Jersey Girl

For the next week, I will be in the great state of New Jersey.  No, I'm not a Jersey Girl, although I did live there for a time during my novitiate.  However, we do have oodles of CSJP community there so I head back from time to time.  I leave early in the am to travel across the continent via the wonders of air travel.

I am going to be staying at east coast groovy sister hq for the week, the same property in fact where I lived during my novitiate.  I'm looking forward to catching up with some of my favorite wisdom women, walking the grounds, catching sight perhaps of the turkeys and groundhogs, joking with the staff, checking out the color du jour of the lights on the empire state building (this picture is the view from a nearby park--our house is right on the Hudson across from NYC), and other assorted things.

My main reason for heading back is for our CSJP Care of Creation and Climate Change committee (I've written about the committee before).  We do most of our work long distance via conference call and email, but find that it helps to actually get all the committee members, from the UK, East & West Coast of US, together in one room every once in a while!

I'll also be giving two Human Trafficking presentations while I am in New Jersey.  Thursday night I will be at St. John the Baptist Parish in Hillsdale.  Monday night I will be at Holy Trinity Parish in Westfield (co- hosted by St Helen's Catholic Community).  I got my start working on this important issue during my novitiate in New Jersey, so it will be interesting to come back to where my own passion was ignited to end human trafficking.

I'm sure I will check in a bit over the next week, but if not you know where I am!

Reflection on Sacred Space

I was invited today to lead the communion service at groovy sister hq.  Here is my reflection on today's readings:

Our first reading today comes from the book of Maccabees.  I am the first to admit that I know pretty much nothing about his book, so I decided to do a little bit of research for today.

I was interested to learn that the story in the first reading, which might seem pretty removed or irrelevant from our reality today, is actually about something that we know a little bit about.

It is about the beginning of the Jewish Feast of the Dedication, more commonly known to us by its Hebrew name, Hanukkah.

"Then Judas and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness on the anniversary every year for eight days..."

To this day, our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate these eight days each year.  They are remembering the renewal of the center of Jewish life, the Temple, their Sacred Space. Even though the Temple was destroyed in the year 70, they remember this dedication even today.  Originally, lamps for the dedication were lit in the Temple itself, symbolizing the law.  But even then, lamps were also placed in the private houses of the community.  This is how Hanukkah came to be known as the Festival of Lights.  It is a holiday Jesus would have celebrated, as a boy and a man.

So is it any wonder, in our Gospel story, that he was more than a little bit annoyed by this intrusion on their Sacred Space, their House of Prayer?

Each of us has a sense of place.  No doubt, this Chapel is important to us.  A place to touch the heart of God, slow down, join together in prayer.  This is one of our Sacred Spaces.

So too the labyrinth outside.  The trees.  The lake. The mountain.  All of God's Creation.  As our Psalmist says, "Yours O Lord are grandeur and power, majesty, splendor and glory.  For all in heaven and on earth is yours."

If all on earth is God's, is it not all, in a way, Sacred Space?  As we live out of Chapter commitment  to Care for Creation, perhaps what we are really doing is caring for Sacred Space.

Margaret Anna Fridays - Earth Day Edition

Most Fridays, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. This week’s installment …

The ancient forests have been hewndown with little profit to the spoiler, and to the injury of many of the native. The noble rivers are there still, and the mountains look as beautiful in the sunsets of this year of grace as they did so many hundred years before; but the country, which was in "God's keeping" then, has but little improved since it came into the keeping of man.
~An Illustrated History of Ireland, MF Cusack, 1868

Today is both Earth Day and Good Friday. Please join me in praying for the wisdom and will to care for God's creation, in particular keeping in mind the effects of environmental degradation on people who are poor and vulnerable, and on future generations.

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!

Margaret Anna Fridays - Care of Creation Edition

Most Fridays, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. This week’s installment …

“You may perhaps have heard the story of Linnaeus, the famous botanist, who, when he saw a field of gorse for the first time, knelt down to thank God. The rare beauty of the mass of golden yellow flowers, the exquisite perfume that floated from them scenting the summer breeze, when seen and felt for the first time, drew the soul with more than common ardor to adore the Creator of the glorious scene.

As each flower in the field of gorse contributed to the beauty of the whole, as the perfume of each mingled itself with the perfume of its companions, and so helped to form the rich essence which was borne afar upon the breeze, so also in our convent-homes, each soul has its own beauty which enhances the beauty of the rest…”

Tree Blessing

We have two new community members here at Grace House ... of the arboreal variety. We decided to plant two Japanese Maples both to beautify our not very beautiful parking strip, and as a concrete way of living out our CSJP commitment to care for creation.

After our house meeting this afternoon--during which we calculated our carbon footprint and talked about ways to reduce our footprint--we went outside for a simple tree blessing.

May these Japanese Maple trees
be trees of life to all the earth.
May their leaves breathe forth
the life-breath of oxygen.
May they give to all who look upon them
the gift of life-renewing beauty.
May these trees be a reminder to us
of our commitment to be peacemakers
and support the integrity of creation.

God of all creation, we give you thanks for the gift of Earth, our home. Bless our efforts to cherish and protect your creation. We ask this in the name of Jesus our brother and the Spirit who gives us life. Amen.

Carbon Footprint Continued

Here's part two of the CSJP Carbon Footprint video:

Carbon Footprint Video

Two summers ago (hard to believe it's been that long!) our CSJP Sisters and Associates gathered for our general chapter to decide our focus for the next 6 years. One of our Chapter Acts is Care of Creation and Climate Change. In response to that Chapter Act, we are working on identifying and reducing our carbon footprints. Here is part one of a video that I helped make with another member of our Care of Creation Core Group. Sisters and Associates are watching the video in small groups this month as part of our commitment to pray, study and act in response to our Chapter Act.

new csjp website - care of creation

Every 6 years our Sisters & Associates gather for our General Chapter to decide on our priorities as a community. In 2008, we decided to focus our energy on Care of Creation & Climate Change as a particular calling of our charism of peace at this time in our broken world. I'm honored to be part of the core group working on this issue, although our main job is to engage the entire community in this Chapter Act.

Our new CSJP website has a whole section devoted to our work on Care of Creation & Climate Change.

• Read the text of this Seeds of Peace Chapter Act
  
• Watch the Carbon Footprint 101 video created by our core group
• Find resources for identifying & reducing your carbon footprint
• Read an update from our UN NGO representative about the Copenhagen Climate Summit
• Join us in prayer and reflection
  

Happy Earth Day

Today is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day--a day to celebrate and renew our commitment to this amazing world that God has created.

O GOD, we thank you for this earth, our home; for the wide sky and the blessed sun, for the ocean and streams, for the towering hills and the whispering wind, for the trees and green grass.

We thank you for our senses by which we hear the songs of birds, and see the splendor of fields of golden wheat, and taste autumn's fruit, and rejoice in the feel of snow, and smell the breath of spring flowers.

Grant us a heart opened wide to all this beauty; and save us from being so blind that we pass unseeing when even the common bush is aflame with your glory.

Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
(from the CSJP Weekly Peace Prayer for Earth Day)

Seeds of Peace

I've been in New Jersey for the past few days for our CSJP Care for Creation Core Group meeting. I have the privilege of giving my time and talent to this committee which is seeking to engage our Congregation in our Seeds of Peace Care for Creation and Climate Change Chapter Act. It's good work, intense, but good. I'm excited about what we have planned for the coming months!

In one of our prayer times (I love participating in meetings that are grounded in contemplative experiences!) we reflected on this reading from one of our founding sisters, Mother Evangelista:

Read the first chapter of Genesis: the numbers and varieties of creatures God has made in the mineral, the vegetable and animal creation. And these were made to help me to praise, reverence and serve God. … All have been created by God for my benefit to remind me of their and my Creator and for His praise, reverence and service – this is my end and grand destiny.

She wrote those words in her 1901 retreat notes. It's amazing to see how Mother Evangelista, in her own time, was able to look beyond the common understanding of dominating/using creation for our material benefit. She seems to make the connection between the gifts of creation and our reverence/awareness of God. Beautiful words to pray with!

Tomorrow morning I'm headed back to Seattle. But first, I get to spend an evening in our Novitiate and visit with our Novice Sukyi and my former novice director. We've been so busy with our meetings, I haven't had much time yet to connect.

Margaret Anna Fridays

Every Friday, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. This week’s installment …

Ireland in the tenth century and Ireland in the nineteenth form a painful contrast, notwithstanding the boasted march of intellect. The ancient forests have been hewndown with little profit to the spoiler, and to the injury in many ways of the native. The noble rivers are there still, and the mountains look as beautiful in the sunsets of this year of grace as they did so many hundred years before; but the country, which was in 'God's keeping' then, has but little improved since it came into the keeping of man.

-Illustrated History of Ireland, 1868

Pray for Peace in 2010

Tomorrow is the first day of 2010. It is also the World Day of Peace. Paul VI declared the first World Day of Peace in 1968 by proclaiming a message of peace on that day. Pope Benedict XVI has continued this tradition. His 2010 message is absolutely amazing and a must read: "If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation." The title alone is clever and full of meaning - drawing upon Paul VI's own famous catchphrase - "If you want peace, work for justice."

As a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace, I was also very pleased to see that the Holy Father is making the connection between care for creation and peacemaking. Regular readers may remember that those are the two main Chapter Acts for my Congregation: Growing in Nonviolence and Care for Creation. He puts to rest any concerns that care for the environment is not a Catholic issue. To the contrary, he frames it quite clearly as a life issue and a responsibility of the Church.

The entire 2010 World Day of Peace Message is on the web. Pope Benedict XVI is a theologian and a very clear writer. I've also heard he wants to be known as the "Green Pope" - he's even working on making the Vatican the first "carbon neutral state." The message is definitely worth reading and praying with the entire document.

I also thought I'd also invite my bloggy friends to pray a prayer written by our CSJP Care for Creation Core Group. It includes excerpts from the Pope's message and our CSJP Constitutions. Please join me in praying for peace in our world!

PRAYER FOR WORLD DAY OF PEACE - JANUARY 1, 2010

"If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation"
Pope Benedict XVI's 2010 World Day of Peace Message

Opening Prayer: God of all creation, we believe that peace is your gift to us, a gift we experience and enjoy now, though not in its completeness. With reverence for the blessings of creation, we commit ourselves to work for a more just society where all may be enriched by a more equitable sharing in Earth's bounty. Amen
(Adapted from CSJP Constitutions 1 & 56).

Reading & Response ~ Pope Benedict XVI's 2010 World Day of Peace Message

"Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions?" (Benedict XVI)

Response: We respond to God's people in need and promote social justice as a way to peace. (CSJP Constitution 11)

"Can we disregard the growing phenomenon of 'environmental refugees,' people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat to forsake it - and often their possessions as well - in order to face the dangers and uncertainties of forced displacement?"

Response: We respond to God's people in need and promote social justice as a way to peace.

"Can we remain impassive in the face of actual and potential conflicts involving access to natural resources? All these are issues with a profound impact on the exercise of human rights, such as the right to life, food, health and development. "

Response: We respond to God's people in need and promote social justice as a way to peace.

"It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of environmental degradation challenges us to examine our life-style and the prevailing models of consumption and production, which are often unsustainable from a social, environmental and even economic point of view."

Response: We respond to God's people in need and promote social justice as a way to peace.

"The Church has a responsibility towards creation, and she considers it her duty to exercise that responsibility in public life, in order to protect earth, water and air as gifts of God the Creator meant for everyone, and above all to save [humanity] from the danger of self-destruction."

Response: We respond to God's people in need and promote social justice as a way to peace.

Closing Prayer: In unity with the church and with all of creation, we give praise and thanks to the Giver of all gifts. We open ourselves to the liberating power of God whose Spirit in us leads to peace. Amen. (CSJP Constitution 28)

Blog Action Day - Copenhagen

Today is Blog Action Day. Today's theme is Climate Change, which is also one of the focus area of my Congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.

Have you heard yet about Copenhagen?? It's a pretty big deal ...

World leaders will gather December 7 to 18 in Copenhagen to discuss climate change. There is a sense of urgency around the Copenhagen Summit, also called “COP 15.” Continued research indicates that climate change has reached a crisis stage.

COP 15 will be negotiating a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty in which signing nations agreed to specific reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012. The new treaty that will replace it will determine international direction and commitment in confronting climate change.

Key essentials to be addressed in Copenhagen:

• How much are the developed, industrialized countries willing to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases?
• How much are the major developing countries, such as China and India, willing to do to limit the growth of their emissions?
• How is the help needed by poor countries to engage in reducing their emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change going to be financed?

Take two minutes today to sign the Climate Change Petition:

We the Peoples of the World Urge Political Leaders to:

Seal the Deal at COP 15 on a climate agreement that is definitive, equitable and effective.

Set binding targets to cut greenhouses gases by 2020.

Establish a framework that will bolster the climate resilience of vulnerable countries and protect lives and livelihoods.

Support developing countries' adaptation efforts and secure climate justice for all."

Sign the petition at www.sealthedeal2009.org.

To learn more ...
About Copenhagen: www.cafod.org.uk/copenhagen www.sealthedeal2009.org
About Climate Change: www.oxfam.org.uk/get involved/campaign/climatechange www.cafod.org.uk/climatechange http://www.care.org/climate
About Catholics & Climate Change: catholicclimatecovenant.org
www.catholicsandclimatechange.org www.chausa.org/climatechange

Prayer for Copenhagen
Creator God and Sustainer of Life, we recognize that the exploitation and destruction of Earth’s air, water, soil and species is a sacrilege. We pray for world leaders to agree to a new and just treaty in Copenhagen that will protect our fragile world for future generations. Amen

Muddy Boot Makes the News

The current issue of the National Catholic Reporter features a great story of Catholics taking their faith seriously and living it in the world. It also just so happens to be a story about my old parish in Portland and features some fabulous quotes by some of my friends talking about the Muddy Boot Festival.

It's so amazing to have seen this growing understanding of the connection between our faith in our Creator and our care for Creation. It started at St. Phil's with the Columbia River Pastoral Letter from the Bishops of the Northwest. Some folks at St. Phil's got together to see how they might try to live that aspect of their faith as a community of faith.

The Muddy Boot Organic Festival, which held its fourth annual event this Sept. 11-13, marks for St. Philip Neri Parish not only a means of evangelization, reaching out to the wider community in this heavily unchurched region, but also a transition in its own identity. Its longtime Italian-American membership is aging, while many of the younger parishioners stepping forward to take the lead bring not that ethnic identity, but a strong environmental consciousness. ...

Even before Muddy Boot was launched, St. Philip Neri had already taken steps toward promoting sustainability, inspired in part by the 2001 Columbia River pastoral letter issued by U.S. and Canadian bishops of the Pacific Northwest. One of the parish’s major projects in response to that call was to create a bio-swale on the property -- a piece of land with native plants, designed to collect rainwater from the parking lot, instead of it running into storm drains, and filter out pollutants before it returns to the water table or to the Willamette River.

“There are a lot of young Portlanders who have this value of wanting to care for creation, and the Columbia River pastoral letter appeals to that group,” said Dr. Debbie Murphy, 38, who serves as a medical volunteer at the festival (“mostly sunscreen and Band-Aids,” she says). “The festival was born out of this idea.”

Much of this started as I had one foot out of parish life, leaving my role with the Peace & Justice Commision and Pastoral Council and beginning my journey with the Sisters. I personally had little or nothing to do with any of it. In a way, this put me in a privileged position as I was able to see the seeds that were planted grow and bloom into something absolutely amazing!

What's truly wonderful is to see what can happen when the layity have the support and guidance of the clergy, but are also given the freedom to dream dreams. Seeds are planted and then they grow. Fr. Steve was the pastor when those seeds were planted 6 or 7 years ago. Then Fr. Rich was there when the festival started 4 years ago. Fr. Jerry is there now. But the festival started with the folks in the pews ... Greg and Debbie and Jackie and Dolly and Mark and Matthew and the list goes on and on. Very cool!

Attention Bloggers with a Conscience

Do you have a blog? Are you concerned about Climate Change?

Join this year's blog action day on October 15th! All the cool kids are doing it.

Global Climate Week

At our Chapter last summer, my religious community committed to engage more deeply with our call to Care for Creation and to do whatever we can in regards to Climate Change. (If you want to learn more, I posted about my meeting this summer as part of the Core Team looking at this Chapter Act.) I thought I'd share a bit of what I''m learning with my bloggy community as well...

Did you know that today is not only the first day of autumn, it's also the second day of Global Climate Week? UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is gathering world leaders in New York today for a high level meeting in preparation for the Copenhagen Climate Summit, to be held in December in, you guessed it, Copenhagen. They will be negotiating a global climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol which expires soon.

Global Climate Week coinides with this important meeting, part of a coordinated effort to urge world leaders to seal a fair and effective climate agreement at the Copenhagen conference in December. Here are some ways you can participate in Global Climate Week:

• "Green Day" (Tuesday, September 22): Wear Something Green today, the day that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosts world leaders for at the UN. Tell friends and co-workers why you are wearing green.
• "Go Climate Neutral Day" (Wednesday, September 23): Find ways to decrease your energy usage today to show personal support for an agreement on climate change. Walk or take public transit to work. Enjoy dinner by candlelight. Turn off electronic devices when not in use.
• "Climate Voices Day" (Thursday, September 24): Visit the tcktcktck campaign website to read stories of how climate change is already affecting people around the globe.
• Sign onto the Seal the Deal petition urging political leaders to negotiate a fair and just climate agreement at Copenhagen.
• Pray for a global response to climate change, which often affects those people and countries least able to adapt.

Prayer for a Global Response to Climate Change

Creator God, this earth is miraculous and beautiful. Forgive our confusion and inaction as we confront the challenges of climate change. We pray for world leaders to agree a new and just treaty in Copenhagen that will protect our fragile world for future generations. Inspire us now to work together, as your people, to change priorities in the way we live, so that we build a fair and safe world for all your creation; a world where your will is done as it is in heaven. Amen

(Adapted from the Environmental Issues Network of Churches Together in Britain)

Life Goes On

Three years ago on the day that I entered the Novitiate in New Jersey, my friends at my parish in Portland were launching an ambitious project inspired by the Columbia River Pastoral Letter and our concern as Catholics for Care for creation. They called it the "Muddy Boot Organic Festival." The idea was to get a big name speaker (they had Robert Kennedy Jr., the first year) on Friday night to talk about an issue of environmental justice. On Saturday & Sunday they'd turn the parish parking lot into a big festival site, with live music, organic food and beer vendors, information booths from all the local organizations working for sustainable living, fun activities for kids, and workshops. It was a big success by all accounts.

This year is the 4th Annual Muddy Boot fesitval. It was also the first I was able to attend.

All I can say is ... wow. What an example of what a life of faith lived in the world looks like. So many people were there for the food, music and fun. But they were being exposed to something. Not only to the information and resources for living a more sustainable life. But also the connection between care for creation and spirituality. And the personal committment of so many folks. Most of my parish friends were of course working, so I ended up hanging out with them while they worked.

I'm so glad I was able to attend. It's an example of what can happen when people have a vision and work together to change the world. It's also an example of how life goes on. Which can be a very good thing. I've obviously moved on to a different stage of my life as a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace. They're doing new and different things too. The great thing is that we get to stay connected, which broadens all of our experiences and perspectives.

Glad I was able to make it down for Muddy Boot. But now, for the drive back to Seattle!

Swiss Glacier Vow

Very interesting Catholic Climate Change news story, courtesy of CathNews USA:

Swiss Catholic villagers who have for centuries offered a sacred vow to God against the advancing ice mass of the Great Aletsch glacier now want to alter the vows.

The villagers' vow, established in 1678, is that the citizens of the mountain hamlets of Fiesch and Fieschertal would pledge to lead virtuous lives and in exchange, God would spare their homes and livelihoods from being swallowed by Europe's largest glacier as it expanded toward the valley with heavy winter snows ...

But the Aletsch is melting amid temperatures that are 0.7 degrees Celsius warmer than in the 19th century. The New York Times featured a picture of the nearby Rhone glacier (photo), which also depicts diminished ice.

"We all know, and the Holy Father reminded us in his Easter message, that an unprecedented change in the climate is taking place," Rev Pascal Venetz said in his sermon to 100 people at the Ernerwald Chapel, where until modern times pious women were prohibited from wearing coloured underwear for fear of provoking the glacier.

"Glacier is ice, ice is water and water is life," Venetz said to the villagers from the Valais region, which has sent its sons to protect the Vatican as Swiss Guards since the 16th century, the AP report said.

"Without the glacier the springs run dry and the brooks evaporate. Men and women face great danger. Alps and pastures vanish and towns die out." ...

He said he would ask the local bishop to seek Pope Benedict XVI's permission to change the vow, to pray the glacier will stop shrinking.

Seeds of Peace - The Committment

Since I’m here in New Jersey exploring our CSJP Chapter Act Seeds of Peace: Care of Creation & Climate Change, I thought I’d share the text of the act with my bloggy friends. Wednesday I shared the opening quotes from Mother Clare. Friday I shared the Context. Today we get to our Commitment:

We commit ourselves, personally and communally to:

-deepen our spirituality of peace regarding care of creation

-identify and reduce our carbon footprint in our communities, ministries and institutions

-pray, study and act to promote a sustainable lifestyle

-participate in legislative efforts to support the integrity of creation

-stand in solidarity and act in justice with marginalized people whose lives are already affected by the devastation of Earth

-collaborate with others, including interfaith and civic groups, who are addressing climate change

Practical guides for study, prayer and action will be developed and shared throughout the Congregation

Did you catch that last bit? That’s what we’ve been working on this week as a Core Team … how to dig into and explore this Chapter Act—and what it means in terms of our lives together. Turns out the practical guides don't develop themselves! :)

It’s a great experience being part of our Care of Creation Core Team, with women from all geographical areas of our Congregation. The work has just begun!