The North American Vocation Team (Sisters Carol Jean Dust, Jill Laszewski, Stephanie Spandl and Bridget Waldorf) invited Sisters to join them for a “Cultivation Conversation” focused on vocations, accompaniment and the life of the SSND community. Together they considered their gift/attractiveness as SSND; what accompaniment of young people might look like individually and communally at this time in light of their needs and our current realities; and how we as SSNDs can help create a culture of vocation in our parishes, families and communities.
The team hosted in-person conversations in three areas of the Atlantic-Midwest Province: School Sisters of Notre Dame, Waterdown, Ontario; The Watermark in Bridgeport CT; and Villa Assumpta in Baltimore. They are planning a presentation in the Chicago area at a later date.
To help Sisters remember the gift that is SSND, they were asked two questions: How would we describe our attractiveness? When are we at our best as School Sisters of Notre Dame? As they shared, Sisters were asked to jot down these elements of attractiveness on a Post-it note, one idea on each. Since this was a picture of what SSNDs see when they look in the mirror, they were asked to stick their notes onto mirrors that were on each table.
Another part of the presentations included viewing a recording of D’Maris Murillo - who at the time was campus minister at Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep School - presenting at the April 2022 Central Pacific Province Assembly in Mankato, Minnesota.
“She spoke about accompaniment of Millennials and Gen Z – on how they view life, their increased loneliness and anxiety, and the impact caring adults can have in their lives,” said Sister Stephanie. “She challenged Sisters to be creative in finding ways to reach out to young people, such as hanging out at a coffee shop on the same day/time each week and letting conversations happen. We spoke of ‘loitering with intention’ – an image offered by another vocation director that fits so well with what D’Maris was suggesting.”
The word of the day at each presentation was “accompaniment.” Accompaniment, not recruitment, is now emphasized in vocation ministry. This was a new idea to many of the Sisters. “We talked about our accompaniment of young people having value in and of itself for young people, the church and world,” Sister Stephanie explained. “We emphasized Sisters’ role in vocation ministry as primarily this accompaniment. It can include an invitation to religious life, but first it requires authentic relationship and accompaniment.”
This does not necessarily mean that every young woman a Sister might accompany will go on the discern a vocation. “We cannot measure the success of our outreach by how many women enter community any more than we measure success at our ministries at the border by how many migrants get residency/citizenship.” Sister Stephanie said. “It’s a ministry of presence and accompaniment. We reminded Sisters that as young people leave churches but continue to seek spiritually, we are often some of the only people with whom they feel comfortable having spiritual conversations, as society offers few opportunities for this except in the churches they have abandoned. Most of these conversations will therefore take place outside of churches and in places like coffee shops.”
For Sisters not comfortable lingering in coffee shops, conversations can happen anywhere and with anyone comfortable accepting a Sister’s invitation to share. “We encouraged Sisters to create a culture of vocation – meaning that everywhere and with everyone, they invite people to consider how God is calling them in the big and small moments of their lives,” Sister Stephanie shared. This encouraging of discernment does not necessarily have to have a religious tone. “They may not use the words, the God language, but instead talk about seeking one’s purpose, their meaning in life, if God language doesn’t fit the person,” said Sister Stephanie. “It is in making this listening for God, the discerning of one’s call, a regular practice for all of us that young people can then more naturally discern religious life, as well. It won’t be so unusual or exceptional, it will be one of many options.”
Some Sisters expressed doubt that they could make a difference in their current circumstances. “We emphasized that no Sister is exempt from reaching out to young people,” explained Sister Stephanie. “Even those who are bedridden have nurses/nurses’ aides, who are often young, taking care of them. How they witness in the midst of suffering, how they take a moment to be kind and interested in the person serving them, can show how they are being called in these moments in their lives. Wherever Sisters are, there are young people working and serving at the places where they live or minister, at the doctors they go to, etc. Having intentional interactions with young people matters!”
- See Photos from the Waterdown Visit
- See Photos from The Watermark Visit
- See Photos from the Villa Assumpta Visit
