APPENDIX TO RECAPTURE THE DREAM
QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL REFLECTION
© Elizabeth West LCM 1989 – 2002
"In the end, the lion is God"
-Masai saying-When Mary Potter began her spiritual journey, she, like most of us, practiced her faith in terms of duty. She had given an intellectual assent to the belief she had in Christ and in the Church. But, over the years of her suffering and her searching, God himself intervened. He led her into the wilderness and revealed himself to her. It was not she who found God, but rather, God who found her, and devoured her with his love.
In many ways, the same thing is true for us. We spend our years searching for God. Searching for ways to find him, to deepen what we believe is our relationship with him. We stalk God searching for his footprints in our lives or the signs of his passing. But do we stand still long enough to let God find us? In truth, it is God who is the hunter, and we are his prey. In the words of the Masai saying given above, there is a deep reality - in the end, the lion is God.
But how do we break down the traditions of our belief and practice of our religion? How do we come to a point of understand that our faith is not something we 'practice', but rather something that we experience at ever deepening levels - something that emerges from a relationship with a God who is beyond anything we can imagine? One way is by subjecting ourselves to a personal and deepening reflection and prayer – times when we stand still, and seek to make ourselves vulnerable to God.
In the experience of Mary Potter, God entered her life and swept before him all the conceptions she had about what it was to be a 'good' Christian, a 'good' daughter, and a 'good' religious. She had to let go of much that had previously given her comfort, and face the reality that God is - and that drew her into the wilderness, a wilderness of love.
The questions that follow are simply a means of reflecting on the patterns of our lives. They emerge from the life experience of the founder herself, they are prompted by that life. Perhaps they might help us - individually and collectively - to let go our fears and our illusions about ourselves, our faith, our God, and walk into the wilderness with that lion who is God, unafraid and at peace, even with the limits, the apparent mistakes, the inadequacies of our little lives.
The questions are drawn from each chapter of the work " To Recapture the Dream ". In the first section, the questions revolve around our personal lives and God.
They are not meant to bring us into confusion, but simply to give us a chance to identify and own any areas of our lives that block us from letting God have his way with us. At the end of each section of personal questions, there are one or two questions, which could be used for community or small group discussion, or simply a sharing between friends, on some of the areas touched upon.If the questions are useful and valid - then use them, if they are not, perhaps you can formulate some of your own - and share them around with others, so that together, we may come to know the God who hungers for us.
SECTION ONE
*** CALLED BY NAME ****
Every Christian is called by name into a special relationship with the Lord. The foundational experience for Mary Potter was of a profound entry into the mystery of a God who loves with a passionate yet gentle intensity, an experience of his great desire for his own to leave themselves open to Him.
In reflecting on the grace given to Mary Potter over the years of her growth into God, it is possible to notice the change that occurs in her. She leaves behind the precocity of one who thinks that she can some how appease God by multiplying practices of piety, and moves into a deep still relationship with Him, which leads her to seek to do always that which is most pleasing to Him.
Mary's journey - as she chronicles it in her Obedience notes and her Autobiographical notes – shows us a way of touching the moments of grace and blessing that we have experienced, and also show us the way of owning the areas of darkness or shadow that might prevent us from responding as fully as we might, to the call of the Lord of all life.
It may help, in reflecting on these questions, to write down your own experiences, to remember (i.e. to put together again) your own journey into that God.
CHAPTER ONE
For Personal Reflection
* Looking back over my life, can I remember the moment that God became a personal (experienced) reality to me? What triggered that experience? What was the result of that experience in my life? (How did it change me?) What did I do with that experience? (e.g. Remembered it? Forgot it? Became stuck in it?)* What effect did my particular family upbringing have on my relationship with God? What were the experiences of my growing up, of family and of friends, that shaped my relationship with my God - how did my experiences of love, loss, grief, joy, etc., formulate inside me, an image of God that was positive/negative?
What - if anything, broke that image of God apart for me?
* How does my image of God affect my prayer life?* Can I recall the time when prayer and religious duties stopped being a "duty" and started being a response in love to my God? What brought about the change?
* What impact has illness, loneliness, isolation, and ageing, had on my spiritual life? Has it deepened it? Blocked it in any way? Made it difficult to live? What have I done in these moments? (i.e. What is my response to God in times of darkness - how do I wait for God then?)
***Community reflection***
What kind of community attitudes best help to develop an individual's spiritual life? Does the community have a responsibility to the individual to provide a faith support in the journey to God, or is it an individual's own journey, and therefore only her responsibility?CHAPTER TWO
* To live the Christ life - that is, a life that is totally God centred and open - it seems that it is necessary to strip oneself of self, in order that Christ may come to reign in my heart. What are the ways in which I strip myself of the selfishness and need to control that may block my relationship with the God who seeks to live fully in me? What forms of penance, discipline, whatever I like to call it, do I
practice in my life? Is such discipline necessary for me? Do I tell myself that it is not?* Have I ever had an experience of being misunderstood ? What effect did this have on me? What did I do about it? Have I had an experience of being misunderstood regarding where I am with God? What effect did this have on my ability to share my faith journey with others? What do I fear most about
talking about my journey in God with others (e.g. my director, a friend, community?) Why Do I fear this?
* Am I faithful to the movement of the spirit in my soul? Am I aware of that movement? Do I follow the promptings of the Spirit to act justly, love tenderly and to walk humbly with my God - even if that might bring some conflict or pain into my life?
* Do I live the reality of life that myself and all other people are made in the image of God? Is this merely an intellectual assent to a truth, or do I actually treat other people with the respect and love that the God who dwells in them deserves?
* What is my understanding of the phrase "living by Mary's heart"? Do I reflect on the love that Mary's life reveals to me, who has called to emulate her in all things, that Christ may be born in me?
* Do I accept True Devotion as the path to which I have been called to enter that my 'joy may be full? Why/Why not?***Community Reflection***
In what ways could we, as a community, assist one another in the spirituality to which we have been called - viz., True Devotion? Do we share our reflections on that spirituality - make it more open for one another? Do we share our reflections on what it is to live "one in the heart of Mary"?
Do we, as a community, live the commitment we have made, and assist one another in that? How is our act of abandonment (Act of Consecration) lived in this house? Do we live the availability we are called to live as 'another Mary, another Jesus' with each other, with the wider community?
CHAPTER THREE
* In what ways have I suffered in my life - physically, psychologically, spiritually etc.? In retrospect, has the suffering been a formative/growthful experience, leading me to
compassion and greater understanding, or has it entrapped me in some areas of bitterness, darkness,
anger, grief, pain etc.?* What helps did I receive during my time of suffering? How did I receive the human face of God - my family, friends, community, in the moments of my suffering and pain? What comforts did I receive from them? Have I been enabled by anyone, to receive and use suffering with grace and dignity? What effect has
this had on me?
* Do I ever reflect on the sufferings of Christ? Not simply the sufferings of his passion and death, but the other sufferings of his life - the leaving home and family, the loss of friends and relatives, the betrayals, the anxieties, the misunderstandings that he encountered in his life? What do the sufferings of
Jesus life, and his ways of dealing with them, teach me about suffering in my own life, and in the life of others?
* How do I cope with my own experience of poverty in suffering - e.g. having to be cared for by others, being restricted by age or infirmity etc.? How Do I relate to God in this?* Would I ever willingly choose to suffer if it would bring another being into peace and joy? In reality, could I lay down my life for someone, that they may have life?
*** Community Reflection***
How do we, as a community relate to each other when one of us is suffering? How do we show our love and concern for the other - how do we provide and sustain the compassion and concern that should mark us out as carers for each other and for the world? Do we love and understand those who suffer as we would like to be understood?
CHAPTER FOUR
* Has my interior life drawn me into a love relationship with the world in which I live? Have I grown in my capacity to love others - to live as charitably as I can - not because I should, but because God lives in you and in the hearts of his people?
* Do I share love with the heart of Jesus? Do I see the world with the same sort of compassion, care and undemanding love that Jesus had for his people, and has for me , or is there a breakdown in me somewhere that expects to receive love, but not necessarily to give it?* Am I committed to the task of giving public witness to the "hope that lies within you"? Do I live for and work for the time when the world - the whole world - will be made one and Jesus own dream for his people will be realized?
* Do I love the world enough to protest at the violence, the suffering, the destruction of the earth and its people - even if it costs me time, effort, energy and the good opinion of others? Do I believe that the role of the religious woman of the Little Company of Mary is to really seek to bring healing and
wholeness to the world - including the environment?
****Community Reflection****In what ways do we as a community support action for social justice and change? What are some of the prejudices that keep us back from being agents for peace, harmony and love in the world? In what ways does this community open its doors to others - to provide them with a home and haven? What witness do we give to the nurturing we are called to give to each other and to the world?
CHAPTER FIVE
* When I receive an insight or feel a moment of grace and enlightenment from God, prompting me to act in a particular way - Do I act upon it, or am I bound by ties of human respect? Are God's words to me "working words"?
* What does my consecration to Mary really mean to me ? Has it a reality that I live each day in a spirit of abandonment?
* Do I honour the heart of my Mother through a willing and open-hearted giving of self, to be molded by her into the person I was created to be? Is there a resistance in me to being so molded? Why?* Do I seek, in all the acts and actions of the day, within and without community, to express the maternal care and solicitude that Mary Potter would say is the hall mark of the institute?
* Am I fearful of becoming involved with others on a personal level, fearful of what they might think of you if they knew you. Do I hide my tenderness behind masks of control etc.? Am I afraid to love with the love of Mary's heart?
* Am I prepared to be Mercy to the people with whom I live and work? What prevents me from being an agent of that mercy and love towards others?
***Community Reflection***
As a community of women who are dedicated to nurture life in all its forms, how good are we at nurturing life within each other? What are the major blocks to integrating our lives in community with our personal spiritual being? If we have been called to be servants of the Lord, as Mary was servant of the Lord, how can
we best be servants of the Lord who dwells in each one of us?CHAPTER SIX
* Am I a person of courage? What does it mean to be courageous? What were the feelings I experienced when I acted courageously?* Is my faith and love of the Father in the Son, through the Spirit, strong enough for me to take new steps, or begin a new ministry? Have I got the sort of courage that would enable me to climb out of the boat and walk on water? If not, why not and what could I do about it?
* Am I in touch with the world that lives outside the convent/hospital door? Am I aware of the fragility, the difficulty of life as it is lived by those with whom I work - our lay staff, our relatives etc.? Am I/have I been insulated from the problems of
life by my vocation - even though that vocation called me to a world in need?
* What is my physical reaction to dirt, disease, and all the associated problems of material poverty and human degradation? In the secrecy of my heart, is there a belief that the poor could really be better if they tried to be?* How trusting am I of people?
* Do I love the poor, the lonely, the orphaned, the drug addict, the aids sufferer, the homosexual, the lonely, the adolescent? Do I love them enough to bid them enter my heart, my home? If not, why not?
***Community Reflection***How does this community express its loving presence to the world that cries for friendship, care, consolation, hospitality, prayer, spiritual growth, worksharing, etc., etc. Is what this community is doing enough? What more could we do if we tried?
SECTION TWO
***Forming the Heart of the Institute***
CHAPTER ONE
* When Mary Potter began her institute, she laid down clearly, that True Devotion was the Spiritual pathway that the congregation was to follow. What part has True Devotion played in my life within the Little Company of Mary?* How has my understanding of True Devotion been assisted by the writings of the Foundress? What difficulties do I experience in the practice of True Devotion? What could I do to overcome this?
* What role does Mary, the Mother of Jesus, play in my life - is she truly present to me, or is she a sort of 'back door' to God?
* Has True Devotion led me to a deeper understanding of what real liberty of spirit means in the Christian life?
* Do I see myself as a servant/slave of the Lord - bound to love and serve him all the days of my life by the consecration of my Baptism and Consecration, and expressed as a total reality through my religious Profession?***Community Reflection***
What effort have we, as a community made, to assist each other to understand more clearly the spirituality to which we are heirs? What efforts have we made to
understand the writings of the founder, and the insights those writings give us to how we should be living our life in common? What further efforts could we make to educate ourselves in the truth of who we are called to be, individually and collectively?CHAPTER TWO
* What does the term "spouse of Jesus Crucified" mean to me? What does it mean in the way I live my life with others? What does it mean in the way I live my life with and for others, and my life in God?
* What does Mary's example at the foot of the Cross mean to me in the manner in which I live my life? Can I unite with her, and therefore unite with the desire of Jesus' heart, for the whole of his people?* Do I clearly understand that Jesus died for me, as if there were no one else to die for? What effect does this reality have on my union with such a God?
* The ordinal rule of the institute called all the members to unite with the offering of Christ on Calvary(the offering of each day's Eucharist). They were to offer their lives - to literally give God the choice of taking their lives, that another may have life. Is this a lived reality in my life? Could it be?
* Is there a tendency in me to avoid the full reality of what it means to be bound to a suffering Christ? Is there a tendency to want to avoid being an expression of the will of God? What helps have I to conquer this avoidance (i.e. faith supports)?
· Do I find my own maternal nurturing of souls in the Calvary theme of our Institute?
·
***Community Reflection***
* Do our community celebrations of Eucharist, and our prayers together, give a true expression of our commitment to our particular charism and call? What
could we do as a community to enliven and deepen our experience of Eucharist (liturgy): What could we do to enliven and deepen our being Eucharist for each other?
CHAPTER THREE* Do I have a realization that the truth of my life is that I am a saint? That I am a nutshell encasing God, by virtue of my Baptism? Do I celebrate the wonder of that fact - that Christ has been born in me and longs to be born of me?
* Do I see myself as a child of Mary? Can I relate to Mary as Mother - as one who has certain rights and privileges over me, by virtue of my consecration to her, as well as by virtue of my baptism? What response do I make to her? How do I live with Mary in my life?
* We have all been called to be as Mary was: She was a contemplative - a listener to God. What room do I make in my life to let my contemplative roots grow and flourish, or do I avoid them, saying that I need the active life?
* How motherly is my heart - to the community; to those to whom I minister; to the very least of the brethren? Do I sometimes confuse 'maternal care or solicitude' with dependency or possessiveness?
*Do I understand the meaning of Motherhood in terms of Mary - in terms of God?
* Does my prayer for the dying spring from my 'mother-heart', or is more a ritual - a custom - something to be 'got done', to fulfill the letter of the law?
***Community Reflection***
* What do we want this community to be for us? What has it offer us ? What have we to offer it? Is it reasonable to say that "the Community is indeed our Mother"? Is that how we are to one another - nurturing, caring, supportive, sustaining - not overprotective or demanding, not officious nor controlling?
CHAPTER FOUR
* How attentive am I to the voice of the Spirit in my life? What disciplines do I employ to keep myself
in touch with the Spirit?* Has the spiritual life lost its savour for me? Am I as passionate in my desire to be holy as you were in the days of my youth - in the days of my first entrance into religious life?
* Do I give myself time to come to know, understand and love God in all his dimensions? Has the work of my apostolate taken over my life to such an extent that there is no longer time to relax into prayer and simply enjoy God - and let him enjoy me?* Do I spend time reading and reflecting on the wonder of God? Do I pursue my spiritual 'profession' with as much intensity of purpose as I pursue my professional life?
* How much am I emptied of self, so that God's will may be done in me? What practices do I employ to empty myself of all that is not of God, remembering that the Spirit does not breath in softness?
* In my heart of hearts, am I really prepared for God to invade me and become the first principle of my life in every single thing? If not, why not?
* Do I let the Spirit of love lead me to love, or do I stop that Spirit before he is able to draw me out into the wilderness and make me entirely his own?* Am I afraid of being holy with the holiness of God - Do I prefer to be holy according to my own and the world's standards?
***Community Reflection***
How much are we, as a community, in touch with the Spirit of God? What efforts do we make, as a community, to discern our needs and the will of God for us? Do we apply principles of discernment when we are making decisions, or do we, more frequently, tend to make decisions from expediency, rather than from the
promptings of the spirit?
How do we, as a community listen to each other...mindful that the Spirit uses each one of us to give his truth? How much do we pray together for
guidance, and share the fruit of our reflection? Can each one of us hear the voice of God in the other, or do we sometimes see only the person we choose to see,
and not the reality of a beloved one of God?
CHAPTER FIVE* What part does Eucharist play in my life? Is my reality as a member of the Little Company of Mary, essentially bound to the Eucharist as the place of encounter?
* Am I a person of Eucharist? Am I prepared to be bread for those who hunger and wine for those who thirst - not simply when I choose to be, but all the time - in community and outside of it?* Do I allow myself time to be present to the Lord in his Sacramental presence? Does my schedule allow for that each day?
* Do I find strength and courage for the daily offering of myself in the celebration of Eucharist? Do I allow Christ to touch me in the moments of meeting with him?
* Do I unite with Mary in Eucharist - allowing the Son and the Mother to challenge me to deeper and deeper loving?
***Community Reflection***
In what sense are we a Eucharistic community - how do we express our commitment to being Eucharist to the world? In what ways could we develop a greater sense of being a eucharistic people? How could our liturgies express more clearly our sense of being bound to a Eucharistic Lord?
CHAPTER SIX
* What does my vow of poverty mean to at this point in my life? Has my perception of poverty changed since I first entered? Has my practice of the vow altered over this time?
* In what areas do I feel I fail my vow of poverty? In what areas do I feel that I truly live it? Has my vow of poverty made me more aware of the reality of poverty in the real world?
* Does my practice of the vow of poverty include a commitment to availability? In my mind, what is the relationship between the vow of poverty and the practice of availability and hospitality?
* Poverty, for the Foundress, was intimately connected with Calvary, where Christ abandoned everything that his people might have life. In what areas have I perhaps failed to live to the full the poverty of Calvary?
* Poverty also means stewardship. In what areas of my life and my ministry have I failed in my stewardship (i.e. failed to use my gifts, talents etc., for others; failed to care properly for the goods and possessions and the people, who support my ministry)?* Does my spirit of poverty enable me to live without gratifications - spiritual, emotional, physical?
* Do I depend on God's providence, or do I rather depend on the resources I can accumulate to provide me with the things I think I need?* In what areas do I feel that I have succeeded in the practice of my vow of obedience? In what areas is there room for improvement?
* Do I find the practice of obedience hard? Why/Why not?
* In the context of my religious life, what is my responsibility to my superiors? Do I think that the concept of religious obedience is valid in the world of today? Why/Why not?
* Christ was obedient even to death. Does my concept of religious obedience lead me to obey my superiors, even when I do not feel inclined to do so, or when I feel that they have not the right to place demands upon me?* What is my understanding of the meaning of discernment in relation to religious obedience? Am I open to entering into a discernment process with my superiors?
* Do I sometimes keep to the letter of the law with regard to obedience and poverty, yet fail to keep its spirit, by allowing a rankling and bitter spirit to rise within me when asked to do something, or when I feel the pinch of religious poverty?
***Community ReflectionIn what ways do we as a community - we as a congregation, fail to live according to the strict poverty to which we are called? What steps could be made to remedy this in our community? In our congregation? What is our commitment, as a poor people, to others?
How do we, as a community, practice our obedience? Are we as a community, convinced that we have been called to live lives under vow, and that our obedience calls us to live as religious women, not as members of a secular institute? Do we know the difference?
SECTION THREE
***Mission and Ministry***
CHAPTER ONE
* Do I understand my calling to the Little Company of Mary to be a calling to evangelization - that the kingdom may come in the world in which I live?
* Have I, over the course of my years in the Little Company of Mary, been anxious to evangelize through the Path of Mary, or have I not understood the importance that the Foundress placed on this in our lives? What could I do to redress the balance in my own life? What would I need to support me in this?
* Do I feel that I am part of a united body of people who are working for the same mission -(i.e. a mission of evangelization), or do I feel that my efforts mean nothing - that I do not have the skills necessary to speak about God and the things of God to others? Why do I have such insecurity?
* Do I feel united with my community in the tasks of the day, or do I feel isolated in my ministry, with no one really understanding what I do? What happens to my relationships with others when I feel that I am not appreciated or understood?
* Do I sometimes feel that my importance is only for the work I can do, and not for the gift that I am in myself? *Do I have a sense that who I am is less important than what I do? What can I do about this?* Do I have a tendency to come to prayer "full of my own dispositions", rather than coming to prayer humbly and simply, with Mary, to give to God the praise and glory that is his due?
* Do I love my sisters in community with a genuine charity and concern? What aids me in my love of my sisters?*What prevents me from loving my sisters in community?
* Is it possible for me to work with others in the community for the good of all - even when it means that my desires and hopes are not met?
***Community Reflection***
How do we, as a community, enable each one to share their gifts and talents? Do we really value the giftedness of the other? Do we sometimes use members
of the community for our own purposes - to get a job done for example - and forget to thank or affirm the other for what they have given to us?* Do we, as a community, share the responsibility we each have for the other? Do we care that one of us is having a hard time? Do we pray for each other in
spirit and truth? Do we build up the strengths of the individual rather than pull them down because they are not the same strengths that we have?
* Do we have an expectation that if any member of the community were in trouble of any kind, that they had a right to seek the community's support in that
trouble? Are we sometimes afraid of one another? Why?
* Does our community reflect the "hope that is in us", firstly to each of the members, secondly to the world in which that community shares - its immediate
environment?* What practical steps could this community undertake to build up its inner relationships, its inner life? What practical efforts could be made to
improve communication within the community?
CHAPTER TWO* Am I perhaps, a little shortsighted in my view of the world? Do I tend to concentrate on the issues that most concern me, and forget that I have been called to a vocation - a life-style that is for the world? Do I
pay enough attention to the global issues that confront and challenge the world? Is my view of the world blinkered by my own reluctance to see beyond my work, my life-style, my own desires for me?*How can I become a real citizen of the universe, in the same way as Mary Potter was a real citizen of the universe?
* Do I see that I have a responsibility for humanity as a whole, even as I know that my actual ministry will focus on a comparatively few people?*Do I pray - with conscious awareness - for the people of the world, for
whom no one prays? Do I pray, with conscious awareness for the unification of the world in Christ?
* Do I spend enough time reading and reflecting on world issues and events, do I then bring the fruits of that reflection into action ? How?
* Am I a self starter in educating myself for mission and ministry? Do I bother with keeping up with the Church and her vision for the world? Do I attend courses but fail to bring the fruits of those courses back to my community, to my work, to the church in my own area? Do I make resources available for others, so
that they may grow and develop greater capacities to be missionary for Christ?
* Do I long to save souls, or do I perhaps feel that that is no longer necessary?
***Community Reflection***
* What efforts do we make in this community to become people who are world aware? In our community discussions, reflections, prayer times, special times, do we ever relate our prayers to the conditions of various parts of the world? E.g. Do we feel that our prayers, sacrifices, etc., would make a difference - would we therefore initiate a day of fasting? a day of prayer? a holy hour? for the needs of some part of the world, or some world crisis? What has been the effect on the community if you have done this? If you have not, what has been stopping you?* How do we, as a community, act as an agent of peace, justice and reconciliation in the area in which we live? What local council, municipal body, environment committee, social justice, women's group, special interest groups do we have representation on? Is there a tendency in the community to focus on
internal situations, rather than on external ones?* Is there a possibility, for us as a community, to involve ourselves in other ways in the local area - e.g., to act as part time carers of children - part time or respite carers of the handicapped, part time voluntary officers in civil brigades (e.g. fire watch, emergency units, neighbourhood watch etc.)?
* How could this community take a more open stance in the community in which it lives? How could it open itself more to the world? What are the specific gifts and talents that the community has, that could be used in the service of the world? How could the community support those who - alongside their professional employment - chose to undertake volunteer services in other areas? What chance is there to give feedback to the community? How does the community view this additional ministry?
CHAPTER THREE
* Are there times in my life, when I forget that the primary purpose of my vocation is to pray for the dying, and that whatever my ministry, that remains the one thing necessary?
* Am I convinced, in my heart of hearts, that prayer and work for the care of the dying is relevant in our modern world? Am I aware of the numbers of those who die every day, without the benefit of any kind of care of presence? Do I consciously, in my mind and heart, seek out the lost and stray, and offer my prayers through Mary that she may bring grace and hope to those who need it most?
* Do I see myself, and my calling to the Little Company of Mary as having a specific task and function in the Church? Have I tended to see my role as a physical carer (e.g. as a nurse, social worker, pastoral worker, counsellor etc.), as my primary function, and my spiritual presence as secondary? What
has led me to this? Is it a true perspective of my vocation as an LCM?
* Do I make a conscious effort to be Mercy to the world of the dying sinner? Am I conscious of the need every one has to be loved in spite of their sinfulness, their shortcomings etc.? Do I love like this?
* Is there a tendency in me to find "exterior works so attractive" so that I tend to forget the inward works that have to be done as well? What can I do about this?* Have I a sufficient understanding of True Devotion to promote it amongst those with whom I work? Have I tended to think that it is example only, and not word, that is needed in my life and ministry? Do I have a problem expressing myself leading others to understand the Path of Mary? Is it due to my own fear, my own inadequacy, or due to my own reluctance to 'preach the good news', in case people think of me as a religious nut?
* Mother Potter saw nursing as an extension of care for the dying, a natural overflow of that concern for the dying. She did not see it as the only ministry available to the congregation. Do I permit other ministries to be carried on by my sisters, or do I perhaps feel that all LCM should be in the health care profession? How does this equate with the wide vision of my Founder?
***Community Reflection**** How do we, as a community express our concern for the dying in our lives together? In what ways do we promote ministries of prayer and work for the dying amongst those with whom we live and work?
* Do we, as a community, actively encourage our prayer for the dying among our senior sisters, our affiliated, and our youth? What ways could we make this prayer dimension of our lives more appropriate and applicable to the wider community?* In the primitive rule of the congregation, there were to be twenty-four hour watches for the dying. Could this be made a reality in this community by having all-night vigils e.g. once a month, once a week, every three months? Could this community feel free enough to involve others in such an endeavour (e.g.
Parish groups, youth groups, affiliates etc.)?
* Is there a sense, in this community, that are primary task is simply to staff, run, work in hospitals? If this does exist what problems does this pose for our own sense of relevance in the modern world, where health care is being taken over by the state or big business? How can we renew ourselves in the vision of our founder?CHAPTER FOUR
* Am I an "entire oblation of myself for the good of others"? Do I see that my life is an offering that another may have life?
* Do I seek to cultivate that warm and generative love that is characteristic of the motherhood that Mother Foundress speaks about?* Do I really see Christ in the faces of his people, particularly the broken ones of the society, the outcasts, the poor, the lonely and the lost?
*Is there a tendency in me to seek to associate with others who meet my requirements of nicety and politeness?
* How much am I prepared to invest myself in the dark side of the world in which I live? How prepared am I to reach out to those who do not share my values and my standards? Am I caught in my own sense of what is right and wrong, and thus fail to appreciate and learn from the lives of those I consider to be 'less fortunate than myself'?* Do I see myself as part of the parish and the mission of the parish in which I live? Do I invest myself in the parish in terms of activities and programmes they may offer?
* Do I make myself available as a resource for others?
***Community Reflection****Using the questions above, translate them to the community - i.e. How does the community see itself in relation to each of the questions given above?
What can this community do, to make itself a truly mission oriented community?* What is the community view of hospitality? Are we an hospitable community? Do we view hospitality more as a social functioning, rather than a simple and welcoming presence of all in our midst? Do we tend towards to the 'right' thing in our welcoming of others, rather than the humane thing? (i.e. Is it
possible that we can actually fail to practice true hospitality, if we fall back on procedures for guests in our convents, and therefore fail to enable others to experience them as 'homes'?)CHAPTER FIVE
* What is my attitude towards affiliates in mission? Would I welcome - as part of the community - lay women or men, who wished to become affiliated to the LCM and to work with them in a variety of ministries?
* What difficulties do I see emerging from the question above? Why do I see them as difficulties? What is there is me that might reduce my freedom to accept associates in mission in my community?
* Have I developed my skills enough to enable me to work more closely with those who are seeking spiritual guidance and entry into the Path of Mary?*Have I a clear and accurate perception of the theology of the Marian discipleship that Mother Foundress placed before me in her writings and in the spirit and charism of the Institute? If I have not, what can I do about it? What
supports do I need? Where can I get them from?* Do I mourn the loss of numbers in religious life, or am I filled with hope that there are so many lay people who want to share the dream with us? Do I encourage them by my active participation in their searching, or do I seek to press people towards religious life? How long is it since I read the Vatican Documents on the Church?
*** For Community Reflection ***
What can this community do, to actively encourage and make room for associates in mission and ministry? What changes would we as a community need to make within the group, to enable this to happen? What would be
some of the fears we might have in opening our homes to others? Can we articulate them and deal with them in an open and liberating manner? What might be the result of us opening our homes to others? What might be some of the repercussions on community life as we know it now?
CONCLUSION
What does this dream of Mary Potter's say to you/say to us, about:
· Our life
· Our Mission
· Our Ministry
· Our way of being together
· Our task in the world?
How prepared am I/are we - to leave the comfortable and the familiar and enter into the world that groans for its sanctification? What do I do/what could we do to revitalize our lives in accordance with the spirit, the charism, the love of the heart of our Founder, the heart of Mary, the heart of her Son?