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“Shalom is a small building on the property that has housed a wealth of people resources-- our spiritual directors - who have touched the lives of many persons through their programs, retreats, and spiritual direction both on and off site."
Florence Trahan RSM; Mary Daly RSM; Judy Fortune RSM; Sue LaVoie, Jay Bowes; Connie DeBiase CSJ; Margaret Pearl Duvall SMSM; Claire Rusowicz; Elaine Deasy RSM; Mary Fahy RSM; Joan Bernard OP; Janet Weber RSCJ; Joan Linley; Patricia McAleese PBVM; Eva Schoell IHM; Patricia Cook RSM; Peggy Luby RSM…
“Shalom signifies peace or wholeness and it symbolizes the depth longing in every human heart. The name helps focus Mercy Center’s faith vision that the quality of life deepens as we rediscover and embrace the religious and human values that move us toward wholeness, toward peace, and enable us to relate to others from an inner centeredness or depth that makes a prophetic difference in our world. Shalom brings us in touch with the depths of both the Hebrew and Christian traditions.” —Sister Florence Trahan upon the re-naming of St. Joseph Building as Shalom in 1988.
What is spiritual direction? Spiritual direction welcomes one to explore, discover and share ways in which we can recognize the endless presence of God within moments. It is a moment of unique nurturing and transformation
Many persons have journeyed with spiritual directors at Mercy by the Sea and many have been trained as spiritual directors participating in the two year Spiritual Direction Practicum that has been a significant presence in spiritual formation at Mercy Center for nearly 25 years since its development by Sister Florence Trahan and partnered with a number of staff: Mary Daly RSM, Elaine Deasy RSM, Judy Fortune RSM, Joan Linley, Patricia Cook RSM, Julie Grey OP, Maria Decsy….
“In the winter of our struggles steady groups of gifted persons are welcomed, supported, challenged and loved into empowerment for others. Like a long awaited rose they bloom in our midst and bring new hope.” A few reflections shared from participants in the depth of the Practicum experience:
“Spiritual direction is like a zen art of presence to the moment. Taking each moment and comment and holding it out for prayerful respect.”
“I am realizing that listening with the intent of unveiling the power and presence of God’s love in someone’s life is not just a gift, but a skill that takes many years to hone and I am just beginning this process.”
“Each time we gather, it’s another Potter shaping time, or like the seed that gets planted by the farmer and then he (she) goes about living life and in the process the seed does its thing while no one can explain how. Both these images fit so well for this program. Someone says something that touches us, that frees us, that stirs us. Well, all this ‘seeding’ is working. Each verbatim holds another seed, another breaking open of the meat.”
This opportunity in spiritual formation connected with other opportunities to grow as a spiritual director through Internships in Spiritual Direction/Spirituality and for experienced directors to develop their skills and expertise in an annual Institute in Spiritual Direction.
Do you have a memory of a Shalom experience? If so, please feel free to email it to Sister Genie Guterch.
“Now this is Holy Ground,
Now this is dwelling space.
Come Spirit, bearing life, show us your face”
—Sister Elaine Deasy, RSM
Mercy Center at Madison
The smell of the sea,
The hum of the bee
The sound of the gull
The waves’ rhythmic lull
They call me to Thee
In this place called Mercy.
Hospitality’s there
Welcomes with care
Given space to renew
My journey with you
In this place by the sea
This place called Mercy.
There I am fed
There I am led
Watered with hope
I am able to cope
I am grateful to be in
This place called Mercy.
Surrounded with beauty
I sense You with me
The labyrinth there
Tended with care
Reveals You to me in
This place called Mercy.
Invitations are heard
In the song of the bird
Challenges abound
On this Holy Ground,
This garden by the sea
This place called Mercy.
—Roberta J. Cote
Mercy Center
Your grounds invite soft reflection.
I listen to the landscape of God’s creation.
Love feeds.
Between head and heart there is always a gap seeking nurturance.
Fear and love intermingle
Heart burning
Sparks sheltered
Simmering silence
Communion
Hospitality
Strength in shared vision of trusting in a common Light.
—Sister Ann McGovern, RSM
Where is your holy ground in this place called Mercy? Email your response to Sister Genie Guterch.
“We come to tell our story. We come to break the bread. We come to know our rising from the dead.”
As we journey through the history of Mercy by the Sea, there have been 45 Triduum retreats when we have gathered at the table on Holy Thursday and made the journey as a community to Easter morning and the first light of dawn.
In the words of Sister Florence Trahan from Easter Vigil, “…we began this celebration...in the darkness, gathered around the fire. The light of those flames illuminated the darkness. Our faces became radiant with light and with beauty as we processed behind the paschal candle, and each of us, holding our tiny, flickering tapers lit from that sacred flame, formed a vision of light that transformed this chapel, and our communal gathering as well. In that symbolism, the truth rises up and inflames our very hearts with the passionate love of our God. Illumined by the fire, we gaze upon the single rose, and we, too, know, through a deepened faith, the experience of the inspired words of T.S. Eliot, "the fire and the rose are one." In this oneness, God’s ancient love, God’s aching love, rolls on, in and through us and the beautiful bloom of Easter joy bursts forth once again as we wrap our healing arms around our darkened, often disfigured world and cry out from the depths of our believing, hope-filled hearts, ALLELUIA! OUR GOD LIVES!”
“Our Creator has sent down to us a single rose of incomparable beauty, the beauty of the Beloved, Only Begotten Son, who chose to enter the chaos of our world, and transform it by love. Our God reminds us that the world was created out of love, out of an ancient, enduring love, reverenced, and nurtured.” —Sister Florence Trahan
Rose painting by Sister Mary Daly for Easter Vigil
The journey from Holy Thursday, Good Friday to the Easter Vigil and Sunrise Easter Morning … is there an awakening from one of these days and years in your memory? Email Sister Genie Guterch to share your memories.
The Call
If you could see
the journey whole
you might never
undertake it;
might never dare
the first step
that propels you
from the place
you have known
toward the place
you know not.
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