Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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Summer Virtual Sacred Space @ Cabrini Retreat Center

Many teens have been unable to make their long awaited Kairos Retreat in the spring and summer. While there is no way to replace the 4-day retreat experience, Cabrini Retreat Center in Des Plaines, IL, has been able to offer “virtual sacred space” as a way to keep the spirit of Kairos (which means God’s time) alive.

Today’s youth have grown up communicating through social media, which is a blessing in this era of physical social distancing. Teens now experience a much needed “Cabrini welcome” in a new form.

Cabrini Sisters and friends are welcome to view posts and encouraged to “like us” Posts can be found on Instagram at @cabriniretreatcenter and on Facebook at Cabrini Retreat Center Kairos Connections.

Below is a sample posting:
Cabrini Retreat Center Kairos Connections
Published by Frances Cabrini · July 8 ·
“Not only did Cabrini house me for 3 1⁄2 days, it changed my life. That building allows for exponential growth amongst groups of teenagers, and it begins to feel like a second home. Cabrini is staffed with very welcoming staff members who will go above and beyond to make you feel comfortable while you stay there! On my Kairos retreat, I was given the opportunity to grow closer with people in my grade, and I wouldn’t have had time to do that if it wasn’t for Cabrini opening their doors to us. Each and every moment at Cabrini felt like
a different universe; the air truly is better at  Cabrini.”

Retreat Centers during the Pandemic

~ by Mark Piper, National Catholic Reporter

I have been the director of the Cenacle Retreat and Conference Center in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago since June 10, 2019. The last few months have been difficult on all of us who operate retreat centers. We are used to the cycle of welcoming and sending forth, of hellos and goodbyes, but waiting so long after a goodbye to say hello once more is new to us.

In late February, we took note and precautions due to the pandemic. But by March 13, before the state of Illinois issued its shelter-in-place mandate we chose to close to the public until we could safely reopen. As with retreat centers across the world, [we] provide the space for people of all walks of life to go out and do justice, love, mercy and transform our world. [At retreat centers] whoever they [may be], they are welcome to grace our simple, holy halls.

Every [retreat] colleague of mine has been burdened and vexed. We’re figuring out how to pivot, how to live our mission as places of welcome, acceptance and healing, under new and existential duress: necessary prolonged closures.

in Illinois, Nancy Golen, Director of the Cabrini Retreat Center in Des Plaines, shared that these mandates have, “caused Cabrini to be separated from our ministerial identity as a place of physical sacred space.”

“Approximately 80% of the guests at Cabrini are youth. The closure came at a time when we would have been at full capacity with multiple Kairos Retreats,” she said. “For decades, we’ve welcomed and cared for young people. As we plan our reopening there are many considerations to restore that sense of sacred safety. Cabrini’s sponsors have been open to offering the retreat space for other forms of service.”

Civic or health care representatives have approached some centers about utilizing their space to house first responders, quarantined individuals or homeless persons. Some obliged. Other retreat centers have found that impractical due to vulnerable populations who live on-site. Nancy said that, “Due to the way our facility is designed, and the nature of COVID-19, no fit was found for the space to date.”

“We miss our guests. Despite bleak financial realities, we maintain a trust in a God of love and abundance,” said Mark Piper. “A trust that, when it is safe, we will say ‘welcome’ once again. Until that day of our next holy hello, we’re in anxious solidarity, praying this long goodbye.

To read the entire article

https://www.ncronline.org/news/coronavirus/young-voices/update-your-national-parks-soul-retreat-centers-during-pandemic

Where have all the children gone?

As part of the policy to halt all migrants from entering our country at this time, our government has stopped allowing unaccompanied children to ask for asylum at our borders. Some children are simply not admitted, but some are deported to their home countries without the opportunity to speak to a social worker or plead for asylum. Tragically, that means future Bethany and Viator Houses of Hospitality participants who have fled horrendous violence are being turned away from the safety they seek. Sr. Cathy Fedewa, CSFN, on the boards of both facilities, has cited the decreased number of residents as representative of this unjust policy. This is the situation in most of the programs whose outreach is to these vulnerable children. Space and care are available contrary to what some of the media sources report.

This [policy of deportation without the opportunity to speak with a social worker or plead for asylum] was a major departure from previous policy and was prompted by the current pandemic situation. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) transfers the children to the custody of government officials in their home countries to reunite them with their families, if possible. While CBP can make exceptions to those orders, few exceptions are made.

It is argued that the move violates the Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act, which specifically lays out how unaccompanied children must be processed and cared for

arrival at the border.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler stated aptly that, “Children do not have to be put in harm’s way to protect us from the coronavirus pandemic…the Department of Homeland Security has the ability and capacity to protect both these children and the public.”

Children who come to the United States seeking protection are fleeing violence, poverty, trafficking and other threats to their lives. Turning them away at the border means they are waiting in Mexico alone and open to more of the same tragic circumstances there.

Our nation has the ability to welcome these children and keep them safe during this crisis.

Please reflect on the plight of these children and consider calling your congressional representative to speak out for these children at our border.
Here is the Capitol switchboard number you can call to leave messages for
your senators and representatives: (202) 224-3121.

 

Giving Tuesday Assists Immigrant Children with e-Learning

The National Shrine of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini joined the Cabrini Retreat Center on Tuesday, May 5th for GivingTuesdayNow, a day of Global Action for giving and unity in response to COVID-19. It was the decision of Sister Bridget Zanin, MSC, Director of the National Shrine, to explore the needs of immigrants in our local community in Chicago. Nancy Golen, Director at the Cabrini Retreat Center located in Des Plaines, IL, put [the Shrine staff] in contact with Exodus World Service, a Christian organization that empowers people to be champions for refugees.

Exodus World Service discussed with us the need for Chromebooks. During this pandemic, immigrant children in Chicago are falling increasingly behind in their education. They don’t have access to computers for e-learning, so, we dedicated this Global Day of Giving to raise a minimum of $1000.00 for the purchase of four Chromebooks for four immigrant families.

Mother Cabrini based her work on the “education of the heart.” As a teacher, her aim was always the formation of the whole person as it instills a special concern for those in need. We asked each of our communities if they would help us “educate the hearts” of immigrant children and we were delighted in their response as we were able to provide Exodus World Service with the funds to purchase five Chromebooks for five immigrant families

MSC Prayer Partners at Cabrini Retreat Center

Cabrini Retreat Center has been unable to welcome guests on site since March 16th. Guests scheduled to make a retreat are feeling the loss of their time away with God and their faith community. Especially impacted are the high school seniors who plan and prepare all year for their four-day Kairos Retreat.

However, the spiritual ministry of Cabrini Retreat Center continues at this time through our Sister Prayer Partners.

Sr. Grace Waters, MSC began coordinating the Sisters’ Prayer Partner ministry in 2006. She assigns a willing Missionary Sister to be a “prayer partner” for each group who spends time at the Retreat Center.

groups arrive, the name of the “Sister Prayer Partner” and her photo are posted near their meeting space. When the group is welcomed they are told about their partner. Groups are delighted by the connection with the Sisters. Returning groups will often check the bulletin board for their Sister Prayer Partner even before she is “introduced” at the welcome.

In the past 14 years, the Missionary Sisters have been “missioned in prayer” to over 800 groups, their prayers can truly be felt by staff and guests alike.

Prayer Partners continue to be assigned for the groups that had planned to be at the center for retreat. Prayer Partners have been added for the staff, housekeeping and food service vendors waiting for on-site-ministry to resume.

When in contact with groups, Retreat Center staff assures the leaders they have a “Prayer Partner” supporting them through this uncertain time until they are able to return. The staff is grateful to the Sisters for their prayers and are united with Mother Cabrini in her belief that “prayer is powerful”.

The Impact of COVID 19 on the Faithful

On Monday, March 9, the Staff of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, IL participated in a day long retreat at Cabrini Retreat Center. This included celebration of the Eucharist in the Retreat Center Chapel.

Later in the week, on Friday, March 13, Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, Rector of the Shrine, provided a reflection on the Suspension of Eucharist in the Archdiocese of Chicago:

Dear Friends,

The COVID virus is a deadly global virus. The impact is not only on our health, but is also on the lives of the poor, those losing their jobs, those in need of health care, and so many basic things needed to survive.

One area that it cannot impact us is in our conviction that we must care for one another. Even if it is in the simplicity of our prayers that we stand in solidarity.

This is the time in which we Catholics celebrate our Lenten season.

Lent is a time of austerity, of letting go, but never did we ever imagine one of the things we would have to let go of is the Eucharist itself

The inability to gather together for fear of hurting for another is a thing we must overcome. Let us take this Lenten season and this horrible experience that we are going through as a way of preparing for Easter, in which life comes out of death. We continue in our faith, we continue in our journey, we continue together.”

Rev. Esequiel Sanchez, Rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Since 2013, the Shrine is the most visited shrine in the USA dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the second most visited in the world after the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico. In June 1997, the site was granted being a place where pilgrims can fulfill their pledges or promises to Our Lady of Guadalupe as if they were being fulfilled at the Basilica of Mexico.

The full statement can be viewed in Spanish and English at https://www.solg.org/en/rectors-statement/

 

Sharing the Beauty of Diverse Cultures and Traditions

Fully Alive is a weekly radio broadcast of the Archdiocese of Chicago, focusing on issues of human dignity and solidarity. On December 4, 2019, Sr. Cathy Fedewa, CSFN, of the Cabrini Retreat Center, joined staff from the Archdiocesan Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity in sharing two major events being sponsored by that office in December and in January, bringing awareness of the conflicts but also the beauty of the diversity of cultures shared in the city in its immigrant population.

Information and understanding of the events were shared with the audience regarding the Fourth Annual Posada to be held on December 13 on the streets of downtown Chicago.

The procession follows the same dynamics as a traditional posada, but instead of stopping at homes in their neighborhood, Joseph, Mary and their companions stop at various immigration-related locations in the city, such as the ICE Office and Immigration Court, and recall the difficulties immigrants encounter and the need for immigration reform. The procession ends at St. Peter’s Church in the heart of the city where all are finally welcomed and given hospitality….and a traditional celebration takes place.

The broadcast then continued with comments on National Migration Week being celebrated in the archdiocese, as it is around the country, on January 5, with a special liturgy in Holy Name Cathedral. A procession of nations in native dress (representing many of the diverse cultures in Chicago) begins the celebration. Diversity is also clear in the readings, intercessions and music, presented in varied languages. ~ submitted by Sr. Cathy Fedewa, CSFN, Cabrini Retreat Center

Cabrini Retreat Center Welcomes Those Transitioning Out of Homelessness

This past weekend, a small woman approached a staff person at Cabrini Retreat Center in Des Plaines, IL and slipped a tightly folded five dollar into a hand saying, “this is all I have, it is a donation to thank you for spoiling us on retreat this weekend.” Touched, the staff person responded that it was our privilege to show God’s love by “spoiling” each retreatant.
Cabrini Retreat Center has been a partner with the Ignatian Spiritual Project (ISP) since 2008.

The Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP) provides retreat programming and staffing for those transitioning out of homelessness. Cabrini Retreat Center provides an open-hearted welcome, beautiful meeting space,  grounds, private bedrooms and excellent meals.

The Overnight Retreats allow men and women making big changes in their lives to re-discover their inherent worth and dignity, and to experience that they are deeply loved. Days of renewal after the retreat allow the experience to deepen and be supported.

Thanks to the Cabrini Mission Foundation and our Sister Prayer Partners who support this mission.

Run for Your Life – Part 3

This week, we continue our coverage on the “Run for Your Life” simulation that took place at the Cabrini Retreat Center in Des Plaines, IL from September 13 – 16th. A variety of adult and youth groups from across the Archdiocese of Chicago participated in the simulation.

Participants, now in their roles as a family unit, hurriedly begin their journey as it is no longer safe to stay in their home/country. They have a sense of the direction they will travel in but they’re not real clear. It doesn’t take long before they find they are stopped by strangers who either offer to help them on their way (for a price) or who simply take advantage of them and will not let them pass unless they part with some of their money or goods that they have brought with them.

They realize now that they must cross the sea to get away from all those seeking to harm them. They must head for the harbor and passage which other have promised will take them safely across the sea (again for a fee). They finally get to the harbor and find their boats are simply rafts but they have no choice; they can’t go back. They are given one life jacket for the family, but still have some resources to pay for a few more. They enter the rafts with many others and are told they must give up some heavier possessions they brought because the crowded boat is too heavy.

they sail along, the waves get rough and their boat is suddenly swamped by a huge wave. They survive the wave but anything they brought that could be ruined by water is now also gone. Then, a ray of hope…a ship is seen in the distance. Perhaps it can rescue them! But… it is a ship of pirates and they must give them any valuables they are carrying…or forfeit their lives.

They now have very little, if anything, left of their resources, and they continue to move across the water over days and days…..no more water, no more food, burning sun, seasickness, and sometimes death. Will they ever be able to reach land and safety across the sea???? Was this a mistake???? ~ submitted by Sr. Cathy Fedewa, CSFN

Uniting Hearts and Minds with Our Migrant Brothers and Sisters

  • 70 Million: The total number of forcibly displaced persons in the world today.
  • 25.9 Million: Number of refugees around the world. (An all-time high).
  • 37,000 people on average are forced from their homes each day. ~ June 2019 UN Annual Report on Refugees

“Migration is not a passing emergency.” ~ Pope Francis

This week, we continue our coverage on the “Run for Your Life” simulation that took place at the Cabrini Retreat Center in Des Plaines, IL from September 13 – 16th. A variety of adult and youth groups from across the Archdiocese of Chicago participated in the simulation.

After an introduction to the crises that may be happening in a refugee’s life, causing them to leave their home and their country, participants begin their simulated journey. They are divided into family groups and given a biography of their family, their situation and the particular members of their family.

Participants are asked to take on the identity of that family as parent, grandparent, adult child, toddler, etc., as well as their reason for leaving.

The urgency begins as they are told they have to leave IMMEDIATELY, no time for planning. They are given a “wallet” of money and a series of pictures of items to take along….but they can only choose 10 of those items…and that’s all they will have besides the clothes on their backs.

They begin their journey toward what they hope will be a country that will welcome them and protect them from the harm they are now facing. They do not know what obstacles or dangers they may face, nor how long that journey may take.

 

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Phone: 484-581-7163   Fax: 484-581-7164
info@mothercabrini.org