The Mother House:
A Ministry of Reaching Out
Marion Shanahan

Among the goals set by the Association Source SCM for the Mother House are the following:

• Develop and implement projects to highlight and make better known the roots of our history in Béziers and in the surrounding areas.
• Foster mutually fruitful encounters and exchange between the Institute and the world.
• Embody a reaching out to the other as an essential element of solidarity.  

How do we try to carry out these goals?

Christmas Day: We invited six local women who had no one with whom to share their Christmas dinner to share the meal with us. After an exchange of food, drink, good conversation and laughter, we ended the day with a prayer around the crib.

Feast of St John: All the RSCM in Béziers were invited to celebrate with the Bon Pasteur community. We had liturgy, dinner followed by an afternoon playing games, for prizes, and enjoying each other’s company.

On December 29 we invited our neighbors to join us for a “verre d’amitié”. Almost all of them came (15-20). It was a wonderful opportunity for all to get better acquainted, not only with the Mother house community, but with each other. After a few hours of laughter and exchange we ended with a prayer in the chapel.

At the beginning of January a group of 13 young university students came from Toulouse, equipped with sleeping bags, to enact a play on the trials of St Thérèse. Due to lack of publicity on their part they only had five people in the audience. Nothing daunted them - they acted with all their hearts. Next morning they left us bright and early to return to a week of exams.

Teachers and the Confirmation class from Fenelon came in the middle of January for several hours of input and reflection with us. They requested that we speak to them about the Holy Spirit, prayer and vocation. Hopefully, some seeds were sown.

Interspersed with all these activities were the individual ministries of the community: parish ministry, immigrants, prayer with students at Fenelon, preparation and reflection on the Sunday Scripture readings, library, working with our volunteers, SHM Extended Family, etc. We also had the added work of creating, translating, reissuing and printing all of the projects connected with the celebration of the bicentennial celebration.

The preparation and celebration at Murviel (on January 31) were incredible experiences. The joy, enthusiasm and cooperation of the pastor and the lay people were energizing and inspiring. You can read more about it on the WEB page for M. St. Jean. We were very pleased to have Marie France Correau and Brigitte Dalton (NEP) with us for the celebration.

In early February we invited the organizing committee from Murviel to join us for dinner and a tour of the house. The joy, the fun and the enthusiasm continued. A very strong bond of friendship was formed and we all look forward to future relationships with them.

One of the projects related to the bicentennial celebration and geared toward children was the translation into French of the booklet on Appollonie. This booklet was created initially by the Brazilian Province. Teachers and students from Murviel were invited to collaborate on this project. On February 18 Christine and Maria Teresa spent the day at Autignac reviewing the booklet with them and speaking about RSHM and our mission today. (Read more about it on the WEB.)

We were delighted to have Veronica Brand with us at the end of February. She came to work on a powerpoint linking our General Chapter Statement with our Sources.

OPEN HOUSE: On February 24 and on March 7 we had an Open House at 21 rue Ermengaud. Over 100 came and gave very positive feedback. Several asked to return for more in-depth input. Members of our Extended Family and our volunteers actively participated in these days. Some led groups on a guided tour of the house. Others greeted people, provided refreshments and generally helped to create an atmosphere of welcome and openness. It was wonderful to see how much of our spirit they have absorbed and how they have taken on ownership of our projects. Visitors commented on how impressed they were with the participation of our lay associates.

March brought two very special groups from the United States. Twenty-five 7th graders and their teachers from Marymount Fifth Avenue in New York arrived on March 12 to spend a few hours with us. They listened attentively to our input and took copious notes. As usual the highlight of their day was the Itinerary to the places associated with P. Gailhac and M. St. Jean ending at the Old Bridge and the River Orb.

March 13th brought 30 members of the Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles, California) rugby team and their coaches. Sr. Peg Dolan (WAP) had arranged for them to come and do some community service with us since they had a match scheduled quite close to Béziers. The park has never looked so good. They cleared out all the broken branches and cleaned up the scrubs, etc. Others painted and did a general clean up. At the end of the day they planted a mulberry tree in the garden. Future generations will find shelter under it. We were very impressed by their friendliness, good humor and willingness to work. Some were amazed at their appetites! Our neighbors were intrigued to see so many handsome young men come up the street and enter our house. Needless to say they had many questions to ask about them.

In the evening Bernadette, Christine and Marion set off to be cheerleaders at their match. Even after a crash course from the team members, we still didn’t know much about the rules of the game. Our presence on the sidelines caused much speculation and amusement among the other spectators. Unfortunately our team didn’t win. Early next morning we set off for Lyon to further our knowledge of the French School of Spirituality. Admittedly we were very tired when we returned late Sunday evening.

It has been a very hectic but enjoyable time since Christmas. We have welcomed a great variety of people and made some good friends. I believe we have really begun to put into action the goals set by the Association Source SCM.

Maison Mère - Archives
December 2008
September 2008
August 2008