Halle, Halle, Halle

It was with both sadness and joy that we closed our NACC 2012 National Conference in Milwaukee.  Each day, our attendees rejoiced with Halle, Halle, Halle by John Bell.  Here in this video are some final moments with this glorious sound of rejoicing!

Archbishop Paul Coakley, STL, DD at Closing Eucharist

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Closing Celebration of the Eucharist

On Tuesday, May 22, 2012 the NACC National Conference closed with our final Celebration of the Eucharist.  Our celebrant was NACC Board Member and Episcopal Liaison Archbishop Paul Coakley, STL, DD, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  At this Liturgy, we moved quite literally from a time of mourning to a time of dancing.  After Archbishop Coakley's homily, the names of the members of the NACC who had passed away in the last year and were honored with a candle and flower.  It was very moving for our attendees and symbolized how fragile our lives are.  We concluded our celebration with the song "I Danced in the Morning" by Sydney Carter and said goodbye to our friends and colleagues.  Deacon Thomas Berna, BCC is pictured with Archbishop Coakley.  The candles and flowers honoring our deceased friends are also pictured in this photo.

Conference Table Discussion

Plenary Speakers Share A Moment Together

Speakers John Dear, SJ and C. Vanessa White, D.Min. at the Tuesday morning Plenary session at the NACC 2012 Conference

Tuesday May 22, 2012 Plenary Speaker John Dear, SJ

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 saw the last day of our NACC National Conference.  We were blessed to have John Dear, SJ as our plenary speaker in the morning on the topic of "Blessed are the Peacemakers".  He shared his own journey with us and it was both a moving and stimulating presentation.  His challenges to the attendees brought much discussion at the tables.  We are grateful for his presence.

NACC Business Meeting

At the NACC Business Meeting, members discussed the third draft of the NACC Strategic Plan.  Board members Mary Lou O'Gorman, BCC (NACC Treasurer), Alan Bowman, BCC (NACC Board Chair), and David Lichter, D.Min. (Executive Director) spend a few minutes before the Business Meeting in conversation.

Bishop Blase Cupich, Monday May 21 Plenary Speaker

Most Rev. Blase J. Cupich, STD, Bishop of Spokane, Washington, joined us on Monday on the topic of "A Reconciling Church:  Recapturing Our Mission and Our Future".  After a very thought-provoking talk, members of the NACC engaged in table conversation around this topic and around the following questions:  "What gifts and skills do we, as chaplains, bring to the table that can help to reclaim the focus of our Catholic mission for those who follow?" and "Within the Catholic Church, how can chaplains model reconciliation as prophetic and visionary?"  Even if you were not at the conference, please spend some of your own time reflecting on those questions.  You can see from the pictures below, that these were very engaging questions for our attendees as well.

Celebration of the Eucharist and Anointing of the Sick

On Monday morning, we were graced with a beautiful celebration of the Eucharist along with the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.  Presider Rev. Agustin Orosa, MI, NACC certified CPE Supervisor from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was our celebrant.  Each year when we gather at this Liturgy, we invite those who are presently struggling with serious illness to come forward and through the laying on of hands, anointing with oil, and prayer of faith, receive this rich Sacrament.  After a beautiful homily from Fr. Jojo, we gathered with our community and participated in this moving and grace-filled moment.  If we close our eyes, we can still hear the beautiful sound of Pedro Rubalcava's song O Jesus, Healer of Wounded Souls, echo in our hearts.  "O Jesus, healer of wounded souls, come heal us.  Touch us and make us whole; heal our world.  Raise your people to life."

NACC Conference Charity

Our NACC Conference Charity this year was the Dominican Center for Women Inc.   Located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Dominican Center for Women partners with the community to maintain and enhance a beautiful, stable, healthy and safe neighborhood consisting of residents who are community-minded and are striving to be meaningfully educated and employed. At our Sunday evening banquet, co-founder Sr. Ann Halloran, OP (pictured) and Kathleen Callan Brady, Director of Development, joined us for dinner and a short presentation.  The Center's website is http://www.dominican-center.com. We are happy to report we collected $3183.75 at the banquet as a donation for the Dominican Center for Women, Inc. Thank you to all of our generous conference attendees!

Fr. Cyprian and NACC member Jane Smith

NACC member Jane Smith speaking with Fr. Cyprian

Conference photos!

Plenary speaker C. Vanessa White, D.Min with Rev. Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam.

Conference Committee members confer with plenary speaker (L to R: Conference Chair Kathy Ponce, C. Vanessa White, D.Min, Hugo Gonzalez)

Attentive audience

NACC Board Chair Alan Bowman, M.Div, M.B.A., BCC (left) with 2012 Outstanding Colleague Award  recipient Rev. Gerard T. Broccolo, S.T.D. (right)

2012 Distinguished Service Award recipient Chaplain Timothy G. Serban, M.A., BCC.
(L to R): Rabbi Stephan Roberts, Chaplain Serban, D.W. Donovan.

Participants in the American Red Cross Spiritual Care Response Team (SRT) Disaster Training

Holy Exchange

I recall an experience at a pilgrimage a few years ago while visiting a rather grand and majestic old church. The structures were amazing, the decoration and details in the interior were breathtaking. As I stood beneath the high roof and towering pillars you could feel a certain awareness that you are standing in a holy ground. The grand scale of the structures reinforce the feeling that you are suddenly in the presence of a majesty. I certainly felt a mix of emotions, I felt little and unworthy in the presence of the sacred. At the same time, I felt that I am part of something much larger and bigger than I am.
    Witnessing and celebrating the missioning of the newly certified chaplains today had the same effect on me as did the grand church. We attain a deeper awareness of Church when we are in communion with God and each other. At this level of relationship, we "move from apprentices to partners." As these new chaplains take up the task of being co-companions, we are each strengthened by the rich gifts they bring to their and our collective ministry.

--Austine Duru

Church tour photos!

St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral

Islamic Society of Milwaukee

Thanks to Cathy Connelly for the photos! More coming soon...

TRAVELLING/JOURNEYING

    "A journey of a thousand miles" says an old addage, "begins with a step." Certainly you have had moments when you choose to travel somewhere, or go an a vacation away from home or a familiar neighborhood. Most people tend to prepare elaborately. Some would pack light, while others like myself, tend to cram so much into a luggage even for a brief travel, so much so that towards the end of the trip I would question the wisdom in bringing so many clothes I could not and did not use.
    Every journey, I believe, has a spiritual dimension. There is something inherently sacred about picking up and going somewhere new. Each journey, for me, is always an excercise in humility. Starting with convincing myself that I do not need so many things to survive away from home, to an acknowledgement of the humanity, sacredness and the giftedness of the people I will get the chance to meet and the places I will be priviledged to visit and stay during my journey.
   How we prepare for each journey is as important as how and when we get there, what we do there, and how we go back home. Every step of this joirney process is significant and could in fact determine what we get out of embarking on the journey. This could equally be said to be true about the journey of life in general.
   Many NACC members left home this weekend on a journey to Milwaukee WI for the annual NACC conference. These few days of "comming apart from the world" and hopefully detaching ourselves from other things that vie for our attention is indeed a sacred journey. A journey I believe will be worth the effort.

       The word of the song by Mark Friedman/Janet Vogt ring true, "enter the journey. Come to the song, by God you are chosen, by name you are called to follow the vision, carry the cross. Enter the journey of faith as a the family of God."
     As we enter this sacred journey as  the days unfold, please share your journey tips, processes and discoveries with us by leaving a comment.  For eg: How often do you take care of yourself on the journey; do you think of your car as a chapel? ...
    If you are at the conference, don't miss the fun events that have been worked into the conference this year.

-- Austine Duru

Welcome message from David Lichter

Plenary Speaker Fr. John Dear, SJ – Tuesday, May 22, 2012

John Dear is an internationally known voice for peace and nonviolence. A Jesuit priest, he is the author/editor of 25 books, including his autobiography, A Persistent Peace (Loyola Press, 2008).  In 2008, John was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  From 1998 until December 2000, he served as the executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United States. After the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, John served as a Red Cross Chaplain, and became one of the coordinators of the chaplain program at the Family Assistance Center. He worked with some 1,500 family members who lost loved ones, as well as hundreds of firefighters and police officers, while at the same time, he spoke out against the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.  From 2002-2004, he served as pastor of several parishes in northeastern New Mexico. He co-founded Pax Christi New Mexico and works on a nonviolent campaign to disarm Los Alamos. These days, he lectures and also writes a weekly column for the “National Catholic Reporter”.  John’s peacework has taken him to El Salvador, where he lived and worked in a refugee camp in 1985; to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Middle East, Colombia, and the Philippines; to Northern Ireland where he lived and worked at a human rights center for a year; and to Iraq, where he led a delegation of Nobel Peace Prize winners to witness the effects of the deadly sanctions on Iraqi children. He has run a shelter for the homeless in Washington, DC; taught theology at Fordham University; and served as Executive Director of the Sacred Heart Center, a community center for disenfranchised women and children in Richmond, Virginia.

Plenary Speaker Bishop Blase J. Cupich – Monday, May 21, 2012

Bishop Blase Joseph Cupich is the current Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington. He was installed as the sixth bishop of the Spokane Diocese on September 3, 2010 after serving for 12 years as the Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota. He has an S.T.D. in Sacramental Theology from the Catholic University of America.   Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Cupich currently serves as Chair of the Bishops’ Committee on the Protection for Children and Young People and is a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Scripture Translation. He has served as a member of the Committee on Liturgy, the Communications Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism. He is also a member of the Board of the Catholic Extension Society and the Catholic Mutual Relief Society. He has served on the Board of Trustees of St. Paul Seminary, as the Episcopal Advisor of the Serra Club, and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Pastoral Life Center.   Bishop Cupich has been involved in the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project as well as the 2011 Collegeville National Symposium on Lay Ecclesial Ministry.  Recent publications include “Power in the Present: Hope for the Future” (America, March 23, 2009) and “The Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project:  The Theological, Sacramental and Ecclesial Context” (National Ministry Summit, May 15, 2008).

Plenary Speaker Jean deBlois, CSJ, Ph.D. – Sunday, May 20, 2012

Dr. Jean deBlois, CSJ, is Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Master of Arts in Health Care Mission  at Aquinas Institute of Theology.  She received her Ph.D. in Moral Theology and Medical Ethics at Catholic University of America.  A sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Sr. Jean was a registered nurse working in critical care in her former life. She worked in the first paramedic base station west of the Mississippi and supervised a critical care unit where firemen were trained to be paramedics and where we supervised paramedics in the field.  As Director of the M.A. in Health Care Mission program at Aquinas,  Sr. Jean helps to ensure that the program provides a firm and useable grounding in the Catholic theological tradition for leaders at all levels in Catholic health ministry to help them insure the future of Catholic health care as a ministry of the Church. Recent publications include:  Health Care Ethics: A Catholic Theological Analysis (with Benedict M. Ashley and Kevin D. O’Rourke (fifth edition, Georgetown University Press, 2006.  Sr. Jean also serves as sponsor liaison to Ascension Health for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.  She has also served on the Board of Directors of the NACC.  She is particularly interested in end of life decision making, the effects of advancing technologies on the delivery of health care, professional ethics and the relevance of Catholic social teaching to Catholic health care today. Other interests include environmental ethics and the future of Mother Earth and lay leadership and sponsorship in Catholic health care and other ministries of the church.  She has also served on the Board of Directors of the NACC.

Plenary Speaker Dr. C. Vanessa White – Saturday, May 19, 2012

Dr. C. Vanessa White is Assistant Professor of Spirituality and the Director of the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program, a theological and pastoral ministry formation program for African American Catholics who are pursuing graduate study in preparation for ministerial leadership at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.   She is a member of the summer faculty and Coordinator of Spiritual Formation at Xavier University of Louisiana’s Institute for Black Catholic Studies and adjunct faculty at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where she teaches in the African American Ministries Certificate Program.  Dr. White is co-editor of the book (with Cecilia Moore and Paul Marshall, SM), Songs of the Heart and Meditations of the Soul(St. Anthony Messenger Press 2006), – a book of prayers for Black Catholics and contributing author in the book Liturgy and Justice: To Worship God in Spirit and Truth (Liturgical Press, 2002). Her writings have focused on African American Spirituality and issues of discernment.  She holds professional memberships in the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, The American Academy of Religion, The National Consortium of Black Women in Ministry, the Black Catholic Theological Symposium and the National Association of Lay Ministry. She is a proud member of the Knights of Peter Claver, Ladies Auxiliary as well as a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. She is a member of the board of directors of U. S. Catholic Bishop’s Commission on Certification and Accreditation and the Advisory board for St. Anthony Messenger Press.

Cyprian Consiglio, OSB Cam. – Conference Weaver

Cyprian Consiglio is a monk of the Camaldolese Congregation, musician, composer, writer and teacher. He lived for ten years and did his monastic formation at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, where he served as liturgist, choir director and teacher. Much of both his music and his teaching revolve around the Universal Call to Contemplation through spirituality and the arts. He has five collections of original music recorded and published through OCP Publications, three others released through the Equilibrium label with his long time collaborator, percussionist John Pennington, and two other collections self-published out of Singapore. He has also collaborated on several collections of a capella sacred music for the church year with the Collegeville Composers Group. Cyprian earned his MA in Theology from St Johns Seminary in Camarillo, CA. A student of the writings of Bede Griffiths and Abhishiktananda, Cyprian has a great love for comparative religion, has done work in inter-faith ritual and world music, regularly leads conferences on meditation, and has been to India and other countries in Asia several times, both studying and teaching. He has written numerous articles and a book, Prayer in the Cave of the Heart: The Universal Call to Contemplation,” for Liturgical Press. Cyprian currently lives near Santa Cruz, California; he spends about half his time at home and half his time on the road performing and teaching.