Carmelites Gather in Chicago to Discuss Hope & Healing
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Opening of the Conference |
by Sal Lema, Director of
Carmelite Communications
On unseasonably cool July days,
they gathered in “the windy
city.” The Palmer House Hotel
in Chicago, amidst the city’s parks
and museums was a welcoming environment
for Carmelite lay men and
women, sisters, brothers, ordained
and interested others from the far
reaches of this earth.
With chandeliers dripping in
scarlet crystal, a warm reflection of
rose filled the room as lights dimmed
and the convocation opening ceremony
began. Darkness gave way to
focused scenes of torture, and
poverty, of soldiers poised and ready,
of wounded bodies and flag draped
coffins. We re-witnessed the reality of
the terror and anxiety that followed
the twin-tower bombings. Silent statements
of healing and hope weaved
through the scenes. Echoing Saint
Thérèse, “My vocation is love,” said
Titus Brandsma. “Confident in God’s
love we have the courage to pray.”
While soft melodies streamed, the
room lacquered in cherry, was reflective
of the hearts of those within, who
came for “Healing and Hope,” the
title for this summer’s conference
sponsored by the Carmelite Institute. The presenters from Spain, Italy,
Scotland, Iraq, and across the United
States, came to carry their torches,
walk side by side in waves of confidence…to embrace a call to be for the
world a prayer of hope and healing.
They followed the tradition of
former conferences sponsored by the
Carmelite Institutes; of Washington,
DC, in 1996; of Reno in 1998; of San Antonio in 2001 and now Chicago in
2004. “The world after 9/11 has
caused a change in several planning
stages,” stated Steven Payne, OCD,
Carmelite Institute President. “The
topic of this conference (Carmel as a
Sign of Hope and Healing) is based on
the recent events in the world and how
we bring our resources to bear, while
Carmelites work in the front lines.”
The presenters during this fourday
experience unraveled the signs
of hope within us. Dianne Bergant,
CSA, the first presenter, examined
the causes of the world’s current state.
“Your best skill is your prayer,” she
said, “is to be persistent!” From
Bergant’s opening, through the
musical response of Carmelite Father
James Boyce’ recital, the convocation
was filled with thought-provoking
analogies of where the world is today
and how we can bring healing
through hope.
From darkness in the church,
Quinn Connors spoke of the “love of
God in the messiness of our life…and
how clergy experience Gods love in
them.” From dryness in prayer, to the resources we have in the Carmelite
Saints, all the calls of discipleship
leads to the cross.
“Our contemporary way of life
has made us so “I-centered,” stated
Bishop Anders Arborelius, OCD. A
convert to Catholicism, Bishop
Arborelius, who was led to Carmel
through his reading of Saint
Thérèse’s autobiography, was consecrated
bishop of Stockholm in 1998.
Having served many years as a
Chaplain for the Cook County
Department of Corrections in
Chicago, Father Andrew Skotnicki,
O.Carm., who has written and taught
extensively in the areas of Christian
social ethics and socially of religion
with a special focus on the theological
and moral foundations of Criminal
Justice, gave a presentation on “Prisoners for Christ: Voluntary and
Involuntary Confinement in Carmel”.
His description of the criminal justice
system through four stations of
penance brought ministers of justice
to their knees.
Saturday’s highlights began with
a greeting from Francis Cardinal
George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago,
followed by an address from Archbishop
Jean Sleiman, OCD, a
Discalced Carmelite from Lebanon
who was ordained as the Latin-rite
archbishop of Baghdad in 2001.
Before the conference ended
sixteen presenters delivered insights
on the signs present within our world.
The convocation closed on a highpoint
on Sunday with a liturgy concelebrated
by the Very Reverend Louis
Arostegui Gamboa, OCD, Superior
General of the Discalced Carmelites,
and the Very Reverend Joseph
Chalmers, O.Carm., Provincial
General of the Carmelite Order,
who also gave the homily.
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Michael Wastag, O.Carm., listens to the program |
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