assembly part one

On Saturday more than 100 Sisters & Associates of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace gathered at west coast groovy sisters hq (aka St. Mary-on-the-lake) for our Spring Assembly. From our opening prayer to our closing dance, it was a very rich and deeply nourishing day.

Fr. Terry Moran, one of our Associates from the Eastern region, broke open a CSJP spirituality of care of creation with us in ways that were challenging, accessible and heart/mind/spirit expanding. The Assembly was put on by our Care of Creation and Climate Change Core Group. I'm a member of the group so I am so pleased that everyone seemed to enjoy the day!

In the evening we had liturgy followed by dinner and a little music and dancing to begin our celebrations of this year's Jubilarians. I was reminded of the first CSJP Assembly I attended, more than six and a half years ago. The day was deeply spiritual and enriching. The conversation at dinner was enjoyable. And then .... piping through the speakers in the lobby I heard the opening lines of "Dancing Queen." Yes ... Abba. I poked my head around to the lobby and there I saw that the furniture had been moved out of the center of the room and some of the younger sisters (in age/or at heart) were dancing. Then I saw Sister Margaret Dove, who has since passed away, sitting near the lobby turned dance floor. She was in her wheelchair. She had a cane in her hand. And she was doing a very presentable chair dance. I can't say that I decided to enter the CSJPs because of the dancing. But it did tell me something about our CSJP spirit! And you might get a clue why I starting calling this group of amazing women my "groovy sisters."

Last night we had accordian music to serenade the Jubilarians at dinner, followed by dancing in the lobby. A great time was had by all!

This morning we head back for the business meeting portion of our Assembly weekend. I for one will most likely still have "Dancing Queen" and "We are Family" playing in my head!