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InFormation 2018 No. 2 : Awaking to Our Thirst : Continuing Formation, by Thomas Johnson, FSC

InFormation Bulletins - InFormation 2018 No.2 Summer

"Through all of these programs, we aim to have Brothers and Lay Partners focus on their ministry, their journey and their spirituality. Ultimately each religious is responsible for his or her continuing formation but we all share the responsibility to accompany each other in awakening our thirst before seeking the water of the Spirit."


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Johnson, Thomas, FSC
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InFormation 2018 No. 2 : Importance of Ongoing Formation for Dominican Sisters, Springfield, Illinois, by Marilyn Jean Runkel, OP, Ph.D.

InFormation Bulletins - InFormation 2018 No.2 Summer

"Several years ago, our congregation established six standing committees as resources for life and mission. These committees ordinarily meet quarterly to review, study and share with the entire community various aspects of living our Dominican charism of Preaching. The Ongoing Formation Committee (OGFC) consists of eight to twelve members who volunteer for a term of three years, renewable for a second three-year term. During the past three years the committee has focused on the integration of all areas of lifelong formation."


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Runkel, Marilyn Jean, OP, Ph.D.
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InFormation 2018 No. 2 : Ongoing Formation : U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, by Patty Johnson, CSJ

InFormation Bulletins - InFormation 2018 No.2 Summer

"For the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St Joseph, ongoing formation is an unfolding and evolving process of responding to God’s call. It is a continuation of the initial commitment and expands our understanding and expression of the charism and spirituality of the Sisters of St Joseph. That understanding and expression changes, grows, and deepens through all the stages of life."


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Johnson, Patty, CSJ
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InFormation 2018 No. 2 : Ongoing Formation for the Whole, by Ellen Dauwer, SC

InFormation Bulletins - InFormation 2018 No.2 Summer

"Ongoing/lifelong formation focuses on the continual growth of the whole person to promote a deeper, fuller commitment. Again, it is not about professional recycling or giving more information or helping members to be better informed. Ongoing formation is not the complement or correction of initial formation. Contrary to much of our thinking and structures, it doesn’t begin when initial formation is 'completed'."


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Dauwer, Ellen, SC
Cover of InFormation 2020 Number 4, Winter

InFormation 2020 No. 4 : Advent's Deeper Invitation : Walking the Ancient Path, by Ted Dunn, PhD

InFormation Bulletins - InFormation 2020 No.4 Winter

"This leap of faith and the path of transformation are ancient paths of peril and promise. I, and others, can offer guidance, but the choices are yours to make. Your choices will determine, not only your own future, but will have a hand in determining the eventual fate of Religious Life and of our planet. You could choose to sit on the sideline and wait and see what happens. Or, you could choose to participate as proactive agents of transformation."


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Dunn, Ted, PhD

WEBINAR | CAN YOU LET GO OF A GRUDGE? - A SPIRITUALITY OF FORGIVENESS

Based on the recently released book, Can You Let Go of a Grudge? Learn to Forgive and Get on with Your Life (Paulist Press, January 2014) Fr. Desiderio will give a brief overview of the spirituality of forgiveness based on five steps:

  • L - Look deeply at what went wrong
  • E - Empathy for the other is key
  • T - Tell the story differently
  • G - Give the gift of forgiveness
  • O - One day at a time, keep forgiveness strong.

This webinar will offer practical tools for women and men religious who want to bring peace to persons caught in a web of unreconciled relationships whom they encounter in their various pastoral, administrative, peace and social justice ministries. It will also offer inspiration about living more peaceably with oneself and in community and healing rifts through reconciliation. 

Frank Desiderio, C.S.P. has been a parish priest and campus minister (UCLA), a radio and TV producer and, currently, is director of the Paulist Center in Boston. He is the executive producer of the documentary “The Big Question: A Film About Forgiveness” which launched him into a new ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation. Since 2009 he has offered retreats, parish missions and days of recollection on the spirituality of forgiveness. From Victoria, B.C. to Washington D.C. retreatants have said, "this is the best retreat I've ever been on." Participants come away saying; "I have been waiting for this for a long time", "this is exactly the kind of thing the Church should do", "I feel so much lighter", "this is what I needed to heal."

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WEBINAR | SAYING "YES" TO THE CALL OF AGING

Often older religious comment “No one taught me how to do this time of life.” Called in Baptism to share in the mission of Christ, the spiral of call moves through all the different phases of discipleship. This webinar is designed to offer older religious a spiritual model of aging and support them in their desire to

  • Re-vision/ re-vitalize their call into the second half of life
  • Find meaning and purpose on their journey into radical discipleship
  • Become a spiritually transcendent elder

Sr. Ann Billard, OLM, Ph.D. is a Sister of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy with many years of pastoral ministry experience. She is a certified grief recovery specialist and has graduate degrees in pastoral counseling from Loyola University in Maryland. Currently coordinating Transformative Aging programs, she provides spiritual direction, lectures, workshops, and retreats on grief recovery and the spirituality of aging. She has presented at national conferences and to groups of older adults both nationally and internationally.

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WEBINAR | RESILIENCE: AN INSIDE JOB

Being resilient in the face of adversity requires us to look inward rather than outward and examine our approach, our expectations, and our reactions to situations. This webinar will focus on the following topics: the definition of resilience, the factors that enhance our ability to be resilient, the distorted scripts that lead to burnout, the difference between healthy vs. unhealthy self-sacrifice, and the importance of establishing a self-care plan. 

Eran Talitman, Ph.D., C. Psych. is a registered psychologist in the province of Ontario, Canada. He has provided assessment and treatment services to individuals, couples, and families in both a hospital setting and private practice. He has also been a consultant to individuals diagnosed with HIV, cancer, and traumatic brain injury. For the past 16 years, he has been at the Southdown Institute and has provided individual and group therapy as well as assessment services to religious and clergy. He has provided workshops and presentations on Intimacy, Healthy Sexuality, Developing Healthy Ministerial Boundaries, Keeping Our Soul Alive, Effective Leadership, and Working with Personality Disorders. 

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WEBINAR | RETIREMENT: AN INVITATION TO TRANSFORMATION

For members of religious communities retirement is often seen as a signal to be ‘recycled.”  How do we respond to the too frequently asked question, “What do you do?” when ‘doing’ no longer fills our days?  What is the invitation embedded in this life event we call retirement?  We will consider some of the attitudes that impact our response, the ordinary phases that are to be expected, some suggestions on how to move through them and the potential of new life that lies beyond.

Paula Cooney is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Michigan.  Using her background in gerontology, spiritual direction and leadership in her own congregation, she has developed programs and retreats for seniors on a variety of topics that impact the journey of aging.  Since the mid 90’s the core of her ministries have been with Elders, most recently as the director of a retirement center for a community of women religious.  Paula has been an eldercare consultant with NRRO for the past 12 years.

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WEBINAR | DIVINE MYSTERY AT THE HEART OF THE COSMOS

This webinar will weave the Universe Story and the Paschal Mystery using art, poetry and theological reflection. The Great Flaring Forth of the universe is an invitation to contemplate how Divine Mystery enfolds the cosmos. On Earth Day and during the Easter Season, participants in this webinar will ponder and celebrate the mysteries of Deep Incarnation, Kenosis, Deep Resurrection and the Cosmic Story.

Linda Neil, SCJ, is a member of the Albany Province of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondolet.  An experienced educator who holds Masters’ degrees in Earth Literacy and in Religious Studies, Linda has presented programs created to inform minds, engage hearts, fire passion for transformation, and celebrate our relationship with the Earth Community in a variety of retreat centers and other venues.

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WEBINAR | KINDLING THE ENERGIES OF LOVE

We stand at an evolutionary juncture that is fostered by a deep yearning to be co-creators of the Universe. Led by the energies of that first primordial fire of the Divine, we are in communion with the Universe, Earth, and God. We strive, as sexual beings, to evolve and engage in life, seeking deeper understanding, interconnectivity and love. In this webinar, participants will explore how these energies within ourselves and beyond have evolved from that first fire that drove evolution. We will explore what God has intended for us all along.

“Some day after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we will harness for God the energies of love, and then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Essay: The Evolution of Chastity, 1934.

Maco Cassetta, CND, is a member of the Congregation of Notre Dame, a psychotherapist, and spiritual mentor. Based in New York, she is Director of Formation for her congregation.

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WEBINAR | MINDFULNESS: A WINDOW INTO THE SACREDNESS OF THE PRESENT MOMENT

Mindfulness been introduced and accepted into the mainstream of mental health treatment as an important tool in assisting the regulation of emotion, flexibility in responding to life situations, and the development of healthy relationships and self-concept. However, mindfulness has a deep religious context and origin as a spiritual tradition, including the Christian contemplative tradition. In this Advent webinar participants will explore mindfulness, as a Christian discipline and practice that helps us uncover the sacred in our everyday experience.

Benjamin Williams, Ph.D., is on the clinical staff at Southdown in Ontario, Canada. For more than fifty years, Southdown has offered compassionate care to vowed religious and diocesan clergy.

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WEBINAR | THE TRANSFORMATION OF RELIGIOUS LIFE: REFLECTIONS FROM “YOUNGER” MEMBERS

This webinar will present the findings from a recent survey of sisters under 50 years of age who were invited to share their reflections on the transformation of religious life. The results of their reflections will be offered in this webinar in order to elucidate and amplify the voices of younger members, sharing what they see emerging on the horizon and enriching our collective understanding of the ongoing transformation of religious life.

Dr. Ted Dunn is a licensed clinical psychologist with over thirty years of experience providing consultation, training and facilitation services to religious communities and other faith-based organizations throughout the United States and internationally. He regularly writes, presents, and works with vocation/formation groups, leadership teams and congregations at all levels. The context for this webinar is work he is currently doing accompanying communities who are discerning God’s call to new life through a Journey of Transformation.

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WEBINAR | GETTING THE MOST OUT OF A PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

Presented by Religious Formation Conference (RFC) in partnership with Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)

Part One: The Basics

Part Two: Dealing with Difficult findings and Difficult Realities

Part Three: Developing and Managing Intercultural Competencies Within Formation

Fr. Jerry McGlone, SJ, PhD, Associate Director, Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM)

 

WEBINAR | BEING A SIGN OF COURAGEOUS HOPE: PRACTICING COMPASSIONATE LISTENING

In this webinar, Marianne shares her experience and teaching of a practice called Compassionate Listening. The practice grew out of work facilitated by Leah Green (rooted in the work of Quaker Gene Knudsen Hoffman) with reconciliation leaders on the ground in Israel – Palestine beginning in 1991. The reconciliation work in Israel-Palestine was adapted for peace-building in everyday life and the Compassionate Listening Project began in the U.S. in 1999. Marianne has presented the practice to formation personnel participating in the RFC ForMission Program.

Sister Marianne, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, IN, is Professor of Theology and Philosophy and member of the Core Doctoral Faculty at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA.  Through teaching and professional affiliation, Marianne, is engaged in efforts to address some of the most critical issues facing today’s global communities – ecumenical and interreligious affairs, interfaith dialogue, cross cultural communications, Catholic social teaching, and care of Earth.

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WORKSHOP | HOPE IS A CHOICE THAT MATTERS: A PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE

Hope is a powerful emotion that arises from the most basic human longings – it is a life- sustaining force, rooted in relationship and our relationship with the future. In our challenging and chaotic present time, hope is more essential than ever.

In our time together, we will explore the connection between reality, grief and hope, how our thoughts and feelings create the unique energy of hope, some core competencies to help us move beyond our personal and present limits to create a better tomorrow, understanding hopelessness and how hope can be learned and is a ministry shared with others.

In this Year for Consecrated Life we have been urged by Pope Francis to make a grateful remembrance of the recent past and to embrace the future with hope. If not now, when? If not us, then who?

Artwork credit: “Journey of the Soul” © Doris Klein, CSA. Used with permission. See additional work by Doris Klein, CSA at www.doriskleincsa.com

Lynn M. Levo, CSJ, Ph.D.

is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, and a licensed psychologist, lecturer and consultant. She received her Ph.D. from the University of New York at Albany, completing her clinical training at The University of Kansas School of Medicine. Lynn consults with religious congregations of women and men, dioceses and health systems on mutuality, transitions and stress, anger, managing conflict, aging and healthy personal, sexual and spiritual development across the life span. Lynn has presented nationally and internationally to women and men religious, intercommunity novitiates and seminaries, on fostering healthy integrated sexuality, celibacy, relationships, intimacy, mutuality in community, emotional intelligence, collaborative leadership, hope, living at the edge of chaos and the call to be evolutionaries. In addition, Lynn also facilitates team development for several leadership teams of women religious, utilizing her experience as a former congregational leader and consultant.

After completing 12 years of ministering as Director of Education at Saint Luke Institute, a residential treatment facility for women and men religious, Lynn currently is a Consulting Psychologist in private practice, offering consultations and presentations/workshops both in the U.S. and abroad.

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WORKSHOP | PRESERVING PATRIMONY ON THE JOURNEY

Conversations at the Well: Crossing-over to Meet the Other and Oneself

Preserving Patrimony on the Journey

(What do we take? What do we leave behind? What if we haven’t time/opportunity to choose?)

This day will consist of prayer, input, reflection time, and sharing … all in the context of an assumption that those who have gathered are on a communal journey in which many borders have been and will be crossed. Who/what constitutes these borders, with what intent, and from what experience is critical to decisions to move forward or to stay back. Input sessions will explore crossing over in congregational life by engaging current realities through the lens of

Definitional borders: how we might understand ourselves as members of a particular religious congregation; Structural/Cultural Borders: how we organize our understanding of ourselves and how we create formal and informal norms for our common life; Theological Borders: the foundations of meaning which support our religious understanding, the religious meaning supporting structures/cultures, the religious grounding for our choices.

September 23-24, 2016;  Renton (Seattle), WA.

Helen Marie Burns, RSM

Helen Marie Burns, RSM, has served her religious community, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, in elected leadership both on the congregational and provincial levels. In 1988, she was elected to the presidency of LCWR for a three year term.  Helen Marie’s doctorate is in the History of Religion and Religious Thought; her dissertation studied Active Women Religious in the Iowa Frontier: A Study in Continuity and Disontinuity.

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WORKSHOP | ACTING ON THE JOURNEY OF TRANSFORMATION

Conversations at the Well: Crossing-over to Meet the Other and Oneself

Acting on the Journey of Transformation

The call to transformation and to “reading the signs of the times” can simultaneously elicit deep attraction and provoke corresponding resistance.

In this workshop, beginning Friday evening, participants and the presenter will explore the shadow and the journey of consciousness; crossing over from repression and fear to humility and integration.  Praying dangerously, acting radically, living the gospel will fuel the crossing to personal and communal transformation.

The workshop included input, personal journaling, table and large group conversation. (November 18-19, 2016; Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)

Donald Bisson, FMS

Donald Bisson, FMS, is first and foremost a spiritual director.  A Marist Brother based in New York, Don is engaged in the training, formation, and supervision of spiritual directors.  In addition to his doctoral work in spiritual direction and Jungian psychology, he holds graduate degrees in spirituality and liturgy.

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Annotated Formation Handbook

The Annotated Formation Handbook, prepared by Brother Donald Bisson for his own congregation, the Marist Brothers, should prove useful to RFC members engaged in formation ministry and easily adapted to their particular situations. We are grateful to Brother Don for once again sharing his time and talent with the Conference. Access to his other offerings can be found at www.donbisson.org and www.YesNowProductions.com.

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Cover image for Resource Manual Volume 3

Resource Manual Volume 3, Part 1, Ethics : Chapter 03

Formation Resources - Resource Manuals - Volume III


Part I: Code of Professional Ethics for Formation Ministers

  • 3. "Formation Ministry and Healthy Boundaries" by Rev. John Heagle, J.C.L. & Fran Ferder, FSPA, Ph.D.

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John Heagle, J.C.L.   Fran Ferder, FSPA, Ph.D.

Author: 
Heagle, John, J.C.L. ; Ferder, Fran, FSPA, Ph.D.

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