CatholicSpiritualityNetwork

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CATHOLICSPIRITUALITYNETWORK

NEWSLETTEREDITION4

50THANNIVERSARYEDITION

1967-2017NOVEMBER2017

THECOMMITTEEISPLEASEDTOANNOUNCE

OUR2018DAYCONFERENCE

InaYear’sTurningFourSeasonsofSpiritualGrowth

Members have requested a Conference about thespiritual significanceof the life cycleand theprocessofageing,Thisisakeyareabothforourownformationandto support our accompaniment of others. We aredelighted that Christopher Chapman has agreed toexplore this themewith us from the perspective of theseasonsandthenaturalworld.

In the Bible, spiritual growth is likened to the naturaldevelopmentprocessesofplants,andthepartplayedbygardeners,whetherhumanordivine.InaYear’sTurningwillexplorefourrecurringmovementsofthisgrowth:

BecomingrootedandgroundedinGodEmergingintobeinginresponsetoGod’sinvitationStrugglingtowardsabundancethroughresistanceBearingfruitandbeingwillingtofallThesefouraremovements,notstages.Theyareseasonsthatmeetusafreshwithina lifetimeofgrowing,stirringusoncemoreintoabundantlife.

Christopher Chapman is anexperienced retreat leader andspiritual director. Chris is theauthor of Seeing in the Dark[2013] and Earthed in God: Fourmovements of spiritual growth[due to be published byCanterburyPress in spring2018].HeisaregularguestdirectoratSt.

Beuno’sSpiritualExercisesCentre.FormerlyhewastheSpirituality Adviser for the Anglican Diocese ofSouthwark.Healsoco-ledspiritualdirectionprogrammesattheFranciscanStudyCentreinCanterbury.

Chrissays:‘Theeverturningseasonsoftheyearandtherhythmsoflifewithinthenaturalworldhavehelpedmeunderstand the differentmovements of Godwithinmyexperience.Ihopethisdaywillenableustosensehowwecan co-operatewithGod aswe are drawn into amorefruitfullife.’

THE CONFERENCEWILL TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY 28APRIL 2018 AT ST ALOYSIUS CHURCH HALL, LONDONNW1, NEAR EUSTON STATION. BOOKINGS ARE OPEN.PLEASECONTACTMARGARETINTHEOFFICEFORMOREINFORMATION AND BOOKING FORMS.www.csn.retreats.org.uk

CSNGOLDENJUBILEEIt is50yearssincewebeganlifeastheNationalRetreatMovement. SeeP2 forareflectiononthismomentousevent from our long-standing Membership Secretary,Margaret Palladino. As members will know, it is notalwayseasytokeepgoingasareligiousorganisationonashoestring,soitisrightbothtocongratulateourselvesonthis achievement and to acknowledge our gratitude tothosewhohaveprecededus-servingontheCommitteeandinthewidermembership.WehopetousethetimebetweennowandournextAGMattheAprilConferenceto raise some additional funds to keep us going foranother50years!

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50NOTOUT!MargaretPalladino,ourMembershipSecretaryreflects,alittlebelatedly,onour50thAnniversarythisyear!

The uncharacteristic silence onthismomentouseventhascausedme to reflect and my reflectionswere interrupted when I caughtsightof thenewsof thedeathofJohn Ruming on the Jesuits inBritain website. John would not

have forgotten this Golden Jubilee. Johnwas an activemember of the network until hemoved to the SussexCoastintorealretirementandwouldalwaysgetintouchtoremindofagoldennuggetofinformationwhichlinkedintothehistoryoftheCatholicNetwork.Hewasamanwith great attention to detail, more later. Back to theNetwork’sGoldenJubilee.

WhatavisionthoseearlypioneersofthegrouphadandIhopetheywouldnotbedisappointedatthewaythingsaregoing50yearson.FollowinginthewisdomofmanyChairs and Executive Committees, the network hasweathered many storms and is still standing togetherwith other denominational groups at the heart of theRetreatAssociation,andalsoexploringwiththeBishops’Conference ways to support and resource CatholicDiocesesandParishes.Wehaveanamazinglysupportiveandencouraginggroupofmembers,manyofwhomcanremember far further back than I can and I feel verypositiveforthefuture.Thedevelopmentprogrammeofthe past two years, energised and supported by JillKeegan,hasgivenusaboostintothe21stCentury.Thenetworkisdefinitelycontinuingthejourney.

WhatmakesanetworkstrongisitsmembershipandCSNhasmanyloyalandcommittedlong-standingmembers.Itwouldbelovelytoreceiveandcollateanymemoriesyouwould like to send us of key points in the network’shistory.Ifwereceiveenoughwemightcreatesomethingforourarchivetoaddtothestory.ManyofourpreviousChairsarestillinmembershipandveryactiveinsupport,sharing wisdom and encouraging from the floor atConferencesandinsomanyways.Ifyouwouldbewillingto sendus something, a goldennuggetof your time inleadership…….Itisimportanttomarkananniversaryasimportantasthisoneis.

2017isthebeginningoftheseanniversarycelebrations–let’s continue them into 2018 – thanking God for ourfounders,ourcompanionsonthejourneyandthosewhohavegonebeforeusandwillcomeafterus.

AdMultosAnnos

Anadditionalthought.AnunsungheroinanyExecutivegroup is theTreasurerand inourpresent treasurerwehavearealgift.InourmeetingDavidShawistheonewhochallengesusandgivestherealitycheck.Weexistontheproverbialshoe-string!andintheyearswhenwedonothavearesidentialconferencewestruggletokeepafloat.Davidasksthehardquestionsandwesovalueit–hadwealwayshadsomeonelikehim(andPatTylerbeforehim),wewouldnotbequiteaslowinfundsasweare!!!!Thelast meeting was no exception and we resisted thesuggestionofraisingsubscriptionsandothertoughideasfor yet another year but the Executive recognised wereallydoneedtochallengeourselvesinthefund-raisingarea.

PerhapsasaoneoffforthisyearwecouldALLjoininandgive the network a small but special anniversary gift.Duringthisyearcouldweaskifyoumighteachthinkofasmall fund-raising/Sponsor idea to be done locallyspecificallyforthenetwork.IwillleaveyoutoponderandhopefullywewillputahugesmileonDavid’sfaceatthe2018AGM!

JohnRumingRIP

IwassaddenedtoreadofthenewsofJohn’sdeath.Untilhe moved to the South Coast he was a very activememberof thenetwork.Hemovedwith the timesandwasalwayssupportiveofnewinitiatives.Iremembertheenthusiasm with which he embraced SpiritualConversationwhenhefelthistimeasaSpiritualDirectorwasdrawingtoaclose.Johnhadagreatgiftforgrowingoldgracefully,heknewwhentoletgoandtoleaveittoothers! He was an active member of Christian LifeCommunityandservedittoo.HewasafoundermemberoftheSouthernIgnatianNetworkwithPaddyPurnellandservedon theCoreGroup.Hewasactive inSouthwarkDiocese JusticeandPeace,PaxChristi andCafod –LiveSimply–wasapassionandepitomisedJohn.Hewaschairof this network when it was NRM. One of my earliestmemoriesintheBermondseyOfficeisthe‘MailingDays’whenJohnwouldalwaysjoinusintheoffice.IrememberhimtooattheRetreatAssociationConferenceswhenhewould leada regularwalkingworkshop to theMidlandRailwayCentre.

MargaretPalladino“Hewasagoodman:mayherestinpeace.”SeePhilKerton’sObituaryinIndependentCatholicNewshttps://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/33379

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MYSTICISMANDNARCISSISM

Welcome news fromKathleen Lyons rcabout her book,Mysticism andNarcissism, publishedin 2015 and based onherPhDcompletedtheprevious year. Thebook provides an

excellentconsiderationofthe impactofVatican IIon women’s religious orders and women’s self-understanding aligned with her 70 years as aReligious. Kathleen was Director of the IgnatianSpiritualityCourse inLondonformanyyears. Shehas been an inspirational and leadingmember oftheCatholicSpiritualityNetworksinceitsearlydaysastheNationalRetreatMovement.CongratulationsandgratitudeareduetoKathleenforproducingaworkofsuchsignificance.Shewrites:

Mysticism andNarcissismisthetitleofthe publication of myPh.D.with the sub-title‘Changes in theologyduring my years as aCenacle sister’. In it Irecord how weresponded to theinvitation of Vatican II

Council to Religious orders to return to the‘profound intention of the founders’ and to ‘thesignsofthetimes’. Oursisterswereinstrumentalat the inception of the National Catholic RetreatMovementwhenfiftyyearsagoitcameintobeing.WewereexcitedabouttheCouncilandthebreathof fresh air it brought into the Church andconsequently into Religious Life. It enabledReligious Women to share with all people thespiritualrichestheyhadenjoyedintheirsemi-

monastic life. One such gift was the SpiritualExercisesofSt.Ignatiuswhichhadbeenopentoallthrough the Jesuits. The concept of ‘IgnatianMysticism’ is notwritten about in the early years(before 1930) but by the time of the Council‘Ignatian mysticism’ is understood as propheticdiscipleship.ItwasnotIgnatius’elevatedstatesofprayer thatmade him amystic but his propheticapostolicministry through the Spiritual Exercises.Many people came to the Cenacle for theexperienceoftheSpiritualExercisesbut.afterthefoundationdays.thesistershadbeenrestrictedtoasupportiveroleinthebackgroundwhile‘Father’preachedtheretreat.AftertheCouncil,ifwewereto be faithful to our charism to give the retreatsourselves, a profound awareness of how torecognise the signs of the Holy Spirit required asound theological training in addition to skills incommunicating.

A significant claim I make is that mysticismfacilitates a breakthrough from our tendency tonarcissismbecauseitrequiresustoenterfullyintothe relational process which is at the heart ofreality. I draw on the recent work of an Israeli/French psychoanalyst* to describe the generativeprocessbeginningatconception,withthefeminineplayingthemediatingrole.Wehave,inscribedintoourmake- up, a potentiality for inter-relatednessfrom the very beginning. However, this gift isfrequently thwarted and undermined by therationalism and competitive individualism of ourinherited patriarchal culture. I revisit certainbiblicalpassagesthatshednewlightonthefamiliarstoriesandrevealMarytobesomuchmorethanthefamiliariconthattraditionhaspainted.Ibelieveher to be awoman showing every otherwoman,nothowsheoughttobe,buthowsheis!

*Ettinger,Bracha L ‘Matrixial Trans-Subjectivity’Theory,Culture,andSociety232006p218-22.

Note:MysticismandNarcissismisavailableforpurchaseonAmazon.

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RetreatinMaltaReportWhenIsawearlierintheyearthat Tom McGuinness andMagdalenLawlerwereleadingaretreatinMalta,”ChristourMorning Star” using the Artand inspiration of SiegerKöder,IregrettedthatIhadaprior engagement and wouldnot be able to take part.However, about 10 days

beforetheretreatwasduetobegin,IsuddenlyfoundthatIhadthetimefree. IhadneverbeentoMaltabuthadheardaboutitsfascinatinghistoryandinterestingplacestovisit. Iarrived inVallettamid-afternoonon27April.The retreat house was easy to find and spacious andcomfortable. On Saturday morning we started a pre-retreat pilgrimage. We visited the oldest standingNeolithictemples,StJohn’sCathedralinValettawithitsfamousCaravaggiomasterpieceoftheBeheadingofJohntheBaptist, theancientandmodern cityofMdina, theCatacombsofStPaulandmanyotherplacesofspiritualand historical interest. In each one we had a shortreflectionandprayer.OnSundaywevisitedStPaul’sBayand viewed the islandwhere it is thought St Paul waswashedashoreasrelatedintheActsoftheApostles.

The retreat days werebasedonagentleinputeach morning usingreflective slides withMagdalen, and poetryand songs by Tom.Many of the groupenjoyed an afternoonopportunity to shareon the theme of the

day. Others simply enjoyed the quiet space – but allgatheredforaquietEucharistbeforesupper. Ihavetosay the meals were wonderful…satisfyinglyMediterranean at midday … and the evening saladpresentationahighlightofthedayforsome!

The whole experience was a real gift and I am verygratefulthatIhadtheopportunityforthisretreat.Iwouldcertainly recommend it to anyone who is looking forspiritual,culturalandphysicalrefreshment.

HelenBambershcj

AsimilarretreatwillbeofferedinearlyMay2018.SeethewebsiteofMount St JosephRetreatCentre,Malta,www.mtsjoseph.org

CSNDAYREPORT14Oct2017LOVEBADEMEWELCOME

The KairosCentre waspleased to hostitsfirstCSNdayon14thOctober.The ‘Love BadeMe Welcome’day was led by

long-timeNetworkmember, SisterMagdalen Lawler SND. SisterMagdalen,throughaselectionofthepaintingsofSiegerKöder and the poetry of George Herbert, offeredparticipantsideasasalaunch-padtoreflectontheirownprayerandexperience. Thegeneral feedbackwas thateveryone received a great deal from SisterMagdalen’sinput and the hospitality and comfort of the KairosCentre. The day coincided with the close of the PoorServantsoftheMotherofGodGeneralChapterandapartfromanot soquiet, quietperiod in theafternoon, thetwo events rubbed along together nicely. MichaelO’Halloran,Director

Thedaycameattheendofaverybusyweekandwasrichformeinsomanyways.IlovetheartofSiegerKöderbuthadnotspenttimewith‘TheTable’andwasfascinatedtoexploretheguestsseatedthere.LinkingthistothepoemofGeorgeHerbertgavefullermeaningtoGod’sinvitationtoeachto‘ComecloserandshareeverythingwithHim’.During lunch it was good to renew membershipfriendships and to meet new people from the localityincluding those who had come from local parishes ontheir first taste of a quiet day. During the afternoonMagdalenopenedandrevealedhiddenlayersofRublev’sHospitalityiconanditwasagifttositandbedrawnintorelationshipwiththeTrinityinthecompanyofothers.Ireallydohopethatthesedayswillgrowanddevelopinthenetworkas they surelybuild for the individual, thelocalgroupandthewidercommunityofnetwork,parishanddiocese.MargaretPalladino

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EVENTS

RETREATASSOCIATIONCONFERENCE2018SOUNDINGTHESILENCEExploringDepthsinStillnessandSpeechWehopemanymemberswilljointheRetreatAssociationforthethree-yearlyecumenicalConference18–21June2018 at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick,Derbyshire.

Key Catholic contributors are Sara Maitland, ProfessorPeterTylerandliturgistFrancesNovillo. Otherkeynotespeakers includeMartin Laird, authorof Into the SilentLand, andRevGrahamSparkes. MalcolmGuitewillberesidentpoet.Thisrichline-upwillfocusonthethemeofsilencebothinthecontextofretreatandintheunspokenareasofourlives.TherewillbeopportunitiesforjoiningtogetherinsilentreflectionduringtheConference.http://www.retreats.org.uk/conference.php

CSNDAYinDERBYSHIRE!27January2018Speaker:FrChrisThomas,DirectoroftheIrenaeusProject,Liverpool.Venue:OurLadyofLourdesChurchHall,Mickleover,Derby.Theme:SpiritualityandtheMysteryofHumanity(or“HolinessisforEveryone”)PLEASECONTACTTHEOFFICETOBOOK

CSNDAYINLEWISHAM12May2018WearelookingforwardtoareturnvisittotheSistersofStAndrewinLewishamon12May2018.Happymemoriesof last year’s day on Julian of Norwich with ChrisChapman!ThankyoutotheSistersforofferingtohostusagain.MOREINFORMATIONINTHENEWYEAR

CSNRETREAT–NEWVENTURE!TheCommitteeproposesholdingaweekendCSNRetreatin ourDay Conference year. Thiswill serve the doublepurposeofenablingustocometogetherandraisingsomeadditionalfundstohelpusthroughtheyear.

WearegratefultotheKairosCentreforofferingtohosttheretreatandtoTomMcGuinnessSJandSrMagdalenLawler for offering to lead us. The date will be 23-25November 2018 and the retreatwill leadus gently intoAdvent. More information to come in the MayNewsletter.

CONFERENCEONSUFFERING,DIMINISHMENTANDTHECHRISTIANLIFE

The Centre for CatholicStudiesatDurhamUniversityisholdingthisConference8–10 January 2018 at UshawCollege, Durham. ProfessorKaren Kilby is one of the

keynotespeakers.ManymemberswillrememberKarenas the main speaker at our 2016 Conference and howgood shewas. Shehasbeenchosenasoneof the100most influential Catholics by the Tablet this year! TheConferencewillseektoexplorethestatusandmeaningofsufferinginChristianlifeandChristiantheologyandtoaskwhetherloveisintrinsicallylinkedtosuffering.

https://www.dur.ac.uk/theology.religion/ccs/new/?itemno=32136

HEYTHROPCOLLEGECONFERENCE,JULY2018

Sadly,HeythropCollege,aworkoftheBritishJesuitsandlovedandvaluedbymany, is toclose in thesummerof2018.PlanningisunderwayforclosingeventsincludingamajorConference5-7July2018.TherewillalsobeadayConference for staff and alumni on Saturday 12 May.More informationwill bemade available on the Eventspage of their website in due course.http://www.heythrop.ac.uk/about-us/events

CatholicSpiritualityNetworkExecutiveCommittee:DavidLonsdale(Chair),DavidShaw(Treasurer),BarbaraStrong,SisterTeresaKennedy,MichaelO’Halloran.ManythankstoChristopherSimon-EvanswhohashadtoresignfromtheCommitteeduetoafamilymovetoFrance.Wewishhimallwellandhopehekeepsintouch.

MembershipSecretary:MargaretPalladino

Newsletter and Development: Jill Keegan. Pleasesendnewslettercontributionstotheemailbelow.

Contact:MargaretPalladinoMembership Secretary, Catholic Spirituality Network (CSN), StGeorge’sCathedral,WestminsterBridgeRd,LondonSE17HYTel:07756864784catholicspiritualitynetwork@gmail.comwww.csn.retreats.org.uk