March 2021 CLCNW Newsletter

March 2021 CLCNW Newsletter
by Lorraine Damman – Secretary CLCNW

In this time of Pandemic we are all searching to find the ‘new normal’ for each of our lives. We are finding ways to hold on to hope and give hope to others, finding ways to reach out as Christians, as members of CLCNW, as friends and neighbors.  Reaching out can be a big commitment or a small one.  Reaching out can mean making a phone call to check in with someone.  It can mean opening our pantries to make sandwiches and finding ways to get those sandwiches out to others. There are so many ways that we can find to give hope to others -  ways that are unique to each individual. 

Pope Francis Lenten Message - February 12, 2021

In Pope Francis message to the faithful for Lent 2021 he said “…In these times of trouble, when everything seems fragile and uncertain, it may appear challenging to speak of hope. Yet Lent is precisely the season of hope, when we turn back to God who patiently continues to care for his creation which we have often mistreated.” (cf. Laudato Si’, 32-33; 43-44).

Pope Francis asks that “…In Lent, may we be increasingly concerned with ‘speaking words of comfort, strength, consolation and encouragement, and not words that demean, sadden, anger or show scorn’ (Fratelli Tutti, 223).  …In order to give hope to others, it is sometimes enough simply to be kind, to be willing to set everything else aside in order to show interest, to give the gift of a smile, to speak a word of encouragement, to listen amid general indifference” (ibid., 224). 

Evelyn and Paul Brookhyser have given hope to others by “Expanding the Family Circle”

In the Brookhyser’s own words: “The second great commandment of Jesus, “Love your neighbor”, has been faith in action for us.  Last Spring, we learned about a program that is faith based called, Safe Families for Children.  Volunteers are willing to take a child into their home temporarily, while the desperate family works things out to avoid getting into the state protective system.  The program tries to make the support circle larger for the prevention of child abuse.

In our case, we were asked to provide a home for a father and his 3-year-old son who were made homeless by the Otis fire in our county.  They lived with us for 3 weeks and then moved into an apartment.  The second family we took in was a pregnant mom and her 14-month-old son who were homeless and coming out of an abusive situation.  She had a little girl Dec. 30.  They moved into a shelter apartment after living with us for 4 months when the baby was 6 weeks old. 

In our application, we said we preferred children over 8 years of age.  Then we found that God had other plans for us.  With both families, we fell in love with the kids and the age was not a problem.  Our experience opened our hearts to understanding that good people get into holes where help is needed.  Until we had this experience with the second family, we had no idea of how the courts and child custody worked.  We admired the mom for her tenacity to do whatever was required to keep her children.

Evelyn helped the mom develop cooking skills that she took with her to the new apartment.  We sat together for our meals which was a new experience for the mom.  Paul enjoyed being able to hold a baby in his arms.  He modeled play with the son.  We took on the role of advocate and supported the mom to trust in her abilities as a mom and person.

Although we volunteered sharing of our home without compensation, we were rewarded more than we gave.  We were a pod, so hugging was not off limits.  The positive energy of growing children helped us to marvel at God’s miracles.  We feel blessed to have this diversion during the pandemic when we cannot even meet with our own grandchildren.

Our house is quiet and calm now without them here.  We help the family with transportation, childcare, and get together at least once a week.  We are deeply and lovingly committed to the family’s success in the future”.

Paul Riek has chosen to reach out to our CLCNW community groups as a CLC Guide.

The ‘Guides’ are a CLC community of people dedicated to guiding all of us in CLC in the formation of groups, and in guiding our groups in each stage of our growth.  It is important anytime, but in this time of Pandemic it gives hope to so many to not only meet with others, but to be guided to the loving, spiritual ways of CLC in our groups.

“The guide, well formed in the Ignatian process of growth, helps the community to discern the movements at work in the individuals and the community, and helps them to maintain a clear idea of the CLC goal and process. The guide assists the community and its coordinator to find and to use the means needed for the community’s formation and its mission.” CLCGeneral Norms (41b)

In Paul’s words: “Being a CLC Guide is somewhat like a spiritual director for a group, not [a spiritual director for] an individual. There is no one definition of a Guide, but here is an attempt at a definition, which I pulled together from what was said by participants in 2017: ‘A discerning companion of a CLC group, an active listener, grounded in the Spiritual Exercises and the CLC way of life, and aware of group dynamics and stages of group growth, who provides reflective feedback and assists with group formation and discernment, as a “midwife”, on its journey to give birth to an authentic CLC community’.

“Beginning in 2017, I have been attending a series of national CLC formation events for Guides. This has been a four-year-long formation process. I was sent by [our] region to participate on the behalf [of CLCNW].   I attended in-person formation weekends in 2017, 2018 and 2020, and I have been attending Zoom check-ins and webinars several times a year since.  l meet with others in the CLC Northwest Guides Group (Carol Stone, Deb Flynn, Pat Mickiewicz, Ed Plocha) [to share my knowledge gained] from these LC formation events and together we spread the benefits of this formation process to all the groups in our CLCNW region.

It was made clear from the beginning of the national formation process that many in CLC have been acting as Guides for years without using that name. This process is not an attempt to reinvent the wheel, but it is an attempt to become a community of CLC Guides.  We want to learn from each other, support one another, give and receive ongoing formation, and above all, give more support to all the CLC groups scattered around the country, often isolated from one another”.

( If you are interested in using the expertise of the CLC guides for a consultation about making a temporary or permanent commitment, or to invite a Guide to observe a meeting of your group, ask for feedback  or just to pursue this further to get more information please contact Paul ([email protected]), Deb Flynn ([email protected]), or Pat Mickiewicz [email protected]) )

Sharon Sullivan reaches out to others in her touching poetry

Baptism and Grace

Lost,
I embraced my death;
ice-bound in my frozen tomb;
tomb of anger,
tomb of bitterness and loathing,
tomb of dark-night.

Still,
I heard the faintest
distant whisper-sound,
a tiny ripple in the
hidden recollections
of my heart.
How could I hear it,
I so dead,
so far from life?
Was it Your voice?

Something
made me turn around…

You are here,
holding me close
in the blazing,
sparkling light
with colors of joy
dancing all around!

You are here,
baptizing me in my tears,
washing me alive again!
Sharon Sullivan

With Love,
Lorraine