North American Conference of Associates and Religious

2011 Annual Report

Friday, 27 January 2012 14:20 Mary Jo Mersmann

The 2011 Annual Report is now available online!

You have to be registered and logged in to either download it or go to the page where it is listed.

icon Click here to download NACAR Annual Report 2011 directly (you must be logged in).

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If you have any questions about the Report or how to access it, please contact us.

The NACAR Board of Directors and the Management Team

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If Pigs Could Fly…

Tuesday, 17 January 2012 22:01 Judith Ann Gomila

Aaah! A New Year is upon us! Some of us were creatively inspired, scribbling down our heart-felt resolutions for physical, emotional, financial or spiritual improvement. Others among us are already changing our minds and x-ing out those fervent plans for 2012 because they are just not working. The stick-to-it-iveness of self-discipline can be as slippery as black ice.

"If" can be a calculation that indicates the outcome of a situation or determines the choices that we make. "If pigs could fly..." is a way of saying that something will never happen! "What if...?," "If only...", and the rest of the "iffy" family translate into words like supposing, even though, whether, when or whenever. Periodically, I like to prayerfully mull over the British Nobel Laureate, Rudyard Kipling's poem,"IF," written in 1909. It reminds me of our common call as followers of Christ even as it depicts the complexities of human existence.

Christmas Blessings from NACAR!

Thursday, 22 December 2011 19:47 Marci Anne Madary

Dear NACAR Members,

"In the Bleak Mid-Winter" is one of my favorite Christmas songs. Before it was put to music, it was a simple poem written by an English poet, Christina Rossetti, sometime before 1872. I am captured by imagery and the unity I feel with her deepest desire: to give her everything to God. May our hearts always be this pure.

On behalf of the NACAR Board, I would like to wish you and your loved ones a blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with hope and peace.

Marci Madary
NACAR Board Chairperson

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Last Updated on Thursday, 22 December 2011 19:55

Happy New Year from NACAR!

Friday, 06 January 2012 19:59 Marci Anne Madary

While on January 1 we might quietly flip the page of calendar to greet 2012, it is a regular invitation to significant growth and change. And the fact that it can happen not only each year, but every day at any moment is truly God's grace. It is our chance for a re-birth with a clean slate, completely undeserved yet unconditionally given. All is needed is a simple yes and an open heart. In that spirit, we would like to extend a deep wish for a New Year filled with hope, love, and light to each of you.

We will be having our monthly NACAR Board Conference Call the middle of January. Please pray for us as we continue to plan for the upcoming Conference. We rejoice in you, our members, and look forward to seeing you in June.

Happy New Year!

The NACAR Board of Directors and the Management Team

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So What?

Thursday, 15 December 2011 13:14 Judith Ann Gomila, MSC

Do you have a favorite crèche scene… one perhaps handed down to you by your grandmother… or maybe it's the corn husk crib you bought on vacation in Arkansas… or the Precious Moments characters with their big eyes and full cheeks? Does the religious congregation you are associated with have an enormous display of cribs from around the world where members have served? Personally, one of my favorite crib scenes comes from Haiti. The stable is a hollowed out coconut shell and all the figures are rolled-up balls of clay. Sheep and shepherd have a similar look except for a twig staff. It matters not the age or appearance of the crèche under your Christmas tree, in the nave of you parish church or even the plywood personalities in your neighbor's yard.

Whatever the design, simple or extravagant, fitting in the palm of your hand or expanded live-action at the local park, the crèche is a reminder that the "Word made flesh and dwells among us." Not just on December 25, but every day you and I are called to incarnate Christ in our interaction with others. The great mystic, Meister Eckhart once said, "What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to the Son of God… if I do not give birth to the Son of God in my time and culture?"

Do enjoy the artistic creativity and ethnic diversity you might see during this Christmas Season. Take time to pray to be an ambassador of Christ, emphasizing the charism of your congregation, as the New Year unfolds. Seek out ways and means to enflesh Gospel values in your daily life.

The first reading during daytime Mass for the Solemnity of the Nativity proclaims from Isaiah 52:

How beautiful upon the mountains 
are the feet of those who bring glad tidings,
 announcing peace, bearing good news…

Reflection and Prayer: Pray with a favorite crèche. Consider journaling your thoughts on what the birth of Jesus means to you in your lived experience in the here and now.

Photo by Sr. Joel Miller, MSC

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Last Updated on Thursday, 15 December 2011 16:25

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