Our annual gatherings here in Magheramore are an opportunity to look anew at where we have come from, spend time in this place in which we now find ourselves and wonder about where God may be beckoning or drawing us toward. .
This time for the Event CLT invited Bernadette Flanagan PBVM to share with us on the New Monasticism movement and they made sure everything ran smoothly during the day and we thank them for their planning and facilitation of the gathering.
We met in St Mary’s and between 60 and 70 sisters attended the sessions. As usual the Magheramore community’s hospitable and generous spirit gave a grounded reality to the Event
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Bernadette is Director of Research at All Hallows College (Dublin City University) she is author of The Spirt of the City (1999) and co-editor of With Wisdom Seeking God (2008) she is also author of Spiritual Capital (2012) and Embracing Solitude (2014)
We opened the Event with Morning Prayer which was prepared by Margaret Murphy.
We began with a ritual of remembering where each one of us has been – we remembered our countries of mission as we carried a picture of a flower and placed it at the center-piece. As we did so each representative said one word – which represented her country of mission.
Words included:
Generosity,
Hospitality,
Freedom,
Issat (Honour) – Pakistan
Challenge,
Friendship,
Love
Compassion
Gempalad (Thanks) – Midsalip
Hope
Friendship
In her presentation to us Bernadette described how men and women in all countries are seeking and searching. Many have spontaneously found a variety of ways of living with solitude and discovered the need for and benefits of times of silence. They are choosing to attend to the divine and create space in their ordinary lives for community, meditation, simplicity of life and contemplative prayer.
Seekers are turning to the wisdom of the spiritual guides of the past and of the present to find a path towards inner peace and tranquillity.
There were pauses during the session when we considered some reflection questions and shared some of our thoughts and insights on our personal and communal pilgrimage, with those near us and with the whole group.
We brought our time together to a close with Evening Prayer – A Ritual Celebrating Water led by Patricia McGuinness.
Sr. Anne Ryan
July 15th 2015
