We all think we know what partnership means. Most of us practice it at least now and then in our daily lives. We refer to marriage partners, business partners, even partners in crime. But do we take even a moment to reflect on exactly what a mutually beneficial partnership is all about? Well, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet do. Every six years, Sisters from all the provinces meet to elect new leadership, as well as to revisit and rewrite a document they call the Acts of Congregational Chapter. The Acts of Chapter 2007, the introduction to which is printed at right, guides each Sister’s head, heart and hands for the next six years, until they meet in chapter to deliberate again.         This internal document reveals the deep, insightful, exceedingly spiritual meaning hidden in the simple word partnership. It anchors in the Divine the Sisters’ partnerships with creation, with the Church, with the dear neighbor and with each other, and it describes the exceptional nature of those partnerships. But in spite of its poetic language, the Acts of Chapter is not an ethereal thing. It has urgency in the real world inhabited by the CSJs––a world where the “groaning” of the “disconnected” demands from the Sisters an immediate and transformative response.   With Creation In this section of the 2007 Acts of Chapter, the Sisters address the “sacredness of all of life and creation.” Once that is acknowledged, an urgent concern is expressed for Earth and its survival. To transform their concern into action, the Sisters “acknowledge [their] own complicity and call [themselves]…to be just with, not abusive of, Earth’s resources.” Knowing that this is easy to say and difficult to do, CSJs “challenge [themselves] to become stronger leaders and [join] with others in partnership to work for systemic change.” For instance, the Sisters have banned plastic water bottles from their own campus in St. Paul. Everyday, they partner with other interested groups (through the Partners In Justice grant-making board, for example), to make a more sustainable environment for all of Earth’s people. With/Within the Church The Sisters who met in 2007 saw the need to strengthen their voice and their partnership within the Roman Catholic Church itself. Or, as they put it in the Acts, “to fully assume the priesthood of our baptismal call.” The Sisters are determined to open doors to the women within the Church, and engage the Church hierarchy in “honest conversation” about the position women hold within it. By extension, the Sisters of St. Joseph hope to empower women everywhere to live up to their full potential. Called to work for justice within the Church itself, the Sisters examine their own institutions with both “prophetic and proactive voices” in order to be agents of “healing and life-giving change” in the larger world. With the Dear Neighbor The Sisters indicate, in this section of the Acts, their determination to go anywhere and do anything within their power to act for social justice and systemic change. “We will join,” they say, “with other groups in addressing issues, especially those which demean or deny human dignity and those which force the economically poor and marginalized to bear the burden of unjust economic systems.” In this way, the CSJs are motivated to partner with other like-minded organizations to work for “right relationships with and among the Dear Neighbor.” This calling is of their primary concern, and you see examples of this ministry throughout the pages of Possumus. Partnerships formed with others of like mind keep the doors open at St. Mary’s Health Clinics, Sarah’s…an Oasis for Women, Learning In Style and Peace House. With Each Other This is perhaps the most intimate section of the Acts of Chapter. “Each other” refers to the relationship between Sister and Sister, of course. But it also includes all the interpersonal relationships within the ever-widening circle of the Sisters of St. Joseph: the Consociates, the St. Joseph Workers, the board members, the volunteers and all the partners in ministry. The Acts of 2007 describes the human community, with its joys and tensions. It goes on to say: “Our commitment to community challenges us to share our hearts and to deepen the quality of our life together…to integrate our diverse cultures into deeper understanding and expression of our gift of unifying love.” That unifying love spreads through CSJ and out into the community like ripples on a pond, transforming everything it touches.     Many thanks to Sister Susan Oeffling,CSJ for her help with this article. Back to Contents