"Remain In My Love"

Gospel Jn 15:9-11

Jesus said to his disciples:  “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.  Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”

One of the disciplines we were taught as children in our family was to remain closely connected to our parents, and to each other.  No matter what we were feeling, thinking, experiencing, the primary place to bring ourselves to was home.  There were no excuses for us as children to bring our concerns, and/or moral dilemmas elsewhere because our parents remained accessible to us; they practiced an open door policy.

As my sister and two brothers matured in age, with effort, we remained connected with each other.  We had a reputation for being a close-knit family. Fortunately for our various community circles we grew up in a loving atmosphere; some of us were demonstrative, some reserved in expressing affection.
We each had/have our own personalities, quirks, tastes, and opinions. 

As long we remained close to one another, and remained in one another’s love, we were able to persevere through conflicts and messy emotions; we were able to weather the storms of life together/with each other.
Because we remained in one another’s love, we were receptive to one another’s assistance in our youth to remain loyal and obedient to our parents’ love-based healthy teachings in the midst of conflicting values and faith practices in circles outside our family; because of the open door practice we discussed these with our parents and one another at home.

In today’s Gospel to remain in God’s love requires being available, being receptive; it requires work.  

You remain in my love if you keep my commandments; we understand the commandment to be 3 pointed: to love God, self, other.

This Gospel passages called to mind my family upbringing, and how we live community here in our novitiate from the time we arrived.  We worked through some serious transitions individually and together. 

We have built a community together: we grew from liking each other. We have been growing into loving and trusting each other:  challenges that led to heart to heart self-disclosures deepened our bond as a “band”. We shared laughter, tears, affirmations and challenges. We revealed vulnerability beyond expectations, well beyond my comfort zone. We persevered through some very personal and communal challenges.
Yes, we did this together.

Remaining in God’s love, we acquired new skills in loving self, other, God. With these skills we helped liberate some of our brothers and sister into their new found freedom to follow their own paths outside vowed religious life. Remaining in God’s love, we have gifted one another with our voice, our preaching, our presence, our courage, our feedback, our fine cooking, and sense of humor. 

Sisters, because in your quest you have remained loyal to your God’s love/truth for you, I have been liberated in my own discernment to enter more deeply into my own vocation, into this Dominican Way of Life, into deeper peace, joy. We have become liberators to one another.  The skills we learned and continue to exercise here will serve us well in our future community living situations and ministries.

By remaining in God’s Love through our Prayer, our Study, our Ministries, Community Life—we become what we preach with our lives: a Living Word, a Living Christ to one another in community, among our brother friars, inter-congregational novitiate, our classes,and  into wherever we go and do when we leave here in a matter of weeks. 

What would have happened had we not cooperated with God’s grace and remained in Christ’s Love? What would this year be like had we not utilized the various resources provided here and  assisted one another in remaining in God’s Love, in God’s Truth?

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Sr. Renee Asmar

How Beautiful Are My Feet?

This past weekend, we joined in the celebration of the Inauguration of Fr. Dave Caron as President of Aquinas Institute.  For the Inaugural Address, Fr. Dave invited Sr. Barbara Reid, a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids and Academic Dean at Catholic Theological Union, to speak. 

Sr. Barbara preached on the Letter from Paul to the Romans which concludes with, “How beautiful are the feet that bring good news” (Romans 10:8-15).  In her preaching, Sr. Barbara reflected on the many types of shoes needed for preaching.  Sturdy shoes to navigate the challenges of being a preacher...  Mismatched shoes that allow us to try on the shoes of others – experiencing their pain, joys and sorrows and bringing peace...  Communal shoes, shared by all, which allow roles to be shifted and shared.  And, finally, no shoes, feeling the ground in holiness... taking off our shoes in reverence of God and the creation that reveals God. 

Copyright (c) <a href='http://www.123rf.com'>123RF Stock Photos</a>

I have lots of shoes.  Some are for comfort and convenience.  Flip-flops allow me to check the mail, run around the house or to the grocery store without a lot of effort.  I can quickly take them off or put them back on.  I have hiking boots and trail tennis shoes which provide stability and safety in places that could otherwise be dangerous.  My primary shoes at the novitiate are black patent leather ballet flats.  They are fairly universal, but not perfect for any situation.  They can be worn with jeans, a skirt, capris, or just about anything, but don’t provide the safety that hiking boots do (although they look a lot better!).    I have heels which, although they don’t get taken out often, are perfect for weddings and special events.  I feel beautiful in them and they allow for twirling on the dance floor, but would mangle my feet if worn on a regular basis.  I have slippers that keep my feet warm on cold nights and in the morning when I’m stumbling down the stairs for a cup of coffee. 

To be honest, if I could, I would walk around barefoot all the time. Bare feet are humbling.  Feet are an area of our body that are covered up for ½ the year – more in colder parts of the country.  My feet are a little bumpy and I have high arches.  I have big feet and long toes.  My heels are rough and my skin is dry.  Even with all of that, they are the feet I have and serve me well.  My feet support me as I go to class and ministry.  They can bend when I need to reach the top shelf or need extra support to kneel down.  My feet were ritually washed during the Holy Thursday service at Sinsinawa last month.  This was a humbling experience, especially in the fact that during this 25^th Anniversary year of the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate, my feet were washed by one of the first women to dream of a CDN.  On a daily basis, we have our feet washed and wash the feet of others – we just don’t call it that.  We are constantly served and serve those around us.  Our washed feet are then enclosed by the shoes we need for the day -- whether sturdy, mismatched, communal, flip-flops or heels – and we go out to bring good news.   Hmm… What shoes will I wear tomorrow?

Jenn Schaaf   

Building a home in God's Love

Adela Langa, Dominican Sisters of Adrian

At the beginning of our time at the CDN, a wise man advised me to not let St. Louis become an airport stop, and I have to confess that I have been spending plenty of time in my internal airport.  And I think that’s what this canonical year has called us to do: to go deeper in our discernment, to dive in the pool of surrendering, to embrace God’s call to new life, to stay open to welcoming the unknown. 

 Airports are fascinating places.  A pause in between directions.  We come to the CDN sort of like arriving in an airport, each with our own bags, only to embark on a new journey together, but one on which we can only take whatever weight the airline we choose allows.  And as needed, we help each other place the bags in the appropriate compartments so that we can enjoy the trip rather than be confined to one position only, which would limit our ability to appreciate the view from various angles.

Our trip so far has had various layovers and each one has been an invitation to see God in all creation and to stretch the boundaries of our own hearts. As an immigrant, I have struggled to accept that for a while I do not have a ‘home country’.  Romania is my country of origin and yet this August is the 10th anniversary of my arriving in new lands.  I have chosen the U.S. as my home for a while but never quite decided that this would be my home as the Transylvanian lands kept calling me back.  Never has this pull been more challenging than during this time here at the CDN.  And yet it makes perfect sense that the time before embarking on a new plane, one looks at all other possible destinations.  

Have you noticed how when in an airport, we tend to look at appealing or intriguing places, and wish that we could explore more places but at the same time know that our chosen destination is the one for which we have prepared and then once again commit ourselves to enjoy the adventures that await us.  Sometimes we would rather take a new direction because we know that ahead of us lies the call to face challenging choices, to enter into difficult conversations, to confront our own limitations and prejudices.  Who wouldn't go to Hawaii on a cold, windy, snow storm type of day?  And yet, how beautiful the view when the snow sets, the wind calms down, and the sun comes out.

I have been neither here nor there, in between home lands, and yet, I have come to see how this is exactly where I needed to be.  In this discerning airport, I have had wonderful opportunities to allow people to love me as ‘the other’ and to love them as one who has been the fortunate recipient of abundant blessings.  

It’s so much easier to wash someone else’s feet and yet so much more vulnerable to allow others to wash ours.  Never underestimate though the loving gaze we receive as we place our naked feet in the hands of our Beloved God.  In this airport I have allowed God to touch me and now I can say with all my heart:  

My Lord and my God.   Your people will be my people because you have loved me first and in your love I have built my home.  

A CDN Experience of a Theological Reflection Sharing

An Experience of a Theological Reflection Sharing Within our CDN Communal Context

Our Collaborative Dominican Novitiate co-directors Sisters Joye Gros, OP and Megan McElroy, OP invited each of us novices to write a Theological Reflection on one event or incident experienced during our Spring break.  We were invited to reflect upon our overall round trip experiences within the Scriptural/Dominican Tradition. We were also to provide enough details so the readers/listeners back home would get a feel for the context in which that event took place.

We emailed everybody our personal reflection in advance so everyone could join in with qualifying questions, and or comments when we met as a group.

We gathered in the comfortable space of our living room where Joye gently facilitated our sacred sharing within a contemplative ambiance.  The format was as follows: First, we were invited to silently read the reflection about to be discussed. The volunteer then read her own reflection followed by a moment of quiet. 

We were asked, “What would the culture say about this?” We could define culture any way we were moved and reply accordingly. Each of us shared within a rhythm of quiet moments our thoughts/feelings, weaving our personal/scripture based insights as broken open the bread of our Dominican tradition together with Eucharistic reverence.

While sharing together as a community; I felt inspired by each of my sisters.

I experienced being stretched/expanded into multi-faceted thinking/insights and fervor.  I was led into a lingering invigorating visceral reaction of hope for the future of Religious Life in discerning a call to action!

Please read the enclosed personal reflection in light of what I just shared.  Thank you very much.

Personal Theological Reflection:  

“OUT OF THE DEPTHS I CRY TO YOU, O’ LORD”….

GLOBAL EVENT: 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women

PLACE: United Nations in New York from 4 to 15 March 2013

PRIORITY THEME:  the “Elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls”

FOCUS ON TWO KEY AREAS: “prevention of violence and the provision of support services/responses to survivors of violence

What: the workshop I attended was called “Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment”

Registration: I signed the book, “The Collaborative Dominican Novitiate” because in solidarity for the Mission, we hold to, "Where one Dominican is, All of Us are-Together".

Who: 3 women panel one whom described (UNFPA) United Nations Population Fund (formerly United Nations Fund for Population Activities). In this session, the panel reported on Ethiopia, Nepal, and Netherlands. These 3 women also facilitated questions and conversations from the floor.  Present were speakers from at least 16 countries.  To name a few: Ethiopia, Nepal, Netherlands, India, USA, Canada, Nigeria, Haiti, France, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Canada, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Myanmar, Philippines, and Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malawi

Content discussion: Mission goal of the (UNFPA): “delivers a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person's potential is fulfilled, because everyone counts;  UNFPA's gender framework incorporates four strategies that address critical factors behind inequalities and rights violations: girls' education, women's economic empowerment, women's political participation and balancing reproductive and productive roles”.  

UNFPA also “brings gender issues to wider attention and promotes legal and policy reforms to end gender-based violence, including traditional practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting as well as pre-natal sex selection. It recognizes the rights, perspectives and influences of men and boys and seeks to involve them in promoting gender equality and improving reproductive health”.

Content ranged from specific graphic case stories of violence representative of this global phenomenon to culturally sensitive and human rights based approaches.  Horrific graphic and hope-filled facts were provided as well as underscoring the challenge of acquiring accurate info regarding legislation/policy implementation in each of the countries giving progress reports.

The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor; Emerging Hope

I felt buoyed and affirmed when many Dominicans were cited for having initiated the development of and opened safe-houses/shelters in several countries.  Working in collaboration with other congregations, full service operations are being provided for victims. Services within these safe houses include group and individual therapy, education, finance management, and other well-rounded skills of empowerment for re-building one’s life.  

Emerging effective practices in various countries now include focusing on diagnosing root causes of men/women’s violence against women. St. Dominic, joyful voice/lover of The Word, believed in people, that good/ God resides in people. 

Through delicate interpersonal skills, many Dominicans in collaboration with inter-congregational/inter-faith religious/lay women and men are catalysts in motivating perpetrators to provide answers as to why they target women, youth, and children.  

Evidence of women abusing women is surfacing; Middle East Moslem countries were among those named. Graphic cases were read.  Invited victims in recovery were not given visas to the USA where the UN is located.  Power points and letters with photos were provided; one way or another message is being voiced. 

Collaborative Gospel-Led Leadership –

In the face of this looming horrific global endemic, what can I do?  What can I offer? Key action words that resonate with me about our Dominican Tradition:  we are called to be collaborative Itinerant Preachers as Jesus, who aligned Himself with the broken, the poor, and the victims. Y

et, inclusive loving Jesus dined with the oppressors; he called a tax collector; he was present to the just and the unjust alike.  I too am called to be Jesus, a voice of the voiceless, a living bridge, and a human bridge-builder, engage in networking, net casting and net-mending. Everywhere Jesus went, He revealed Himself as blessing, reconciler, healer, teacher, preacher, yet he never imposed Himself on anyone.  

Jesus invited and accepted invitations. Jesus was rooted in prayer, centered in God, grounded in his baptized identity as Beloved. 

Jesus needed his community of disciples to be about God’s Mission. We have the Order to assist us in living out our call, the wide Family of Dominicans to support us in collaboration with religious and lay in over 98 countries.  (Leadership in 51 countries has signed on to “COMMIT” to implement legislation to criminalize and end violence against women and children.) How do I exercise my inner authority aligned with Jesus? 

I am called to build relationships, to “cross boundaries and bridge the divides” through education, preaching, and presence.  

As a community, we are called to name and work through our resistances as a corporate body necessary for organizational change to meet the needs of Mission towards wholeness, fullness of life/Reign of God.  

We are to affirm the individual, and yet help engender a corporate identity of Gospel courage that speaks truth to power.  

In my prayer, an image I have in prayer is we holding each of these women and children close to our hearts, imaging that Jesus with us in a circle holding them, healing and loving them into strength, personal power, fulfillment of their life.

                                                                                                                                                                

Sr. Renee Asmar “A Spring CDN Journey Theological Reflection”                                       

Feasts of St. Patrick/St. Joseph; March 17/19, 2013

Farewell from Alexa

In his Chronicles of Narnia series, C.S. Lewis created a peaceful place called the Wood Between the Worlds. Scattered amid unfolding growth of grass and trees were a series of glistening pools—each leading to a different world. In the story, some children journey to a pool of a ruined magical palace, a pool containing Narnia, and a pool containing modern London. I have come to the realization that I was trying to live in two pools at the same time, and unable to fully live into either. There is the beautiful world of religious life and intimacy in community, and there is the world of fully expressing my art and imagination. In the last few weeks, I have found myself in a place like the peaceful woods, and knowing that I needed to choose which path to continue on. With the help of my community here, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, I have come to the difficult decision of journeying on in a pool different from religious life. I may return to the Wood Between the Worlds in the future, but for now I have a sense of both sorrow and peace that my journey is taking a different road. I thank everyone for their prayers, support, and love during my time of discernment—you will always be with me. Namárië, mellon nin

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,

And though we pass them by today,

Tomorrow we may come this way

And take the hidden paths that run

Towards the Moon or to the Sun.

— J.R.R. Tolkien

Read my blog at:
http://imaginationlane.net/blog

Is this Dominican Collaborative Novitiate Worth It?

This is just where I am at….

Short of the sayings scholars attribute to Jesus in the scriptures, I never in my wildest imagination fathom such a quality of life on this side of the grave, as I am experiencing here in this Novitiate. 

Neither in my lifetime, have I ever tasted such deep abiding joy, peace, grounded-ness, and growing capacity for love, not like this.  And, I had a pretty good life; I have been blessed even in the midst of hard knocks.

But then again, neither have I ever had the dedicated opportunity --within a genuinely loving and capable community guided by top shelf leadership—to discover and do the hard work of addressing aspects of my life in need of care. Yet, without it, I would not know what it is like to experience interior freedom, and desiring more of Jesus, love of learning with longing for God.

Neither would I come to discover that without this interior-life work, l could not live out this deepening emerging “Yes”, the birth of a new Hope, a new down-to-earth-courage, and a new interior strength with my vulnerability.

I have “tasted” God. I have “tasted” the Holy. I am becoming increasingly aware of myself as “beloved”.  What is happening within me in this Dominican Way of Life is setting me on fire.

The inclusive love that God has for each of us; this Passion God has for all of humankind through this Dominican Way of Life is wooing and empowering me to giving my all to that “which first loved me”.

Before entering the Order of Preachers, I had thought such poignant, penetrating intimacy with God short of cloistered life or being a “mystic” was nearly impossible. This Novitiate unearthed my hunger to be fully human, holy. Who would ever think?

But-- To now experience “Study” as actual “religious experience”, arousing a serious passion for God from my womb through the intellect is new for me.  How can this be?  Only contemplation effects this movement within me on this level, so I thought…..!

Jesus has become more real, alive, and vibrant, self-revealing in ways I never believed or considered possible.  At times it feels like infused mystical grace, direct taste of God.  It started with Preaching 1 and now this course on Matthew is deeper than “building or expanding credentials for the Mission.

For me, living this Communal Collaborative Dominican Way of life and utilizing the resources as fully as possible each and every day ends up being a remarkable life-giving experience beyond conception. 

Through this CDN journey, through my novitiate community and the plethora of resources provided here, I became gripped in a process of community-building with intense inner work to a point of no return. 

I feel as though I have been through a metamorphosis of some kind, as though I have died, and am being “re-born”, being “re-configured”; I cannot explain it.

I have entered inner caves of deep dark shadows, at times with only my trust in my director Joye each week to guide me!  

I continue to discover new thresholds into expanding personal power, intimacy with Jesus, and love for people, and our cosmos, compassion for creation, and....for our Order of Preachers.  

A new hope is being birthed.

No one ever told me that this would happen. No one ever told me it was possible to experience life and love as becoming fuller in such a deeply personal and yet resourceful way.  No one even mentioned to me that this sustaining “Yes” that re-emerges from my womb to intellect is only possible for me personally because of this hard, vulnerable inner work!     

When I have trusted in God, I admit that I have never been disappointed....

This Lent is a process of coming to terms with what is life-giving, life-enhancing.  I am being made to face a new dimension of “personal power”, in my being aligned with Jesus, what a shift from past Lenten experiences!

With each letting go of what is “dead”, with each emptying, I experience increased capacity for life and love, for another “yes”.

Is this Dominican Collaborative Novitiate worth it? 

Sister Renee-Jacqueline Hala Asmar

Novice Member of the Order of Preachers

March 7, 2013

Anniversary of my Confirmation

Rewriting Lent

This Lent, I have chosen to take time to rewrite some of the devotional prayers from our Catholic tradition.  I've begun with those that have to do with Mary.  (Yes, I know this is probably more appropriate for Advent, but that is where I am at the moment.)  So, for this blog post, I'm going to share my version of the Angelus.  A version of the Angelus can be found here: http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/the-angelus.html

Jenn


A small quiet voice stirred Mary,
her attention brought forth new life -- God within her.

Dear Mary, faithful child, God is in you.  
You are filled with blessing, as is the child you carry.
God's holiness is within you, 
you are called to share that holiness with women of all ages.

Pay attention!  Mary has given her life over to God.
Let me do the same -- living in your Word.


Dear Mary, faithful child, God is in you.  
You are filled with blessing, as is the child you carry.
God's holiness is within you, 
you are called to share that holiness with women of all ages.

What was written of God has become real
and is here among us.


Dear Mary, faithful child, God is in you.  
You are filled with blessing, as is the child you carry.
God's holiness is within you, 
you are called to share that holiness with women of all ages.

Pray for us Mary, carrier of God,
that we will live up to what God has called us to be.

Fill us God with deep faithfulness.  Let it flow through our bodies.  We know of your self-giving act.  We too have heard that still small voice.  Although we will encounter pain and sorrow in our lives, may we also encounter the fullness of life and the new life experienced in Mary.  May you always be with us O Wisdom and may those we love -- here and gone -- be at peace.  Amen.