At the moment, both extended leadership teams of CJ and ibvm are gathered in Loyola for their resective Extended Leadership Meetings as well as meetings together.
You will find daily recaps of the meeting(s) here (newest entry first, to read eder entries, please scroll down):
Daily Recaps
Final day
The 2024 Loyola ELM came to a conclusion today. The CJ participants continued their work, focussed on the topic of finance and the future of Via Nomentana. The final session was filled with joy and gratitude for the opportunity to get to know the IBVM and the CJ members and growing together as One Body.
IBVM participants travelled together to San Sebastian to celebrate the service of Geraldine McAleer, outgoing Institute Treasurer.
The ELM concluded with a Eucharistic celebration of gratitude for the gifts received during this time together. Each Province, Region, and Generalate Leadership Teams were given a candle from Loyola to bring home to share light and joy of Being One. We continue to walk the path together as Mary Ward women.
DAY 12
IBVM and CJ participants spent the day apart, in their respective groups, for some time to process the previous days and to discuss specific congregational issues. Participants came together at the end of the day for a Eucharistic celebration.
DAY 11
The day was spent reviewing the IBVM Capacity for Life and Ministry Assessment conducted by L&P. With a focus on mission sustainability so that the Mary Ward charism can be continued into the future. Participants also took time to give a heartfelt thank you to Sr. Geraldine McAleer for her many years of service as Institute Treasurer, supporting Sisters, Provinces, and Regions across the world. We welcome and thank Sr. Hellen Oluch who assumes the role going forward.
DAY 8 – 10
DAY 7
CJs shifted tables this morning, while IBVMs stayed put, to create new table sharing groups. The morning began with faith sharing, followed by plenary sharing on what was resonating within participants from the previous day.
The focus of this day, the final day together with the Discerning Leadership team, was to gather the graces of the past three days, recognize them, and contemplate how to bring them back home.
Participants were invited to form triads and develop creative expressions / statements of the graces of this time, whether in video form, dramatic representation, artwork, or song. These creative statements were shared with the large group.
In the afternoon, participants were invited to continue their reflection of the graces received over the past three days, going deeper into conversation in their triads and sharing in the large group.
The day concluded with a Eucharistic celebration in the chapel of conversion of St. Ignatius.
Day 6
IBVMs shifted tables, while CJs stayed put, to create new groups for faith sharing on the readings of the day. The group became grounded in the grace of the day: to live our truth, together for mission.
The day’s focus was to deepen our intimacy, to show up authentically, to begin voicing our hopes, fears, tendernesses, with the hope of deepening our body which is in formation.
The morning was spent in retreat-like contemplation of three questions:
- What tenderness, concern, or fear am I holding as I consider our future together?
- In colloquy with Mary Ward and Jesus, I am invited to bring what I am holding and share it with them.
- What awareness does this awaken in me? What grace do I ask for to move forward with hope and courage?
Following personal reflection, participants engaged in spiritual conversation in triads, followed by plenary sharing in the large group.
In the afternoon, participants continued to share on the morning’s prayer, finding resonance in the importance of sharing our unique voices. A brief Q&A time was spent with Sr. Carmel and Sr. Veronica responding to practical questions concerning the merger. The day ended with a Eucharistic celebration.
Day 5
IBVM and CJ participants gathered together for the first day of joint meetings. We rejoice in this historic moment!
Sr. Carmel, IBVM and Sr. Veronica, CJ shared some opening words of welcome to the combined group. Here are Sr. Carmel’s words:
Good morning, Guten morgen, Beunos Dias, joh-eun achim-ieyo, Dobre rano, bom dia, buna dimineata, yo regelt, buongiorno.
On behalf of all IBVM participants, I want to assure you that we are in unanimous agreement that the time for merger is now. It is here, now is the moment. We are at one in truly believing that these three days with you will be the start of something wonderful for the Church and for the service of God’s people – a significant moment of renewal and revitalization.
Loyola represented a place of transformation and conversion for Ignatius. Here he experienced a restlessness, an opening to divine awareness where God spoke to him in unexpected ways. Since coming here, we have discovered anew how prayer gives us the wider view. In the time apart, David and Pablo helped to create a space for love and togetherness where the movement of the spirit was evident, in fact tangible. We gave thanks for our shared Ignatian heritage and charism which has stood the test of time. We join you today as MW /TB women. We come in faith and respect. We look forward to building relationships of deep trust. We carry with us all of our members, our friends , families, colleagues and co-workers, who are praying with us during these precious days of adventure.
Since our arrival, we have been reflecting on our initial YES. Yesterday’s YES is a deeper YES today. We are here under God’s loving gaze, each willing to meet the spark of the divine, to encounter Christ in the other. We assure you that we feel blessed to journey together, appreciating and honouring the God-seed of both congregations. Our prayer is that we will have the extravagant disposition that MW and TB exemplified. We are moved to be at the service of the future, mission focussed and asking: What more can we do for Christ? Merger is the culmination of a long process, of a deep desire for union. We feel the presence of a great cloud of witnesses, IBVM and CJ women who loved Christ and shared his values with those they met. Since the first Loreto foundation in Rathfarnham, God has moved well ahead of us. Before we ended yesterday, Jane shared a strong image of Teresa Ball with her white handkerchief, raised in blessing and gratitude as she encouraged us to GO. So here we are this morning with full hearts, some curiosity, a little trepidation and secure in the knowledge that He who gave us the initial inspiration and grace to say Yes to union with you all – our CJ/MW sisters – will bestow upon us abundant grace to continue the Yes.
Jesus say Amen
Sr. Veronica’s welcome message (summary):
First of all, I would like to say a very big thank you to each and every one for being here this morning. Not only physically but here with open hearts, open minds, happiness in each single face being here this morning. Thank you for this disposition. I think we should save it in our heart as we save files in our disks. This moment of being sure, being aware, we are deeply touched, we are really ready, we are happy for this moment of journeying together has come closer. Now, we get up and walk together. My CJ Sisters, excuse me when there is a repetition. When I welcomed the CJs, I quoted a poem, called Journeying Together – an indication of the way ahead
The right way is always the way,
that we walk together.
No distance is too far for me,
let me be surprised.
Curious about you
And our way – adventure
Without ifs and buts …
Participants began the day with faith sharing prayer at their tables. The morning was spent getting to know one another on a deeper level, starting with some fun physical mapping exercises illustrating the diversity of age, years in religious life, geographic origin, and preferences like ocean or mountain, Martha or Mary, and introvert or extravert, among others.
Participants were then invited to take an Emmaus walk with a Sister from the other branch and share their stories of their journey of Becoming One, whether an experience of the first few days of this ELM gathering or a many-year journey of discovery.
After lunch, participants were invited to continue to deepen knowledge of one another by reflecting on three questions:
1. What was it that inspired me to enter religious life as a Mary Ward sister?
2. What were one or two defining moments in my journey since?
3. What sustains me now in this calling?
After quiet reflection, table groups took time to share the fruits of their contemplation. The day ended with sharing in the large group and a reflection using the Examen Prayer, followed by Eucharist.
DAY 4
The day began with faith sharing in small groups with the gospel of the day. The morning’s conversations focused on identifying and responding to the needs of members in regions and provinces and how leadership teams with respect to the whole merger process.
Our facilitator led us through a presentation and reflection on change management and the tools of attractor and container in creating stability and honest dialogue and transforming space in creating disturbance. In processes of change, both stability and disturbance are necessary, in the right balance.
The afternoon session focused on individual reflection and communal preparation for tomorrow’s joint meeting with the CJs.
The day ended with a Eucharistic celebration.
Day 3
The morning began with an extended time of personal prayer and reflection on the gospel passage of the wedding fest at Cana. What does this passage have to say to us about the upcoming merger? Drawing on and expanding the themes from the previous day, participants creatively expressed their hopes and desires for ‘oneing’.
Our facilitators led us through an afternoon reflection, including an Emmaus Walk, on the possibilities of Adaptive Leadership. What does this model have to offer to us? And how do we empower members as we journey along the path of ‘oneing’?
The afternoon session concluded with a gathering of the graces that were then celebrated at Eucharist.
Sunday is a free day for participants so stay tuned for photos of their adventures!
Day 2
Today had the flavour of a retreat day. It began with faith sharing in small groups on the gospel of the day and moved into morning and afternoon personal reflection on the theme of celebration of the people and ministries that have shaped the history of the IBVM.
The morning and afternoon were spent in remembrance, contemplation, and sharing. As one of the facilitators noted, when we gather for spiritual conversation, we are creating a container for spiritual resonance, a safe space for sharing at a deep level, touching the places of tenderness and poignancy within.
The day ended with a Eucharistic celebration to give thanks and gather the graces.
Day 1
The day began with faith sharing in small groups on the gospel of the day. Carmel welcomed the group to Loyola, noting the significance of this place of holiness and conversion for the conversations that will unfold over the coming weeks.
She gave thanks for each person’s ‘yes’ to serving on leadership and for their presence at this meeting. A special acknowledgment of Mary Wright’s absence and prayers for her.
After the Discerning Leadership team members – David McCallum, SJ and Pablo Bernal – were introduced, the group was led through a an icebreaker session and then a series of exercises reflecting on intention, desire, and the reality of this moment.
The day ended with a Eucharistic celebration to gather the graces.
Preparations for the meeting
