Articles

Communal Discernment

Keeping a Balance: Contemplation and Christian Meditation
Ted Dunn is a clinical psychologist. He and his wife operate Comprehensive Consluting Services in St. Charles, Missouri. In this article he clarifies some of the reasons for using communal discernment as a method for electioning leadership.

Excerpts: "In discernment the emphasis is on the process, not on the outcome, the election itself. ... What you think is right may conflict with how you feel. ... When imbued with the Spirit, communal discernment can transcend individual wisdom."

Heritages

Frances Siedliska's Mystical Life
Barbara Sudol CSFN writes from Maspeth, New York. In this article she enters us into mystical prayer experiences that marked the life of Frances Siedliska, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Excerpts: " In Frances Siedliska there was a delicate combination of deep prayer life and vigorous activity. ."

Is Even More Good Coming from Nazareth?
A. Paul Dominic SJ writes from Warangal, India. In this article he gives witness to the new form of religious life represented by the Little Brothers of Jesus.

Excerpts: "Their fraternity centered their life on Jesus' way of living at Nazareth. ... Their twinned vocation lmay be expressed as contemplation of God and comforting their neighbors by their presence. "

Prayer

Not for the Faint of Heart: Journaling into Honest Prayer
Renee Nienaber writes from Alexandria, Kentucky. She shares her experience of journaling in prayer that brings both focus and perspective in oiut relationship with God and with others.

Excerpts: "If we are afraid to be angry with God, at least writing is a silent outlet. ... My family, friends, and fellow parishoners disappoint me."

A Hidden Treasure of the Ignatian Exercises
J. Thomas Hamel SJ writes from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He describes experiences in the life and writings of St. Ignatius Loyola which give an insight into prayer as "looking".

Excerpts : "Service no longer knows of 'shoulds', but is the deed of love welling up from silence and verbal exchange.."

Vocations

Fidelity and Commitment: Letter to a Young Marist Brother
Sean Samman FMS is Superior General of the Marist Brothers and resides in Rome, Italy. In this article he writes a letter to his bothers below age forty about nurturing the commitment to their vocation.

Excerpts: "Fidelity helps us remain true to wht we have pledged despite the contradictory values that we might encounter on life's journey. ... Times of transition are times of grace. ... Freedom refers to our capacity to be self-determining. ... With serious questins and doubts, we must do no less than commit ourselves to a careful discernment that includes the community. ... Our life commitment as a brother must have at its heart our spiritual life."

Vocations and Vocation Discernment
Charles J. Jackson SJ is director of vocations for the California Province of the Society of Jesus. He describes vocation in terms of the initial call people experience and their ongoing responsiveness to God's action in their lives, and then uses this description to explain vocation discernment in terms of preconditions and repeated process.

Excerpts : "Vocation discernment is about responding to God's love. ... Vocation discernment entails an informed decision."

Why One Younger Religious Stays
Terrie Emslie PBVM, a Presentation sister, works in Iona Presentation College in Mosman Park, Western Australia. She reflects on her own growth in religious life in the face of personal gaps and the gaps of others within the same congregation.

Excerpts: "As much as the gap between the ideal and the real situation existed 'out there,' it existed as much or more in me. ... The more I tried to manage my inner inconsistencies better and actually change that gap, the more it stayed the same."

Departments

Prisms: Everyone Has a Vocation
David L. Fleming SJ, the editor of Review for Religious , reflects on the call of all to grow in holiness, that is, in one's relationship with God.

Canonical Counsel: Religious Institutes as Juridic Persons in Reconfiguration

Elizabeth McDonough OP continues her on-going series of canonical information and reflection. She is canonical advisor for numerous religious communities as well as for the Archdiocese of Washington and several other dioceses.