Left to right: Roma De Robertis, SCIC of Saint John, N.B.; Helen Danahy, SC, Halifax; Auréa Cormier, NDSC of Moncton, N.B.; Claudette Gallant, CSM of Sydney Mines, N.S.; Cecilia MacNeil, SC, Halifax and Franklyn Ferguson, CSM of Sydney, N.S. (NDSC photo)

Members of the Sisters of Charity Federation Maritime Project Committee met May 1-2 in Moncton, New Brunswick to share ways they advocate for systemic change and to set priorities for future collaboration.

Begun in 2008, the Maritime Project is mandated by leaders of the four Canadian-based Federation congregations to advocate for vulnerable women and children in areas of housing and social assistance, as well as for working persons living in poverty. Participating congregations are the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, Nova Scotia; Sisters of St. Martha (Antigonish, N.S.); Religieuses de Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur (Moncton, New Brunswick) and Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception (Saint John, N.B.).

The recent meeting was facilitated by committee chair Helen Danahy and hosted by committee secretary Auréa Cormier at the NDSC motherhouse. Committee members prepared elements of their 2013 annual report to Federation leaders who are meeting in June in Leavenworth, Kansas. The report will highlight ways the committee fulfils the call of the Federation and wider Vincentian Family to collaborate and advocate for systemic change. Committee members also outlined suggestions for their planned joint meeting with Canadian leaders set for Oct. 16 at Bethany Center in Antigonish.

Through networking, conferences and shared resources, committee members continue to deepen their understanding of social issues and the need for systemic change. They communicate with Sisters and Associates to raise awareness about their mandate and commitment. News about the Maritime Project is posted on congregational websites and has appeared on websites of the Canadian Religious Conference, SC Federation and Vincentian Family.

It seemed like a mixture of “My God, what happened!” and “Wow – that was awesome!”

Some 20 sisters and 20 associates from Federation Congregations up and down the west coast – from California to Alaska, from Vancouver Island to Alberta – gathered at Rosemary Heights Retreat House in Surrey BC this past weekend (April 19-21, 2013). It was a unique gathering – no other Federation Grassroots Gathering had included associates/mission companions (and a friend or two) – and it was billed as probably a once-in-a-lifetime event. The setting was green and gorgeous – spring in Vancouver, well-washed by rain – with the group taking over two wings of the large and comfortable Retreat House.

Three presenters anchored the time together – Sr. Julie Cutter DC, the Executive Director of the Federation, Sr. Kieran Kneaves DC, and Regina Bechtle SC-NY. With many coming confused or uninformed about who this Federation is that the sisters talk about, Julie gave an overview of how and why the Federation came to be, and its present members, structure and goals. She visually laid out the extent – as wide as the world! – of the Federation member communities at the present time, and in another presentation highlighted the current projects and concerns that form the corporate work of the Federation today.

Kieran, using the bell curve diagram of the life span of an organization – the same visual tool that she had used in other Grassroots Gatherings – refreshed the memory of many about the lifecycle of congregations and similiar entities. It proved to be a very useful new tool for associates and some sisters, enabling them to make sense of the happenings of present and past. Regina, in her inimitable, poetic, inspiring way led all into a deeper understanding of what the charity charism means today. Those for whom the word ‘charism’ was a bit ethereal found it getting more and more understandable as she spoke. Both spoke of the key insight of keeping pace with unfolding providence, running not ahead of it, nor lagging behind.

Woven before, through, and after the presentations were prayer periods, using resources that situated the Charity family in the midst of the universe story and its network of relationships, and grounded in periods of contemplative attention to the Word, addressed to the group at that moment. And the matrix on which all these elements rested were conversations and conversations and more conversations – in mixed table groups, in groups with common ministry or issues concerns, in social moments. In the evaluations, many remarks were made about the connections made with others in like ministries that would continue through email and the like and the insights and understandings that had come from the table conversations.

One associate, Imelda Kedge had this to say: “

As an associate of the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, I have been so nourished as I joined together this past weekend with an amazing group of women in listening, sharing and prayer. It was inspiring to look back at the history and development of the congregations and realize the strength, faith and courage that we have to draw on, and to listen to some of the individual ways that the charism of charity is being spread now. What a blessing! I returned home feeling impelled (in the words of one of the women in my group) to “be with” and “walk with” the people that I interact with in my ministries, being fully present in love. We were told this weekend that “The Future of Charity is Us!” I firmly believe that it is in good hands.”

In the quiet at the end of the gathering, the three presenters sat with the two organizers (Sr. Phyllis Giroux and Sr. Cecilia Hudec) and the evaluation papers from the participants. Not one major problem was noted! And the bounty of the weekend was heaped up in sentence after sentence. There were many calls to “do it again!” Each voiced their own sense of the awesomeness of the gathering, their sense of the uniqueness of the spirit and energy that they had experienced in the group. There was a sense that something had happened in this group that hadn’t in other such gatherings and we were left wondering what had given rise to that intangible something.

The Charity charism is alive and well on the sunset side of the continent!

[Show as slideshow]

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50143016n

• Living and praying together
• Hands-on service
• Reflection on justice and strategies for change

• Room and board included for participants at Seton House in Quincy, MA and Seton Spirituality Centre in Halifax, NS.
• No experience needed. Must be 18+.

Sister Margaret Rose Nickerson

Sister Margaret Rose Nickerson says she receives much more than she gives through her ministry at AIDS Saint John in New Brunswick.

“I recognize how poor I am and how rich those who are poor are for me,” says the Sister of Charity of the Immaculate Conception. As support coordinator, Margaret Rose journeys with those “infected and affected” by HIV-AIDS.

Offering non-judgmental listening, she helps them connect with government and non-profit service organizations.  Sometimes the ministry takes her to the Saint John Correctional Centre to visit clients and advocate on their behalf.

Living with HIV-AIDS “is only one part of their journey,” she explains.  They also deal with feelings of abandonment, alienation, poor self-image, anger and negative attitudes toward their sexual orientation.

“I feel blessed that they would trust me and share with me the very intimate parts of their life,” she says. In the midst of strained and painful lives, they inspire her with their courage and resilience, she adds.

Julie Dingwell, executive director of AIDS Saint John, says “Nicky” offers gifts of compassion and empathy among those suffering from poverty, addiction and disease. She recognizes how poverty can lead people to take risks which involve them in theft or the sex trade (prostitution), she adds.

Margaret Rose says her daily prayer is, “Lord, teach me what I need to learn to do to be a better woman of the gospel.” At AIDS Saint John, “I have received that from the very people I came here to help,” she notes.

Growing up in Saint John, she was taught by the Sisters of Charity, I.C. and entered in 1961.  As an elementary teacher for 16 years, she enjoyed the children and still laughs about one little girl who earnestly asked, “What did your mother say when she found out she had a baby nun?”

After a sabbatical Margaret Rose offered pastoral ministry at Holy Trinity Parish in Saint John.  From 1986-93, she then served in parish ministry at Holy Rosary Parish in St. Stephen, N.B.

“I was amazed and blessed by the gifts that came from the laity,” she says of her time in parish ministry. Besides “leading very busy lives,” they generously offered leadership in the parish and wider communities.

Supporting and Empowering Others

Her experience with persons with AIDS began when she visited a woman in hospital suffering from the disease. Lonely, frightened and abandoned by her partner, the woman expressed deep concern about her five children.  Visiting often, Margaret Rose accompanied the woman until her death.

At the time, someone suggested she might work with persons living with HIV-AIDS.  Returning to Saint John in 1993, she began to volunteer with AIDS Saint John and eventually moved into the paid, part-time position in which she continues to serve.

Annually since 1994, she has organized the local celebration of the International Candlelight Memorial Service featuring local dancers, professional musicians and singers who generously donate their time and talent. The service honours those living with HIV-AIDS, while remembering others who have died of the disease.

From 1993 to 2005, Margaret Rose also volunteered as a campus minister at the University of New Brunswick Saint John. “I have a great love for young adults,” she says.

Treated three times for cancer, she says illness has taught her about being peaceful and letting go. “It’s all beyond our control. The more you come to accept that, the more peaceful you are,” she adds.

She is also a former coordinator of Associates in the Sisters’ Atlantic region. “Associates give me hope,” she says. “I know that when we (Sisters) are gone, the charism will always live on in the hearts of God’s people who believe in that call from God.”

Margaret Rose says she has no fear about a lack of vocations. “We’ve empowered wonderful women and men to do God’s work. I do believe in the call of Associates and of other good people living the challenge of the gospel today,” she adds. (Debbie Lizotte photo)

Generations of Sisters and Daughters of Charity learned by heart that the central purpose of our vocation was to honor Jesus Christ by providing him “every temporal and spiritual service in their power” in the persons of the poor whom they served, including those “who through shame would conceal their necessities.”

Passed down from Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac to Elizabeth Seton, these words took flesh in the Sisters’ courageous service in time of epidemics like cholera, yellow fever, and influenza. In the late twentieth century, another plague blanketed the world with fear and shame – HIV/AIDS. Once again, Sisters of Charity were ready to respond to the grace of the moment and to honor Christ in the suffering members of his Body.

Today, an estimated 34 million people worldwide live with HIV/AIDS, including more than 390,000 children who were infected last year alone. Most of these people live in low and middle-income countries. Vincentian Family members in the U.S. and beyond serve persons with AIDS.

December 1, World AIDS Day, reminds us of the courage and compassion of those who ministered to persons with AIDS. Following are stories from a small sample of the many women of Charity who have ministered to persons with HIV/AIDS. They are Sisters of Charity of New York, Sisters of Charity of Halifax, Sisters of Charity of Convent Station, NJ , Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, KS and Daughters of Charity, among many others. Do you have a story to share? Let us hear it!

Click on the congregation name below to learn about their AIDS/HIV ministries.

Sisters of Charity of New York
Sisters of Charity – Halifax
Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, KS
Daughters of Charity
Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception

Back row: S Rosemary Moynihan, SC St. Elizabeth; S Mary MacFarlane, Sisters of St. Martha; S Donna Geernaert, SC Halifax; S Mary Elizabeth Miller, SC Nazareth; S Maureen Hall, SC Leavenworth; S Judith Lynn Gardenhire, DC-West; S Judith Fitzgerald, Notre Dame du Sacre Coeur; S Julie Cutter, Executive Director.
Front row: S Louise Gallahue, DC-St. Louise; S Jane Iannucelli, SC NY; S Mary Jo Ritter, SC Our Lady of Mercy; S Anita Holmes, SC Immaculate Conception; S Joan Cook, SC Cincinnati; S Marlene Mondalek, SC Seton Hill.

The Board met in New Orleans in October 2012 to enable special visits to the Sisters at the current House of Charity and to explore the construction of the new House of Charity. Thanks to Sisters Monica Gundler, Renee Rose and Claire Regan for keeping the mission of HOC alive.  The Board is formalizing their relationship with HOC in a Memorandum of Understanding.

The Board explored the following topics:

• Reviewed and edited the SC Federation Strategic Plan 2012-2017, based upon input from the June 2012 Annual Meeting. (see attached)
• The Executive Board of Seton Heritage Ministries shared their plans for building the Board and committees.
• Reviewed reports of collaborative Federation efforts, including the evaluations of the July 1970s and Beyond Gathering in Nazareth, activities of the Federation NGO office at the UN, and the planning for regional inter-congregational Grassroots gatherings to explore The Future of Charity is Now. Stay tuned.
• Gave input to the planners for the June 2013 SC Federation Annual Meeting in Leavenworth, KS. The planners chose the theme: Courageous Charity: Deepening Collaboration.
• Explored links with the Vincentian Family, including the participation of 22 Federation members at the September national meeting of the Ladies of Charity, opportunities for training in systemic change, and participation in the meeting of the Vincentian Family Leadership.
• Elected new Board officers: S Donna Geernaert as president, S Judith Lynn Gardenhire as vice-president, S Mary Jo Ritter as secretary and S Marlene Mondalek as treasurer.