Lives Freely Given for Love

June 24, 2010 - 8:39 PDT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY

STEUBENVILLE, OH (June 24, 2010) - "Being a bride of Christ actually has very little to do with you," Mother Regina Marie Gorman, OCD, told a group of religious sisters attentive to her every word. "You really, truly are a bride, but you are an image of what we are all called to be: You are called to be a new Mary, and in becoming a new Mary, you become the Church, the image of the perfect response to God."

Mother Gorman spoke at the Religious Sisters Conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville, June 15-17. The conference bore the familiar, comfortable air of a family reunion, as about 30 Franciscan Sisters TOR of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother welcomed members of various communities from as far away as Kentucky and Massachusetts for the 34th year of the Religious Sisters Conference. Four young laywomen, all from the Cleveland area, took advantage of the fact that this year registration was also open to women discerning religious life.

Conference host Sister Katherine Caldwell, TOR, said it is important to collaborate as different communities and provide opportunities for mutual enrichment.

"I hope that this will be a conference where what we hear touches our heart, and bears fruit when we go home. Not just the talks, but the experience, the opportunity to be Eucharist for one another."

The sisters discussed how their vows call them to serve God in their roles of daughter, sister, bride, and mother.
As daughters, religious sisters have a special bond with the heavenly father, Sister Ann Shields, SGL, said. "God is my father. Do I really know that? Do I allow the Spirit within me to cry out 'Abba, father'? We have a Father who loves us, who wants to uphold, sustain, and care for us. He's right here! He knows what we most need, and where we need to grow, and he wants to help us."

Mother Gorman also addressed daughterhood, saying that freely chosen obedience is one of the most important lessons daughters learn. "Those of us vowed to participate in the redemption of the world would be wise to ask for the grace that our obedience be wide enough to encompass the obedience of the Son."
She went on to explain that sisterhood, both within a convent and in a family, teaches that life is not to be lived in isolation. "We learn to give and receive mutual support, to share, to be playful and creative."
The sisters attending the conference demonstrated close-knit bonds of sisterhood as they celebrated and strengthened relationships throughout the week during faith-sharing groups, social gatherings over meals, and a special honoring of three jubilarians attending the conference: Sister Francis Clare, SSCJ, and Sister Shields, 25 years, and Sister Mary Ann Lucke, 50 years.

Religious sisters are also called to be brides of Christ, learning commitment and finding completion, Mother Gorman said. "All women find, to be completed, they must stand face to face with another. There is no escape hatch - I have a self, and my self must be handed over to another. Sometimes it is a joy, sometimes it is painful, but in the working out it becomes fruitful. In bearing fruit, we learn to give of ourselves in an ongoing, nurturing, encouraging relationship."

That relationship, that intimacy with God is necessary, she stressed. She shared a prayer of St. John of the Cross from the examen prayed by the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles: "How gentle and loving is your awakening, O Bridegroom Word, in the center and depth of my soul." She explained three qualities of true intimacy: the ability for the real self to reveal itself to another; a mutual receiving of the real other; and a continued, ongoing relationship of this revelation.

"We have been given a heart unique and different, and free to respond as we individually choose out of pure love, nothing held back, nothing kept in reserve."

During adoration, Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, encouraged the sisters in their amazing privilege as brides of Christ. "Indeed, he comes to us that we can adore him, receive him... Christ is here with us, and in a special way as sisters and nuns you can embrace him as spouse."

Father Scanlan also paid tribute to the sisters and religious brothers who brought him up for most of his childhood after his parents divorced, saying: "No matter how many psychoanalysis tests they have me take, I never show up as lacking parental involvement. As religious, you can touch so many lives."

Mother Gorman agreed, encouraging the sisters to learn to be spiritual mothers and relating Alfred Cardinal Hughes' concern that spiritual motherhood is "something largely unknown, scarcely understood, and rarely lived."

"Motherhood knows no office hours, no day off. The empathetic spirit of nurturing, protecting love over a long period of time defines motherhood."

She compared spiritual motherhood to the story of Queen Esther, a Jewish orphan who was taken away from her people and made the wife of a king in order that, when her people were in need, she would be there to intercede with the king for them. "By virtue of our vows as religious, we are set apart: We have been taken away from our people for the sake of intercession."

Attendee Sister Christopher Talbot, OSF, was happy to have the opportunity to visit Franciscan University again, and marveled at the changes since she graduated in 1998. Sister Brigid Prosser, a postulant with the Servant Sisters of the Sacred Heart and '06 graduate, agreed.

"It's wonderful to be back, and to be able to form such great friendships," she said while sharing stories with two TOR postulants.

"We've had a great time with such a wonderful group of ladies! The Spirit has just brought everyone together here," said Sister Miriam Francesca Schmidt, TOR.

Upcoming Franciscan University summer conferences include the St. John Bosco Conference (July 21-25) for Catholic educators, the Applied Biblical Studies Conference (July 28-30) for anyone seeking a deeper knowledge and understanding of Scripture, and the Defending the Faith Conference (July 30-August 1), which focuses on Catholic apologetics. For more information, go to www.franciscanconferences.com.

Contact

Franciscan University of Steubenville
http://www.franciscan.edu/about/news.aspx
OH, 43952 US
Tom Sofio - Associate Director of Public Relations,

Keywords

religious sisters, Steubenville, conference

Category

Spirituality

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