National Gathering

Every two years, the Giving Voice community hosts a National Gathering to provide space for Catholic Sisters under age 50 to build bridges across communities in a peer-led setting  to deepen relationships with God and each other and to foster growth, leadership skills, and a vision for the future of religious life. During our 4-day gathering we will experience the joyful presence of our shared sisterhood and discern together how we are called to live religious life now, by boldly celebrating the beauty of communion.

 

When: June 27 - 30th. Registration is from 1-3pm June 27th, program beginning at 4pm. Plan to stay until 1:30pm on June 30th.

Where: Fontbonne University in St Louis, MO

Cost: $450/single room, $375/double room & $250/commuter 

Registration Deadline: June 1

Event Participation: A woman whose fiftieth birthday falls during a Giving Voice event is welcome to attend the event in its entirety.

 

Possible pre-gathering workshops on June 26th and a post-gathering day on July 1st for discerning religious life. We welcome all Catholic sisters under age 50 to join us! Sisters who are unable to join in-person are welcome to join us in prayer and through our live-streamed events.

 

The theme for our 2019 gathering is Boldness and Beauty of Communion: Living Religious Life NOW. As Catholic women religious, we aim to celebrate our shared life and the beauty of diversity. Influenced by different charisms and united in the same Spirit, we are aim to open our eyes and hearts wider to the beauty of God’s activity within and around us. We seek to deepen our contemplation of how to live Eucharistic lives, celebrate the holiness of creativity and the beauty of the arts. Centered around this theme, our gathering will include prayer and input related to the Eucharist, arts, and intercultural community life.

We are inspired by Pope Francis’ call for consecrated religious to be “experts in communion” and witness to the power of sharing in a communal life even in a polarized Church and society. We are are also energized by the words of Sister M. Regina van den Berg, F.S.G.M who reminds us that “the consecrated religious must develop an eye for the beauty which “hides beneath the surface” of our everyday experience.”

We are hopeful about the future of our shared religious life. May our communion help us heal and enflame God’s world with love and hope!

Information from past gatherings can be accessed below.