Dear Sisters,
After three days of reflecting upon, praying with and discussing your feedback regarding our February assembly, we want to offer you our best understanding of an overarching theme that we think speaks to the heart of the matter among us.

All of the topics and dilemmas you named seem to lead us to questions about our essential understanding and our fundamental differences regarding the way we live our religious life as Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament today and into the future. More specifically we are compelled to ask this question:

Theme:
�With our varied beliefs, understandings and differences about what is essential for us as IWBS Sisters, will we be able to move forward together? Is it honestly possible for us to experience the kind of unity that will liberate us from our harsh judgments of one another, as well as empower us to live out our call to be the presence of the Incarnate Word in our world today?"

We believe that this question offers us an important framework for examining most of the dilemmas and issues that we named in the enclosed feedback. What are some of the dilemmas that were surfaced?

� On the one hand we wish to be a presence to our world, to engage in community �outreach� and share the abundance of resources that we have with others, while on the other hand, we are fearful of opening the doors of Incarnate Word Convent to our immediate neighbors as this raises fears, disrupts our routines and displaces us from what is familiar.

� On the one hand, many of us believe we are not living religious life with integrity because we are not all living in accord with the constitutions, directory and other core documents, while on the other hand, many of us are weary of discussing such agreements (e.g., habit, horarium, etc.) and long ago decided that individual latitude, flexibility and adaptation to the contemporary times is more important than insisting that everyone live in such a uniform manner.

� On the one hand, some of us see the future of our religious life as highly dependent upon our securing a more solid identity and making a more serious commitment to new vocations, while on the other hand, others of us believe that the future of our religious life is far more dependent upon our refounding efforts that seek to give birth to new life forms, new partnerships and new understandings of our charism in today�s world.

Sisters, these were among the many other dilemmas we discussed over our three days of exploring your input. There were many other nuanced ways of couching each the dilemmas we articulated. After all was said and done, however, we came back to the theme and question we are posing to you. And, after all is said and done, we realized that there is probably no one topic for conversation which is the one right or most perfect one to select. We recognized further, that once we begin discussing any of these specific topics, our challenging dynamics (e.g., mistrust, jugdmentalism, past wounds, defensive urges, etc.) will likely come into play. That said, however, we need to start somewhere. So, where do we start?

Rather than our determining this based upon your initial input, we had said in our letter to you (November 1, 2007) that we would like you to choose our starting point. Enclosed you will find a summary of your feedback for requested topics. We ask that you first take this to prayer and personal reflection in order to explore the questions below. We ask further that you meet in CARE groups and discuss these questions in an effort to reach consensus in your response. On the feedback sheet following this letter, please provide a brief answer to each of the following three questions:

1. Listen beyond the spoken word for a theme that captures the heart of the matter underneath all of the data. Does the theme we are offering (above) capture the data for you? If not, then how would you articulate the theme?

2. What is the essential dilemma that we need to explore in light of this theme?

3. In light of the specific theme and dilemma, what specific topical content (e.g., community life, habit, use of Incarnate Word Convent, vocation efforts, etc.) would provide the best doorway into this discussion? In other words, what is the headline for our conversation?

Please complete the following form which is attached to your individual letter, indicate all sisters in attendance and send this to Sr. Mary Virginia by December 28, 2007. The leadership team will meet in January 2008 and consult with Ted and Beth in order to finalize the content and process for the assembly based upon your feedback.

(This letter was signed by Sister Amata, Sister Emilie, Sister Evelyn, Sister Mildred, Sister Odilia and Consultants Beth and Ted.)

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Theme, Dilemma and Topic
February 2008 AFTER-CARE Assembly

Names of all Participants: _________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Based upon our personal reflections, prayer and communal discussions regarding our initial input for the February assembly, we have reached consensus regarding the following questions:

1. Listen beyond the spoken word for a theme that captures the heart of the matter underneath all of the data. Does the theme we offered (see letter) capture it for you? If not, then how would you articulate the theme?

2. What is the essential dilemma that we need to explore in light of your chosen theme?

3. In light of the specific theme and dilemma, what specific topical content (e.g., community life, habit, use of Incarnate Word Convent, vocation efforts, etc.) would provide the best doorway into this communal dialogue? In other words, what is the headline for our conversation in February?

4. Why is this topic important? What is your thinking behind this?

Please send one copy of your CARE group's response to Sr. Mary Virginia by December 28, 2007.

************** End of "December AFTER-CARE Reflection" Form **************

Local Community CARE Reflection (On-going)

Goal
We will search for ways to integrate, encourage and put into practice our use of the CARE skills within our local community setting.

Time
Two hours, give or take, depending upon the size of the community

Process
* Personal reflection ahead of time
* Begin with prayer and check-in
* Designate one or two facilitators for the conversations
* Use small groups at Incarnate Word Convent, each with one facilitator
* Brief prayer and check-out at the end

Reflection Questions
1) What has been your experience of how we have or have not used the CARE skills?

a) When have you personally made efforts to use your CARE skills and what difference did that make in the interaction (e.g., communally and/or individually)?

b) When did you experience difficulty in using CARE skills and what did you do about it if anything?

2) What would you hope to see happen for us if we intentionally practice these skills more conscientiously?

a) What is your level of motivation (1 – 7, where 1 = low, 7 = high) in bringing the use of these skills to community and why?

b) What is the strength of your resistance (1 – 7, where 1 = low, 7 = high) in bringing the use of these skills to community and why?

3) What one agreement might we want to make regarding the development and use of CARE skills for our local community?

4) Determine a time when we will assess our progress and modify our agreement(s) accordingly.

************** End of "Local Community CARE Reflection" Form **************

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After Care Assembly Feedback (Due Nov.20)
Input for planning

Name: ____________________________________

Please reflect upon and answer the following questions in order to assist us in planning the After CARE Assembly scheduled February 1-3, 2008. The leadership team will be meeting with Ted and Beth on November 27-29 in order to plan for this assembly. Your input will be vital to the planning as we want your priority agendas to be addressed. Please complete this form and send it into to Sr. Mary Virginia no later than Nov. 20, 2007.

Headline
What one topic do you believe would be most important for us to talk about at the After CARE Assembly?

Context
Beyond the broad topic, what particular aspect or concretely dilemma needs to be addressed? Why is this one so important?

Goal
What would your specific goal be if we were to address this issue? What would a successful outcome of the conversation look like?

************** End of "After CARE Assembly Feedback" Form **************

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