April 3 Celebration of Co-membership Gift to Jessie, Loretto

The following quote from “A Meditation on Community” by Henri Nouwen is on the inside page of Jessie Rathburn’s celebration program. I did not notice it well until I paused to write this article.

“Community is first and foremost a gift of the Holy Spirit, not built upon mutual compatibility, shared affection or common interests, but upon having received the same Divine Breath, having been given a heart set aflame by the same Divine Fire and having been embraced by the same Divine Love.”

This is a perfectly fitting description, I feel, of the heart and meaning of community. And Jessie is indeed a seeker and a shaper of community.

Our celebration on April 3 was a wonderful wrapping of our gift to one another — Jessie’s to Loretto, Loretto’s to Jessie.

Mary Kay Brannan, the first Loretto to meet Jessie, gave a beautiful, heartfelt welcome.

Andy, Jessie’s husband, shared a “broad view” of who she has been for him, what Jessie “loves about Loretto and her search for a place to call home. … I believe one of her biggest draws,” Andy explained, “is something I love about her. This is to look at yourself for the broken parts and decide to change.” He continued, “You [Loretto] have taken this to heart as well, and I think it is exciting to see what you do together.” Andy ended his reflections with the poem “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver.

Cecily Jones wrote a poem entitled “Small Stones,” which was powerfully read by Byron Plumley. The poem describes our small beginnings, Little Loretto. In describing her poem Cecily wrote, “The very ordinariness of smallness, combined with mud and straw, symbolize for me what I treasure (and, I guess, want everyone to treasure) about Loretto — simplicity, a kind of spareness.”

Susan Classen and JoAnn Gates led us in a ritual about cairns and small stones as they represent those who have had a deep and meaningful part in shaping us as the persons we are now. They gave a thorough description of the historical meaning of a cairn. “Cairns mark a path, especially at junctions where the trail directions are not obvious.” In the Jewish tradition “small stones called ‘visitation stones’ are placed on a grave as a way for the visitor to say ‘I remember you’ to the loved one.” In Buddhism “cairns are placed at a mountain pass as a sign of gratitude and an offering of blessing for all travelers both past and present.” Each of us received a photo of a cairn on a card, and we wrote the name of the person for whom we were grateful. They called these collected cairn cards “a cairn of wisdom for Jessie and for Loretto as we seek a way forward.”

As Jessie’s contact person, I offered a few reflections. It was a decidedly easy task to be her contact person as Jessie’s involvement has been amazing and thorough from the beginning.

Jessie’s commitment to Loretto was a real invitation to each of us. A few core quotes from it follow, but her statement has a kind of whole gracefulness that does not lend itself to paraphrasing.

Jessie began, “I did not know what I needed was community. Loretto came into my life, and I found myself incapable of turning away. This commitment to each other — to hold each other to the ideals that brought you together and to the Community you have created — this makes a difference. I think it was trust of Spirit, trust of history, trust in an unknown future that really set you apart. Loretto has seeped into my being and settled deep in my bones. I adopted your past and opened my future to you. I will humbly walk with this Community, continually examining myself and being modified, as we move into the future together.”

Maureen McCormack, Susan and Lisa Reynolds led us in singing “Deep Peace.” Pearl McGivney and Marlene Spero accepted Jessie’s commitment with great joy, followed by applause.

We offered, in song, a Sufi blessing as we extended our hands over Jessie. We asked for the blessing of God, peace and an illuminated heart for Jessie and all of us.

The video of Jessie’s entire celebration is available at www.lorettocommunity.org/membersite. Select “Directory,” then “New Member Profiles.”