Empty Tomb…Space for New Life
If you ask any sister of the Giving Voice generation what they could use more of in their life, there is a good chance time and space will be towards the top of the list. Our lives are filled with many good things: full-time ministry, community living, civic involvement, congregational committees/planning teams, family, friends, and hopefully some free time. My life is filled with so many wonderful people and experiences yet there are moments when I just need a little space. I catch myself longing for Hermione Granger’s time-turner to add a few hours to each day.
This Easter season has me pondering time, space, the empty tomb and new life. An empty tomb is the first sign of the Resurrection. It’s not Jesus appearing, trumpets sounding, or anything flashy. It’s simply an empty tomb…space for something unexpected…space for something new. I’m learning that great gifts and graces come when space is made. Personally, I’ve been doing some meditation around clearing inner space to keep me balanced and open. This image also calls me to reflect on the space that God has created in religious life with the reality of the generation gap. Instead of lamenting the years of gaps in vocations, I am grateful for the space those years created that now allows something new to rise up.
With the space of the empty tomb, there was room for the unexpected moments that followed: Jesus appearing in the garden, talking on the road to Emmaus, breaking into the locked upper room, and preparing breakfast on the shore after a long night spent with empty nets. Each time, the disciples didn’t get it right away. Yet each time, Christ called, recognition came, and grace was received.
New life is rising up in a multitude of ways for many in the Giving Voice network. In this newsletter you will read about GV sisters joining Nuns on the Bus and the launching of a new writing project around the vows from the perspective of those in the Giving Voice generation of religious life. Global Sisters Report’s Horizon column features new life in building bridges of friendship across divides within religious life and the urgent need for Easter people in our world today.
Juliet Mousseau, RSCJ will be representing Giving Voice in Rome at the Assembly of the International Union of Superiors General. More than 900 women religious leaders will be meeting around the theme “Weaving Global Solidarity for Life.” Juliet will be part of a panel discussing the realities of religious life today and hopes for the future. We send our blessings with Juliet and look forward to hearing her reflections when she returns.
I’m especially excited that Giving Voice is hosting a weekend in May for a small group to learn and practice Peer Spirit Circle Process. In the midst of the planning we have been having many fruitful conversation. We hope to share with you the new life that rises up from this time and space of deep conversation and reflection together. If you would be interested in attending a weekend like this in the future please let us know!
May the gift of space lead each of you to new life in this Easter season!
