Oblate/Tri-IHM Gathering
Reflections

This Oblate/Tri-IHM Gathering is of value to me because it is yet another important step in our effort toward developing a significant relationship between the Oblate and IHM Sisters. Each time we encounter one another there is an opportunity for us to discover and experience our connectedness, the legacy which began in 1829. All four communities have been living and sharing this legacy, separately, for decades. Now is the time for us to accept the challenge of discerning and focusing together on the call and the gifts passed on to us by our foremothers.
- Annette Beecham, OSP

Our four communities have had a growing relationship since the OSP leadership attended the sesquicentennial in 1995. All four communities now participate on the governing board level; our formation groups have had sessions together; we have a common outreach project in Haiti; a joint committee on racism has been working together since 2001; and a retreat with 10 participants from each community has been offered in 2003 and 2004. We have been gradually reconnecting the journey, forming relationships, sharing the richness of our congregational beginnings, coming to understand the differing perceptions of Theresa Maxis, the person common to all four congregations, and realizing the dynamics of racism that have been present in our histories.
- Pat McCluskey, IHM (Monroe)

The Oblate/Tri-IHM Gathering will give us time to know members of each group and their particular “culture” and to appreciate our diversity. Celebrating together our common beginnings unearths more about who we are, where we’ve been, and helps to give some direction to our futures.
- Rose Marie De Carlo, IHM (Immaculata)

This gathering is a wonderful opportunity for our sisters and associates to get to know members of the other three communities in an informal, relaxed way. It is also an opportunity to educate our sisters and associates about the work that the four communities are already doing and to begin to envision a shared future. New members and younger members who will be carrying on the charism of our communities will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the whole story of IHM which includes our roots in Baltimore, our missions to Pennsylvania, and a common vision for the future.
- Julie Vieira, IHM (Monroe)

The IHM’s of Scranton value the relationships we are forging with the Oblate Sisters of Providence and with each of the other IHM Congregations. We have enjoyed participating in the Oblate/Tri-IHM committees and work groups and welcome opportunities to continue moving meaningful projects forward. I believe our links tap into a deeper reality that we are one at the heart of our consecrated life and ministries. We recognize the differences among us and grow in a respect for this diversity.
- Mary Persico, IHM (Scranton)

The world and the Church are torn by strife. The divisions flow from a lack of right relationship and trust as well as an abuse of power. The Oblate/Tri IHM Gathering offers a witness to the healing that can take place in both corporate and personal lives when open dialogue and mutual respect, forgiveness and hands reaching out for unity. This can heal wounds and create a new climate where people and institutions can move on in growth, support and respect forging a shared future filled with hope.

The story of the Oblate/Tri-IHM history is known. Telling the story could provide a living witness to the world and to the Church. It is a golden moment to give this witness as a united body, not as one community telling the tale but as a united voice each nuancing the story into a fabric.
- Virginia Pfau, IHM (Monroe)

I think the message that our four congregations are sending to our wounded Church and our warring world is, a message of creative hope, born in the crucible of shared foundational sufferings, and kept alive in the desire and the willingness to identify the tensions, to break down the barriers and stereotypes, to restore right relationships, and to maintain the dialogue of charity. Though our congregations represent a wide spectrum of diversity, they also represent and teach the possibility of peace and reconciliation - not only for and among themselves - but also for the purpose of making the redeeming love of Jesus Christ more visible in the Church and in the world.
- Patricia Dailey, IHM (Immaculata)

The future goals or possibilities, which I see resulting from this gathering are:
- We will have enlarged our circle of friends and support.
- We will be strengthened by the lived examples and histories of our Oblate and IHM Sisters as our congregations have grown from the spiritual seeds sewn in 1829 and 1845.
- We will become a support for each other both individually and communally.
- We will see that, despite having developed and grown in diverse ways, we are one in the desire to love God, follow Mary and work for the people of God. We will see how blessed we are that providence has brought us together. What an example to the world and ourselves!
- This is also a very special opportunity to put aside past hurts, misunderstandings and slights, for we are all sisters... one could even say spiritual blood sisters. Together we can become a greater gift to the Church and the people of God.
- Mary Regina Schuyler, IHM (Immaculata)