Opening Reflection - Contemplative Chapter – 13 January 2009

OUR LIFE HIDDEN WITH CHRIST AT THE HEART OF THE COSMOS

Looking at the theme for this Chapter I became aware that we have before us four stories – the story of the
universe and the earth, our Christian story and the story of our Family and within that the story of your
contemplative vocation. All these stories are inter-related and we live in all of them and all of them are
important for us. Of course they have different time spans from about 14 billion years to 150 years.
However these stories are part of the context in which we live. They reveal to us who we are, they reveal
to us the mystery of God. They are interwoven into us, they are part of us, and they form and shape us.
Yet each story is also different and can be viewed separately without losing sight of the fact that they also
remain connected and interconnected. In a reflection such as this it is only possible to explore each one
briefly.

Our ancestry stretches back through the life forms and into the stars, back into the beginnings of the
primeval fireball. This universe is a single multiform energetic unfolding of matter, mind, intelligence and
life.1

Caroline Webb says this in another way: our bodies express all the history of life on this planet. And the
history is also the history of every mountain, every river, every ocean, and every pond. And every millimetre
of rock and soil, every wisp of water vapour and every breath of the atmosphere blowing ceaselessly around
our globe. In our bodies flows the knowledge of an entire planet, an entire solar system, and the universe.
It is nothing short of spectacular! What cause for celebration! 2

What we are learning today about our Cosmos is astounding and often overwhelming for us. Now we
know, thanks to discoveries of science, that our cosmos is about 13.7 billion years old. At some point – and
no one knows when or how, the story of the Cosmos began in a single moment – sometimes called the “big
bang” when all that was ever to be part of life was contained in that one single event. From that one
moment everything else began to evolve and unfold and continues to do so. A helpful image given to this
moment and quoted by Cletus Wessels in Jesus and the new Universe story is “the everything seed”. You
and I, every living being, every plant and animal, every star and planet, mountain and plain, river and
ocean, rock and stone has its beginnings there in the “seed” of that first moment. We are intimately
connected to one another and to all creation because we all share the one starting point and we are all
made up of the same material. Our life is rooted in and connected to all life – all that has been, all that will
be. We are participants in a single on-going act of creation.3

We recognise that the cosmos has being imbued with God’s compassionate, loving presence from the very
beginning; that the cosmos is that through which God communicates something of the invisible Way to us in
endless visible ways. A visible expression of invisible Love.4

1
The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos – Brian Swimme, professor of mathematical cosmology
2
Weaving a World with light – Caroline Webb, professor of philosophy and cosmology
3
Radical Amazement – Judy Cannato, spiritual director
4
The Cosmic Mystic – Henry A Garon, professor of Physics

1
And we state in our Corporate Commitment that in the light of the new cosmic vision that opens before us,
we realise that all forms of life in the universe exist in total interdependence and as an intimately inter-
related whole of which humans form a part. We are now conscious that communion embraces not only our
sisters and brothers in humanity, but the entire cosmic family

The planet earth story began about 4.6 billion years ago having been formed and shaped during a long
process. The first sign of life began as single cell bacteria. Much later our origins as humans can be traced
back to about 1.9 million years ago. And in more recent times, with our very short history on this earth and
shorter still in the Cosmos, we thought we were the centre of the earth and all the rest was for our use and
benefit. We now know just how wrong we are and how close we have come to destroying a system that
lived without us for billions of years.

There are many important points regarding the earth in the Earth Charter 2000. Here I simply want to
touch on a couple that affirm that concern for the common good is vital if we are to respond to the growing
crisis of the earth. It states clearly that we must develop a new sense of global interdependence and
shared responsibility for the wellbeing of the earth, of all human beings and of creation. Some of the values
underlined are collaboration, participation, right relationships and non-violence. Concern for human rights,
for the poor, the vulnerable and the weak are at the centre of the Charter. In all of this we can see
reflection of our Charism and spirituality and our own awakening to this big reality. Our Corporate
Commitments of 1999, 2002, and 2008 show our growing understanding and our options to be promoters
of life, of sustainability, of right relationships, of communion with the entire cosmic family.

Through us, the universe is awakened to its Source, a mystery of transforming Love, inviting us into a holy
communion to unify and heal the world. How we as human species, and how we as communities of faith
will respond can make an incalculable difference. The future of planet earth is in our hands.5

To choose life today calls us to an awareness of a new world view and urges us to a change of mentality, so
as to understand, feel and situate ourselves in a new way of relating to God, to the earth and all of creation.
(Corporate Commitment 2008)

Our Christian story began 2000 years ago, although its roots can be traced back to 4000 years ago as it’s
intimately linked with the Jewish story. At a particular moment in time God who has been active and
creative within the world since the first moment chose to identify more visibly with our world through
Christ. The incarnation has made it possible for us to achieve higher levels of appreciation for everything,
everywhere.6 Thus we can say that everything is related to Christ and therefore everything in our world is
precious. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together… in him all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile all things (Col 1:17, 19-20)

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came into
being through him. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. (John
1:1-4)

5
Making the Shift – Seeing Faith through a New Lens, Elaine Prevallet, SL, Professor of theology and retreat director
6
The Cosmic Mystic

2
Father glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
(John17:5)

So the invitation today is to live with contemplative hearts that recognise something of God in everything
and every being. From our own small story I would like to recall the words heard by Milady Peychaud, at
the moment of the miraculous Benediction, words also heard by Moses, when God is revealed to him as I
AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:14)

I Am the One who is … can we not say that here is an affirmation that everything is in God and God is in
everything? That the concept of God and of existence goes together as one? That they cannot be
separated, so everything is sacred when viewed through the lens of our God who proclaims “I am the One
who is”? Everything reveals something of the mystery of God who is “I AM” but we need contemplative
eyes, ears and hearts to catch a glimpse of the endless mystery of God revealed in diversity and unity, in
complexity and simplicity, in small and large, in the ordinary and the extraordinary, in vulnerability and
strength. So when we live from a contemplative stance we can delight and wonder at all these countless
revelations of the “I Am” of God.

Or yet again we can hear Jesus tell us I am the way, the way we treat one another is the way we treat him.
And with our understanding today we could say that the way we treat any part of creation is the way we
treat Christ. That for Christ, Love is the key to our way of being in the world because Love is God and
therefore it is LOVE that holds all things in existence.

Margaret Wheatley says: What gives power its charge, positive or negative, is the quality of relationships.
Those who relate through coercion, or from disregard for the other person, create negative energy. Those
who are open to others and who see others in their fullness create positive energy, Love in organizations,
then, is the most potent source of power we have available.7

So we gradually grow in our awareness that we identify with Christ in whatever we are doing. In Christian
eyes the greatest miracle ever to occur was the incarnation wherein God personally identified with creation
so as to make everything understandable in terms of divinity, and divinity understandable in terms of
everything everywhere. The ineffable miracle is that of having our eyes opened so as to see that ordinary
creation is alive with the grandeur of love-expression, forgiveness, the promise of everlasting life. Whoever
believes in things like these is already living the miraculous.8

And we who have responded to the call to follow Jesus are invited to see Christ in all things. Or in our own
language to love, seek and desire only God Alone in all things.

In true Christian awareness, each thing in its own way bears a closeness to Christ. And Christ communicates
to us through each of them a mode of his abiding presence, his truth, his love, his companionship and
availability, his wonder, his hope, his promise. Each creature is understandable in the light of its particular
charisma, in terms of what makes things real. It is here that we find the mystical presence of Christ, the

7
Leadership and the New Science – Margaret Wheatley
8
Cosmic Mystic

3
God-among-us who is discernible in creatures everywhere being what they are- namely, outer expressions of
the inner life of God.9

Like the Universe story, the Earth story, the Christian story, ours is also a story that unfolds and develops
through difficulties and struggles, joys and failures. It is a story that you all know so well, beginning with
three young women coming together on Trinity Sunday 1820. A significant moment in that story was the
miraculous Benediction of 3 Feb 1822 to which I have already alluded and which also had a particular
impact on your vocation as contemplatives.

We know that the Family of Pierre Bienvenu Noailles grew gradually as one vocation after another found
its place within it. It is interesting to note that many people today who study the new cosmology state that
if we are to move into the new era of consciousness that is beginning we need to develop the art of
contemplation, of deep reflection and awareness. Our Founder, in a different time, also realised that the
Association which he founded would not be complete without a group of sisters who would live a
contemplative way of life. This reality of contemplation was essential not only for those who felt called to
this vocation but for all the vocations in the Family. Symbolising as it were the importance of
contemplation and action, that mutually enrich and support one another. The Contemplatives or the
solitaries as they were then called were going to be like the mystical heart of the whole Association of the
Holy Family.10

Officially the Contemplative group was born on 1 June 1859 in Martillac. According to Mother Foucault this
project was in the mind and heart of the Founder for a long time, during which he prayed and reflected
about it. Several sisters had expressed their desire for this way of life. He was convinced that a work
devoted solely to contemplation would be the completion and the crown of the Holy Family. And so at the
opportune moment Father Noailles called together the five Sisters who were to be the first members of this
vocation. Writing about the life of the Founder, Mother Foucault said:

It is in humble and simple conditions that the work of prayer, of thanksgiving, and adoration began, which
the Founder wanted to attach like a jewel to his society. The Solitude became a “retreat house” open to all
the members of the Holy Family, When the Founder sent the rules he had written to the archbishop of
Bordeaux Mgr Donnet, he wrote, in the letter accompanying them: The work of the Solitaries is the last
development of the Holy Family and which its organisation has been calling for a long time. In the
Association we have only the works belonging to the active life, and it is a work for those who long for the
peace of a life given to prayer that is being asked for and waited for everywhere. It is to respond to this
vocation also needed as much as the others, and to complete the plan of our Association, that I decided to
draw up the rules for this new and last branch.11

9
ibid

10
Fr. Noailles, A prophet for today, Bernard Peyrous

11
Memories of Martillac – Mere Foucault

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From the beginning he wanted a contemplative life that was simpler than that which was known in his
time. You know your story much better than I do. It has gone through many trials and challenges over the
past 150 years. For a long time the Apostolic Sisters were responsible for the leadership and no matter
how much goodwill they had it was difficult for them to understand the vocation from the “inside”, and so
changes took place according to the “vision” of each one in leadership, thus creating a certain insecurity
and maybe even confusion. After Vatican II so much was done to enable you to discover your proper
identity in the Church and in the Holy Family. And then in 1987 with the approbation of the Constitutions
we were recognised as an Institute with two vocations. It still took time for you to find your proper place
and gradually through many meetings, reflections and dialogue you have arrived where you are today;
more clear about you vocation and identity and your place in the Family of five vocations, each one
different, and yet all living the same mission. Through times of struggle, of seeking and searching you have
reached a place where you can celebrate your story with confidence and gratitude. As we come to mark a
particular time in your story, that of 150 years of fidelity to seeking and witnessing to God’s desire for you,
we celebrate with a new awareness that all our stories are intertwined and also interlinked in the big story
of the Cosmos.

And now as you enter into the process of this Chapter with its focus on discerning the call of God for you
today I invite you to stay connected to the big stories of the Cosmos, Earth, Jesus and our little story of
being a Family. Your story is on-going and change towards newness is inevitable because that is the way
life is. As you reflect together may you remain aware that the Universe story and the Jesus story – God
within that story - teaches us that all life goes through a process of evolution, of adaptation, of change, of
growth, of dying or letting go so that the new can come into being. This reminds us that in order to truly
and deeply listen to God’s desire for us we need to be able to “let go” of our personal agendas and to stay
focussed on the bigger picture. No longer can we think only in parts, my community, my country, my
desires, if we want to truly listen to the signs of the times, to truly discern we need to keep the Whole
before us. For you that means being attentive always to what God is asking of you now as a Vicariate.

The signs of the times are pointers to the future. What matters here is that we allow them to challenge us.
Or to put it in terms of faith, what matters is that we allow God to challenge us through our reading of the
signs. What we have to avoid is the imposition of our pre-conceived ideas upon the reality of today. Our
aim must be to face the truth about what is actually happening – whether we like it or not.12

All of our practices must serve the deeper purpose of aligning our energies with the process of
giving/receiving, dying/rising that is going on in the whole universe. That is the path that opens us to the
Source of all life, opens the channel of love within us; it is the path to communion with God in and through
the whole creation.13

To live our consecrated life for mission within this new cosmic vision is to journey along a paschal path of
letting go and receiving, of death opening out to more abundant life. (C.C 2008)

12
Jesus today – A Spirituality of Radical Freedom, Albert Nolan
13
Making the Shift

5
Let us begin this Chapter with hearts that are open to receive and to give. Sure of the presence of the Spirit
in our midst, trusting in the guidance of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, let us go forward in faith, hope, love and
gratitude.

Margaret Muldoon

Resources

The Cosmic Mystic by Henry A. Garon

Jesus in the New Universe Story by Cletus Wessels

Radical Amazement by Judy Cannato

Making the Shift – Seeing Faith through a New Lens by Elaine M. Prevallet SL

Weaving a World with Light – Caroline Webb

The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos – Brian Swimme www.earthlight.org

Jesus today - A spirituality of Radical Freedom – Albert Nolan

Leadership and the New Science – Margaret Wheatley www.thegreatstory.org

Fr. Noailles A Prophet for today by Bernard Peyrous

Corporate Commitment 2008

The Earth Charter 2000 www.caroline-webb.com