CLC CANADA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, OCTOBER 17 - 20, 2019, WINNIPEG
BULLETIN #4
|
|
DEAR CLC COLLEAGUES,
IN THIS BULLETIN #4, YOU WILL FIND
1.A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT,
2.A LETTER FROM OUR NATIONAL EVALUATION WORKING GROUP,
3. CLC FAITHLINE EFFORT,
4. AN END NOTE.
|
|
WE CONTINUE ON THE PATH: A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT
|
|
Dearest Sisters and Brothers in CLC Canada,
Well, the call went out and you have responded! All the Registrations are in and we have 30 out of 37 communities sending a delegate to the National Assembly! Having such a large majority of our communities represented at the Assembly will enhance the communal discernment of God’s loving Will for CLC Canada over the next 5 years. We realize that there has been much work, fundraising and sacrifice to make this happen. God will bless our efforts.
We have a few, confirmed, invited guests that we are delighted to welcome.
First. Fr. Erik Oland, s.j., Provincial of the Society of Jesus for Canada will be with us to celebrate Mass and to speak about the Jesuit Apostolic Initiatives which have been communally discerned and will be the focus of the Jesuits over the next 10 years. These were approved by Pope Francis earlier this year. The Jesuit Initiatives are connected to our own CLC Frontiers of Mission and enhance our collaboration with the Society. It is a great blessing that he arranged his annual visit to the Winnipeg Jesuit Community so that it would overlap with the timing of our National Assembly.
Andree Richard, President of CVX Canada is joining us. As many of you are aware, CLC/CVX Canada discerned to God Parent Haiti in their desire to become a member of World CLC at the next World Assembly in 2023. It is a collaborative effort between CLC and CVX Canada. The Jesuits in Canada have already united as a French/English Province. It seems that the ‘Spirit is a’ movin!’ to draw us closer together in our Ignatian Way of Life.
Ann Marie Brennan, CLC USA, will also be a guest. She is the Vice President of the World ExCo. She is passionate about CLC and creating a more loving and just world. It will be a wonderful opportunity, especially for those of you who might feel a little disconnected from the World Body to meet and speak with Ann Marie.
Including the delegates, we have 53 people attending in all! CLC members attending the Assembly as observers have paid their Assembly fees. The costs for additional attendees have been absorbed through the generosity of the World CLC, the Jesuits, and individual members of CLC Canada. We are very blessed indeed!
Now there is still much work to be done in preparing for this National Assembly. Prairie Region and the National Organizing Committee, General Council and the National Evaluation Working Group are working tirelessly to address all the needs of the delegates and observers. Please keep us all in your prayers.
We are also sending out a little homework for you and your communities. Please carefully read the letter below from the National Evaluation Working Group. The more prepared, the better your input. As delegates you bring the voice of your community who discerns, sends and supports you on this journey.
There will be some Preparatory Prayer material sent out to all your communities at the end of the month. This will come to you through your Regional Representatives. Be on the lookout!
In this bulletin, you will also find an advertisement about a creative fundraising initiative from Faithline CLC in Vancouver. No pressure, but it is a delightful plan.
Thank you all for your prayers, generosity and commitment towards making this Assembly a reality….."When we go as far as we can, Christ takes takes us the rest of the Way!"
With much love and prayers, Michelle Mahoney
|
|
"HOW MANY LOAVES HAVE YOU?"
|
|
A LETTER FROM THE NATIONAL EVALUATION WORKING GROUP, WHOSE WORK IS AN ESSENTIAL FRAMEWORK FOR AND PATH TO DISCERNMENT.
|
|
A “Multiplication” of Graces: A Working Group’s Journey
As members of the National Evaluation working group, our journey has been mirrored in both our National Assembly theme,
Discerning….Sharing….Listening….
Deepening…Joyfully in Mission
and the Assembly’s gospel passage of Jesus feeding the 5000.
When we first entered the evaluation phase of our consultation process, with its five themes -
Our Supporting Structure; Formation; Relationships, Identity and Communication; Leadership; and Financial Co-responsibility
– we felt much like the disciples wondering how they would feed the 5000. How would we proceed? What processes would we use? What were the key questions that needed to be answered? How would we engage our CLC membership? The task seemed daunting and without a clear precedent to guide us.
Yet we felt Jesus’ compassionate and trusting gaze on us as he said, “you give them something to eat…” (Matt. 14: 16b)We discerned and listened deeply on how to move forward, drawing upon our CLC gifts of DSSE and the writings of our founder, Fr. John English, SJ. We developed and distributed the reflection materials, with hope and trust. When we gathered the bounty of responses to the evaluation questions we received over 100 pages of rich, prayerful reflections from our members – like the disciples finding themselves with many “baskets full!”
As we turn our gaze towards the National Assembly, we have delved back into these reflections, seeking to “deepen” our understanding of how the Spirit is moving in them and listening for the “Magis”. In Evaluation, we discern what are the key actions or recommendations arising from the reflections that the Spirit is calling us to as a national community, that will best move us forward and into that “joyful” living out of our “mission” as CLC Canada, as captured in our National Assembly theme,
Discerning ….Sharing …. Listening ….Deepening…Joyfully in Mission
.
The fruits of the National Evaluation will play a key role at the National Assembly and will be used to lead our delegates into spiritual conversation and communal discernment.
We encourage you to prayerfully read and reflect on the five Evaluation summaries in advance of the Assembly.
If time permits, please consider setting aside a meeting in September to engage in communal spiritual conversation to share the fruits of this prayer. What struck you? Stood out for you? Concerns you? Is there any “low hanging fruit” which whets our appetite communally or individually? What interior movements accompany these thoughts? In the second or third round, we invite you and your community to listen for what you hear the Holy Spirit is calling us to be most attentive to as a National community. This exercise will prepare each of our community’s delegates to effectively participate in a communal discernment process which will identify the 3 or 4 key recommendations arising from the National Evaluation to be prioritized for action over the next five years.
Jesus is casting his trusting gaze at all of us in CLC Canada, moving us forward and with confidence that the grace we are asking for at the National Assembly will be fulfilled: “We desire a discerning communal heart that will continue to joyfully lead us in mission with many gifts to share.”
Do you have any questions about the National Evaluation process or summaries? We would love to hear from you! The working group can be reached at:
CLCNATIONALEVALUATION@gmail.com
.
In joyful anticipation of sharing more with you about the National Evaluation at our National Assembly,
Jane Abernethy-Parker, Ruth Chipman, Fr. Trevor Scott, SJ and Leanne Salel
National Evaluation Working Group
|
|
Christ's Peace be with you all!
Greeting from Faithline, CLC Vancouver!
We would like to formally announce a fund-raising project. We are selling 2 types of greeting cards, designed by a local artist.
The first card is a picture of Jesus washing the feet of a disciple (Jn 13:12-15,) while the second is the hemorrhagic woman touching Jesus' cloak (Mk 5:25-34.)
There are many different possible uses for these cards for your family and friends
Each card is priced at $3.50. Out of this, $2.00 for each card ordered can be retained for your community’s costs toward the National Assembly. Since we are all raising funds for the forthcoming National Assembly, this has come at an opportune time.
Act now, place your orders thru clcfaithline@gmail.com and the cards will be personally delivered to you or to the care of your delegate at the Assembly in Winnipeg! Thank you so much for supporting this fund-raising project.
We praise the Lord for this opportunity to participate in His mission on earth. AMDG
|
|
The 1986 World Assembly had, as its theme, "Mary, Our Model of Mission". At this Assembly, Tim Quinlan, at that time the world Ecclesiastical Assistant, gave a homily on the Incarnation. He said
"In a moment of deep consolation, Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and received the Word of God... In Ignatius' telling way the Trinity looks over the Earth. 'They see some at peace, and some at war; some weeping, some laughing; some well, some sick' some coming into the world, and some dying; etc' They see many people hell-bent, they see Mary... Mary chose to be one of the Anawim - she chose to be united in love during separation, pain, loss. She chose to be faithful to Yahweh - to be a woman of great fidelity - when He was vulnerable...".
Mary was not a passive recipient of power. She actively
chose a path
that had no map, that was a risk of love. She chose the Magis. Our National Assembly will focus its attention on discernment, using as our foundation, the work of the National Evaluation Working Group. As a national community, we will
choose our path
for the next few years. AMDG.
Photo: Notre-Dame-De-Bon-Secours Chapel, Montreal
|
|
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY THEME
: Discerning... Sharing….Listening…Deepening…Joyfully In Mission
THE GRACE
: We desire a discerning communal heart that will continue to joyfully lead us in mission with many gifts to share.
SCRIPTURE
: Matt 14: 13- 21 Feeding the Five Thousand
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
