http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/RSS/SiteRSSFeed.ashxThe latest news from Mount Saint Agnes Theological Center for Women5 Due to February's record-breaking snowfall, the Reading Women program had to be postponed.  The discussion of Sara Maitland's latest work, A Book of Silence, is now posted on this site with its new dates and times.  The morning session is scheduled for two Saturdays in March: the 20th & 27th.  The evening session is scheduled for two Wednesdays: April 7th & 14th.  If you were on the original roster for this MSA spring program, you do not need to do anything to stay registered.  New comers welcome.  Join Mary Aquin O'Neill, RSM, PhD for what promises to be an excellent exploration of the sometimes misunderstood state of silence. http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3604 2010-02-24 Due to Baltimore's unprecedented snow accumulation causing hazardous travel conditions, the wake and funeral arrangements for Ginger's husband, Bob Suchy, have been changed.Ruck Funeral Home in Towson is still handling all of the arrangements.  The family has moved visiting hours, however, to  Friday, February 12, 2010 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.  A special vigil service is planned for 3:30 p.m. on Friday.The funeral is now (as of Wednesday afternoon) scheduled to be held at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 13, 2010 at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Govans. NOTE WELL:  The schedule change for the funeral mass involves both day and time.Please help to spread the word to anyone you think might have been planning to attend either the wake and/or funeral services.You may also visit a virtual guest book that the family has set up in order to receive condolences and prayerful greetings via cyberspace.  Diane left a message in that guest book on behalf of all at Mount Saint Agnes theological Center for Women. The Center is also sending a sympathy bouquet to Ginger on behalf of all her classmates and friends here.    http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3576 2010-02-10 Bob Suchy, husband of longtime classmate and friend, Ginger Suchy, passed away suddenly at home on Saturday, February 6, 2010.  As noted in yesterday's Baltimore Sun, Bob leaves not only his beloved Ginger but also three sons, three grandsons, and a large and loving extended family.  Long-time veterans of our theological center may remember Bob as one of the "wise men" with an exquisite singing voice at Epiphany parties back at the old Provincial House in Mount Washington.  Ginger and Bob became early, enthusiastic supporters of our theological center immediately following our 1993 Inaugural Lecture (Our Lady of Guadalupe:  Model of Church) at Mercy High School. Many know of the Suchys' exquisite hospitality and love of all things Southwestern.  Lesser known was Bob's tireless service on the board of the National Katyn Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization that erected the Polish War Memorial in Baltimore's Inner Harbor in 2000.  The stories of the brave men and women commemorated in this monument would have been lost to history were it not for the unselfish service of men like Bob Suchy.Many more memories will be shared by family and friends who visit together at Ruck Funeral Home in Towson on Thursday, February 11, 2010.  The funeral mass is scheduled for Friday, February 12, 2010 at St. Mary of the Assumption in Govans at 10:00 am.  Complete details and times are available in the Sun notice reference above.Several of Ginger's friends from MSA plan, despite weather forecasts, to attend both vigil services and funeral mass.  Anyone in our community who would like to attend but needs transportation (or, plans to attend and can offer transportation) should please contact the center at msaoff@aol.com or call 410-435-7500.  Both driving and parking promise to be challenging this week but we'll do what we can to match up potential drivers and passengers wherever possible.  In the meantime, I feel sure that Ginger will remain grateful for our prayers and expressions of sympathy in this time of grief and mourning.   http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3574 2010-02-10 Ice and snow, bless Our God!Night and day, bless Our God!Light and darkness, bless Our God!Lightening and clouds, bless Our God!Let the earth bless Our God!Mountains and hills, bless Our God!Everything that grows on the earth, bless Our God!Springs of water, bless Our God!Seas and rivers, bless Our God!Dolphins and everything that lives in water, bless Our God!Birds in the sky, bless Our God!Animals wild or tame, bless Our God!Praise and exalt God forever!  Taken from the Book of Daniel, Chapter 3 (verses 70-81).  This particular translation appears on p. 416 of The Inclusive Hebrew Scriptures, published in 1999 by Priests for Equality at the Quixote Center in W. Hyattsville, MD.  This volume is one of many gifts to this Center by Rosie (mother-wit) Douglas and Grace Byerly, charter members and pillars of our local community in Baltimore. February 6, 2010Dear Friends of Mount Saint Agnes,Both national and local weather watchers insist that today's snowfall records the highest depth EVER. As stunned and confused as Bally (as we attempted our first "walk" of the day) I estimated the wall bordering the carport to be about 28 inches deep.Ice and snow, bless Our God, indeed!Lest anyone think I knew where to find such a perfect bible verse on my own, I confess that in preparation for the Lenten program, I am re-reading Kathleen Norris' life-changing volume on the "bad thought" of acedia, revisiting how her humble and open study revolutionized the way she lives her life and mine.  One example: Norris recounts the experience of a biting wind blowing icy air that hurts to inhale.  She then remembers and recites this song of praise from the Book of Daniel and permits herself a smile in the midst of her bone-chilling misery.  Please accept the verse above as a gift - something essential to remember as you scrape your windshield or shovel snow.Acedia (pronounced "ah seed eee ah" with emphasis on the "seed") was known to our Christian ancestors as one of the eight bad thoughts.  Gradually, (some might say to the devil's delight), this bad thought was collapsed into one of the seven deadly sins, still part of the Catechism to this day.  The reason Norris believes that demonic powers would appreciate for acedia to remain hidden from view is precisely because it thrives in human beings as a kind of spiritual indifference doing its best work and damage in the dark; a human temptation known all too well by the desert monks and nuns; a power that shares aspects of depression, sadness and sloth but is more dangerous than any of these because it is a despair that is devoid of compassion; an aridity that can see the goodness of creation, the suffering of other creatures, or the glory of God and respond in perfect indifference.As Susan Spence, the Chair of our Board, used to observe after attending several MSA programs sequentially, "did you all know everything was going to connect and come together like that?" Aquin and I sometimes feigned that it was all the result of careful planning but usually admitted that we too were surprised to see for example, that the study of the virtuous life in one class was going to dovetail beautifully with a novel we read together in another; or how the ever-popular All Saints Prayer picked up right where an exquisite film discussion left off. It is just that kind of connection that is unfolding as we gear up for the spring program of studies.  Some serendipity is startling.  The Lenten Program connects to the Spring Retreat in ways I did not envision when Aquin first listed the spring program offerings.In the five week Lenten program, Acedia and Exuberance, after we spend  time on acedia's critical relevance for contemporary Christians, we'll turn to Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison's psychological exploration of human joy or exuberance.  Jamison introduces her study with an overview of the invaluable contributions of two American heroes:  Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir.  Though "different in a thousand ways," these two men shared a love of and devotion to the created order that revealed itself in their exuberance to preserve, share and care for it.  Muir reflected that going outside for a morning walk, he'd find himself lingering until sunset, "for going out, I found, I was really going in."  And who can forget the words spoken by our infectiously enthusiastic boy-president at the Sorbonne in 1910:It is not the critic who counts; not the [one] who points out how the strong stumble, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the [person] in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly . . . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends [life] on a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if [they] fail, at least fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have . . .  known neither victory nor defeat. (Jamison, Exuberance:  The Passion for Life. (New York:  Knopf, 2004) p. 14. As you have probably already seen,  Muir and Roosevelt, with their loving eyes on the unspoiled created order, called for a kind of religious devotion to its care.  Muir finds inner meaning as he wanders outside.  Roosevelt comes upon giant Sequoias and sees cathedrals. So it is that two very different women, authors of these investigations and writing about two very different human characteristics, will lead us through Lent to the Holy Week Prayer and just beyond Earth Day for something unprecedented in MSA programming.From April 23 - 25, 2010,  Mount Saint Agnes is engaged in the first of its kind weekend  retreat program that unites our teaching methods and theological background with the goals of Earth Hope Ministry and the Bon Secours Spiritual Center.  We have named this program, Women, Earth and Divine Love  and are featuring   Helen Prejean and Marya Grathwohl of Earth Hope. We booked the entire building and grounds of the newly remodeled Bon Secours Spiritual Center.  It is a big commitment carrying some financial risk for MSA but we think Roosevelt was right about avoiding defeatist thinking of timid souls. If you can help to spread the word, print off the attached PDF and post where this ad will do the most good. A major aim of the retreat is to renew and rejuvenate the existing concern that many women feel for the condition of the planet.  As our presenters explore creation and earth's wonders, we'll also be offering plenty of time for group sharing and individual rest.  The idea is to identify any hopelessness or futility that activists might be feeling so that our passion for ecological matters is not being extinguished or ignored.  In other words, part of the plan is to identify and fight back against any spiritual indifference for the cause of a healthy human future in relationship to the earth - this glorious gift from God entrusted to our care.Can we really look at what human carelessness is doing to the earth and respond merely, "so what?" Not if the temptation of acedia is understood and consciously resisted.  Can a gathering of women in Maryland in April make a difference for the future?  You bet we can.  You have to see it to believe it.  Easter joy will find us there.Did we know these elements of the spring program was going to come together like this?  You bet we did! Take good care of yourselves and each other, whatever the weather forecast. Kathleen Norris says doing good things for others is not only one way to serve God, it is also an effective weapon in the war on bad thoughts.  So are your daily devotions whether prayer or song or service.  Be faithful to all.Light and darkness, Bless Our God!  Praise and exalt God Forever!Diane M. Caplin, Ph.D.Director http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=3570 2010-02-06 The fundraising and development committee of the Board of Trustees has reopened the search for two interns:  one in marketing  and the other in grant writing.  Both positions are open immediately and will remain so until filled. The ideal applicants will be upperclassmen or graduate students pursuing degrees in marketing, business, communications or non-profit management.  Academic credit and financial remuneration are negotiable.  The work is time-sensitive and demanding, requiring the attention of self-directed and highly motivated students who seek valuable, practical experience in the workplace.Both women and men are encouraged to apply.Announcements for these internships have been sent to the career planning offices of eight area colleges and universities.  For more details or to make application, please contact Diane M. Caplin, Ph.D., Director.   http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3558 2010-01-31 Mount Saint Agnes announces cash rebates of $50.00 for those whose registrations for the Spring Retreat (residential option) Women, Earth and Divine Love, are confirmed by February 15, 2010.  Communters who register by February 15th will be entitled to a $25.00 cash rebate on arrival (5pm on April 23rd) at the Bon Secours Spiritual Center in MarriottsvilleThe retreat aims to bring together students of the Mount Saint Agnes Theological Center for Women, Earth Hope and Death Penalty Discourse for a weekend of study, quiet contemplation and communal sharing.  Why opponents of the death penalty?  Sr. Helen Prejean gets it:  Planet Earth is under a death sentence, too. The rebate is an incentive to register as soon as possible.   The Bon Secours Spiritual Center is a gorgeous facility offering many amenities but capacity is not unlimited.  And word is spreading fast:Sisters of the Earth (SOE) has advertised among its email list of several hundred.The BSSC at Marriottsville is covering the new BSSC/MSA collaboration in its next issue of Bridges featuring an interview with MSA Director, Diane M. Caplin, Ph.D.Look for the upcoming advertisements that Mount Saint Agnes has reserved for three consecutive issues of the National Catholic Reporter. Participants will be treated to the wisdom, experience and insights of Srs. Marya Grathwohl and Helen Prejean, who have conducted similar programs all over the world. They will also explore the wisdom of Thomas Berry, Helen Caldicott and Clare of Assisi as our guides shed wisdom on the plight of the planet.  Mary Aquin O'Neill and Diane Caplin round out the presenters' team but it is participants who will form a community for action and hope.Enjoy an introduction to one the participants by reading her review of an earlier retreat with Srs. Marya and Helen.  That one experience inspired the founding of Friends of Earth Hope.  You won't regret the few minutes it will take to enjoy How I Went from Earth Dope to Earth Hope by Val Cummings.  http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=3556 2010-01-30 On Friday evening, January 22, 2010, an audience of 47 women and men was held in wrapped attention by Sr. Helen Marie Burns' presentation on the Vatican Visitation of Apostolic Women Religious in the United States. Unusually high advance registrations made it necessary to move this event to a small amphitheatre at Johns Hopkins' Mount Washington Conference Center.  On short notice, the gracious staff there made special arrangements for both classroom space and technical support for MSA. After some powerful formal remarks, Sr. Helen Marie opened the floor to a 45 minute question /discussion period that revealed not only the depth of her insight, but also her innate trust of her own wide experience as a church leader.  It was clear by the end of the night that there is a passionate interest in this historic Church event among lay Catholics and an interest in finding what needs to be done in response.  We offer sincere gratitude to Sr. Helen Marie Burns, who also serves on the MSA Board of Trustees, for sharing her gifts with Mount Saint Agnes in such a creative way. Johns Hopkins' Mount Washington Conference Center is located on the grounds of what once was the Mount Saint Agnes Motherhouse, longtime home to Sisters of Mercy, Baltimore Regional Community.  Hopkins and the Sisters of Mercy are also connected by a collaboration that is much on our minds in the wake of the Haitian Earthquake:  Sr. Karen Schneider, RSM, a pediatrician at Hopkins, often takes delegations of interns to Central and South America to staff much-needed medical missions to underserved populations of children.  Last Friday evening, as we enjoyed  a superb presentation in first-class facilities, Sr. Karen and her delegation were on the ground in Haiti, themselves hungry, thirsty and tired, helping a broken people face this latest devastation visited upon their families, their homes, their country and not least, their hopes. MSA wanted to help.  We visited the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas to learn about various ways to get our aid into the hands of people we knew and who were already on the ground serving.  What better way to show our support than to announce a collection specifically to support Sr. Karen’s work in Haiti?  She had by then issued a call for transportation funds to move the sick and injured from congested areas to less populated outposts better equipped to serve their needs. That was how the 47 men and women of Mount Saint Agnes, who had likely already sent donations to Haiti via other vehicles, generously offered up $800 last Friday evening to send in support of Sr. Karen Schneider's medical mission in Haiti.  Those funds have already been transferred to the PayPal account that Sr. Karen had set up for this purpose.  Those not present at this event who would still like to donate to this mission may do so by this PayPal link and entering Sr. Karen’s email address:  karenrsmmd@gmail.com.     http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=3548 2010-01-27 Mount Saint Agnes announces its first annual Honor Roll of Donors.  This document lists gifts to MSA throughout 2009 that honor special people, memorialize the recently deceased, and recognize other special intentions recommended to our prayers with a donation.  Every effort has been made to track these wonderful gifts with care.  If you think we have made an error, please notify us immediately.  We are deeply grateful for our members' continuing generosity. http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3544 2010-01-26 Our precious classmate and friend, Kay (Kathryn) Fishman, died on January 17, 2010, while hospitalized for multiple complications following cancer surgery.  Brought to Mount Saint Agnes programs several years ago by her friend, the late Evelyn Lancaster, Kay was an earnest student and generous supporter of this ministry.  Though quiet in nature, Kay's "still waters ran deep" and she enjoyed the intellectual stimulation and challenges found among the women at Mount Saint Agnes.  Kay, who resided with her husband Harold at the Charlestown Retirement Community, was herself an active recruiter for MSA.  Her death is a painful loss for all of us who knew Kay. She will be as sorely missed as a unique and faithful friend can be. This photo of Kay will soon take her place among our saints, the many late great women who have shaped Mount Saint Agnes Theological Center for Women.  Now we begin knowing her in a new way.Kay was a very proud graduate of the College of Saint Elizabeth in Convent Station, New Jersey.  More details about her life and surviving family members can be found in her death notice in yesterday's Baltimore Sun newspaper. That notice also contains details about wake and funeral arragements.  Mount Saint Agnes has sent lovely flowers on behalf of all of us who mourn her passing and we have assured her family that our prayers for their well-being will continue.Let us pray that Kay is on her way to the loving arms of God and that eternal rest is granted to this humble, faithful servant of all that is good and true. http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=3492 2010-01-21 ...at Christmastime 1959, she had come across a "lucky find" in a commentary on a passage of St. thomas Aquinas.  "St. T says that prophetic vision is dependent on the imagination of the prophet, not his moral life," she wrote to Betty.  ...she could apply these same terms to Teilhard.At the heart of Teilhard's vision were formulations that obviously spoke to Flannery and created a strong resonance for her with the content as well as the poetic style of his writings.  Particularly appealing was The Divine Milieu, an intimate, personal meditation ... described by her as "giving a new face to Christian spirituality." She drew marginal lines in her copy next to Teilhard's concept of the Incarnation as "a single event...developing in the world"; a cosmic presence in local material lay behind her own arguing for regional writing.  But the quieter concept that she kept mulling and returning to privately was "passive diminishments," Teilhard's unusal term for significant suffering, which she obviously applied to her own disease.  As she wrote a friend: "Pere Teilhard talks about 'passive diminishments' in THE DIVINE MILIEU.  He means those afflictions that you can't get rid of and have to bear.  Those that you can get rid of he believes you must bend every effort to get rid of.  I think he was a very great man."Taken from Brad Gooch, Flannery, A Life of Flannery O'Connor (Little, Brown and Co, 2009):325 http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=2932 2010-01-01 Something happens, something is communicated into our selves when we bow, stand, kneel, sin and process together.  Colors and smells and even the arrangement of furniture deliver information to different parts of us.Can we imagine our hands, knees, noses, bellies—our whole bodies—as curious, as wanting to know something of the mystery of God as surely as our minds do?  We claim that faith is an interior reality that can and should make its way to the surface of a life.  But what if we paid more attention to the way that works, the way the concrete actions of bodies in the world infect faith with life?  We might then understand liturgy—“the work of the people”—in terms of formation rather than expression.Taken from Scott Walters, “Formed by Liturgy, Bodies at Worship,” Christian Century (September 22, 2009):13. http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3296 2009-12-30 The course listings for spring are now available at http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Events/EventDetails/Index.aspx Registration online is open.  Paper registrations will be mailed the first of the new year.  Some of the staff will be traveling over Christmas.  Please understand if your inquiries do not receive an immediate response.  Thank you.  We look forward to a busy and productive spring.  Till then, all the blessings of this holy season be yours. Frequently Asked QuestionsWhy is it good to register early?Those who register one month before a program begins do so at a discounted fee.  This is given because early registration helps the staff of the Center plan ahead for the production of course materials and any meals to accompany the program. Also, it sometimes happens that programs fill and late registrations cannot be accommodated.How do I register for more than one course without losing information?Please note the "Continue selecting programs" button.  This feature enables you to leave the registration page without losing any information that you have put in.  You must click it each time you leave the registration page.What if my course selection suggests or requires supplemental materials?Some courses have supplemental materials, such as books, available for purchase.  These materials can be purchased through PayPal or by check.  If you plan to pay by check, please follow the add to cart button.  Then print out and mail your order form, along with your registration, back to us.  One check with the total amount due is fine; you do not have to send two separate checks for the courses and supplemental materials.When is my registration confirmed?You will automatically be sent a copy of the program for which you have registered, with our thanks.  Remember, however, that we cannot consider your registration confirmed until we receive payment.  If payment comes by PayPal, confirmation is immediate.  If you are sending a check, confirmation awaits our receipt of same.Is tuition assistance offered?Tuition assistance is available.  Contact us to request it.Will I receive directions to the Center?New registrants will receive directions to the Center when your registration is confirmed.What is meant by the invitation to the table?We make every effort to invite those who sign up for one or more programs (exclusive of prayer) to "break bread" with us in some way. If a repast is not incuded in your program, you will receive an invitation by email. http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3368 2009-12-11 My husband and I used to enjoy spending some time at the ocean: spring and fall in Myrtle Beach.  But in 2009 I persuaded him to change our vacation to summer, because by being away in the spring and fall I was missing parish activities and interesting things like classes at Mount Saint Agnes Theological Center for Women. Having twisted my husband's arm, I thought I should get in all the MSA I could.  As a result, last spring and this fall I "double-dipped," going to both Wednesday morning and evening classes, and various Saturday programs. Also, that way I got to enjoy more of Sacha's delicious meals.My recent classes have been:  “Teresa of Avila's Interior Castle,” "The Place of Believers in a Secular Age," and "Reading Women:  Quest for the Living God, by Elizabeth Johnson."The classic Interior Castle was something I have meant to read for a long time, but was daunted by it. The class was just what I needed: a schedule; a great teacher like Michaele Wicks, who had done her thesis on the subject; and other women to share it with.  Unfortunately, I missed the last class because I was chosen to be on the jury for a trial that lasted six days.  Just as the class was arriving pretty close to heaven in the seventh and eighth rooms of the "Castle," I was engrossed in a sad story of violence.Jumping ahead almost five centuries, the other two courses dealt with contemporary theology. Diane presented "The Place of Believers in a Secular Age" and based it on her reading of the book, Secular Age, by Charles Taylor.  Our small and lively group talked about what happens now that our rapidly evolving culture no longer underlies and buttresses our faith as it once did.  It brought to mind a story that my aunt used to tell.  She and her friends all said the "Angelus" together to the ringing church bells when they walked home for lunch.  When they got to the line "and the word was made flesh," they genuflected right on the sidewalks of Baltimore!  Our world no longer rings bells three times a day to remind us of the Incarnation.That said, we discussed different ways people seek spiritual experience in a secular society:  through the arts, nature (particularly environmentalism), and religious ritual. We also talked about the rise of fundamentalism as a counterpoint to a sophisticated secularism.  From these ideas, I got an insight into how religious nostalgia can be a pitfall for someone like me. As we age, it's so easy to fall backward and lament the passing of certain things rather than going forward, seeking God working in our lives today.Quest for the Living God : Mapping the Frontiers in the  Theology of  God is a book I highly recommend for those who didn't take the class.  Mary Jane O'Brien chose three chapters for discussion.  The most interesting for me was the one on feminist theology. For those who were in the class, don't miss chapter two which deals mostly with ideas of Karl Rahner.  Interestingly it fit in nicely with some of the material in Diane's class.It's been a very thought provoking semester for me between the classes and the trial .  I have a lot to process, ponder, and pray about:  from the austere sixteenth century Teresa of Avila telling me to strip myself of worldly attachments and look into my heart for God to more recent insights into a theology of a dynamic God who might be found by engaging the world. I had to think hard about holiness, sin, and guilt.  The trial ended with a not guilty verdict; if found guilty the young defendant could have gotten life imprisonment. Indeed, a lot to think about.A native of Baltimore, Rosemary Ciaudelli Grace attended Mount Saint Agnes High School.  She has an A.B. in English from St. Mary-of-the-Woods College,  and has worked for the CIA and the National Geographic, in addition to teaching.  Five years after the death of her husband, Joe Ciaudelli, she met and married Harry Grace.  Rosemary had two daughters, two sons and eight grandchildren.  She is an avid reader and lover of poetry.  http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3354 2009-12-07 It has long been a dream of Diane Caplin's to build on our site a small hermitage so that people could find silence and some solitude right within the city limits.  This picture gives an idea of what she has in mind.  What is more real than a dream? http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=3286 2009-11-24 From 1978 until 1988, 21 Roman Catholic and 18 Southern Baptist scholars participated in a theological conversation, and together they wrote three books. Mount Saint Agnes has obtained permission from Dr. Steve Lemke, the provost of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, whose faculty holds the copyright for the book, to publish online the third of these books, now out of print.  It is our hope that this material, under the title, To Understand Each Other, will indeed increase understanding of commonalities and differences in Southern Baptist and Roman Catholic faith and practices. http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/News/Detail.aspx?id=3244 2009-11-16 Dr. Sheri L. Parks will present her lecture on the Dark Feminine in American Life on Saturday, May 23, 2009.  The program will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will last for approximately one and one half hours.  Additional information will be available when the spring schedule of programs is posted in late December. http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=2042 Feast of the Epiphany 2009Dear Friends and Supporters of Mount Saint Agnes Theological Center for Women:At the time of great feast, I find myself wrestling with the meaning of Epiphany once again.  Some years we have emphasized the star here, feeling the power of the light.  This year, I am much more taken with the darkness in which the wise ones traveled, and with the difficulties of their journey.  As T.S. Eliot wrote, in the voice of the Magi, "A cold coming we had of it…."   Taking into account all the predictions, it looks like 2009 will have its share of difficulties.  But if those challenges return us—as a people--to the way of justice, simplicity, care for each other, integrity in word and deed, concern for those who have least, then there will indeed be a star and a birth at the end of the journey.  First, however, we will all need to undergo what the gospels call a metanoia, a profound change in our ways of imagining the world.   Here at the Center we are trying to make our contribution to ongoing change.  Sister Louise Lears, SC, will offer a day-long program on non-violence, countering one of the most troubling aspects of contemporary life.   John R. Donahue, SJ, will teach the parables of Jesus, powerful texts that can turn ordinary expectations upside down.  Our own Diane Caplin, returned from sabbatical, will consider the holy longing that leads to conversion, and the place of believers in a secular age.  Sisters Helen Prejean and Marya Grathwohl will share their passion for the care of the earth and of all things living.  A trip to the American Visionary Arts Museum will allow us to muse on the marriage of art, philosophy, and science.  And Dr. Sheri L. Parks will lecture on the dark feminine in American life, raising up the values, the courage, the endurance of this mysterious power.  Current Programs and Events will give you details of these offerings.If possible, please join us for a program.  In any event, do help us spread the word about what is available.No matter the hardships, may we all travel through 2009 in hope, believing in the guidance of the star.    http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Index.aspx?id=2304 Our precious classmate and friend, Kay (Kathryn) Fishman, died on January 17, 2010, while hospitalized for multiple complications following cancer surgery. Brought to Mount Saint Agnes programs several years ago by her friend, the late Evelyn Lancaster, Kay was an earnest student and generous supporter of this ministry. Though quiet in nature, Kay's "still waters ran deep" and she enjoyed the intellectual stimulation and challenges found among the women at Mount Saint Agnes. Kay, who resided with her husband Harold at the Charlestown Retirement Community, was herself an active recruiter for MSA. Her death is a painful loss for all of us who knew Kay. She will be as sorely missed as a unique and faithful friend can be. This photo of Kay will soon take her place among our saints, the many late great women who have shaped Mount Saint Agnes Theological Center for Women. Now we begin knowing her in a new way.Kay was a very proud graduate of the College of Saint Elizabeth in Convent Station, New Jersey. More details about her life and surviving family members can be found in her death notice in yesterday's Baltimore Sun newspaper. That notice also contains details about wake and funeral arragements. Mount Saint Agnes has sent lovely flowers on behalf of all of us who mourn her passing and we have assured her family that our prayers for their well-being will continue.Let us pray that Kay is on her way to the loving arms of God and that eternal rest is granted to this humble, faithful servant of all that is good and true. http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=3494 Message from Diane: As my family and I continue to grieve my mother's passing, our hearts are full of gratitude for the literally hundreds of condolence cards, memorial mass cards and monetary gifts that have arrived in honor of my mother, Mary A. Caplin.It is surely true that this passage is like no other.  In these early days since her death right here at Mount Saint Agnes, it is actually difficult to absorb the meaning of it all.  My brother, Bob, who helped me to care for Mom, have actually wondered aloud to one another:  Who are we once the woman who gave us earthly life is gone from our sight?In the sure and certain hope that Mom is liberated from her earthly burdens and resting in the arms of a loving and forgiving God, we want you all to know how very grateful we are for the loving support and prayers of so many.  Fr. Kevin reminded us at Mom's funeral mass in Rhode Island that life, when rooted in the love that my mother knew,  is not ended, only changed.  Those of us who love her remember the timeless words of Gabriel Marcel, paraphrased here:  To love someone is to say [she] will never die.  Mom lives.  So many have helped us to remember that everlasting truth in the wake of this sorrowful time.If you are interested in any of the details of the services, lovingly prepared for us by the staff at Mount Saint Agnes, you may select from among the links below:Know my love and gratitude, DianeMary A. Caplin Obituary Mass of Christian Burial Readings Prayers of the Faithful Memorial Card   http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=2870 http://www.mountsaintagnes.org/Musings/Announcements/Index.aspx?id=726