Engaging in discussion are (top to bottom) BVMs Miguel Conway, Pat Mahoney (Mel), Agnes Marie Keena, Joan Nuckols.

BVMs Therese Jacobs (Therese Carmelle), Margaret Mollan
(Laurice) and Marcelia Maglinte find each other at a social.

BVM history was made in the Twin Cities when more than 270 BVMs and Associates met at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Hilton Inn from July 27 to July 31.

Fortunately for the other hotel guests, we BVMs had been assigned nearly the entire second floor of the hotel for our assembly because the meetings and greetings of many friends brought enthusiastic exclamations and energetic hugs. Hotel staff and guests were aware of these joyful noises, and during the next days many asked who we were; some who remembered Our Lady of Peace High School and BVMs were very pleased to host us.

By 6:30 Thursday evening “Gathering” was definitely an apt name for what was happening in the foyer outside our large meeting rooms. During the next half-hour everyone found the stable-table to which she/he had been assigned, although the sound level did not abate.

BVM Fran Donnelly, chair of local arrangements, urged everyone to be seated so the first session's prayer service could begin promptly. To assist this, quietly one percussionist in the music circle began to strike a wood block and other percussionists joined her with their own instruments and rhythms; the conversations faded away. The layers of sound, each unique, blended but retained their individuality—a harbinger of the unity in diversity idea that pervaded the five days. The Gathering became centered and silent and the first prayer service began.

Bette Gambonini, BVM (Esther Mary) leads song. BVMs Karen Conover, Amy Golm and Associate Mary Ann Krems provide accompaniment.

The musicians sang the refrain: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be...”—a reference to the theme of the Gathering: “A Purse Unfastened: Treasure Lost...Treasure Found.” The entire Gathering repeated it, and the verses expanded on the theme. As the prayer service drew to a close it seemed obvious that “Gathering” was not just a verb, but was becoming a noun that described a body of believers.

Loss and Gains

These believers reflected and re-interpreted the meanings of a seminal experience of the first BVMs: losing almost all their money as they disembarked the ship in New York harbor. What was the significance of that trauma for them? What treasures lost and treasures gained are experienced today?

BVM president Joellen McCarthy and vice-presidents Mary Ann Zollmann and Peggy Nolan respond to questions after their team talk.

For the BVM leadership team, “our treasure is right here. Its discovery is the source of radical hope.” Focusing on the universe, they noted that “Our planet is one. It is precious. It is fragile. So are we. We have only this place; we have only each other.”

In this team talk, BVMs Joellen McCarthy, Peggy Nolan and Mary Ann Zollmann explored the diversity of the universe, the human family and the community. They asked, “How do we engage difference in a life-giving way, in a way so contrary to the polarization that breaks our world and church apart and which can divide our community?

The starting point, they suggested, is “looking upon the other with love,” and allowing the Spirit to “move us beyond either-or positions and lead us to surprising places.”

“Our hope lies in the belief that what we do and how we are with one another is transforming our world,” they said. “When we are transformed our planet is transformed. It is as simple and urgent as that.”

Keynote speaker Maria Elena Martinez, OSF, retold the BVM story of a purse unfastened in light of personal experiences and wisdoms to be learned. “Every crisis is an invitation to grace,” she said. “Moments of darkness are a call to transformation.” In addition, “a spirituality of solidarity/belonging/relationships brings courage and strength.”

Additional presentations and discussion on Initial Membership, the Associate program, and future leadership engaged all participants in sharing diverse perspectives and planning for the future.

Environment and Prayer

The second floor had a lengthy foyer area that was home for many display boards for notices and tables holding folk art, note cards and other creations to purchase. One of the large meeting rooms was used for prayer, presentations, discussions and voting, the other for dining. Both had round tables that seated ten and though it was a challenge to navigate the meeting room when most chairs were filled, it worked out well.

The liturgy is hard to describe; in fact, words fail, but must be tried. Michael Joncas, composer of many religious melodies, presided and the liturgy was inclusive and inspiring. It fit very well with the spirit of the entire gathering, and the spirit was probably closer to the apostles' gatherings of the faithful than the more formal liturgies we usually experience.

Left: Maureen O'Brien, BVM (Matteo) processes with a book of BVM history during the opening prayer. Right: Sisters indicate their approval of a proposal by raising green cards.

New Moments

Left: BVMs Sara McAlpin (Philip Mary), Theresa Caluori (Martin Jerome) and Mary Pat Haley ( St. Thomas ) celebrate the passage of a proposal they helped to author. Right: BVMs Marguerite Murphy (John) and Lois Dolphin narrate a skit.

Some statistics that served to set this assembly apart from similar BVM events:

• This was the largest gathering of BVMs in the Cities since the Senate/Assembly at St. Catherine College in 1975.
  
• This was the first Senate/Gathering* in which volunteer senators voted on legislative policies affecting the entire congregation. Previously senators had been elected from each region, so that the Senate totaled approximately 50; this Senate was the largest with 150 Senators present.
  
• This was the first Senate/Gathering at which every session began and ended on time, discussion periods were limited to one minute or as many as 15 minutes, and the schedule worked!
  
• This was the first Senate in which only three policy proposals required action by the Senators. They addressed having a non-BVM in the positions of congregational secretary and treasurer, a new process for approving the congregational budget, and formation of a new Senate committee.
  
• Only four from Open Space groups brought forth actions for affirmation.
  
• This was the first Gathering at which a Visioning Committee reported. They are studying ways to best use the Mt. Carmel land to benefit the greatest number of people; soon it will submit their findings scenarios to the entire congregation for discussion and feedback as an earlier Visioning Committee studied Mt. Carmel building use; action has already been taken on their recommendations.
  
• This was the first Gathering to experience such record-breaking high temperatures that some rooms lost air-conditioning, and the hotel's restaurant and catering ice-cube machines broke down. Many participants had come with the idea of doing a little local exploring especially in the Mall of America during free times. For most, these ideas wilted very quickly.
  
• This was the first Senate for which e-mail discussion was so widely used before the meeting that less time was needed for face to face discussion than at any time in Senate history.

Left: Savoring fresh water are (l. to r.) BVMs Yvonne Mattioli, Katherine Heffernan and Vivian Wilson. Right: Associate Janice Del Fiacco presents a shower of cards to outgoing Associate coordinators Betty Voss, BVM (Leonice) and Associate Nancy Van Anne.

* For this article, SENATE refers to the sessions in which voting takes place. GATHERING refers to all other sessions and includes all present.

About the author: Bertha Fox, BVM is professor emerita in music from Clarke College. She teaches at Roberta Kuhn Center and is a BVM computer tutor.

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© 2006 Sisters of Charity, BVM