Urban Hermit at 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006 US - The Urban Hermit's Philosophy
| The Urban Hermit's Philosophy |
Welcome, People of God! As Isabel Colgate describes it, "The hermit's calling is anti-institutional. It is also ecumenical. Those in the institutional churches who approve of it say that it is at the heart of the church and not separated from it, but there are others who look on it as dangerous and potentially disorderly." (A Pelican in the Wilderness: Hermits, Solitaries, and Recluses [Washington, DC: Counterpoint], 2002.) So I write from the point of view of the hermit, a Catholic woman restricted by the current rulesof my Church from full participation but nevertheless attempting to do good through the institution. May you be edified by the homily hints, musings and reflections of this site. I believe that we are on the edge of a revitalized spirituality of the laity, a spirituality that centers itself in the world and consequently centers the Church in the world. It's a spirituality of conscious and conscientious awareness of choices made by individuals that affect their own spiritual, mental, and physical health and that also affect the people and the world about them. It's the spirituality of the hermit, a person of prayer whose calling is to enflesh every moment with consciousness of the loving presence of God and thereby change the world. It goes beyond the "vocational" call of a job as parent, teacher, manager, priest, carpenter, secretary, entrepreneur.... The hermit is called to live in God, to pray unceasingly, to love completely. The call is to who and how we are and who God wishes us to become, not to what we do for a living. Our call to be hermits is not a call to abandon the world but a call to embrace it and shape it. It's a call to what Socrates called the "examined life," intentionally chosen and directed to the love God requires of us. As such, the hermit life involves questions of environment and equality, questions of freedom and economy, questions of need and wealth. For women, it's a commitment to a discipleship of co-equals in an integrated lifestyle. However you conceive of your movement toward and in God--whether you prefer the metaphor of journey, way, path, pilgrimage, flight, resting, struggle, or something else -- I invite you to use whatever pieces of this site you find useful, without cost. God bless! Lawn Revisionism Part of responsible stewardship entails examining every aspect of our lives to determine if we are taking care of our God-given gifts. Living in town as I do, I am struck by the time, energy, and money my neighbors expend on behalf of their flat green front yards. My own yard is not flat, but it's certainly green, among other colors. I'm a lawn revisionist. My front yard is full of perennials, something blooming from the end of January to the first of December, crocuses and snowdrops to chrysanthemums! Even in July and August, while my neighbors' flat green turns brown in the Ohio dog days, my property is an oasis of green and flower. On top of that, I harvest apples, currants, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers.... I don't spend hours each week mowing--I mulch twice a year. I don't pay for a mower, or gasoline for a mower, or repair. I compost my kitchen wastes, too, and recycle bottles, cans, and paper, so the trash I set out for collection every other week or so is minimal. Think about it. _______________________________________
Madeleva Manifesto
In the tradition of Sister Madeleva Wolff, C.S.C., we sixteen Madeleva lecturers have been invited to speak a message of hope and courage to women in the church. Reflecting the diversity of gifts bestowed on us by the Spirit, we speak from our particular experiences and vocations, yet share in a universal vision that is faithful to our catholic tradition.
--To women in ministry and theological studies we say: re-imagine what it means to be the whole body of Christ. The way things are now is not the design of God.
--To young women looking for models of prophetic leadership, we say: walk with us as we seek to follow the way of Jesus Christ, who inspires our hope and guides our concerns. The Spirit calls us to a gospel feminism that respects the human dignity of all, and who inspires us to be faithful disciples, to stay in the struggle to overcome oppression of all kinds whether based on gender, sexual orientation, race, or class.
--To women who are tempted by the demons of despair and indifference, we say: re-imagine what it means to be a full human being made in the image of God, and to live and speak this truth in our daily lives.
--To women who suffer the cost of discipleship we say: you are not alone. We remember those who have gone before us, who first held up for us the pearl of great price, the richness of Catholic thought and spirituality. We give thanks to those who continue to mentor us.
--To the young women of the church we say: carry forward the cause of gospel feminism. We will be with you along the way, sharing what we have learned about the freedom, joy and power of contemplative intimacy with God. We ask you to join us in a commitment to far-reaching transformation of church and society in non-violent ways.
We deplore, and hold ourselves morally bound to protest and resist, in church and society, all actions, customs, laws and structures that treat women or men as less than fully human. We pledge ourselves to carry forth the heritage of biblical justice which mandates that all persons share in right relationship with each other, with the cosmos, and with the Creator.
We hold ourselves responsible to look for the holy in unexpected places and persons, and pledge ourselves to continued energetic dialogue about issues of freedom and responsibility for women. We invite others of all traditions to join us in imagining the great shalom of God.
Feast of St. Catherine of Siena, lay woman, Doctor of the Church
April 29, 2000, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana
Signed by the Madeleva Lecturers in Spirituality, 1985-2001:
Mary C. Boys, S.N.J.M.; Lisa Sowel Cahill; Denise Lardner Carmody;
Joan Chittister, O.S.B.; Mary Collins, O.S.B.; Elizabeth A. Dreyer;
Maria Harris; Diana L. Hayes; Monika K. Hellwig; M. Catherine Hilkert, O.P.;
Elizabeth A. Johnson, C.S.J.; Dolores R. Leckey; Gail Porter Mandell;
Kathleen Norris; Jeanette Rodriquez; Sandra M. Schneiders, I.H.M.
[from America Magazine, June 17-24, 2000, p. 15]
