This is the first of a series of stories from members of religious orders celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Congregations of Religious Australia in Queensland (CRAQld).
SR MONICA CAVANAGH, of the Sisters of St Joseph, reflects on the gift of religious life and on her life as a Josephite
THIS year marks my 40th year of religious profession and 50 years since the establishment of Congregations of Religious Australia, CRAQld.
I am delighted to be celebrating both these events.
I am particularly grateful that God has called me to participate in God’s mission as a Sister of St Joseph.
This particular lifestyle has enabled me to live into the fullness of my humanity, to give expression to the Gospel way of life, to grow in love and friendship and to appreciate the interdependence of all the vocations in the Church.
My life has been a rich and diverse one as I have lived and worked in so many different places.
Through it all I know I have been both gift and gifted through those whom my abundant God has placed in my pathway.
I entered into the journey of becoming a religious sister just as the Second Vatican Council was coming to an end.
This was an exciting time in the Church and for religious congregations as the council called religious women and men to return to their roots and to explore the relevance of the charism of their particular congregation for this time.
Religious undertook this work with great enthusiasm, seeking opportunities for both individual and communal renewal, and I too benefited from this reality.
They undertook studies in theology, spirituality, mission and ministry.
In particular, religious became very aware of their prophetic presence both in the Church and in the world.
This they knew could only be done if their hearts were centred in the living God.
So religious searched for ways in which they could more faithfully live the spiritual life true to the vision of their founders.
Congregations began to focus more on where and how they would engage in the mission of God.
Reading the signs of the times, as the council had invited religious to do, brought about a new collaboration amongst religious – an important mark of religious life today.
In more recent times, religious in this country have seen a coming together of groups that share the same or a similar charism – witnessing to a deeper unity and a greater sense of the whole for the sake of God’s mission.
It has also seen a new emerging multicultural face bringing the engagement of a wider world into our communities.
Religious today are giving birth to a wisdom presence in both the Church and the world.
They are at the forefront of seeing the interconnection and the interdependence of all of creation and giving expression to this in and through their spirituality and commitment to mission.
They are to be seen working with those in our society most disadvantaged and advocating for those unjustly treated.
They are empowering and encouraging people to take up their baptismal commitment through the provision of adult faith and spirituality programs.
In many cases they are the face of the Church in small and isolated communities.
Even in their old age they live the mission of God often in a quiet and gentle presence, breathing in and out a spirit of prayer so that the God of life may continue to bring hope in our sometimes troubled world.
And mostly religious men and women are not concerned about the future for they know this is in God’s hands and God is indeed bringing something new to birth for they know that in every death something new is being born.
It is a time of great trust as religious “let go” in order that the new might be “let grow”.
I believe there will always be women and men that God will call to live the vowed way of life; how it will look and how it breaks open is still evolving.
My sense is that these vowed women and men will be living out their commitment in a network of people gathered around a particular charism – that lens through which religious live the Gospel and commit themselves to participating in the mission of God.
In the Sisters of St Joseph, we have had, for a number of years, associates – people who live the Josephite spirit in their daily life through prayer, friendship and service, inspired by the order’s founders Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods.
Some of these associates and others have approached the congregation looking for a deeper commitment and connection to our way of life.
Two new forms have emerged – women and men living private vows in affiliation with the congregation and a rule of life, and others drawn by the spirituality and mission of the Josephites who formally covenant themselves to the Josephite way of life.
Other women and men drawn to participate in God’s mission in a Josephite way, commit themselves to serve on our boards or in a particular ministry of the congregation.
Along the way there are women who seek to live the vowed way of life as a Sister of St Joseph.
Each of these particular ways of being part of the Josephite commitment to God’s mission begins with an experience of what is called “Come and See”.
Each person is accompanied to discover the right pathway to give expression to their desire to answer God’s call in a Josephite way.
It is enriching to be part of this journey.
