Federation Justice and Peace
Ministers Report: Nurturing Relationships
Advancing Justice
Being and Acting As One As a Global Joseph Family

Sisters of Saint Joseph travelled from all points in the United States as well as three other continents to attend the annual Federation Justice Ministers’ meeting from October 2 – 5, 2008 in Brentwood, NY. In fidelity to the commitment we made last year to finance and host some international sisters again this year, we welcomed with great joy Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery Dorothy Beck (India) and Marie Ines Coelho Rosa (Brazil), Sister of St. Joseph of Lyon Griselda Martinez Morales (Argentina), and Sister of St. Joseph of Annecy Marie Pierre Ndiaye (Senegal) to our annual justice gathering. We gathered from around the world in the hope of nurturing relationships across the continents, advancing justice as it relates to the Millennium Development Goals and finding ways to be and act more as one as a global Joseph Family.

To be a Sister of Saint Joseph is to be about relationships! The forty-eight hours we shared together mirrored this reality as we prayed about, shared and planned our justice work. Through a seamless process of contemplative prayer, contemplative listening, large group sharing and World Café experience, we continued to nurture our relationships throughout the first day of our gathering. Those of us who participated in the International Justice gathering in Lyon shared what was most life giving about this event and how this experience affected others who heard our stories once we returned to our home countries.

Following this sharing we segued into a "contemplative" World Café experience to engage the question: "Given what we heard this morning and the potential for transformation that it holds, what are the 'essentials' we need to keep in mind to do international justice work together?" Some essentials that we noted were: Relationships, language/culture, awareness/attitudes, thinking of ourselves as a "congregation without borders", contemplative stance as a basis for our justice work, need to simplify our lifestyles, opportunities for international experiences, novice immersion experiences, commitment to eradicate poverty, need to share our poverty with one another, communication, funding and support from within CSSJ congregations.

We began our afternoon with a brief period of contemplative silence followed by time for the international sisters to share what is happening in their congregations to advance MDGs # 1 (Poverty), #3 (Empowerment of Women), #7 (Environmental Sustainability) and # 8 (Global Partnerships). Having heard what is happening to advance the MDGs among the International Congregations, we then worked in small groups to identify what is happening in the U.S. to address MDGs #1, 3, 7, and 8. Responses on newsprint covered almost every wall – an indication that a lot of action is taking place! Areas of commonality included:

• MDG #1: Participation in the Stand Up Against Poverty; raising awareness of poverty; Participation Jubilee USA cancellation of debt; Poverty Awareness Day
• MDG #3: Human Trafficking: workshops, legislative work, participation in Anti-Trafficking Coalitions, Corporate stands on HT; congregational Anti-Trafficking committees
• MDG #7: Increased recycling and use of green products; Environmental audits; purchases of Prius’; participation in Change for Global Change (15 congregations)
• MDG #8: Participation in Bread for the World; Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, Catholic Charities, Jubilee USA, Catholic Relief Services; the One Campaign; NETWORK, Pax Christi, Save Darfur Campaign; Stand Up Against Poverty

Through song, gesture, reflection, Sharing the State of the Heart and Order of the House we maintained a contemplative atmosphere as we entered day two. Within the context of prayer Carol Zinn offered a reflection on her experience in Lyon for the first international gathering of CSSJ leadership; Marianne Sennick provided an overview of her work at the UN, specifically as it relates to gender equality and empowerment of women, and Susan Wilcox enthusiastically shared her experience of the 2008 High School Conference that included participants from India, Brazil, Puerto Rico and the United States.

All of these prayerful experiences and conversations set the stage for the more action oriented work of Saturday afternoon where we worked in small and large group settings to dream about where God desires to use our energies as we focus on the up-coming year. We focused specifically on the MDGs, Corporate Voice Statements, and ways we can be and act more as one. As we explored the MDGs we committed ourselves to focus on MDG #3 for 2008 - 2009: To promote gender equality and empower women.

Suggestions for implementing this focus included:

• Lobbying congressional members to support the sign-on to CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women)
• Providing education and raising awareness of violence against women, human trafficking, and war crimes against women
• Developing “Just Notes” that can be shared as a resource on MDG #3
• Developing a Corporate Voice Statement on MDG #3
• Sharing resources, ideas, and work for MDG #3 throughout the year

Throughout our gathering we used a progressive evaluation via newsprint so that our "heartfelt" response to each segment of our gathering could be recorded in a timely manner and so that all of us could receive the gift that this meeting was to each of us. We invite you to savor a sampling of these responses that our time together evoked in us:

• The prayers were deeply spiritual, inspiring and unifying. It was a peaceful time to center ourselves and to connect with the sisters here and from around the world.
• I was touched by the generous gift of water from Senegal, when they have so little.
• I am humbled by the reminder that we in the U.S. who have so much must learn that others also have something to share with us.
• I was very much affected by the sharing about the Lyon meeting. We are walking together, just as the disciples did on the road to Emmaus. We don’t yet know what to do about poverty but we have deepened our relationships…what to do will come in time.
• Our time together broadened my vision; we don’t always need to lead but we do need to walk with.
• I realized that we have not been there for our sisters in the global south as we may have thought we were.
• This meeting gave me an international lens. The presence of the international sisters continues to give a new and needed perspective.
• The focus on relationships, the rhythm of prayer, reflection, presentation, and contemplative pauses allowed God to speak to us.

And so in the words of our closing ritual: "Touched by blessing and struggle, hope and disappointment, clarity and confusion, what we have ultimately completed has, in its entirety, been gift from God. We go forward now, trusting that our mission has been and will be strengthened by the work of this gathering. We go forth confident that God’s word has been and will be alive within each of us."

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