Summer 2007, Volume 50, Number 2

Weaving a New Spirituality of Hope and Life
by Joy Peterson, PBVM

In early May, I had the opportunity to travel to Rome for a meeting with 850 other women religious from around the world. We came together to be “challenged to weave a new spirituality which generates hope and life for all.” Sitting among women at my discussion table from the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and North America, I welcomed the new fabrics that would be made from our conversations and commitments to each other.

The task of the assembly was to hear the cries of those made poor around the world and to find common ways to address those cries. The keynote presentation gave us the lens through which we would proceed. The
speaker challenged us to root our lives in the Word of God who “has seen the misery of my people…heard their cry…known their pain…come to deliver them.” (Exodus 3,7) The subsequent presentations gave us an opportunity to hear calls for deliverance from the indignities against wounded Earth, against the displaced, against women and to support dialogue among believers of all religions.

At the end of the assembly we committed ourselves to network and use the power of our collective voice to denounce unjust laws and structures which exclude people on such bases as gender, religion, culture; grow in an ecological awareness and express this in concrete and consistent choices; encourage a vision of church as communion where a real partnership with laity is lived; and promote all forms of dialogue, and, in particular, inter-religious dialogue, recognizing our common responsibility for humanity.

The fabric of hope begun in Rome will be deepened in November of this year when nearly 90 Presentation sisters from around the world will gather in Bangalore, India, to listen to “The Cry of the Poor…The Cry of Earth.” The seven Presentation sisters who attended the Rome assembly will also be in Bangalore. There we will hear stories from our sisters who minister in some of the most impoverished countries on Earth. We will take the commitments from Rome and give them a Presentation flavor.

Nano’s yearning, “to be of service in any part of the world,” continues to be a reality in her daughters. And her reminder that there is “no greater joy than to be in union” impels us further in our Presentation commitment to address suffering from a global perspective. God’s desire for the liberation of all continues to urge us “one pace beyond.” It is both a privilege and a challenge to weave my efforts with such a dream.

Pictured above: L to R: Sisters Catherine Cleary, New Windsor, New York; Anna Fewer, West Australia; Pam Donelan, Aberdeen, South Dakota; Terry Abraham, Union of Presentation Sisters, Ireland; Maureen Watson, Wagga Wagga, Australia; Joy Peterson, Dubuque, Iowa