La revista REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS la publica la Universidad Saint Louis de los jesuitas en USA

REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 65.3 JULY-SEPTEMBER 2006

Prisms

Prisms: The editor of Review for Religious reflects on spiritual dialogue.
Articles

Coming Together
INTERACTIVE ARTICLE
Go to this article to find questions for reflection and discussion.
The 2004 Consecrated Life Congress: A Retrospective
Karen M. Kennelly CSJ summarized the thinking and the participants' interaction at the 2004 Consecrated Life Congress held in Rome and proposes that some themes should impact local chapters and congregational meetings. Kennelly is a member of the leadership team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet.
Excerpts: "What future awaits religious life in a world seemingly offering only a future of violence? ... North Americans were succinct in ther assertion that 'the sociology within the church is an obstacle to the passion for Christ and for humanity.' ... We are called by Jesus to be passionate and to exercise compassion toward others, particularly toward all who suffer the indignities of poverty, discrimination, and alienation of any kind."
A New Way of Meeting
Rachel M. Harrington SNDeN describes one carefully planned attempt to capture new life and meaning that might be incorporated into the usual chapter or congregational meeting. Harrington is a member of the generalate leadership teach of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
Excerpts: "We wondered how many sisters would take the trouble to respond to our letter, and we were overwhelmed by the number who did. ... One of our biggest problems, shared by all international congregations, is that of language. ... The last days of our meetings, we focused on questions that had arisen during our sharings, and we brainstormed about how to prepare for the next chapter."


Meeting God
INTERACTIVE ARTICLE
Go to this article to find questions for reflection and discussion.
Aspiratory Prayer, a Welcome Addition to Contemplative Prayer
Ernest E. Larkin OCarm describes the prayer of aspiration, reviews its history in spirituality, identifies a few of its main components, and suggests ways that we might make it part of our lives. A frequent contributor to Review for Religious, Larkin writes from Phoenix, Arizona.
Excerpts: "Who, then, are called to this prayer? Those who have a great desire for intimacy with God. ... Henery Herp wrote the first synthesis of the whole spiritual journey around the topic of aspirative prayer. ... Aspirations have the genius of putting our full humanity to work by engaging our feelings and emotions as sell as our spirit."
"Repose Day" During the Ignatian Exercises
Philip Shano SJ reflects upon the purpose and use of repose days within the Ignatian 30-day retreat and raises questions for retreat directors. Shano is the novice director and superiors at the Jesuit Novitiate of the North American Martyrs in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Excerpts: "Repose days become important intensity relievers during anyone's Twentieth Annotation experience of the Spiritual Exercises. ... A common date for a repose day for an entire group of retreatants results for the pace and structure of life today. ... The truly discerning questions is whether or not the individual is ready for a breather."
Gerard Manley Hopkins's"Lantern Out of Doors": A Contemplative Response to Loss
Charles P. Farrar praises the spiritual theology of Hopkins's sonnet which describes the experience of personal loss with the metaphor of a lantern passing in the night. What first seems subjective and formulaic proves to the psychologically and theologically insightful. Farrar is a hospital chaplain in Detroit.
Excerpts: "The poem tells us nothing about these beautiful, lantern-like people. ... Hopkins's Ignatian spiritual formation inspired him to seek God's presence in all things."

Being Religious


Today's Candidates: Who Are They; What Do They Expect?
Raymond R. Ryan OSA allows younger members within the religious congregation to present a snapshot picture of their hopes and desires for community life and mission. Ryan is a former novice director who writes from Olympia Fields, Illinois.
Excerpts: "Conversion is continuous through initial and continuing formation, and it never stops. ... The closeness of brothers is another thing that cannot be explained, but must be experienced."
INTERACTIVE ARTICLE
Go to this article to find questions and a prayer for reflection and discussion.
These Strawberries Are Divine! Sisters and a Spirituality of Living on Earth
Colleen Carpenter Cullinan provides a glimpse of the contributions of Catholic religious congregations of women in founds farms and earth centers as places to raise organic food and to educate people about the human connection to God's creation. Cullinan is an associate of the Sinsinawa Dominican sisters and works as an independent scholar with EarthRise Farm, a center for spitituality and ecology in Montevideo, Minnesota.
Excerpts: "The way we raise our food has polluted our rivers, devastated our soil, and saddled us with food that we must always treat as if it has been contaminated or is diseased. ... Creation stories are far more about what is today: what society is supposed to be like, what our relationship with God should be, what the human place in the created order is. ... The evolutionary story of the Universe, then, is a creation story that speaks of the gifts of freedom and creativity while calling on us to recognize the suffering and suffering love all around us.
Departments

Reading the Gospel of John
Eugene Hensell OSB continues his Scripture essays, a regular feature of each issue of Review for Religious.

Canonical Counsel: Archives of Religious Communities

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.



Poetry
Glass by Sister Alicia Kleiman OSB
Growing Old by Bonnie Thurston
Tinsel In August by Nancy G. Westerfield

Book Reviews
The New Wine of Dominican Spirituality: A Drink Called Happiness by Paul Murray OP.
Reviewed by Patricia Chaffee OP
Book Shelf Life
Mini reviews by Philip Fischer SJ