VOL. XVI, NO. 4
MAY 2010
Angela’s Spirit of Contemplation
Key for Living with Change in the 21st Century By Sister Cheryl Clemons, OSU
This is Ursuline Sister Cheryl Clemons’ outline for her keynote address at Associates and Sisters Day July 10. he need for Saint Angela Merici’s spirit of contemplation has never been more urgent than it is today, both for our church and for our world. However, for members of the Ursuline family — associates and sisters alike — Angela’s contemplative approach to life is absolutely essential if we are to be the daughters and sons she calls us to be. If possible, that essential need for contemplation is even more urgent in light of the increasingly rapid pace of modern life. Chief among the characteristics of the way of life Angela established are these four elements that can help us live more serenely and thus offer our 21st-century world a counter-cultural witness as Angela did for her 16thcentury world: • Members of the Ursuline family are to live as consecrated women and men in the world, that is, we are to be intentionally and noticeably Christian in the midst of our everyday lives. • Members of the Ursuline family are to make allowances for individual circumstances and respect personal uniqueness. • Members of the Ursuline family were not originally founded for a specific ministry or brought together to do a certain thing, but to BE and to live a certain way. • In order to live out these and other elements of Angela’s lifestyle, members of the Ursuline family are encouraged to adapt and change as needed. Living out any of these four elements of Angela’s charism within contemporary Ursuline spirituality seems
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ASSOCIATES DAY 2009: Kansas Associate Lu Sheehan, left, of Overland Park, chats with Associates Aubrey Durbin, center, of Radcliff, Ky., and Janice Lawless, also of Overland Park, on June 27, 2009. RIGHT: Michael Ziegler, of Memphis, Tenn., leads the responsorial prayer during Mass.
impossible without a contemplative spirit. As we reflect on what it means to live as consecrated Christians within the heart of the world, we will explore the implications of our chosen relationship with Jesus Christ and one another. We will seek insights into what the vows/virtues of obedience, chastity, and poverty mean for ourselves and for our earth community. We will consider Angela’s call to respect individual circumstances and personal uniqueness, especially in light of today’s cultural stridency and the loss of respectful discourse in both church and society. A further challenge is the need to balance attention to individual uniqueness with responsibility for the common good. In reminding ourselves that Ursulines were not founded for a specific ministry, we accept the call to develop a lifestyle of discernment. Finally, we will talk and pray together about how we might remain grounded in the fundamentals of the Gospel and Saint Angela’s charism while at the same time open ourselves to new needs and insights and claim the freedom Angela gave us to “do something different!” n
Please join us for Associates & Sisters Day Saturday, July 10 You can find the registration form on page 8 (back cover).
Or register at www.ursulinesmsj.org/associates or call 270-229-2006 or e-mail associates.msj@maplemount.org