NOVEMBER 2019
VOL. XXV, NO. 2
Convocation experience stirs Associates to action By Dan Heckel, OSUA
T
he Ursuline Convocation gives Ursuline Sisters across North America the chance to reconnect every three years and refresh their call to follow the path that Saint Angela created. This year’s convocation July 25-28 in St. Louis also included six Ursuline Associates of Mount Saint Joseph. “I had never attended a convocation and wanted to find out what it was all about and what it meant,” said Janice Arth, a Kansas associate. “I found ‘charism’ is the same not only with the Ursuline Sisters I have known but with all the Ursuline Sisters from Mexico, Canada and the United States. The words that resonate with me are ‘joy,’ ‘love’ and ‘reaching out to others.’” Janice joined fellow Kansas Associates Joanne Thompson and Renee Schultz, along with Springfield, Ill., Associate Karen Siciliano and Owensboro, Ky., Associates Doreen Abbott and Dan Heckel at the convocation. Associate Rosann Whiting, from Paducah, Ky., attended the opening reception representing the event sponsor, the Ursuline Education Network, where she serves as executive director. The theme of the convocation was “Celebrating, Converging, Expanding Angela’s Family.” The keynote speaker was Sister Teresa Maya, a Saint Angela member of the Congregation Merici statue of the Sisters of Charity of in St. Louis the Incarnate Word of San Antonio. Her words explaining
Ursuline Associate of Mount Saint Joseph Karen Siciliano, left, and Ursuline Sister Mary Ellen Backes, both of Springfield, Ill., share a laugh after visiting the displays.
Ursuline Associates of Mount Saint Joseph Joanne Thompson, left, and Renee Schultz, center, both of Kansas, meet Rosann Whiting, an Ursuline Associate from Paducah, Ky., prior to the opening ritual. Whiting is executive director of the Ursuline Education Network, which was sponsoring the opening evening.
charism continue to resonate with Joanne Thompson. “Every encounter we have with another person is the creation of connectivity with the charism of Saint Angela and Jesus Christ – and this is how the charism continues to connect us all with each other,” Joanne said. “It grows extending the charism of Saint Angela and Jesus Christ beyond ourselves such that the encounter may so affect that person that it extends into the future and into every encounter and relationship that person may have. Since learning this, I am witness to it and can see it in action. It is so powerful that it has encouraged me to be more hospitable, understanding, merciful and loving. This knowledge has made me act, move and believe.” Joanne was also inspired by Sister Larraine Lauter’s breakout session “Of Beds and Boats: A Conversation of Possibilities.” “Looking at Saint Angela as in a crystal multifaceted face, with many angles and reflections, holding
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