself on us; it is a key from which to re-read our life and mission as consecrated persons in today’s world.

Within the time at our disposal, I would like to highlight at least three elements that, according to my experience, are essential when it comes to finding ways to begin to introduce this new paradigm in our communities:

1. Preparation: since it is a counter-cultural option, intercultural life requires dedicating time and effort to the preparation of the Sisters. This preparation includes: o Basic knowledge of the traits and salient characteristics of the interacting cultures (nationality, ethnicity, generation, education, socio-economic origin, etc.). Instead of focusing only on what unites us (which is very good, and it is very good to nurture it), interculturality also challenges us to explore, value, and capitalize what differentiates us. o The creation of a “safe space” of trust and mutual care, where one can express oneself freely without fear of being judged and/or labeled. o The use of various strategies that help to maintain the motivation that leads to going out to meet and to welcome the “difference” by overcoming the difficulties that will occur in communication.

2. Intentionality: prior motivation is an element that must lead us to sustain, over time, the intentional effort to build on the basis of the differences. Intentionality requires growth in intercultural sensitivity by looking for: o tools that favor • communication (verbal and non-verbal) and • the resolution of both expressed and latent conflicts. o personal and community work that strengthens and develops • resilience capacity and • detects in time the dangerous conformist attitude that is content with a simple “tolerance” of the difference. 3. Spirituality: intercultural life, as a proposal that emerges from our “Catholic” (i.e., “universal”) faith, is a life-long personal and communitarian process of conversion. Ethnocentrism (taking our culture as the center of the world and the norm for measuring other cultures), cultural stereotypes and their consequent prejudices are present in the world, in the Church and in each of us. Recognizing this and opening, ourselves personally and as a community, to deconstruct them implies setting out on a path of transformation or conversion. As a spiritual path, intercultural life and mission is not so much a goal but rather a search and a process. There are no recipes, nor are there quick solutions to the conflicts that it entails. Rather, interculturality challenges us to live with the paradoxes and the grays zones of

83 the liminal spaces that open us to transformation and growth. This is precisely why intercultural life has the fragility and power of a “sign.”

3. The Fragility and Power to Become a Sign

Signs give us clues, call our attention and point us to something that goes beyond themselves. They are concrete, they are temporary, and they must be correctly interpreted and decoded. Now, for all these reasons, signs are fragile and limited… but they also have an extraordinary symbolic power that can capture our imagination and connect us with the transcendent, with the unseen values, the meaning of life, utopia, hope, and faith.

In this sense, the contribution that the consecrated life can make to the reflection and praxis of interculturality in today’s world is unique and urgently needed. In fact, interculturality, devoid of its symbolic potential and its horizon of a Project that transcends it (the Project of the Kingdom), runs the risk of becoming a new colonialism, a new form of manipulation in the hands of the most powerful of the day. It can be used as an instrument in the service of the logic of an economic and political system that is inherently exclusive and imposes itself without measuring costs or consequences for the most vulnerable, broken, and humiliated cultures of millions of people who are “crying out” to survive.

On the contrary, interculturality, as a spiritual path, can give us and the world a totally different alternative. Today, religious life, immersed as it is in an increasingly globalized world, is called to respond to the signs of the times, by becoming a cross-cultural and intercultural sign of the radically inclusive and egalitarian Project of the Kingdom of God: 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:26–28) This was the founding and revolutionary experience of the first communities and of the first disciples of Jesus! The radical and egalitarian inclusiveness of Jesus’ proclamation and praxis was the characteristic identity of the first communities that gradually separated them from Judaism. However, this path was and remains a path of progress and setbacks made of key moments of personal and communitarian conversion. Let us remember, as one of the paradigmatic cases, for example, Peter’s “conversion” in the text known as the “Conversion of Cornelius” (Acts 10:1–48). In this extraordinary account, preceded by the vision of the cloth in which Peter is “challenged” by God to eat animals that, for him, are culturally and religiously impure, he ends up breaking a whole series of taboos (receiving and lodging pagans, eating and fraternizing with them, entering their home and baptizing people who have not been previously circumcised) to state, to their total amazement and awe, the fact—which he himself had just grasped— that God shows no partiality: 34 Then Peter began to speak to them: I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. (Acts 10:34–35) In Jesus himself we can trace his personal “conversion” from ethnocentrism, which he humanly shared with us, in his encounter with the Canaanite or Syro-Phoenician woman where Jesus lets himself be challenged and interpellated by her until he accepts to abandon a first, clearly excluding position. In this account, we see how Jesus lets her teach him that the Good News of God and of the Kingdom that he came to inaugurate was not limited only to the people of Israel (cf Mt 15:21–28; Mk 7:24–30).

The good news of the Spirit is that the historical conjuncture in which we find ourselves today invites us to assume the multiculturalism of our communities, societies, and pastoral services as a possibility for conversion and transformation instead of seeing it as a problem to be solved. It is not and will not be easy; it will not give us the security and stability that we have lost and long for. There are no recipes to ensure success. However, if interculturality, as a radically inclusive Project of the Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated, captures our imagination, it will have the extraordinary power to make our communities into the sign that today’s divided, fragmented, and conflictual world needs and is calling for.

Let us imagine how our charisms can be re-founded through the encounter with the values of other cultures. Let us perceive the multifaceted wealth that they would acquire. Yet, this Easter will not come without a cross. Giving a real place to the intercultural implies “letting go” of that for which we, as an institution, have perhaps given our life 84 and our passion for many years, in order to make room for the newness that is emerging. The “E” culture is the fruit of a process of synergy, where the result is greater than the simple sum of the parts.

4. The Urgency of an Intentional Choice Based on Prophecy and for Hope

Like any vocational process of call and conversion, interculturality is not only destined to our personal and/or communitarian growth, which only leads us to seek a more peaceful, comfortable, and tolerant life. Today, intercultural life and mission will become a sign of prophetic hope, if they are constructed as a new alternative lifestyle. The re-foundation of religious life today is impossible without interculturality as a sign of the times of the contemporary world. Because humanity has become so scandalously divided and conflictual, we (individually and corporately) must make a choice. Either we prefer to continue sinning—through exclusion, separation, and the maintenance of limits—, daily eating and drinking our own trials… or we resolve to accept, today, God’s radical option for humanity and, with His help and our firmness, change our lives There is no third way. Both, the future of humanity and the Church depend on this. (Anthony Gittins) Intercultural life as an intentional option for religious communities that cross borders and open up to the “different,” deconstructing the “pretended” and anti-evangelical superiority of some over others, by becoming a “workshop” where, through life itself, different relationships between cultures are tested: relationships of service characterized by equality and not domination, mutual empowerment without hierarchies that belittle or stifle life, dialogue and not assimilation, encounter and not colonization, inculturation and inter-culturation.

Yet, embracing interculturality based on the Project of the Kingdom is not just an intra-community exercise. The true fruitfulness of this praxis, which is daily at stake in the ad-intra life, is the potential prophetic impact that will turn it into hope for today’s world. Interculturality will be a sign of prophetic hope for humanity, if our own experience of living together, valuing and giving a mutually transforming place to “difference,” with the doors opening inwards, puts us on the path to go out to meet those who are different, marginalized, invisible, and exploited today.

Only those who have gone through the personal conversion from ethnocentrism to intercultural sensitivity will have eyes to see and care about the suffering of those who are invisible and excluded from the contemporary world. As in the parable of the “Good Samaritan,” only the “foreigner,” from whom nothing was expected, was the first to be able to see and then help the man lying on the road-side, renewing his hope and denouncing—implicitly and prophetically—the blindness of the Levite and the priest who had passed by… (cf Lk 10, 25-37).

We, too, if we let ourselves be challenged and enriched by the “foreign” and culturally “different” gaze, we will allow the re-foundation of our charisms, broadening the vision of our founders in a way that we cannot even perceive today. This is not an easy path nor will it be free of challenges, but if we respond to the signs of the times, confident that the Spirit is at work, then we can announce the good news of interculturality and denounce everything that denies it, with the strength and the richness of the radically inclusive Project of the Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated.

85 Encountering Difference: Creating Unity: Accompanying Younger Seekers in Vocation Ministry By: Celeste Mokrzycki, SSJ and Mary Rowell, CSJ

How often vocation directors hear the lament that young people are not interested in religious life or only want to enter congregations with habits. Extensive current vocation research in the U.S., Canada, France, U.K., and Australia shows that “young adults are drawn to religious life primarily by a sense of call and a desire to grow in prayer and spirituality.”9 Many are already engaged in service, prior to entrance, and are now attracted to a radical living of the Gospel which they see expressed and strengthened through communal living, common prayer, and corporate ministries.10 Additionally, numerous responses on the online Vision Vocation Match Survey indicate an attraction and desire for more traditional prayer forms such as Eucharistic Adoration, Lectio Divina, the Rosary, and other devotional prayers. When these more “traditional” candidates desire to enter a less conventional congregation, the vocation director faces the challenge of finding ways to bridge the expanding gap that sometimes appears between the members of the congregation and these prospective vocations.

The majority of our members are 65 years of age and upwards and live singly; or in small communities that have been together for a very long time, or in larger, somewhat more institutional living situations, often former motherhouses. They may resist the inquirers’ desire for communal living as a thing of the past and sometimes connect external signs, such as habit and traditional prayer practices, with their former, often negative experiences, and a Pre-Vatican II understanding of religious life. These members associate the wishes of younger people as a harking back to uniformity, immaturity and rigidity and complain that these newer members would not carry on the vision of Vatican Council II. Yet, some of these differences may be more generational than ideological since many of these seekers were not even born until after the Council.

The experience of church is a different reality for this new generation of Catholics. “Many have had periods where they rejected the church, sought meaning elsewhere, and have come back to the Catholic community with vigor and a great desire to become part of something greater than themselves.”11 Some of the devotions that many Religious have discarded are new and meaningful to this younger generation and may provide the only “quiet” that they experience in their sometimes noisy and hectic lives.

How does the vocation director or team bridge this widening gap between somewhat traditional seekers and the members of their communities who may want, in the extreme, only those who “fit” in with “us,” our theological views, spiritual expression, and current lifestyles? They sometimes find themselves caught in a “limbo” as they walk with discerners who have a sense of a holy calling and are on fire with the excitement of living the Gospel more radically. At times congregational members may even create a climate that lacks “hospitality” to this new life that may be different from their present reality. In this milieu of “gaps” potential newer members, and often the vocation minister too, may experience a lack of openness, a sense of doors closing.

9 Bendyna, Mary. “Communities that Attract and the People who are Entering Them.” Horizon 45:1(2009): 5-9 10 Johnson, Mary, Patricia Wittberg, and Mary Gautier. New Generations of Catholic Sisters: The Challenge of Diversity. New York: Oxford University Press (2014): p. 99. 11 Rickard, Terry. “Crisis of Catholic Identity in Women’s Communities: A Challenge for Vocation Ministers.” Horizon 35:3 (2004): 11-14 86 Simultaneously, established members may become anxious that all they have worked so hard to achieve, important liberation and essential maturity, vibrant new horizons, is possibly threatened. As Fr. Chris Gibson, C.P. puts it, “Tensions can simmer in communities — with older people wondering why the vocation director is bringing in people so different from them, and younger people perplexed by older members’ coolness and even mockery toward their desires.”12 Here, Fr. Gibson brings in a touch of reality — it was always thus. “Baby Boomers also had difficulty with the older generation of their time” and the history of the Church is replete with instances of difference and disagreement. In his behavioral assessment workshop, Father Raymond Carey, warns, however, “that a community that expects newcomers to completely ‘adjust to us’ is destined to die out” (personal communication, July, 2014). All of this can be quite challenging to those of us in vocation ministry and concurrently provides a great opportunity for self-reflection and humility.

During the initial discernment process, vocation directors are mindful of their sacred responsibility of walking with a child of God; therefore, they try to be respectful and reverent of the candidate as they look for concrete signs of a vocation to religious life. When this becomes clearer, the focus of the discernment process shifts to whether the candidate is called to this particular congregation. Since there are relatively few applicants to religious life, vocation ministers and congregational leadership need to be attentive to their own interior freedom to keep from being influenced by the pressure to increase numbers. Good supervision with a peer group or another professional is highly recommended for vocation directors to help them identify significant questions to explore with the candidates in order to assess their readiness and capacity for religious life.13

One of these key questions that needs to be answered by the vocation minister is: Does the applicant display qualities, behaviors, and characteristics that are part of the unique identity of this congregation? Ensuring appropriate fit is an important part of the vocation minister’s role as gatekeeper for the wellbeing of the community as a whole and as a sensitive companion to individuals experiencing a call and desiring admission. “In recent vocation research, newer members identified two most vital influences their initial choice and fidelity in religious life: first, a sense of call from God, and second, the charism of the institute.”14 Subsequently, it would be extremely helpful to vocation directors, if the congregation, leadership and vocation ministry engaged this question as a whole to provide objective and behavioral criteria for assessment.

While considering a candidates’ fit within a congregation, the vocation minister needs to be attentive to signs of rigidity whether the discerners are drawn to more traditional rituals and practices or not. Intransigence will limit the ability of any newer member to become a truly mature religious capable of living the life, Gospel, and mission. However, in a recent workshop for formators, Michel Sy, Assessment Team Leader at the Southdown Institute in Ontario, Canada, cautioned us not to see conservatism and rigidity as the same. They are “different and distinct.” He further stated: “Conservatism (what, in this article, the authors are calling a more traditional understanding and practice of faith) is about belief while rigidity concerns behaviour.” Rigid behavior in any candidates will inevitably lead to problems regardless of the type of community they enter, but conservatism is like all beliefs, a starting point, and

12 Gibson, Chris, C.P. “Culture of Encounter Can Heal Divisions”. Horizon 41: 2 (2016): 27-32 13 Cahill, Helen. “Peer supervision: path to self-awareness in vocation ministry,” HORIZON interviews Sister Helen Cahill, O.P., p. 19, Fall 2001. 14 Bendyna, Mary, Gautier, Mary. 2017 USCCB/CARA Ordination Class Report and Profession Class Report and prior year reports 87 when candidates are open to the transformation of God’s grace and development through study, discernment and dialogue, they will grow in new understanding and experience. In this the congregation accompanies them with respect and love while being patient with the slowness of growth, an evolving process.

We have all become aware that contemporary understandings of cosmology, along with evidence from history, remind us of the constantly evolving nature of all things, including religious life and our perceptions and living out of it. As John Haught put it recently in an interview for LCWR, “Now that science has shown us that the universe is still emerging, it has become possible for the first time in human history to view this universe as dramatic rather than static. More specifically, we may now look at the cosmos as a drama of awakening, freedom, faith, and love.”15

As Sisters of St. Joseph, a central part of our very identity embodies this spirituality of unfolding, of listening and of becoming. We know it to be a process, informed by our “Ignatian seeding,” calling us to an unfolding openness to “the more.” It is so clearly entailed in Maxim 73, “Live out your life with one desire only: to be always what God wants you to be, in nature, grace and glory, for time and for eternity.”16 This is our nature and our gift; and it is how we communicate and effect the beauty to which we are called.

Reflecting on this, we realize again that we are all called to a transformative process, individually and communally, to question whether this is “a time for something new to be happening in our own lives and in the life of our ministry.”17 This call must be directed at the way in which we perceive and practice vocation ministry. Neither established members nor new inquirers can remain in a state of stasis. Do we see potential for mutual acceptance as being “on the way”? How are we to work toward this acceptance from our current generational gap?

Fr. Chris Gibson, C.P. suggests a very helpful way of going forward by reflecting on Pope Francis’ concept of a “culture of encounter” born out of his experiences of the Church in Argentina. Fr. Gibson says, “No doubt fears are real and understandable, but only in a ‘generational culture of encounter’ where true dialogue takes place will we see the light ahead of us and be able to move forward.”18 Letting go of the progressive-liberal-traditional and conservative labels and assumptions allows a new pattern of relating to emerge that seeks common ground for the good of the whole, yet respects and appreciates differences. This is our charism of unity, not uniformity, fleshed out in meeting others, whoever they are and wherever they are; allowing ourselves to be transformed by them and they by us. While sometimes challenging, a culture of encounter requires that conflicts be honestly admitted and responded to with sensitivity. “It bears in mind that closing in on one’s own way will only lead to death”.19 These encounters take patience and a generous giving of the precious commodity of time, quality time. How should religious communities respond to these ecclesiologies and spiritualities of young adult Catholics who are possible candidates for religious life? Perhaps we can begin by planning respectful and sensitive conversations between established and newer members. Perhaps we can invite younger people to come into our homes to hear their hopes and desires, their concepts, their needs, their gifts,

15 Haught, John. “Understanding Suffering in the Context of an Anticipatory Universe”. The Occasional Papers, LCWR, (Winter 2019): p. 9 16 Allen, Marcia. Love’s Design; An Invitation to Reflect on the Maxims of the Little Institute, Sisters of St. Joseph, Concordia, (2007): Maxim 73 17 Falkowski, Pamela. “See I am Doing Something New”. The Occasional Papers, LCWR, (Winter 2019):19 18 Gibson, p. 29 19 Ibid. 88 and generous hearts. In turn they can hear members speak of their journeys, their struggles, and endeavors for a true freedom of the Gospel and spirit.

Established members and those discerning religious life sometimes speak of the same topics but given their respective life experiences they look at those same things from different standpoints. Examples of this abound. When newer members appear attracted to externals, such as habits, they are seeking an important sense of identity that they have never before experienced. Current and older members have worked hard to grow out of rigid identities that hampered human development and freedom for mission. When we seek common ground, we can all agree that in order to grow and mature we need first a strong sense of identity that becomes a springboard for such essential development.

Might we also make some compromises in praying together by creatively finding ways to combine traditions which, at this point, some younger members seek, such as Divine Office, adoration, rosary with faith sharing, contemplative time, meditation? Might those of us who are already members discover some lost riches and might younger people grow into more openness, into lives of prayer rather than words of prayer? More importantly we might also achieve by these means a “catechesis” for today’s world so much needed by the younger generation today.

At times, candidates may need to expand their understanding of liturgy, scripture, their faith and its traditions, social justice teachings of the church and how these teachings connect with Catholicism’s ecclesial and theological foundations. In addition to professional study, established members and the newly initiated could bridge the gap between them by engaging in theological reflection. Both would share their personal experience of God’s presence in their life and ministry, grow in their ability to discern how God is being revealed in their midst, and to situate this experience within the rich Catholic Christian tradition. As they share their understanding of God, Christ, the church, the world, and ministry, differences will arise, but at the same time, they will discover common ground. The newer members, who once held onto a rigid Catholic identity, could move to an owned faith that is more inclusive of all faiths because they have a clearer understanding of their own. Additionally, the opportunity of theological reflection will help those in initial formation to articulate their Catholic beliefs more effectively when asked by others in their ministries.

Younger members also express a desire to live in community, but existing members commonly identify this yearning as a harking back to the sometimes oppressive, binding, and often immature manner of living experienced in former days and institutions. Vocation directors often hear comments such as, “they (discerners or newer members) just want security!” That is a comment that may be far outside the perceptions of a younger generation, most of whom have, after all, probably worked far from home and owned or rented their own homes with all the responsibilities, insecurities and gifts that entails. They are not seeking security, but perhaps in this age of individualism they yearn to become a prophetic witness in the atomistic society in which so many people find themselves alone, lonely, abandoned.

In the book, “In Our Own Words: Religious Life in a Changing World”, written by newer members of a variety of women’s religious communities, Sister Virginia Herbers, ASCJ, states: “What’s the most rewarding part of religious life? More often than not, as I ponder the question, the answer comes back swiftly, community living. Being surrounded by women who have given their entire lives as a gift to the service of God’s people, returning home each evening to a praying community, waking up each new day to launch into a mission founded on a common charism: these are gifts beyond measure; and the 89 accumulation of those gifts over the years is nothing short of true grace.”20 Reading these words may well elicit a degree of cynicism in current members, who are now perhaps living singly, and many of whom have lived in such small communities as described by Sister Virginia that can only be described as “a nightmare”! It should be noted, however, that Sister Virginia is no idealist. When responding to what is the hardest part of living religious life, she is quick to say “community living.”

As stated above, it appears that young adult candidates for religious life and newer members desire to form deep and supportive relationships with community members. However, many of our communities have not been influenced by a large enough number of new members, so relationships among the sisters have been formed over the years and lifestyles may have become somewhat static. Congregational leadership sometimes struggles to find a “formative community” for those in initial formation, and newer members sometimes find it challenging to become part of already established relationships. Yet, the integration of new candidates into religious life is a process of establishing and deepening relationships in their local communities, congregation, and ministries.

Are we ready to reflect honestly and deeply about our community life together? Can we identify how individualism influences our lifestyles and address what hinders unity because the world needs to see that it is possible to live in communion? The attraction to religious life for newer members, essentially the future of religious life, depends on the authentic and faithful witness of our lives and whether we respond prophetically to the desperate cries of the world. Can we encounter one another in true dialogue, open to the Spirit speaking in each one of us, so as to move beyond our roadblocks to the future? In his 2014 Apostolic Letter to Consecrated Persons, Pope Francis reminds us that “we are the witnesses and architects of the plan for unity which is the crowning point of human history in God’s design”.21 For the sake of the future and of healthy, vivid vocation ministry, the responsibility of all members, we need to enter into opportunities of encounter. Encountering then holds out many possibilities.

In her article, “ Our Witness to Communion,” Mary Pellegrino, CSJ, reminds us of the prophetic nature of communal life by stating “to the degree that our lives flourish and are not diminished by the consequences of all that we’ve relinquished, then we can say that our communal life is prophetic, and that each of us contributes to the vision of what the kingdom of God will be in its perfection: where everyone has enough. Everyone is loved. Everyone is free. And everyone belongs”.22 Are we willing to commit to a lively encounter admitting of diversity and seeking unity? We are called to lives of integrity and authenticity where we can embrace differences from a stance of hospitality that welcomes the color and richness that is woven into the tapestry of our communities. People do not leave their entire lives and cultures behind to become what they are not. We need to affirm the giftedness and diversity that prospective members bring to us, the newness of their experiences, their questions of “why do you do that.” Then together we may discover the communion that is the Real Presence of Christ in our world. What an invitation to live the Sisters of Saint Joseph’s charism of unity and reconciliation into the future.

20 Herbers, Virginia, ASCJ. Communities in Communion: Shifting into New Life in “In Our Own Words: Religious Life in a Changing World”, Eds. Mouseau, Juliet and Kohles, Sarah, Collegeville, MN. Liturgical Press, 2018, p. 1 21 Pellegrino, Mary. “Our Witness to Communion”. Horizon: Winter (2019): 22-25 22 Ibid. 90 APPENDIX 1: Core Curriculum

Philosophy Statement of the Formation Core Curriculum • We believe that each woman comes to community with diverse gifts, experiences, and academic background • We believe that the purpose of formation is to foster ever deepening relationships with Jesus Christ as the center of one's life and commitment, grow in the one’s understanding of the two trinities that is fundamental to the life of the Sisters of St. Joseph and to facilitate the growth of the individual as a woman religious, an effective minister, and a representative member of the congregation • We believe that the education component of the formation process provides an opportunity for integration of the individual as she is incorporated into religious life • We believe that a holistic approach in formation is essential to instilling the importance of maintaining a healthy balance in all aspects of life • We believe that the core curriculum challenges the individual to move beyond herself in order to broaden her knowledge and experience of self, God, religious life, Church, and the world • We believe that the core curriculum encourages healthy relationships with sisters, associates, agrégées, and partners in mission and ministry • We believe the core curriculum encourages awareness of the needs of the Church and the global reality while sensitizing each woman to the developing role of women religious • We believe that each person is responsible for her own continued growth and development in all aspects of her life— personal, spiritual, ministerial and professional. Formation is a lifelong process and it is desirable for each member to diligently engage in lifelong learning • Therefore, the curriculum for Initial formation is designed to stimulate the thirst for knowledge and personal growth, as well as the need for ongoing formation.

CORE CURRICULUM FOR INITIAL FORMATION

Basic: At minimum each sister works towards those general education classes which prepare an individual to receive an Associated Arts Degree. Also, the individual pursues professional development to become a competent professional.

Preferred: It is desirable for all members of the congregation to acquire Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science Degree. Advanced degrees are encouraged as is appropriate for each person and their ministerial involvement.

Foundational: Those introductory classes which enrich the personal development of those in initial formation in spirituality, prayer, ministry, and community:

Candidacy Topics: 91 • Basic Catholic Doctrine • CSSJ Charism/Spirituality • Community History and History of Religious Life • Sacraments • Prayer

Novitiate Topics: (*Taught by director or appropriate skilled personnel) • History of Religious Life • CSSJ History and Key Documents • CSSJ Charism/Spirituality • Apostolic Spirituality (Mission & Ministry) • Spirituality • Prayer Styles • Ignatian Spirituality • Discernment • History of Catholic Spirituality • Psycho-spiritual Development

Personal Development: • Enneagram • Myers-Briggs • Family of Origins • Intimacy and Friendship • Dreams • Journaling • Vows • Human Sexuality • Community Living/Community Life • Communication Skills • Group Dynamics/Leadership Skills • Conflict Resolutions • Critical Thinking/Logic • Scripture: Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, Epistles • Eucharist • Christology • Introduction to Philosophy • Church Documents/Catholic Social Teachings/Vatican II • Contemporary Church Documents (i.e. Popes) • Church History 92 • Ecclesiology • Ethics • Moral Theology • Themes of Feminine Spirituality

Initially Professed Topics: Complete the topics not covered from Novitiate list • CSSJ Charism/Spirituality • Christology • Church Documents: • Catholic Social Teachings • Documents of Vatican II • Contemporary Documents • Critical Thinking/Logic • Ecclesiology • Ethics • Feminine Spirituality (Themes related to…) • Liturgy • Moral Theology • New Testament • Old Testament • Introduction to Philosophy • Scripture Studies: o Epistles o John's Gospel and/or Letters o Prophets o Psalms o Revelation o Synoptic Gospel

93 Transformational: Classes and experiences which guide an individual to be a minister (At the minimum, select one topic from each of the categories under the Transformational section.)

Fine Arts: Art Art History Dance Drama Music History Music lessons Poetry Theatre

Global Awareness: Cross Cultural Experiences Ethnic Studies Spanish or other language Social Justice World Religions

Ministry: Art of Spiritual Direction Clinical Pastoral Education Hospice Theological Reflection Ethics Course related to specific field of ministry

Suggested Experiential Aspects of Curriculum:

CSSJ Federation Events, Programs, and Novitiate International Experience with other CSSJ congregation Network Catholic Worker/or direct service to the poor programs Participation in a Program that serves those who are poor

Possible places for good programs: Consideration is given to theological, pastoral, ministerial education in a Catholic University setting.

N.B. Our general policy is to accept only those classes taken within five years of beginning formation with the Sisters of Saint Joseph

94 APPENDIX 2: RCIA RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS: A CONCEPT OF RELIGIOUS FORMATION

The general framework of the formation program of the Sisters of Saint Joseph is modeled on the RCIA concept that is used to incorporate new members into the Church. Many congregations have found that concise reflection and adaptation of the RCIA model has generated new life and spirit into the formation process.

The RCIA concept contains the pieces needed to pattern ourselves in a flexible way according to the gradual incorporation into the community life that RCIA suggests. Rosabeth Moss Kanter says, "The search for community is also a quest for direction and purpose in a collective anchoring of the individual life. Investment of self in a community, the acceptance of its authority, and the willingness to support its values is dependent in part on the extent to which group life can offer identity, personal meaning, and the opportunity to grow in terms of standards and guiding principles that the member feels are expressive of her own inner being." These newcomers witness by their actions and life the movements of grace they experience in their hearts.

The most convincing key is that the RCIA concept moves the formation program from an individualistic and perfectionistic model of conversion to one of lifelong conversion and reconciliation through a community centered model of conversion to Gospel living and deepening relationship with Jesus Christ as the center of one's life. The following is the rationale upon which the Incorporation Process Directory is based and some of the practical adaptations.

Background RCIA reflects the process by which new members were initiated into the early Christian community. RCIA means Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It was built on personal conversion in relationship to Jesus — “putting on Christ.” The newcomers lived with the community, shared life with them, and when ready as shown by their actions, they were baptized.

The RCIA Document states: The initiation of Catechumens takes place step by step in the midst of the community of the faithful. Together with the Catechumens, the faithful reflect upon the value of the Paschal Mystery, renew their own conversion, and by their example lead the Catechumens to obey the Holy Spirit more generously. (RCIA #4)

95

It may as well read: The initiation of new members takes place step by step in the midst of the Community of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Together with the new members, the Sisters reflect upon the value of the Paschal Mystery, renew their own ongoing conversion to Gospel life with Jesus, the center of their lives, and by their example lead the new members to obey the Holy Spirit more generously.

Most Constitutions reflect a similar spirit.

The implications or insights of the RCIA for the Church and for Religious formation are many:

Journey is the key word. The journey is continuous, ongoing, tailored to the individual's and the congregation's experience of God's call in Christ Jesus. This conversion process takes place step by step in the midst of the community.

Implied in the Rite is the understanding that God is already present in life, in human experience, in the world and it is the role of the Church and Religious formation to help people recognize this presence.

It restores the Paschal Mystery to its central position in the religious experience of the Christian. Baptism is viewed as the commitment, which is the most significant event of life.

People learn about the life of faith of a Sister of Saint Joseph from those professing and living that life.

Formation is a community process in which members of the community are as much involved as the new members themselves, both through mentoring and witnessing.

Unifying Concepts Upon reflection and integral to the design of formation that is based on RCIA is that initial and ongoing formation are one thread woven through all of one’s life. The following unifying concepts seem to hold the key to adapting the RCIA as a model of religious formation.

Let There Be Storytelling… Sharing stories, human stories, with small groups helps the storyteller and the listener come to grips with God's action in their lives. Told together the story becomes the congregational story. The congregation is not journeying alone nor are they without the

96 story of Jesus who also shares his story. Stories are threads that span generations, connecting the congregation’s story to the “Big Story”.

Let There Be Questioning… It takes courage to ask questions and to live with or without the answers. Questions like: What does it mean to be a religious of the 21st Century? How does the congregation prepare for the future? What does it mean to be an apostolic woman religious? Walking the journey with a new member is a way to explore the core questions of religious life. How is God revealed in the daily circumstances of life?

Let There Be Communities of Faith… This presupposes that the local communities are committed to Jesus and are willing to talk about their commitment. Something new happens each time that a candidate joins a community; indeed, something new happens each time that anyone joins a community.

Let There Be Tradition/Charism… Fidelity to the grace of the Holy Spirit necessitates continual exploration of the dynamic movement within a community. How is the Sisters of Saint Joseph charism of unity lived out today? Explaining who they are to a new member is prime time to take another look at the charism with the lens of past, present and future reality of the movement of the Spirit within and among the members of the congregation.

Let There Be Conversion… This implies an openness to let God change the congregation, recognizing the daily dying and rising of life, letting the congregation be formed by them. Each day the sisters are invited to put on the mind and heart of Jesus Christ. In this context, religious formation and conversion are one.

Let There Be Celebration… Celebrations of the big times — welcoming, reception, first vows and final vows — as well as celebrating sisters’ lives together are essential to the journey. Life itself can be the Paschal Event with its ups and downs, its good times and its hard times.

Let There Be Ministry… Just as baptism is not for itself, religious profession is not for itself. Today, the Church is at a turning point in history. Sisters need to re-announce what the baptismal

97 commitment is, to look anew at what it means to be Passover people, being led and leading others out of bondage.

The contribution each perpetually professed sister makes to the formation of new members might be expressed by:

1. Sharing one’s own vocation and life stories 2. Serving as a mentor and walking with them through a stage of their journey 3. Witnessing to continual conversion and engaging in ongoing formation 4. Praying with and for women in initial formation 5. Supporting their new sister in love by affirming and challenging 6. Sharing the community's mission and ministry 7. Celebrating the important stages of commitment with the community 8. Inviting a newer member to dinner, prayers, conversation, ministry experiences, and leisure activities

98 APPENDIX 3: Identity Values

VALUES AND SHADOW SIDE OF VALUES

Value/Shadow: Inclusivity/Exclusivity Sisters are called to the value of inclusivity with members of the congregation and the dear neighbor at large. This is expressed through engaging in congregational and ministerial relationships; developing relationships through self-disclosure and active listening; and by reaching out inter-generationally and inter-culturally with our sisters and our neighbors. Reflection questions: 1. When have I experienced myself not wanting to engage in a conversation with a sister, associate, agrégée or partner in mission and ministry? 2. How did I feel when I experienced this? 3. What work do I need to do to move toward inclusivity with this person?

Maxim 1: Keep always in mind the aim of your vocation which is sublime; and never do anything which contradicts the commitment to a life full of modesty, gentleness, and holiness. Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Constitution #21: (Example: Choose appropriate statement from your Constitutions that supports this value) Those who seek membership with us should evidence love of God and neighbor, an attraction to prayer, and the desire to acquire the spirit of the congregation.

Value/Shadow: Zeal and Generosity/Workaholism and Perfectionism Sisters are called to the value of zeal and generosity as an expression of her passion for the mission and cordial charity with her Sisters and the dear neighbor. This is expressed through engaging in the life of the local and broader community; communicating one’s understanding and love of the mission of the congregation while participating in ministry according to one’s capacity; and being flexible and willing to respond to the needs of the congregation. Reflection Questions: 1. When have I used ministry or work as an escape for meaningful relationships in the community, and how has this behavior impacted my spiritual life? 2. How did I feel when I experienced this? 3. What work do I need to do to provide a balance between my spiritual life, community life, and ministerial life?

Maxim 7 In the manifestation of zeal characteristic of your very humble vocation, imitate the fervor of the most zealous and embrace in desire the salvation and perfection of a whole world in a spirit replete with a true humility and a generous courage. This will

99 bring you to wish to do everything, to suffer everything, and to undertake everything for the advancement of the glory of God and the salvation of the dear neighbor.

Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart, praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Constitution:

Value/Shadow: Humility/Victim Stance Sisters are called to the value of humility as an expression of one’s understanding of relationships. This is expressed through the recognition and gracious use of one’s own gifts and talents while accepting one’s own limitations and the limitations of others. Sisters will also continually grow in self-awareness and how one’s attitudes, actions and words impact others with community and beyond. Reflection Questions: 1. When have I experienced myself thinking that I have no value or that others are better than me? 2. How did I feel when I experienced this? 3. What do I need to do to develop a more realistic sense of self and acceptance of my own gifts and talents?

Maxim 3 Empty yourself continually in honor of the Incarnate Word who emptied himself with so much love for you. Make your commitment to live in the practice of the most sincere, true, and profound humility possible to you. Do so on all occasions, to everyone but especially to God, from whom must come all the blessings of your institute. Philippians 2:1-11 If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others. Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient

100 to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Constitution:

Value/Shadow: Prayer/Reflection/Self-Centeredness Sisters are called to the value of prayer and reflection as an expression of one’s lifelong conversion. This is expressed through a commitment to personal and communal prayer, Eucharist, continual awareness of the needs of our wounded world, and striving for simplicity and detachment. Practices that aid this lived reality include spiritual direction, therapy and sharing the state of the heart. Reflection Questions: 1. When have I experienced myself moving away from the spiritual journey? 2. When have I experienced myself tuning out the needs of my sisters or the needs of the world? 3. How did I feel when I experienced either of these? 4. When I find myself experiencing this, what do I need to do to re-engage in my spiritual journey and connection with others?

Maxim 24 Be utterly given to God by a holy self-surrender, utterly for God by a love pure and completely unselfish, utterly in God by a continuing effort to be more conscious of God’s presence, utterly according to God by a will, a life and everything conformed to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Constitution:

Value/Shadow: Joy/Negativism Sisters are called to the value of joy as an expression of God’s love. This is expressed through an attitude of delight in the gifts and success of others; a deep awareness of one’s joy and peace which flows out from a spirit of gratitude; and readily uses humor that is uplifting. Reflection Questions: 1. When have I used misguided humor, particularly sarcasm, and hurt someone? 2. How did I feel when I experienced this?

101 3. When I find myself engaging in this type of behavior, how do I call myself to accountability and reconcile with the person I harmed?

Maxim 91 Be a person of such greatness that what is not God will be nothing, and embrace gently and eagerly great apostolic undertakings when the Holy Spirit urges you to do this; but according to this same maxim, whatever you do or suffer, let your heart find it a trifle, as indeed it is, in comparison with the grandeur of God and the worth of God’s sovereign perfection.

Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the fountains of salvation.

Constitution:

102 Appendix 4: Core Values

Candidate Phase The incorporation into the congregation fosters the gradual integration of core values that reflect the qualities of a Sister of Saint Joseph today. These values are steeped in the CSSJ spirituality and mission. As the woman moves through the formation process, the hope is that there will be a gradual growth and deepening in her identity as a Sister of Saint Joseph through the living out of these values.

The following values and behaviors are the expectations for candidates and will be used in the written self-assessment about her life in community and her progress toward and readiness for the novitiate 3 months prior to the end of candidacy.

INCLUSIVITY: The candidate demonstrates the capacity to ● Engage in a variety of congregational relationships ● Use skills of self-disclosure ● Relate to each Sister in her local community ● Relate inter-generationally and inter-culturally

ZEAL AND GENEROSITY: The candidate demonstrates the capacity to ● Engage in the life of the local and broader community ● Participate in full time ministry and/or study ● Communicate understanding and love of the mission of the congregation ● Be flexible in her response to needs of the congregation and her local community ● Balance prayer, community, ministry, and leisure

HUMILITY: The candidate demonstrates the capacity to ● Accept human limitation ● Recognize her gifts and talents ● Show self-awareness of how her behaviors impact others, and display the ability to receive and act on constructive feedback and challenges ● Accept affirmation and compliments ● Apologize, forgive and reconcile with others ● Recognize and acknowledge the gifts of others

PRAYER - REFLECTION and LIFELONG CONVERSION: The candidate demonstrates the capacity to ● Participate in daily practice of prayer (personal and communal) and daily Eucharist ● Participate in state of the heart and order of the house ● Practice consciousness examen ● Show a deepening awareness of the needs of others, especially people who are poor ● Engage in monthly spiritual direction ● Engage in therapy as needed

103 ● Continue discernment of her vocation and the movements of grace in her life ● Display an awareness of personal boundaries related to self and others.

JOY: The candidate demonstrates the capacity to ● Show delight in the gifts and success of others ● Articulate an awareness of what gives her joy and peace o Live out of a spirit of gratitude o Use humor in a manner that is uplifting

Novitiate Phase

INCLUSIVITY: The sister demonstrates the capacity to Engage in a variety of congregational relationships by: • Interacting with sisters on a variety of topics and discussing these with her novice director • Participating in community workshops, assemblies, and small group activities • Building friendship/relationships in the congregation in a non-exclusive manner • Developing relationships through the use of self-disclosure • Disclosing and sharing with her novice director on a regular basis • Disclosing during faith sharing, State of the Heart, Order of the House • Relating to each sister in a mutual manner • Showing interest in the life and ministry of each sister in her local community. • Striving to resolve conflict in a direct, honest, and loving manner Engage in a variety of congregational relationships by: • Relate inter-generationally and inter-culturally to sisters, associates, agrégées, partners in mission and ministry by: o Engaging in conversation with sisters of different generations and cultures to better understand their life and cultural experience o Sharing her own life experience and cultural perspective and background

ZEAL AND GENEROSITY: The sister demonstrates the capacity to Engage in the life of the local and broader community by: • Continuing to grow in her ability to make local and broader community her priority Participate in some ministerial service and study by: • Actively engaging in ministry and study Communicate understanding and love of the mission of the congregation by: • Continuing to grow in her willingness to learn and to integrate an understanding of the mission of the congregation and share her understanding with other sisters Be flexible in response to needs of the congregation and her Local Community by: • Continuing to grow in her adaptability to changes in her local living situation • Balance prayer, community, ministry, and leisure by:

104 • Continuing to grow in her ability to weave prayer, community expectations, and leisure into her daily life, as observed by her novice director and local community

HUMILITY: The sister demonstrates the capacity to Accept human limitation by: • Continuing to grow in her understanding and acceptance of her own and others’ limitations through her actions and in conversations with her novice director Recognize her gifts and talents by: • Continuing to grow in her willingness to share her gifts and talents at congregational functions, local community, and ministry Show self-awareness of how her behaviors impact others by: • Continuing to grow in her ability to receive affirmations • Being receptive to challenges about her behavior and demonstrates a willingness to change • Apologizing, forgiving, and reconciling with others • Recognizing and acknowledging the gifts of others

PRAYER/REFLECTION/LIFELONG CONVERSION: The sister demonstrates the capacity to • Participate in daily practice of prayer (personal and communal) and daily Eucharist • Participate in state of the heart and order of the house • Practice consciousness examen • Show a deepening awareness of the needs of others, especially people who are poor by participating in service with the poor • Engage in monthly spiritual direction • Engage in therapy as needed • Continue to discern her vocation and the movements of grace in her life as demonstrated in her conversations with the novice director • Display an awareness of personal boundaries related to self and others

JOY: The sister demonstrates the capacity to: • Show delight in the gifts and success of others • Articulate an awareness of what gives her joy and peace • Live out of a spirit of gratitude • Use humor in a manner that is uplifting

Initially Professed

INCLUSIVITY: The sister demonstrates the capacity to:

Engage in a variety of congregational relationships by: • Taking the initiative to join congregational committees • Actively participating in community workshops, assemblies and small group activities

105 • Building friendships/relationships in the congregation in a non-exclusive manner Develop relationships through the use of self-disclosure by: • Disclosing with her mentor and within community during faith sharing, state of the heart, and order of the house • Relating to each sister in a mutual manner • Showing interest in the life and ministry of each sister in her local community and in the congregation • Striving to resolve conflict in a direct, honest manner Relate inter-generationally and inter-culturally to sisters, associates, agrégées, partners in mission and ministry by: • Initiating conversations with sisters of different generations and cultures to better understand their life and cultural experience • Sharing her life experience and cultural perspective and background

ZEAL AND GENEROSITY: The sister demonstrates the capacity to:

Engage in the life of the local and broader community by: • Continuing to make local and broader community her priority • Participating in programs and activities initiated by others • Taking the initiative to invite others, organize, and create activities in the congregation and ministry Participate in full time ministry and/or study by: • Discerning her selection of ministry and or study with her mentor and Leadership • Discussing her ministry or study experience with her mentor Communicate understanding and love of the mission of the congregation by: • Continuing to grow in her willingness to learn and to integrate in her lived experience an understanding of the mission of the congregation • Sharing her understanding with other sisters and partners in mission • Deepening her identity with and passion for the mission as expressed in her words and deeds. Show flexibility in response to needs of the congregation and her local community by: • Continuing to grow in her adaptability to changes in her local living situation • Continuing to grow in her willingness to be mobile and available to be sent on mission Balances prayer, community, ministry, and leisure by: • Continuing to grow in her ability to weave prayer, community expectations, and leisure into her daily life in a way that is observable

106 HUMILITY: The sister demonstrates her capacity to:

Accept human limitations by: • Continuing to grow in her understanding and acceptance of her own limitations and those of others, demonstrated in her actions and in conversations with her mentor Recognize and generously use her personal gifts and talents by: • Continuing to grow in her willingness to share her gifts and talents at congregational functions, local community, and ministry Show self-awareness of how her behaviors impact others by: • Continuing to grow in her ability to receive affirmations • Being receptive to challenges about her behavior, and demonstrating a willingness to change • Initiating conversations that involve forgiveness, asking for forgiveness, and reconciliation • Recognizing gifts in others and affirming them in the use their gifts

PRAYER - REFLECTION and LIFELONG CONVERSION: The sister demonstrates the capacity to

• Participate in daily practice of prayer (personal and communal) and daily Eucharist • Participate in state of the heart and order of the house • Practice the Consciousness Examen • Show a deepening awareness of the poor and vulnerable • Live simply with detachment • Engage in monthly Spiritual Direction, and therapy as needed • Continue discernment of her vocation and the movements of grace in her life in conversation with her mentor Display an awareness of personal boundaries related to self and others by: • Attentiveness to the personal use of time and energy • Growing in self-awareness and the willingness to influence and be influenced by others

JOY: The sister demonstrates the capacity to: • Show delight in the gifts and success of others • Articulate an awareness of what gives her joy and peace • Live out of a spirit of gratitude • Use humor in a manner that is uplifting

107

Appendix 5: Sample Forms and Rituals

Assessments and Forms

108 Applications Checklist

Materials Necessary to Apply to be a Candidate in the Sisters of Saint Joseph

1. References: One from a sister accompanying you and four others as listed on the Reference Sheet. (Please contact each person you wish to have as a reference before requesting that a reference form be sent to them)

2. Application for Admission as a candidate, including autobiography and references

3. Medical Exam Form

4. Dental Exam Form

5. Copy of College Transcripts

6. Copy of Baptismal Certificate

7. Copy of Confirmation Certificate

8. Completion of Psychological Evaluation

Please return all items once completed to:

Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______Vocation director Address City State, Zip

109

CONGREGATIONAL LOGO MEDICAL ASSESSMENT

Applicant's Name: ______Date of Birth: ______

Dear Health Care Provider: This applicant has applied to be a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Prior to accepting this candidate, we need to know if she is in good health.

How long have you been this person's health care provider? ______

MEDICAL HISTORY

Past hospitalizations, surgeries and major illnesses (please give dates): ______

Family History (include medical/psychiatric problems): ______

History of alcohol or drug abuse: ______

CURRENT HEALTH INFORMATION Does this applicant require any on-going medication (including recurrent non-prescription)? ______If yes, what is the medication and why is it prescribed? ______Please explain any current health concerns or physical impairments: ______

110 ______Does this applicant have any allergies? If yes, what are they? ______Does this applicant have any dietary restrictions? If yes, what are they? ______What are this applicant’s tobacco and alcohol habits? ______

GENERAL PHYSICAL Date: ______Wt. ______Ht. ______B.P. ______P. ______R. ______Vision without glasses: R______L______Vision with glasses: R______L______Hearing: R______L______Other: ______Labs if indicated: U/A: ______CBC: ______Chemistry: ______PAP: ______

Immunization Dates: Tetanus: ______MMR: ______Polio: ______Hep B Series: ______PPD: ______Results: ______If positive, CXR Date & Results: ______Physical Assessment (Please indicate any abnormal findings or areas needing further evaluation): ______

111 I find _____ I don't find_____ that ______is free of any illness or condition that would keep her from becoming an active and working member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. ______

Health Care Provider Signature ______

Print Name, Title & Date______

______Address Phone

Please return this form to: Vocation Director, Address, City, State, Zip Any questions please contact: Vocation Director, Phone

112

CONGREGATIONAL LOGO DENTAL ASSESSMENT Applicant's Name: ______Date of Birth: ______

Dear Dental Provider: This applicant has applied to be a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Prior to accepting this candidate, we need to know she has good dental health. How long have you been her dentist? ______

How often does she receive dental care? ______

Date of last dental exam: ______

Care of Mouth: Good ______Average ______Poor ______Condition of Teeth: Good ______Average ______Poor ______Occlusion: Good ______Average ______Poor ______Gums: Good ______Average ______Poor ______Remarks: ______I find that ______is free____ is not free____ of any dental disease or condition that would keep her from becoming an active and working member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Dentist Signature ______

Print Name & Title ______Address and Phone______

Please return this form to: Office of Vocations, Address, City, State, and Zip Any questions please contact: Director of Vocations, Phone

113 CONGREGATIONAL LOGO

Mental Health Evaluation

This process is utilized when there is a concern about a woman in discernment as to whether she should continue in the discernment process for the Sisters of Saint Joseph or whether there is a particular issue in her life that may need more evaluation and support while she is in discernment.

This form of evaluation has been requested for a woman in discernment who would need to be assessed for the effects of: past physical or sexual abuse, a possible personality disorder, for an eating disorder, to name a few examples. This information would be used to assist in determining if the woman can continue in the discernment process for vowed religious life.

The services of ______have been utilized in this effort. Name of Psychological Assessment Provider

She is located at: Address City, State, Zip Phone

Sample: The cost of her assessment to the congregation is approximately $____ which includes 3 sessions to do an initial evaluation, assessment and feedback to the woman in discernment. She will then submit a verbal and written assessment and recommendations to the vocation director.

114 CONGREGATIONAL LOGO Psychological Assessment

We are presently utilizing ______for this portion of the candidate application process.

It is located at: Address, City, State, Zip Phone

The assessment involves a partnership in which the discerning woman becomes a co-evaluator of herself with the assessment team. Through her willingness to be open and responsive in the various modes of evaluation, she can come to understand herself in areas of unconscious needs and desires, levels of maturity, psychosexual maturity, self-identity, interpersonal skills, and ego defense systems.

The process consists of an in-depth psycho-social interview and the completion of a personal history questionnaire. In addition, the following “paper and pencil” tests are administered:

1. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 2. Sixteen Personality Factor Test 3. Edwards Personal Preference Schedule 4. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 5. Strong Vocational Interest Inventory 6. FIRO-B

The Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) may be administered as requested or needed.

A summary report is created and given to the discerning woman and the vocation director at a feedback session 6 to 8 weeks following the initial appointment at the Center.

The cost of the package, including the feedback session, is approximately $_____. There is an additional fee for the Rorschach and WAIS tests.

115 CONGREGATIONAL LOGO LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Please list five persons who know you well and can help us assess your qualifications for Religious Life. Each person you name will be sent an evaluation form.

1. A Sister of Saint Joseph who is accompanying you in your vocation discernment: ______Address: ______Phone: ______E-Mail: ______2. Pastor or a leader in your church community: ______Address: ______Phone: ______E-Mail: ______3. A Sister of Saint Joseph (Other than your accompanying Sister): ______Address: ______Phone: ______E-Mail: ______4. A Co-Worker: ______Address: ______Phone: ______E-Mail: ______5. An Adult (Other than a family member): ______Address: ______Phone: ______E-Mail: ______

116 CONGREGATIONAL LOGO APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

Name ______Last First Middle Address ______Street City State Zip code

Telephone (______) ______Soc. Sec. # ______

Birth Date ______Place of Birth ______

Baptized Catholic ______Convert to Catholicism ______Date: ______

Home Parish (Or WORSHIPPING COMMUNITY)

Name ______

Address ______

Date of Baptism ______Place: ______

Date of Confirmation ______Place: ______

Citizenship______

Place of Rearing______

EDUCATION: (List schools, degrees, workshops, etc.)

______Were You Ever Dismissed Or Suspended From A College Or University? ______

117 If Yes, Explain: ______Describe any other type of work that you have done besides being a student:

Type and Place of Employment Length of Time Reason Left ______What are you presently doing? ____ Student, where, ______full time_____ part time ______Working, where ______full time _____ part time ______

List your main responsibilities in your most recent job ______How did you feel toward your work? ______Have you ever been fired? If yes, explain. ______How did you get along with work associates? ______List any volunteer work you have done. ______

118 ______List the ways you are presently involved in your parish: Lector, Communion minister, parish council etc. ______

If for some reason, your present vocational plans would not materialize what would be your choice of occupation?______

______How would you describe yourself as a person? What do you think of yourself? ______

What do you consider your greatest assets, talents, and capabilities? ______

How do you feel others (parents, siblings, friends, teachers, etc.) feel about you? ______How is most of your free time occupied? Include any hobbies. ______What type of books do you prefer reading?

______

Give the titles of 2 or 3 books you are currently reading ______

119 What periodicals do you read regularly? ______How would you describe your present health? (Excellent, good, fair, poor. Explain if necessary.) Physical: ______Emotional: ______Spiritual: ______Describe any physical handicap or chronic illness that you have: ______Does it limit your activities in any way? ______Explain: ______What physical illnesses, surgery, major accidents or addictions have you had? When? ______When was your last examination by a physician? ______For what condition? ______Are you presently taking medication? ______Have you ever been treated in a hospital? ______if yes, give: Year Location Illness Name of Physician/Hospital ______

120 Have you received counseling for emotional difficulties? ______If yes, when? ______Nature & frequency of treatment: ______With whom? ______FAMILY HISTORY Were you raised by blood, foster, adoptive or step-parent? ______Explain if necessary: ______Was your childhood affected by divorce, separation, death, or any other major crisis? ______If yes, please explain: ______

Father Mother Name Age Birthplace Religious Affiliation Education (number of years) If deceased, year of death Age at death Age when you were born Occupation Retired ( ) Yes ( ) No ( ) Yes ( ) No

121 Are Your Parents Living Together?

______

List Your Parents Address(es):

______

______

Your comments on their marriage?

______Describe your father’s personality: ______Describe your mother’s personality: ______Describe your relationship to your father: ______Describe your relationship to your mother: ______

122 To whom did you feel closest to as a child? ______To whom do you feel closest to now (parent or other) ______

List your brothers and sisters in birth order: Name Age Education Occupation Marital Health Living Status At Home

Please comment on their personalities and your relationship in general with them. ______

How old were you when you had your first date? ______

Are you currently dating? ______

Have you ever had a serious relationship? ______Have you been engaged? ______

Lived with a partner? ______

123 Have you been married? _____ If yes, have you been divorced? ______

If yes, have you received an annulment? ______

Have you ever had a pregnancy? ______If yes, what was the outcome of the pregnancy? ______Do you have children? ______If yes, how old are they? ______Are your children financially and emotionally independent from you? ______

If you have children, please describe your relationship with them: ______If you have children, are you free to pursue religious life, given your relationship with your

children? Please explain: ______Is there a family history of: (in whom?) 1. Suicide: ______2. Substance Abuse: ______3. Psychiatric Treatment/“Nervous Breakdown”: ______

124 ______

PERSONAL HISTORY

Rate Your Experience: Happy Satisfactory Unhappy Other Grade School Years ______High School Years ______College Years ______Post College Years ______Other (Explain): ______ACHIEVEMENTS

An achievement is reached when you brought about a desired end or goal by means of your activity and efforts. Achievements can be in any area of your life – in school, on the job, at home, at play.

Make a list of your achievements and choose from that list four most satisfying and meaningful to you. Rank them in the order of importance:

1. ______

2. ______

3. ______

4. ______

FAILURES

Accomplishments are more important than failures. However, many times we also learn from our mistakes and failures. Therefore, we ask you to share some of them with us. A failure can be: not achieving an objective, being disappointed in the results, giving up or having others give up on you, not succeeding, or whatever else seems to be a failure for you

125 Make a list of your failures and choose from that list four which “stand out” more than the others (ex. most difficult, most embarrassing, most painful, most disappointing, etc.) Rank them in order of importance:

1. ______

2. ______

3. ______

4. ______

Have you ever been arrested? ______If yes, what was the outcome of your arrest? ______

RELIGIOUS LIFE

Have you ever applied for acceptance or been accepted for religious life? ______

Date of entrance ______Reason for leaving ______

FAITH HISTORY

On a separate sheet of paper, give the history of your faith life and spiritual life/development. Include in the following any extraordinary experiences of God, ways that you pray; your use of scripture, retreat experiences, spiritual direction, your relationship with the Church and the sacraments and how any and all of these affect your daily life. Also, include any obstacles you have encountered in your spiritual life and your history of religious scruples or fears.

126 VOCATION HISTORY

On a separate sheet of paper, describe the call you feel to religious life. Include the following: • When did you first realize you had an inclination toward living religious life? • What is your understanding of vocation? • Why do you want to be a Sister of Saint Joseph? • What persons and events influenced your decision? • What choices have you made because of this inclination toward religious life? • What skills, aptitudes and experiences do you bring to religious life? • What are your feelings about community living as a viable life style, in general, and especially for you? • What apprehensions do you have about this lifestyle? • What is your understanding of the celibate life? • What are your hopes and fears for the Church?

Why did you choose this community rather than another? ______What kinds of ministry assignments would you prefer? ______Please give any other pertinent information regarding yourself which you feel would help us to have a better understanding of you. ______

127 Date: ______

Vocation Summary Assessment of ______

Summary info…

Followed by the vocation director’s recommendation…

Therefore, I would recommend or recommend with reservation or not recommend… ______to the Candidacy Phase of the Sisters of Saint Joseph with the following recommendations that she: 1. 2. 3.

Signed: ______Date: ______Vocation Director I have read this Vocation summary assessment and I agree with its content. I understand that this Vocation summary assessment will be shared with the congregational leader, the general council and the candidate director.

Signed: ______Date: ______Pre-Candidate’s Name

I have read this Vocation summary assessment and I do not agree with its content. I understand that this Vocation summary assessment will be shared with the congregational leader, the general council and the candidate director.

Signed: ______Date: ______

128 Congregational Logo

CANDIDATE EVALUATION FORMS

Vision of the Candidacy period:

This is the period of time immediately following formal acceptance into the initial formation process of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. The period may last anywhere from six months to two years. The goals of this time are twofold: to better acquaint the candidate with the congregation and to become immersed in the experience of community life. Upon completion of this initial stage, the candidate should have the desire to continue her formation through the novitiate phase; should have had sufficient experience of community living, with all the joys and stresses that brings; should have had the experience of participating and leading community prayer, etc.

CRITERIA FOR ACCEPTANCE IN THE NOVITIATE PHASE OF FORMATION:

A Woman Who Is Admitted To Novitiate Phase Will Demonstrate The Following In Her Life:

1. Ongoing growth in her relationship with God 2. Awareness of herself as part of the Roman Catholic Church 3. Growing ability to share self with others and to create and live community with an openness to differing world views 4. Identification with Religious Life in the Church and CSSJ congregation and Charism 5. A deepening appreciation of the congregation 6. Ongoing development of the skills for interdependent living 7. Ongoing development of the skills required for shared decision-making 8. Continuing openness to and capacity for the challenge of growth 9. Develop skills for intimacy and celibacy 10. Continue to grow in awareness of justice issues

In order to be admitted to the novitiate, a woman in the pre-novitiate phase must fulfill the requirements of canon law and must give evidence of: • A desire to grow in her personal relationship with God • A sound personal identity • The active practice of her faith within the Church • The ability to live in community and the capacity to grow in this • A desire and willingness to be tested whether the spirit of this congregation and the ability to live vowed religious life in community and ministry are within her

129 Evaluation Form:

Name of Candidate ______Date: ______

Using your knowledge of the candidate, the statements on the previous page and the goals of this candidate, please respond to the following:

1. What has been your experience of this candidate in this first stage of her formation? How has she grown?

2. How have her individual goals been accomplished?

3. What work needs to be done to continue to develop these goals?

4. Have the goals the candidate named and your experience of her striving to live these goals been consistent? Please give some examples. Should the goals be adjusted in any way?

5. In living and working with the candidate on her goals, what did you learn, what might have been helpful and what did you delight in?

6. Additional Comments:

Name ______

Relationship to the candidate, i.e. director, community contact person, local community member:

______

130 Self-Evaluation Form:

Name of Candidate ______Date: ______

Using your knowledge of the statements above and your goals and your time of candidacy, please respond to the following:

1. What has been your experience of this first stage of your formation? How have you grown?

2. What has been difficult or challenging to you in this experience?

3. How have your individual goals been accomplished?

4. What work needs to be done to continue to develop these goals?

5. Have the goals you named and your experience of striving to live these goals been consistent? Please give some examples. Should the goal be adjusted in any way?

6. In living and working on your goals, what did you learn, what might have been helpful and what did you delight in?

7. Additional Comments:

Signature ______Date: ______

131 Candidate Phase Summary and Assessment of ______

Summary info…

Followed by the candidate director’s recommendation…

Therefore, I would recommend or recommend with reservation or not recommend… ______to the novitiate Phase of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of _____ with the following recommendations that she:

1. 2. 3.

Signed: ______Date: ______Candidate Director

I have read this candidate Phase Summary and Assessment and I agree with its content. I understand that this candidate Phase Summary and Assessment will be shared with the congregational leader, the general council and the candidate director.

Signed: ______Date: ______Candidate’s Name

I have read this candidate Phase Summary and Assessment and I do not agree with its content. I understand that this candidate Phase Summary and Assessment will be shared with the congregational leader, the general council and the candidate director.

Signed: ______Date: ______Candidate’s Name

132 Addendum:

Sample templates for Evaluation/Assessment

Community Living:

The program calls for a yearly mutual evaluation of the community living experience. At this time and in an atmosphere of prayer, the woman brings the fruits of her self-evaluation of community living while the local community members bring their reflection on their responsibilities to: 1. Share willingly their lives and stories as Sisters of Saint Joseph 2. Demonstrate openness, flexibility and availability to the woman 3. Understand the goals of the woman and provide input when requested 4. Enter into a mutual process of community living which includes dialogue on community issues and goals as well as on broader community, Federation, and global issues.

Evaluative questions might include: 1. In what ways have you fulfilled your responsibilities to the community? 2. How have you lived out the goals set for the community this year? 3. What joys do you experience living in this community? 4. What sorrows, difficulties or struggles do you experience living in this community? 5. What are you learning about yourself emotionally, intellectually, behaviorally, and spiritually? 6. What is your deepest desire for this community as it moves forward? 7. How have you experienced being prepared for and supported in this experience? 8. How have you shared communal prayer and traditions and practices of the Family of Saint Joseph throughout this year?

When the notes recorded during the evaluation are disseminated, each member signs them indicating her agreement that the record accurately reflects the contents of the meeting.

Novice Self-Evaluation Please reflect on and be prepared to share with your novice director your process of on-going conversion in the novitiate and the ways you have fulfilled your responsibilities as a novice: 1. Participation in the formation program for the novitiate 2. Engagement in all aspects of the process 3. Engagement in goal-setting and evaluation with novice minister 4. Regular meetings with novice director 5. Continuing to relate to formation director 6. Continuing relationship with local community

Please write a reflection on your experience of the novitiate process using the following questions to help center your reflections:

133 • What joys are you experiencing in living this lifestyle? • What sorrows, difficulties, or struggles are you experiencing? • What are you learning about yourself emotionally, intellectually, behaviorally, and spiritually? • At this time what is the deepest desire of your heart? • How are you progressing in light of your personal goals?

1. Spirituality a. Personal and communal prayer b. Regular spiritual direction c. Participation in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church d. Participation in planning and leading prayer e. Retreats f. Spiritual reading g. Articulation of relationship with God h. State of the Heart and Order of the House

2. Community Life a. Learning skills for community living b. Engagement in community life and responsibilities c. Developing healthy relationships in community and sensitivity to the needs of others d. Managing open communication with others e. Participation in community gatherings and governance as appropriate and possible

3. Novitiate Activities a. Theological studies b. Regular meetings and classes with novitiate director c. Theological reflection and social analysis d. Study of the history of religious life e. Study of the vows and articulation of an understanding of the vows canonically and as lived in today’s world f. Study of documents of Sisters of Saint Joseph g. Participation in inter-community programs (if possible) h. Awareness of the complex and global structures of the contemporary world

4. Human Development a. Interdependent living b. Reflection and sharing on experience c. Growing capacity for transparent openness and accountability with director d. Integration of contemplation and action e. Deepening of identity, role and responsibility as a Sister of Saint Joseph f. Negotiating relationships with family and friends in light of a commitment to the Sisters of Saint Joseph

134 5. Readiness for temporary profession of vows a. How are you living the vow of poverty at this time? b. How are you living the vow of chastity at this time? c. How are you living the vow of obedience at this time? d. How are you living out your service to God and the dear neighbor at this time? e. In light of your above reflections, summarize why you believe you are prepared to request admission to temporary profession of vows and why this is the appropriate time to do so.

Evaluation by Director This format can be used for both a formal and informal evaluation. The evaluation is discussed with the woman and signed by her and by the director.

In reflecting on the content and activities of each stage of formation: 1. Which have been accomplished and to what degree? Which are yet to be completed and how can this be accomplished prior to the next stage?

In reflecting on the skills to be demonstrated and goals to be reached by the conclusion of each stage of formation: 1. What are the behaviors that support the capacities and abilities? 2. What capacities and abilities must the woman continue to acquire or develop and how can she be assisted in this task?

In reflecting on the personal goals the woman has identified: 1. How has she been progressing in accomplishing these goals? 2. What goals require further work and how can she be assisted in this task?

At the end of the evaluation the director indicates a recommendation to continue the process, to transition to the next phase of incorporation, or to leave the process. She should identify her rationale for this recommendation and further articulate next steps/goals.

135 CONGREGATIONAL LOGO OFFICE OF VOCATIONS

Vocation Director Address City, State, Zip Phone E-Mail Fax: REFERENCE FORM ______has applied to be a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. She has named you as a reference, so we would appreciate your assistance in helping us to determine her eligibility for our congregation. All information will be confidential. Thank you very much!

1. How long have you known the applicant? ______

2. What is the nature of your association? ______

______

3. Are you aware of the applicant's interest in becoming a Sister of Saint Joseph? ______

Please explain: ______

______4. Please circle the number that best describes the applicant. (It is very important to give concrete examples in the comment section of how the applicant lives or expresses these qualities in her life.)

Characteristics Low----High______Comments______Ability to get along with others 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Ability to make decisions 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Ability to express feelings 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Ability to work with others 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Ability to work alone 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Ability to accept supervision 1 2 3 4 5

136 Characteristics Low----High Comments

Common sense 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Creativity 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Dependability 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Flexibility 1 2 3 4 5 ______Gives evidence of living her faith in practice 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Initiative 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Leadership ability 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Maturity 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Self-confidence 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Sense of humor 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Sensitivity to others 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Sensitive to issues of Justice in Church and in world 1 2 3 4 5 ______Willing to accept critical feedback 1 2 3 4 5 ______

Working under pressure 1 2 3 4 5

137 5. What would you describe as her greatest strengths and how are they exhibited? ______

6. What areas would you name as still needing growth for her and why? ______

7. Any other comments you feel would be helpful? ______

What is your overall recommendation for this candidate to become a Sister of Saint Joseph? (Please Check One) _____ She is an excellent candidate. _____ She is a good candidate. _____ She is an average candidate. _____ She is a below average candidate _____ I would not recommend her as a candidate.

Signed: ______Phone: ______

Address: ______E-mail: ______

Thank you for completing this reference. Please return it in the enclosed envelope as soon as possible.

138 Rituals and Forms

Candidate Welcoming Ceremony 1

WELCOMING TO THE CANDIDATE PHASE The woman and a group of sisters: vocation director, and sending community and those sisters who have supported the woman.

The assembly sings verse 1 of Opening Hymn:

Then the woman knocks on the chapel door and the general council and candidate director go to meet her and open the door. The congregational leader greets the woman warmly… “(Name) on behalf of the community I want to express our joy and gratitude for your willingness to continue to discern if God is calling you to live as a vowed member in our congregation. Your knock on the door tells me that you are a woman of courage and with a deep desire to know what God wants of you. Please know of our love and support as you enter the candidate Phase of formation.”

Then the congregational leader invites all to come forward and take their places among the assembly. The hymn continues.

The congregational leader welcomes the community gathered and all of the immediate family and friends present to be with the woman.

OPENING DIALOGUE IN THE FRONT OF THE CHAPEL:

Congregational leader: What is your name?

Woman: (Name)

Congregational leader: What do you ask of this congregation?

Woman: She responds in her own words.

Then congregational leader turns to the accompanying sisters.

Congregational leader: Communities where the woman has lived and or worked – “You are presenting this woman to us; are you, and all who are gathered here with us, ready to help (Name) follow Christ through this first step of membership in this congregation?”

All: We are. Congregational leader: Good and generous God, we thank you for (Name), your servant.

139 You have sought and summoned her in many ways and she has turned to seek you. You have called her here, to the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ____ and she has answered in our presence; we praise you O God, and we bless you.

All: Alleluia (sung)

Congregational leader: (Name) …. I now sign you with the sign of the cross on your hands and heart as a blessing on your new life in community and ministry. I would like to invite the candidate director and the formative community to come forward to sign you with this same blessing as well….(Each member of the welcoming community will participate in the signing, as they are able. All are seated for the Word of God.)

Liturgy of the Word

The following is selected by the woman: 1st Reading: Response: Second reading: Alleluia (sung) Gospel/Homily (someone selected by the woman) Intercessions:

(Prayer over Woman with hands outstretched over her) Congregational leader: Please raise your hands in blessing over (Name) Let us pray. God of our ancestors and God of all creation, we ask you to look kindly on (Name) make her zealous in spirit, joyful in hope, and always ready to serve you.

Lead her, O God, in responding to her baptismal call through this first stage of life in our congregation, so that, living a fruitful life in community she may continue on the journey. We ask this through the Creator, Redeemer and Spirit, and the intercession of Saint Joseph.

All: Amen

Closing Hymn:

140 Candidate Welcome 2:

Options to be selected in consultation with vocation director and director of candidates: • Opening Hymn: • 1st reading: • Response: usually sung, could be a psalm or other • 2nd reading: • Gospel: • Intercessions: • Closing Hymn:

People to be recommended: Most of the people involved in this ceremony should have a connection to the congregation (i.e. members/associates) as this welcome is into the congregation. Some may be part of any discernment group the candidate has been involved with. Appropriate choices include members of the woman’s receiving community, sisters she has met in the vocation/discernment process, members of her live-in experience community, etc.

1st reader:

2nd reader:

Gospel/homilist: (should be a sister somewhat familiar with the candidate and with the formation process)

Person to compose and pray the intercessions:

Suggested musicians: Constitutional Statements regarding the Candidate Phase Insert your own community documents

Sample template for Reception into the Novitiate

Entrance Hymn

Questioning of the candidate:

Congregational leader: (addressing contact person from the candidate’s local community)

Sisters from ______Convent, ______has lived with you these past ______months/years. She has now requested entrance into our novitiate and has been accepted. Do you support this decision?

141

Contact Sister: (In her own words, expresses the community’s sentiments. This could include ways the candidate has demonstrated growth and how she has contributed to the local community.)

Congregational Leader: ______may God’s mercy fill you and the light of God’s Spirit be your guide. I invite you to come forward and to tell us what you are asking of us.

Candidate: In her own words expresses her desire.

Congregational Leader: (In these or similar words) Let us pray: O God, You give us the grace to hear and to respond to your call. ______has expressed her desire to enter more deeply into our congregation. During this time of intense prayer and study, may she discover if this congregation of the Great Love of God will be a place where she feels at home and where she will grow in union with you and with the dear neighbor she wishes to serve. We ask this in Jesus’ name and through the power of His Spirit who dwells among us now and forever.

All: Amen

Reading: Selected by candidate and approved by director

Response: Sung or Recited

Gospel: Perhaps the Magnificat or other appropriate reading chosen by candidate(s)

Homily: Could be given by director of novices

Prayers of the Faithful: Prepared by Mentor or other member of the congregation significant in the life of the candidate

Prayer: (In these or similar words) God our Creator, it is You who have called us. Hear our prayers and bless this/these sister(s) of ours, ______who wish to follow your Son, Jesus, in religious life. Help all of us to support her/them by prayer and example so that your plans for her/them may be fulfilled. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All: Amen. Presentation of the Constitution

Congregational Leader: Reflection

Prayer: ______I present to you, your copy of the Constitution. As you study and reflect upon this document may you be immersed in the spirit of our congregation and grounded in our way of life.

142

Congregational Leader: I invite ______director of the novitiate to come forward

______we entrust to you the formation of this novice. May you and the sisters with whom she will live in community guide her as she begins these years of intensive prayer and study. We ask this in Jesus’ name.

All: Amen

Blessing

Congregational Leader: We ask all of you to extend your hands in blessing over ______God our Creator, with joy in our hearts, we welcome ______into the novitiate and ask you to bless her with gentleness, peace and joy. May God’s Spirit rest upon her during these novitiate years that she may come to know You and to love you more deeply Help her to prepare for a life of service to You and to your people. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Redeemer, and your Holy Spirit, our Sanctifier, who dwells within us now and forever.

All: Amen

Closing Hymn:

Signing of Official Documents: Act of Reception indicating date the novitiate begins as well as Declaration Concerning Remuneration.

143 ACT OF RECEPTION

A.D. 20____ SISTER______

I, Sister ______, congregational leader of the congregation of the

Sisters of Saint Joseph of______, having examined Miss

______, born in ______and the daughter of

______and ______and having obtained consent of our general council, have admitted her into the novitiate on the ______day of

______, in the year of Our Lord, ______taking her baptismal name, Sister

______, as her religious name.

On testimony of which I have subscribed this present act.

______Congregational Leader

Witness:

______Novice Director

144 D E C L A R A T I O N C O N C E R N I N G R E M U N E R A T I O N

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENT, that I, ______of ______(City)______, in the County of ______and State of ______IN CONSIDERATIONOF of the law of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the remuneration of candidates, novices, and members of a religious community acknowledged by said Roman Catholic church (Canon No. 702), which law I fully know and deliberately acknowledge and to which I voluntarily and fully submit myself, and

FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION of the benefits accruing to me as candidate, novice, or member of the approved religious community, incorporated as

SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF______, INC.

Existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of ______and an approved pontifical congregation of the Roman Catholic Church.

DO SOLEMNLY STATE AND DECLARE that I shall never claim or demand, directly or indirectly, any wages, compensation, remuneration, or reward, either in specie or by way of annuity or pension, for the time or for the services or work that I devote for or with said SISTERS OF ST JOSEPH OF ______, INC.

During the time I may remain there or elsewhere in the name of or upon commission from said

SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF______, INC.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto subscribed my name this ______day of ______, in the year of our Lord, ______.

(Signature)______

This instrument was signed, published, and declared by the above named ______, in the presence of us, who in her presence and at her request, and in the presence if each other, have hereunto subscribed our names as witnesses the day and year above written.

(Witnesses) ______

145 TEMPLATE FOR RITUAL OF INITIAL PROFESSION

This is performed in the context of a Mass, which the woman, with the support of the initial profession director, organizes.

OPENING SONG

WELCOME BY SR. ______

GLORIA

FIRST READING

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

SECOND READING

ALLELUIA (PLEASE STAND)

GOSPEL

RELIGIOUS PROFESSION

The Call and Request

After the proclamation of the gospel, novice director Sr. ______, calls novice, Sr. ______forth and she formally requests to make profession of initial vows in the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______.

Sr. ______: Loving God you have called me, here I am.

Congregational leader: Sr. ______, what is it that you ask of God and of God’s holy Church?

Sr. ______: I ask for God’s merciful love and I desire to give public witness to my call to serve God and God’s people by professing the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience in the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______.

After the request all respond: Thanks be to God!

HOMILY

146 THE EXAMINATION

The congregational leader, ______, questions Sr. ______on her readiness to dedicate herself to the service of God and God’s people within the community of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______.

Congregational Leader: Sr. ______, by water and the Holy Spirit you have already been consecrated to God’s service. Are you now resolved to unite yourself more closely to God by the bond of religious profession?

Sr. ______: I am.

Congregational Leader: Are you resolved to strive steadfastly for perfection in the love of God and of your neighbor by living the Gospel with all your heart?

Sr. ______: I am.

Congregational Leader: Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live in chastity for the sake of the reign of God, to choose a life of poverty, and to offer the sacrifice of obedience?

Sr. ______: I am.

Congregational Leader: May our loving God who has begun this good work in you grant you the grace and peace to fulfill what you desire and resolve.

All: Amen!

Prayer for God’s Grace: (Presiding Priest) Faithful God, look upon this servant of yours who is resolved to dedicate her life to you by making profession of the evangelical counsels in the presence of your Church today. Grant that her manner of life may bring glory to your name and further your loving plan of redemption. We ask this through Jesus Christ our brother and Savior.

All: Amen

Presentation of the Profession Candle:

Sister ______receives a candle from her Novice Director Sr. ______, as a symbol of her commitment.

147 PROFESSION OF VOWS

Sister ______professes her commitment to the following of Jesus through the evangelical counsels as a Sister of Saint Joseph. Congregational Leader, Sister ______formally accepts Sister ______profession of vows.

Sister ______: Loving and faithful God, you have called me to live my baptismal commitment through life in this congregation. Aware of my weakness, yet confident in the power of your grace, I, ______, make to you my God, the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience for three years in the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______, according to the Constitution of this congregation, and into the hands of our congregational leader, Sister ______. I desire to live in humility and charity and to serve others without distinction by the works of mercy and justice. I ask your grace and the help of my sisters in community to be faithful to this commitment, and to grow in its daily, and to live and die in the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______.

Congregational Leader: May God give you the grace and strength to live what you have promised. We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus.

All: Amen

SIGNING OF FORMULA OF INITIAL PROFESSION

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL

SIGN OF PEACE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION

AMEN

LAMB OF GOD

COMMUNION HYMN

FINAL BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH

RECESSIONAL HYMN

148 ACT OF INITIAL PROFESSION

A.D. 20??

I, Sister ______, daughter of ______and ______aged _____ years, declare and certify that, by the grace of God, I was received into the novitiate of the congregation of the SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF ______, in the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, City, State on the _____ of ______and afterwards I made my novitiate for the space of ______months. During the time of my novitiate, I practiced the exercises and observed the rules and Constitution of the said congregation.

I further declare and certify that on this ______20??, I made my first profession in the hands of the congregational leader, ______, in the Chapel of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, ______, City, taking the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience for three years in the said congregation, according to its Constitution.

In testimony of which I have signed this present act.

______

In the presence of

______Presiding Priest ______Congregational Leader

149 TEMPLATE FOR RITUAL OF PERPETUAL PROFESSION

This is performed in the context of a Mass, which the woman, with the support of the Initial Professed Director, organizes.

OPENING SONG

WELCOME BY SR. ______

GLORIA

FIRST READING

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

SECOND READING

ALLELUIA (PLEASE STAND)

GOSPEL

RELIGIOUS PROFESSION

The Call and Request

After the proclamation of the gospel, Sr. ______, (Initial Professed Director), calls Sr. ______forth and she formally requests to make profession of perpetual vows in the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______.

Sr. ______: Loving God you have called me, here I am.

Congregational President: Sr. ______, what is it that you ask of God and of God’s holy Church?

Sr. ______: I ask for God’s merciful love and I desire to give public witness to my call to serve God and God’s people by professing perpetual vows of chastity, poverty and obedience in the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______.

After the request all respond: Thanks be to God!

150 HOMILY

THE EXAMINATION

The congregational leader, ______, questions Sr. ______on her readiness to dedicate herself to the service of God and God’s people within the community of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______.

Congregational Leader: Sr. ______, by water and the Holy Spirit you have already been consecrated to God’s service. Are you now resolved to unite yourself more closely to God by the bond of religious profession?

Sr. ______: I am.

Congregational Leader: Are you resolved to strive steadfastly for perfection in the love of God and of your neighbor by living the Gospel with all your heart?

Sr. ______: I am.

Congregational Leader: Are you resolved, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to live in chastity for the sake of the reign of God, to choose a life of poverty, and to offer the sacrifice of obedience?

Sr. ______: I am.

Congregational Leader: May our loving God who has begun the good work in you grant you the grace and peace to fulfill what you desire and resolve.

All: Amen! LITANY OF SAINTS PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL

PROFESSION OF VOWS

Sr. ______professes her commitment to the following of Jesus through the evangelical counsels, as a Sister of Saint Joseph of ______.

Congregational leader formerly accepts Sr. ______’s profession of vows. Sr. ______: Loving and faithful God, you have called me to live my baptismal commitment through life in this congregation. Aware of my weakness, yet confident in the power of your grace, I, ______make to you my God, perpetual vows of chastity, poverty and obedience in the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______, according to the Constitution of this congregation, and into the hands of our congregational leader

151 ______. I desire to live in humility and charity and to serve others without distinction by the works of mercy and justice. I ask your grace and the help of my sisters in community to be faithful to this commitment, and to grow in its daily, and to live and die in the congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______. SIGNING OF FORMULA OF PROFESSION BLESSING AND PRESENTATION OF THE RING Blessing of the Ring: Beckoning God, Bless this ring, a symbol of what is the desire of ______’s heart to be faithful to you and this way of life, all her days. May she receive the strength she needs to be a faithful woman religious in your Church and among your people. We pray this through Christ, the Lord. Amen.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (Please Stand)

Congregational Leader: Sr. ______, I confirm that you are now one with us as a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of ______, sharing all things in common with us now and in the future. Be faithful to the ministry the Church entrusts to you to be carried out in its name.

Sisters of Saint Joseph: Sr. ______, with joyful hearts we praise and thank God for bringing you to this moment. Your act of deep love for Christ and His people inspires us to renew our own commitment.

All: We believe that we are all engaged in a lifelong journey of response to God. May our ever faithful and loving God bless us and give us the strength and courage to journey together with joy and generosity all the days of our lives. Amen.

SIGN OF PEACE

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

MEMORIAL ACCLAMATION:

AMEN

LAMB OF GOD

COMMUNION HYMN

FINAL BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH

RECESSIONAL HYMN

152

ACT OF PERPETUAL PROFESSION

A.D. 20??

I, Sister ______, daughter of ______and ______, aged _____ years, declare and certify that, by the grace of God, I have on this ______day of 20??, in the Motherhouse

Chapel of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, ______, ______after ______years of Initial

Commitment, voluntarily and freely made my perpetual profession in the congregation of the Sisters of

Saint Joseph of ______, in the hands of ______, the congregational leader, using the formula found in our Constitution.

In testimony of which I have signed this present act.

______

In the presence of

______Presiding Priest

______Congregational Leader

______Director of Initially Professed

153 Appendix 6: Sexual Abuse Guidelines

Guidelines: Allegations of Sexual Abuse

Introductory Statement: The Sisters of Saint Joseph take seriously any allegation of sexual abuse. We are saddened by reports of abuse not only in the Church but all areas of life. We are concerned for all impacted by abuse, particularly the victim/survivors, their families and their communities. Allegations of abuse testify to the deep suffering present among God’s people today. As members of the Body of Christ, we are all affected whenever abuse occurs. We are all part of a broken world in need of healing. We desire to be part of the healing process in our Church, a process that requires a response to allegations made with honesty, transparency and compassion.

Each Community of Sisters of Saint Joseph should have its own sexual abuse policy.

Dealing with Allegations: Vocation or formation director: If allegations of sexual abuse are brought against a vocation or formation director, her congregation’s sexual abuse policy is to be followed in a prompt and timely manner. Leaders always bring compassion for the alleged victim(s) and the sister while searching for the truth of the allegations. Sister in Temporary Vows: If allegations of sexual abuse are brought against a sister in temporary vows, the congregation’s sexual abuse policy is to be followed in a prompt and timely manner. (See Canon 654 which states that membership in a religious congregation, along with its rights and obligations, begins with temporary profession.)

Leaders always bring compassion for the alleged victim(s) and the sister while searching for the truth of the allegations. Candidate or Novice: If allegations of sexual abuse are brought against a candidate or novice, reference must be made to Canon 654 which states that membership in the Institute begins with temporary profession. Candidates and novices are not yet canonically recognized members of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Just the same, the allegations must be investigated in a prompt and timely manner. The congregation’s sexual abuse policy may provide additional assistance in dealing with allegations brought against a candidate or novice. It is possible that she could be dismissed from the formation process.

Leaders always bring compassion for the alleged victim(s) and for the candidate or novice while searching for the truth of the allegations. When a member, novice or candidate in the Sisters of Saint Joseph, has allegations brought against her, the community leadership must be prepared to issue a public response that demonstrates care and compassion to all individuals who may be affected by the situation.

154

Appendix 7: State of the Heart and Order of the House Here are several samples of State of the Heart and Order of the House processes.

CSSJ STATE OF THE HEART SHARING

Live out your life with one desire only: To be always what God wants you to be, in nature, grace, and glory, for time and eternity.

As Sisters of St. Joseph we have a desire to be all that God wants us to be. Living our mission, we pay attention to our relationships with God and neighbor. Personal and communal prayer nourishes and enables us to remain faithful to our values and commitments. Prayer helps us to not only stay in touch with God but enlivens and deepens our relationship with one another.

Sharing the State of the Heart, a prayer form is core to who we are as Sisters of St. Joseph. The rhythm and call of our vocation invites us to take time to deepen our relationship with God through prayer. Part of the rhythm of our shared prayer is a weekly sharing of the State of the Heart.

Handed down to us by practice and tradition, the roots of Sharing the State of the Heart are found in our first rule, Reglements’.

...they will begin work, sharing together the sentiments* of their meditation with humility and candor until time for Mass.” (R 109, no. 26)

Every week they ... confer once for half an hour on the state of their congregation and of the works of zeal in which they are involved. (R 117, ◦38-39)

Medaille called each sister to be aware of how God is moving in her prayer and in her interactions with all neighbors and to share her reflections with the community. By sharing the stirrings and movements of God they gave witness to each other of God’s love and supported each other as they lived lives of all-inclusive love. Today, we refer to this practice as State of the Heart. When we look at how God is moving us as a group we call it Order of the House, which truly is topic all of its own.

When we share the state of our heart we are getting in touch with what God is doing within us….that is, in the ordinary circumstances of my life, what is God asking of me? How is God strengthening and calling me to live? When we share the state of our hearts with one another we are giving witness to God’s activity in the world. When we are faithful to the rhythm of prayer and sharing we live a centered life, conscious of the activity of God’s grace within and among us.

155 There is no one “right” way to share the State of the Heart and there are many ways of reflecting and preparing for sharing. Below is described a way of preparing for the State of the Heart sharing and the short process for sharing:

Preparing for State of the Heart: *Center yourself, become aware of God’s presence *Be open to the grace to see what God sees *Recall events, experiences of this week (or since your last sharing as a group) *How did you experience God in them? *Notice the emotions rising in you *Ask: How do these experiences fit a pattern of how God is working in my life? What is God inviting me to?, What do I feel called to share? *Ask for the grace to listen with love and reverence to everyone’s heart. *Conclude with a prayer of thanksgiving

One way to do Sharing of the Heart:

Start with an opening prayer Play some instrumental music Each person is invited to share two feelings or a phrase that describes how God is moving in her heart at this time and/or as a result of the preparation.

After this short sharing, each is invited to elaborate as much as she is able on her opening words. We receive each person’s sharing with love and reverence. (Pause between each person in order to really take in and honor what she has said.)

End with a concluding prayer

By having each person start by sharing two feeling words or phrases and then elaborating on them after each one has named their words or phrases, helps keep the sharing personal and focused.

State of the Heart is a communal sharing of our experience of God. Medaille’s vision of State of the Heart is that we accompany one another. We witness to one another the love that is active in our lives.

In reference to this sharing, Sr. Marcia Allen, (Concordia) writes:

“We testify for one another how God lures us into deeper faith and how God strengthens us with the courage we need. Through this we have the means at hand by which we who fell in love can stay in love.”

156 Sharing the State of the Heart

Preparing for State of the Heart:

*Center yourself, become aware of God’s presence *Be open to the grace to see what God sees *Recall events, experiences of this week (or since your last sharing as a group) *How did you experience God in them? How is God at work in your life and experiences? *Notice the emotions rising in you ♥ *Ask: How do these experiences fit a pattern of how God is working in my life? What is God inviting me to? What do I feel called to share? *Ask for the grace to listen with love and reverence to everyone’s heart. *Conclude with a prayer of thanksgiving.

Sharing of the Heart:

♥ Start with an opening prayer

♥ Play some instrumental music

♥ Each person is invited to share two feelings or a phrase that describes how God is moving in her heart at this time and/or as a result of the preparation.

♥ After this short sharing, each is invited to elaborate as much as she is able on her opening words. We receive each person’s sharing with love and reverence. It isn’t appropriate to have a conversation about what people share. Simply receive the sharing. Pause between each person in order to really take in and honor what she has said.

♥ End with a concluding prayer

157 Sharing of the Heart

Start with personal reflection regarding how God has been present in your life, ministry, relationships and prayer.

In light of this reflection, share a word or phrase that names the state of your heart and how you are experiencing God and God’s call to you at this time.

After this initial sharing of all participants, share an experience that helps to explain the state of your heart.

After all share, notice what is stirring in your heart.

Share a word that names this experience.

158 Sharing the State of the Heart and Order of the House Pat Byrne, CSJ

1. Preparation: Notice what has been happening in my life. How has God been moving in my prayer and in my relationships?

2. Begin the Session: Center the group with a song, prayer or short reading.

3. The Sharing of the Heart (This is what is going on in ME)

♥ Share: What is God doing in me? What is happening in my life? ♥ Listen to each person’s sharing. ♥ Notice what is happening within you and you receive these sharings. ♥ After all have spoken: Share the response happening within you as a result of listening to the other participants.

4. The Order of the House (This is all about what God is doing in US)

♥ After listening to the responses of the group, reflect on: What is God doing among us? ♥ What invitation does God seem to be extending to us as a community? ♥ Share with one another. (At times someone, or a few participants, articulate this grace and it resonates with others in the group. At other times the grace is not clear. The invitation, in this case, may be to keep listening or to be patient.)

If the invitation or grace is names, consider and discuss:

♥ Is there anything that will prevent us from living this grace or responding to the invitation? ♥ What will help us to live this grace or respond wholeheartedly to the invitation? ♥ What will we promise one another in order to remember this invitation or grace?

159

The Order of the House How are we living the mission? What is our sense of communal desire and call? Opening

Introduce your time together with a prayer. The prayer can be formal or spontaneous; a song or a prayers said by one or everyone. You could frame this whole experience within a ritual. The opening prayer should capture the spirit of what is to happen; that is, coming to a sense of the communal effectiveness in mission and a sense of the communal desire and call.

State of the Heart Each person tells a story about how she/he has experienced her/himself in mission since the last meeting. This reflection can be made during the meeting; or, if there is not time, each person can come to the meeting with this reflection already prepared. See the reflection guide for the State of the Heart. Basically, this is a story about an experience in mission. (Sometimes the story is one of felt effectiveness and at other times one of seemingly ineffectiveness.) One also reflects on what was felt and how one was drawn or further moved by the experience. How was the heart led because of the experience? What was the response?

Considerations The community spends some time after hearing the stories reflecting together on questions similar to the following: How do we see God’s love moving in the stories? How do these stories reflect our responses to God’s love? How do we begin to understand ourselves as weak, yet apt, instruments for God’s work? How do we see God working in our lives?

After pondering the stories in this vein, the community members ask themselves: What’s moving in each of us as we listen to our reflections? How are our hearts being moved? (challenged, inspired, and drawn). Each seeks to name what is happening within them. Then the community asks: What do we look like as a group? What seems to be coming together for us? What’s opening up as a possibility? As we listen, what do we respond?

Making a Commitment to Remember (Medaille’s “Retreat”) The group members reflect together on an image, color, poem, word of wisdom, scripture, or maxim which seems to capture how they were moved during their communal reflections. Name this symbol of the time together. Then reflect on how this symbol might be their guide for remembering and keeping hope alive until their next meeting.

Prayer Together

160 Let the feelings, intuitions, or symbol’s meaning become the content of your prayer for one another. You might want to do this silently, have one person in the group articulate the prayer for the group, or, have each person offer a prayer for this little community.

Closing To formally close the meeting, the group might want to say together a formal prayer, sing a song, or participate ritually so that the memory of the meeting is sealed in the hearts of the members until the next meeting. Prepared by Sisters Bette Moslander and Marcia Allen

161 Appendix 8: Separation Guidelines

Separation from the congregation is governed by Canon Law and the congregation’s constitution and directory.

162