Community Notes 2024 Winter

Dear Friends,

The past few months have been extraordinarily busy, made even more so by my breaking my right wrist, hence the photo. This is my first attempt at dictating the chronicle notes.

Just as the last chronicle was going out, our Sr Julie died and we were able to let you know, but not give any details of her funeral. Sister Julie was one of our oldest sisters, with a dry sense of humour; her funeral address is printed below. She had formed a great relationship with Oscar, one of the Convent cats, who proved his worth as an emotional-support animal in St Raphael’s. The two are seen together in the photo accompanying the address. Currently we have another older sister nearing the end of her life. Being able to care for sisters as they approach death is one of the great privileges of community life. Another is being with, and supporting, sisters’ families in bereavement, and we were very glad to meet Sr Julie’s two younger sisters, both in their late eighties, when they came to the funeral.

A second important event was the reception in Life Promises of Oblate Sister Janet of the Transfiguration. You will also find the homily from that occasion below. It was a very happy day; the Feast of St Michael and All Angels was a glorious occasion on which to celebrate this significant step in Oblate Sr Janet’s journey.

Earlier in the year Sr Judith and I were able to take part in the fifty-fifth Jewish Christian Bible Week at Osnabrück in Germany. The Bible Week was first held in 1969; Rabbi Jonathan Magonet, formerly principal of Leo Baeck Rabbinical College, London, wished to enable German-Jewish post-War encounters. From the beginning Jews and Christians from Germany, the UK, Holland and other parts of the world took part. The important elements of the Bible Week are Jewish-Christian dialogue, shared study of the Hebrew Bible, dialogue in the form of personal discussions, and shared daily encounter. Both Jews and Christians hold worship services at which all are welcome, and there is a great deal of music, laughter and good food. There is a core of regular attendees as well as new participants, and over the years it has become possible to encounter each other at a very deep level.

This year I felt it was particularly important to attend in light of the situation in Israel and Gaza, and amongst the participants was a Jewish family from Israel. The events in Gaza were very much in our minds and conversations, influencing the direction of our study of the chosen text. On one evening the Jewish participants were asked what their feelings were about Israel. One young Jewish rabbi pointed out that there are actually three things involved: the land of Israel, the state of Israel and the government of Israel. The land of Israel can feel very important even when the government of Israel is not doing what many Jews feel is best for the situation as a whole. There was great concern for the people of Gaza as well as personal experience of those kidnapped by Hamas. It brought to light ever more clearly the fact that no situation is simple or black-and-white.

Our Community has an emphasis on reconciliation. Chapter 3 of the SLG Rule is central to our lives. There we are reminded that God wishes to draw all peoples into a relationship with himself. During the Second World War, Mother Mary Clare was a fire warden working in London; she became very aware that although economic and social initiatives after the War would be necessary, there was also an important spiritual work of reconciliation that would need to take place. The result of this insight was her coming to SLG as a sister. During the 1950s Mother Mary Clare met Fr Gilbert Shaw and introduced him to the Community. Fr Gilbert, with his experience in the slums of Poplar, was also aware of the importance of reconciliation. For both, this would take place in prayer and self-giving, as the Chapter on Reconciliation puts it:

To participate in Christ’s reconciliation means to open the whole being to God in the common life to which he has called each one, and it will be through this stripping of self that the order and discipline of the individual life will bear the fruits of Christ’s victory over sin and death, which is the true end of Christian asceticism

When we are faced with the complexities of the current situations in various parts of our world, where right and wrong is seen in shades of grey rather than black and white, we realize the limitations of our ability to put things right. Even as I write these notes, parliament is discussing the Assisted Dying Bill; arguments can be made on both sides with great honesty and integrity, but with completely opposing views. It raises questions around the care of the terminally ill and our perception of death and dying.

While it is always important to listen, to speak and, if necessary, to act, it is also important to come before God and be still. In the book of Genesis, when Sarah has been promised a son, God asks, ‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’ (Gen. 18:14). Later in the Bible, in the Gospel of Luke, when the angel visits Mary, the answer is given, ‘Nothing will be impossible with God.’ (Luke 1:37). But of course we know that salvation and peace became possible through the Cross. In our troubled and incomplete world we can find it difficult to see hope or possibility. Prayer, in the knowledge of the love of God to which our Community is dedicated, becomes the only way forward.

As we approach Christmas and prepare again to celebrate the coming of our Lord as a vulnerable child, we remember that God is within all the painful situations that surround us. In his coming into the world he brings joy in the midst of pain, and hope in the midst of despair. Though we may not be able to see how a situation may be healed, we do know that with God all things are possible. We must continue to pray, to hope and to be faithful. In that spirit I invite you to join the sisters in prayer for the peace and well-being of all who inhabit our world. The Sisters join me in wishing you a very Happy Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Sister Clare-Louise slg