Moving Forward with Hope and Grace By S. Marty Dermody, director, Spirituality Center
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s we look back over the end of 2019 and these last months, we were filled with much grace and many blessings. In early August 2019 we enjoyed a summer retreat offered by S. Melannie Svoboda, SND, titled How Can I Keep from Singing? The retreat focused on the ways we can nourish our song and our Christian discipleship through love of nature, prayer, friendship, compassion, service, playfulness, gratitude, letting go, laughter, art, courage during pain and sorrow, and hope. S. Melannie shared her deep spirit with participants using music, video, and personal stories of her own life. While the guided retreat was taking place, other retreatants were blessed by the direction of Sisters Judith Bonini, IHM, Carol Brenner, Maureen Heverin, as well as Fr. Jack Conley, CP. All were graced with days of reflection, liturgy and rest during their time of connecting with God. Throughout the fall we offered a variety of programs that focused on praying with clay, nature and book sharing. The readers enjoyed sharing stories with S. Maureen Heverin using the book Wrestling with God: Finding Hope and Meaning in our Daily Struggles. S. Betty Finn graced us with the gift of The Beatitudes Revisited, examining these guidelines to make them easier to relate to our current world and language. During the Advent season we welcomed S. Margaret Mach for an Advent day of reflection, titled We Wait in Joyful Hope. S. Margaret helped all the participants enter more deeply into the spirit and themes of the season, as we waited with joy and hope. 6
pandemic. We faced challenges that changed our lives completely. This meant staying at home and learning a new way to live our daily lives.
In November 2019 Mooydeen Frees facilitated “Earth, Water, Air and Fire: SoulCollage® Workshop” to allow participants to explore their own spiritual connection to the four elements. We celebrated our Sundays of Reflection with the theme of our Charism Statement. We were blessed by our Sisters Nancy Bramlage and Anita Maroun, and our Associates Sue Miele and Carla Rush. Each presentation helped us to realize our theme, When God Comes Close and We Grow Wise. God’s love and spirit were present daily as we moved into the new year of 2020. During January and February we enjoyed a variety of movies, and shared our dreams with S. Mary Bookser. As the year continued we stepped into March and everything came to a screeching halt. Life changed overnight due to the COVID-19
The Spirituality Center stepped up to offer twice daily prayer services to the congregation, as well as invited others to join us in prayer via livestreaming. Many of our spiritual directors also continued to share spiritual direction via Zoom, FaceTime and other virtual technologies. Early in June we even had several people connect with Dr. Nicki Verploegen for a virtual retreat using technology. We chose to open a new window and refresh our lives with others through our prayer. Even though many of our programs were canceled, we moved ahead with hope, offering new ways to pray and connect. We look with hope to the future when we can begin again with a new way, new programs and a new space. As Jeremiah says of God, “I know the plans I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11).
In September 2019 S. Caroljean Willie introduced Spirituality Center participants to the art form of Zentangle, as a part of the center’s Pathways to Prayer series. I n tercom
