Addicted sisters kansas city retreat4/7/2023 The Christ is symbolic of a new type of religious person emerging through the deepening of love and compassion across religious traditions. One of the speakers was Matthew Wright, an Episcopal priest, who spoke on the rise of "second axial consciousness" and the emergence of a new type of global interspirituality.įollowing Ewert Cousins' Christ of the Twenty-First Century, Matthew outlined the features of second axial religion as global, ecological, communal and interspiritual. I invited two millennial spirituality leaders to speak at the Omega conference. I got a hint of this new type of person emerging in the 21st century at the Omega Center conference. Teilhard realized that we humans are in evolution and that evolution entails a rise in consciousness that is, consciousness constantly reformats itself to fit the new contours of the universe, giving rise to a new type of person. We need a new understanding of God that reflects our new understanding of the cosmos. Our God has become too small, he said, too puny to nourish any kind of zest for life. He came to this insight through his deep reflections on consciousness, spiritual energy and evolution. The conference focused on Teilhard de Chardin's notion that we need a new religion of the earth. Yet I could not help reflect on my experience the week before the retreat, when we held our first Omega Center conference in Kansas City, Missouri. Participating in the modified convent routine reminded me of my formative years as a Franciscan, the interactions of community life, the devotional routine of communal prayer and, overall, the Catholic culture of institutional life. There were a few younger sisters in modified habits from India, Africa and the Philippines.įor me this weeklong retreat with consecrated women provided a bridge to my past as I continue to explore a new type of religious life for the future. It was easy to feel young in this setting since many of the sisters were between 70 and 95 years old, some dependent on canes and walkers, others moving at a leisurely pace down the main hallway. The retreat followed a daily "convent" schedule: Matins, Vespers, Mass and afternoon adoration. This year, the theme was "Living from the Heart," with a morning talk on the theme and an afternoon sacramental celebration of living from the heart. I recently spent a week on the Jersey shore with 137 sisters from various congregations.Įach year, the Redemptorists' retreat house in Long Branch, New Jersey, holds several sisters' retreats that accommodate a wide variety of religious women. It is a companion piece to this week's column. Editor's note: In her column last week, Ilia Delio considered death and the possibility of new life in the church.
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