In this brief article, I want to share something of my experience of the May 25-28 General Assembly of the Canadian Religious Conference. As I began to write, I found myself humming Buffy Sainte-Marie’s song. “God is Alive, Magic is Afoot”.1
For me, those lyrical words offer a sense of the heightened consciousness and joy that pervaded the General Assembly – the first in-person Assembly since 2018.
In overview, the CRC’s General Assembly is an opportunity for the leaders of Catholic religious congregations of women and men to meet and share their experience, strength, weakness, faith and hope with one another. It is also an opportunity to reflect together on issues of the day, and discern new possibilities as the future calls us on. Thus, some 200+ of us met in Montreal.
Before I share my personal reflections, I want to point out an account of these days at the CRC website, which provides access to some online resources. Input for our days was based on the “Ted Talk” format, and the short videos are there. There are also transcripts of some of the presentations in both English and French. Start at the beginning with the reflections from the CRC Theological Commission, then move on to the conversation between two young Sisters, and make your way through. Or start at the end, and work your way to the beginning! See: Resources of the 2023 General Assembly
Now to the personal. For me, the Assembly being grounded in the story of two disciples meeting a stranger on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), deepened my own sense of God’s revelatory presence. In table groups and over coffee, Assembly participants shared our stories of discouragement and loss, grace amid the challenges, and of the “strangers” we have met on the road. These strangers both raise the question, and disclose the answer, of how to discern the presence of the risen Christ, always with us as we journey, who reveals our experience to us in new ways.
A song I grew to love over these days was a French song, “Reste Avec Nous”, which is available here:
The haunting chorus of this song dug its way into me, and here is an English translation:
Stay with us because it’s late
Stay with us! The day is declining.
Stay with us,
You, the stranger,
You who resemble him…
Some insights that stay with me:
What connects us is our vulnerabilities – and in this connection, I/we become strong in new ways. Collective ways. Collaboration (labouring together) & solidarity are opening a path for us to walk towards a future which beckons to us.
In breaking bread with strangers, (whoever/whatever those strangers may be), I/we can come to recognize Jesus, risen from the dead. In this recognition, I also rediscover that the risen One is the heart of my heart. This can catalyze a deep knowing, which enables creativity, courageous action, and profound love – already moving in us and among us.
After recognizing Christ in the stranger accompanying them, the disciples ran back to Jerusalem, towards violence and possible death. In recognizing Jesus risen, resources of extraordinary courage were also evoked in them.
At the end of the Assembly, we were asked to consider what call, what flame we want to share with our Congregations? A strong inner resolve rose in me as I wrote: “Fear not. I am with you always. Be brave. Let your roots sink deep. Walk in truth & humility. Vulnerability & wonder will lead you. “
Cohen and Buffy’s words also speak to what I am trying to say:
This I mean my mind to serve ’til
Service is but Magic
Moving through the world
And mind itself is Magic
Coursing through the flesh
And flesh itself is Magic
Dancing on a clock
And time itself the magic length of God.”2
1 Poem by Leonard Cohen, sung by Buffy Saint Marie. “God is Alive, Magic is Afoot”. Accessible at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWUadTckROQ
2 Ibid.
Veronica Dunne is a Sister of our Lady of the Missions (RNDM), who has primarily worked as an educator and counsellor in institutional and community based settings in Canada. She has also served with the RNDMs outside of Canada in Senegal, Peru, and Aotearoa New Zealand.
A 2002 Doctor of Ministry graduate from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto School of Theology at the University of Toronto, she subsequently served as director of the Doctor of Ministry program at St. Stephen’s College at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her current research interests are in eco-theology and cosmology, and their intersections with indigenous cosmologies and spiritualties.
She presently serves on the RNDM leadership team in Canada.
Thanks so much Veronica! I will add simple points from my experience of the conference: collaborate whenever and wherever we can; resilience is what feeds hope not the other way around; the “remnant” can change the course of history; return to the essentials – the gospel is essential; in times of chaos, just do the next right thing. I was so encouraged and enlightened by the gathering.
I am particularly taken by your strong inner resolve: “vulnerability and wonder will lead you.” Imagine if our global human community embraced those qualities.