Assembly participants called to go forth to the future as instruments of hope

On the second day of the 2009 General Assembly, affiliates joined FSPA as they gathered in Viterbo University’s Fine Arts Center. “We’ve been listening mostly to ourselves,” said Assembly Planning Committee Chair Sister Georgia Christensen as she greeted those in attendance along with the sisters in St. Rose’s Ivy Room. “Today we have a chance to be challenged, to expand that listening and to enflame our hearts.”

Meeting facilitator Donna Fyffe reviewed Otto Scharmer’s four levels of listening within the U Theory: downloading, factual, empathic and generative. “We are called to go down that U today and to find common intent together and to observe together. We have invited some new voices into the room to help us to hear differently.” She welcomed keynote speaker Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ, “who is going to help us step back into what is that Franciscan heart,” along with Brother Paul Donnelly, Wendy Mitch, Paul Rael and Shirley Stoltz. “We are promising them that we will listen. Like Clare we will consider, and we will ponder and see what it says to us as we ask God to inform us on our journey,” said Donna.

Mary Beth Ingham, CSJ
FSPA President Sister Marlene Weisenbeck introduced Sister Mary Beth—member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet, renowned speaker, author, expert on John Duns Scotus and professor of philosophy for 22 years at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Calif. Fresh off of a year as guest faculty member at Berkeley’s Franciscan School of Theology, Sister Mary Beth began by revealing three messages she hoped to convey: “I’d like you to go away with a deep sense of God’s abundant love, of human dignity and of authentic Gospel witness.”

Sister Mary Beth made reference to the liturgical moments in time that illuminated Franciscan tradition and, by happenstance, coincided with FSPA’s general assembly. “The synchronicity couldn’t be better,” she said, recognizing the feast of St. Barnabas, the extended celebrations of Pentecost, the Trinity and the feasts of the Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacred Heart. “We are in the moment of celebrating the Spirit’s activity of God’s love . . . divine life as the loving gift of self to another . . . the notion of the expanding heart of God calling out to every nation with the message of Parker Palmer’s model of the vision of abundance, not scarcity.”

She spoke about the hope found in times of uncertainty as it has transpired in the past, is happening today and most certainly will occur in the future—for the Hebrews entering the desert from Egypt, for the women entering religious life during the transition from Vatican II, for Americans entering a time of new leadership under President Barack Obama and for FSPA going forth from assembly. “To meditate on the exodus story says to us we are a pilgrim people still in transition. We don’t know what the future holds for us. In the midst of a broken, wounded world that is calling out for our love and our service, how can we bear witness to the hope that’s within us? What does it mean to live out of hope today?”

In the face of such inquiries, said Sister Mary Beth, we feel compelled straightaway to put forth answers. “Our deeper vocation, though, is to reframe the questions,” she countered. She recognized the requirements of creativity and faithfulness in such a task, tools that can lead to a more relevant, profound and well-rounded question. “The deep challenge is to find an authentic response to tradition, to vocation, to be who we are with God’s grace. This may be the way that we as women religious can help to evangelize the institutional church even more than we’ve been attempting to evangelize it up to now.”

Quoting poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (who, she said, was deeply influenced by Scotus) Sister Mary Beth read; “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” Hopkins “really captured the Scotus vision of a world so replete with God’s presence that we’re blind,” she said. “We just don’t see it.” She spoke of the “divine presence in the beauty of nature” that is all around us, and commended FSPA for the great deal it has done “with nature and cultivating the life of the earth, and with the divine presence in the human person—human dignity.” She acknowledged the right to respect and honor that is due all persons by all people, and the call for all Christians and chiefly Franciscans to pay it forward.

Sister Mary Beth then asked those present to discern the divine presence within. “What is God saying in me? Where is God’s grandeur today?” She urged sisters and affiliates to apply these questions to the topics on the day’s agenda—sustainability, economic equity and human dignity, welcoming the stranger, what it means to be a church.

In the retelling of a common story—that Adam and Eve sinned and that Jesus suffered, died and rose again so that we could all go to heaven—Sister Mary Beth asked, “If we don’t sin, do we not receive Jesus?” She recognized Franciscans for reframing that question. It has been a custom, proposed Sister Mary Beth, suggested by Scotus and practiced “undercover within the church” by Franciscans. “A whole tradition framed not around sin and guilt but on love and abundance. The whole vision of creation, of our lives, was done precisely so that God could become one of us.”

Coming to this profound reality, one which Sister Mary Beth says affirms the dignity in all of us, can be transforming. “As I’ve encountered, prayed and reflected upon this, it’s changed everything—the way you see yourself and other people, and understand that God so loved the world, he gave his only Son not as an act of reparation, but one of love.”

She shared how this revelation impacts her students. “‘That’s a God worth believing in,’ they say. ‘A God I could give my life to.’”

Sister Mary Beth concluded by asking participants how they should respond to God’s deep love and gift of human dignity. “It’s living the Gospel, proclaiming divine love, living in the mutuality of the Trinity with the total gift of self to one other.” She paraphrased the Gospel of the day: “What you have received as gift, give as gift. What you have received abundantly, give abundantly. Don’t hold back,” she urged. “Stand as a light in the darkness at a time when perhaps there are those who would say there is no reason to hope. In Jesus’ presence, so authentic, such a powerful presence, that the blind could see, the lame could walk, the deaf could hear. We are called to be that presence. Be that presence.”

Brother Paul Donnelly, FBP — the economy
Brother Paul Donnelly is one of ten members of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace in St. Paul, Minn., who has ministered to the poor, homeless, AIDS sufferers and torture survivors; he also serves his brothers in administration and financial development. Last January his community experienced a funding decrease of more than 32 percent from major donors who “had the funds but were frightened because of the economy,” he recalled. “We’d reached crisis mode.”

The brothers stretched further for resources than ever before. To feed their growing client base (the marginalized and the working poor) they began accepting perishable food shelf items from bakeries, Whole Foods and Golden Plump Chicken. They networked with groups like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Lutheran Social Services, and “some of the brothers contacted every school in the area, asking for help collecting food, clothing and blankets,” said Brother Paul. This winter, he said, the Cathedral in St. Paul opened up every available space to provide a warm place for the homeless to sleep each night.

For all their creativity and innovation, “the church is not doing the best; I give us a B+,” said Brother Paul. Echoing some of Sister Mary Beth’s sentiments, he said that he sees three avenues of hope to improve that grade. “First, it’s not too late for Americans to persevere and, as Mother Theresa said, ‘save one life at a time.’ Second, there are young people—tens of thousands—willing to put their faith into action.” Third, he finished, men and women religious can be “the voice of those who can’t speak for themselves . . . a prophetic witness to proclaim the Gospel through our daily lives.”

Wendy Mitch — the church
A Viterbo University alumna, campus ministry director at Newman University Parish in Stevens Point, Wis., adjunct Viterbo faculty member and mother of six children, Wendy Mitch spoke to sisters and affiliates and admitted having a roller-coaster relationship with “the church.”

She said there have been times when she thought the leadership was “out of touch,” the liturgy was “headed south,” the college students she worked with were indifferent. “I have had some knock down, drag out brawls with God,” said Wendy, “and, with bags packed, have headed for the door.”

But she confessed that during some of the bleakest times in her life she’s experienced “the grandeur of God” and has returned for one specific reason—“that which I love, that brings me back to the church—diversity.”
That diversity, she said, is relational for each member and is also “rich in tradition” by the unique things— “viewpoints, priorities, habits, visions, passions, emotions and even the baggage”—we all bring to the table.
Finally, she said that diversity is steeped in trepidation. “When we can’t control something because it’s too diverse, there’s a lot of fear.”

Wendy issued a challenge to all pre- and post-Vatican members in the church; to allow the “diversity that defines us right now to be a bridge to keep us together. The church is not an obstacle; it’s a living community of diverse believers which I’m very proud to be a part of.”

Paul Rael — immigration
“I never, ever dreamed I’d flee Mexico because of great need, to end up here, still suffering the same consequences.” This declaration came from a woman from Postville, Iowa, whose husband was detained after the immigration raid on May 12, 2008.

Paul Rael, who works in Hispanic ministry at Postville’s St. Bridget Catholic Church, has faced stories like this one every day since the historic event. He’s traveled alongside Father Paul Ouderkirk throughout the country to advocate for comprehensive immigration reform. “The ball is slowly beginning to turn,” said Paul, “but with 12 million illegal immigrants in this country, something has been drastically wrong for a long time.” He acknowledged that laws were broken by the Postville immigrants, but with friends who have been waiting “since 1995 to get into this country legally, I know what I would do. I would cross that border and make sure I could feed my family,” said Paul.

He summed up the ramifications of the raid: “No human being should be treated the way they’ve been treated.” Some of those arrested chose deportation in lieu of waiting for impending trials set tentatively for November 2009. Many deported are parents and have either left their families behind or have been forced to bring their children, born stateside, back to Mexico or Guatemala. “To me, that’s deportation of a U.S. citizen,” said Paul. “We need immigration reform so bad it hurts.”

For as much as the raid has caused people to suffer in Postville,” he added, “it has also brought some good things.” A nationally renowned immigration attorney, he said, has offered her services pro bono, and some detainees, have also been granted work visas.

Shirley Stoltz — sustainability/ecology
“Sustainability has become my fire in life,” said the day’s final speaker, Shirley Stoltz. “God gave us dominion over creation, not to abuse it but to honor, nourish and be responsible for it.”

The Viterbo graduate (and sister to FSPA Ecological Advocate Sister Lucy Slinger) left a career in Catholic school education in 2007 when the farm she shares with her husband and their four children became certified organic. Together they now produce organic milk, eggs and meat from free-range chickens and hoop house-grown produce.

“Honored to be stewards of the land, our goal is to use our gifts to enrich our farm and future generations,” said Shirley. They consider themselves to be “sunshine farmers,” putting their cows out to pasture almost every day to give “golden milk” rich in nutrients and using the “gold dust” or insecticide-free manure created to fertilize. The “golden eggs” laid by their free-range chickens contain yolks more vibrant in color and nutritious than their counterparts, and “golden monarch” butterflies flourish among the 25,000 trees planted soon after the family purchased their land in 1984.

“Our biggest challenge is to educate people to the truth about God, nourishing our earth and fellow human beings,” said Shirley. They’ve shared what they’ve learned through their new experiences—of vet bills reduced from $4,000 annually for conventionally raised cattle to $200 over two years for organic animals, and the extended growing season they’ll enjoy through their hoop house (the produce from which they’ll eat for 11 out of 12 months).

She imparted her vision for the future which includes scholarship contests and learning centers based on faith, nutrition and sustainability. “I envision a world of peace,” concluded Shirley. “As Chief Seattle said, ‘We do not inherit the land from our fathers, we borrow it from our children.’”