In the Fall, Jo Streva, Margaret Mary Kimmins, Pat Reid, and I attended the Religious Formation Congress. The theme of this year's Congress was "Rooted in the Mission of Jesus, Reaching Out to the Margins". The keynote speakers were Father Donald Senior, CP, and Sister Nancy Schreck, OSF.

   What follows are some gleanings from the thoughts expressed by these keynote speakers.

  John's Gospel tells us that the Word is God - that Word penetrates the world and so becomes flesh.

  The Body of Christ is a metaphysical reality! The Risen Christ is embodied in the Church.

   The fundamental character of Jesus' mission and the mission of the church must be the same. Church is the sacrament of the encounter with Christ. For the Church, reaching out and drawing in is vital. We are called to partake in the divine task - to reach out and draw in, to form communion. God's spirit is not confined - it roams the world. The field is the world. It is time to lift ourselves up, to see and live the mission. We carry the heart of Christ in our bodies! The Body of Christ is the crucified body - our mission must be to those who are on the margins.

            2.         Our finite natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce

            3.         Everyone knows everything all the time - are people valued?

            4.         Demand for the "good" is growing. What is the longing?

   The role of religion needs to be re-examined in the light of extremes of economic disparities, the forced displacement of people, the effects of the new cosmology and "pushes" from science and technology.

   Mother Earth is giving birth to a world community.

  We need to immerse ourselves in the meaning of the mission of Jesus. Have we gone back far enough when we went back to our original charism? We need to update the prophetic courage of our founders and rediscover our charism to this time and place - to glean its essence.

  Religious life is a marginal life in the Church. If we are reaching out to the margins, from where are we reaching? Marginal religious life is a dangerous memory. Have we been tamed by the institutional church?  We need to explore new ways of applying the Gospel. Religious life exists for the sake of the Gospel, not the Church.

  We are to come from the margins to the margins - Jesus had no place to rest his head. There is a skill to "not belonging".  We need to be able to be at anxious edges of mission with out being anxious.

  Religious life cannot allow itself to be validated by the church. The church deserves mature love, and clarity of identity. The crisis is about where we are!

  Formation needs to be for the global reality. It must be immersed in a relationship with Jesus. It must have involvement with suffering people, develop skills for courage and bravery, and for living with not belonging.

  CDs of these presentations are available. Contact Jo Streva if you would like to listen to one or both of them.

I'll bet when you think of sisters working in a hospital, you think of nurses. But do you know that our sisters also worked as anesthesiologists? In this undated photo from St. Clare's Hospital in New York City, you can see an unidentified sister at the head of the patient, managing the anesthesia. There were very few jobs that sisters didn't do at their hospitals!

What are your memories of St. Clare's Hospital? The Archives would love to hear your stories! Contact congregational archivist Ellen Winger at archives@fsallegany.org or by calling 716-373-0200 x3242.

We also invite you to join the discussion about this photo on our Facebook page!