A message from Gail DeGeorge, Editor, Global Sisters Report
Last winter, just before the pandemic, I attended a 3-day workshop entitled, Enter the Chaos: Engaging Differences to Make a Difference presented by Sr. Nancy Sylvester and her team. In the months that followed, in which chaos seems our new normal, I could not help but be grateful for the timing of that workshop, and the fruits it has borne in my life and in my prayer. (You can read more about my experience here.)
As the rough waters of the pandemic continue, I wanted to offer our readers resources to aid us as we journey through them. I reached out to Sr. Nancy, who very kindly agreed to put together an hour for us, helping us learn how contemplative practice can aid us in these challenging times. Whether you already have a regular contemplative practice or want to develop one, this conversation will be helpful and enlightening.
Thursday, September 3
3 pm Eastern / 2 pm Central / 12 pm Pacific
Zoom conference call
Sr. Nancy Sylvester is an educator, formerly headed up NETWORK -- a national Catholic social justice lobby, served as elected leader of her congregation (the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Michigan) and president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. She founded the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue in 2002 because of her conviction of the transformative power of contemplative practice. Gail DeGeorge has been editor of Global Sisters Report since January 2016, and participated in ICCD’s workshop in February 2020.
Sr. Nancy has been drawing on “contemplative power” in her interactions as a leader and her social justice work -- and teaching others how to do so -- in workshops for almost two decades. In this time of chaos and conflict, Sr. Nancy and her team at the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue have developed a workshop to address how to integrate contemplative practice while engaging with others’ differences.
