Groo the Wanderer Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Had a retreat today at the parish for all the lay ministers. Was supposed to be about the Year of Faith. Started off well, other than the two religious sisters leading the retreat were not wearing habits. OK. I promised myself to be good. The first half was great - some scripture study and a look at Lumen Gentium about the laity being called to go into the world and change it. Lunch was great too - Jason's Deli, but it was odd that the sisters did not do the Sign of the Cross either before or after saying grace. Hmm... Then the wheels fell off. The sisters asked us what our responsibility is in society to work for the greater good in light of the video they were about to show us. They played a Bill Moyers video about 'climate change'. After the video they asked our thoughts... One guy said he didn't trust anything the govt or the liberal media said. I said I was offended that the guy in the video portrayed Christians in America as right-wing fundamentalists that believed the world was only 6000 years old. One said he was disgusted that the guest in the video started by saying that 'climate control' was not a political issue, but them continued to lambast Republicans, and laud Clinton and Obama for trying to do something about the situation. It went downhill from there. The retreat ended 2 hours early once that discussion wrapped. I guess after that reception, the sisters didn't want to stir up more issues. That said, we were all very polite to them at every moment. *sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartermia Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 Wish I could have gone :hehe2: ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inunionwithrome Posted February 2, 2013 Share Posted February 2, 2013 disconcerting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle_eye222001 Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 You all did a good job of sweeping the gasoline those sisters spilled and putting the pins back in the grenades. That situation could have easily gone worse. Let's have a retreat involving explosive issues....involving a secular-vehicle that draws needless and distorted battle lines....... what a great idea! I had some sisters attend a retreat where a sister asked them what they thought about women priests. My sister and others responded in a charitable but orthodox manner......that sister wasn't there when my sisters went the following year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIKolbe Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 clearly it would have gone better if the sisters were wearing their habits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisa Marie Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I guess they thought that talking about stewardship of creation would have been a good example of how to put lay vocations into practice. Too bad, because there are ways to bring up that topic without getting all uber-political. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 (edited) I guess they thought that talking about stewardship of creation would have been a good example of how to put lay vocations into practice. Too bad, because there are ways to bring up that topic without getting all uber-political. Gardening would be a cool retreat exercise. Physical labor, time alone in nature, etc. Edited February 3, 2013 by Era Might Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Gardening would be a cool retreat exercise. Physical labor, time alone in nature, etc. I am imagining a big retreat centre that is actually just a farm. :hehe: People on retreat are used as free labour to do all the farm work day to day, and while they work an order of priests preaches and leads them through meditations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Adam Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Gardening would be a cool retreat exercise. Physical labor, time alone in nature, etc. Ora et labora. Parish gardens are a great idea. Meditative, communal, and can be enjoyed by the entire community. We have a Marian garden at our parish that is a perfect place to go and pray and is maintained by parishioners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groo the Wanderer Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 clearly it would have gone better if the sisters were wearing their habits. actually yes, since sisters that actually wear their habits are not prone to do that goofy stuff Ora et labora. Parish gardens are a great idea. Meditative, communal, and can be enjoyed by the entire community. We have a Marian garden at our parish that is a perfect place to go and pray and is maintained by parishioners. our parish garden grows humongous veggies. clearly a benefit to hallowed ground... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Era Might Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 actually yes, since sisters that actually wear their habits are not prone to do that goofy stuff our parish garden grows humongous veggies. clearly a benefit to hallowed ground... Veggie Tales! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basilisa Marie Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 actually yes, since sisters that actually wear their habits are not prone to do that goofy stuff Correlation does not equal causation. Orders (especially women's orders) establish different styles of dress for different reasons. Some were to stand out and harken back to the middle ages. Others wanted to dress like widows did, because they were primarily geared toward service. So some orders that decided to do away with a "traditional" habit might actually be doing something that's more in line with what their founder had in mind than just sticking with traditional style habits. Some sisters are meant to look like everyone else. Hate on them because they made a big mistake with the direction of the retreat. Don't hate on them because of what they wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthfinder Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 I am imagining a big retreat centre that is actually just a farm. :hehe: People on retreat are used as free labour to do all the farm work day to day, and while they work an order of priests preaches and leads them through meditations. I'm thinking the Madonna House in Combermere, Ont. fits that description somewhat - lots of farm labour and the like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groo the Wanderer Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Correlation does not equal causation. Orders (especially women's orders) establish different styles of dress for different reasons. Some were to stand out and harken back to the middle ages. Others wanted to dress like widows did, because they were primarily geared toward service. So some orders that decided to do away with a "traditional" habit might actually be doing something that's more in line with what their founder had in mind than just sticking with traditional style habits. Some sisters are meant to look like everyone else. Hate on them because they made a big mistake with the direction of the retreat. Don't hate on them because of what they wear. not these. i asked. this order used to wear the full habit, including wimple and veil. they just decided to stop wearing them after V2. def not in line with what the founder had in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4588686 Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Hard to believe those sisters thought that curbing an insainly consumptive system so that the poorest of the poor wouldn't be subject to vast, unnecessary suffering had anything to do with Christianity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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