Ursuline Sisters speak at Brescia Day of Enrichment for Seniors

Two Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph gave presentations during the Brescia University Day of Enrichment for senior citizens on April 22, 2016.

Sister Marietta Wethington spoke about “Centering Prayer” and Sister Pam Mueller discussed the “Spirituality of Aging.” They addressed a small group of people who gathered in the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel on the Brescia campus in Owensboro, Ky.

Following a fall discussion for seniors on home safety, health and wellness, and financial matters, the participant evaluations suggested a day on spirituality would be welcome, said Tracy Naylor, vice president of Institutional Advancement at Brescia. Other speakers on the day were Dr. Kay Corpus, who discussed “Yoga, Spirituality and Healing,” and Lisa M. Gulino, a theology professor at Brescia who discussed “Mercy,” since Pope Francis has called for this to be a “Year of Mercy.”

Here are some pictures from the day:

Sister Marietta Wethington explains the practice of centering prayer to those gathered. Centering prayer has been in existence for hundreds of years, begun by the Mothers and Fathers of the Desert, she said. It was three Trappist monks who brought the practice of centering prayer into the lives of everyday people: Fathers William Menninger, Basil Pennington and Abbot Thomas Keating.
Sister Marietta Wethington speaks in the Brescia Chapel to the group that included Ursuline Sisters Amelia Stenger and Susan Mary Mudd, upper left. Centering prayer involves sitting quietly and “basking in God,” Sister Marietta said. Participants were urged to sit comfortably and focus on a prayer word. “We have no goal for centering prayer other than to be with God,” she said.
Among the participants of the Day of Enrichment were Ursuline Associate Marianna Robinson, second from left, and next to her, Mary Helen Nash, a friend of the Ursulines. They heard Sister Marietta say that since she’s begun centering prayer, she has become calmer, more peaceful and less judgmental. “I need fewer words to pray,” Sister Marietta said.
Sister Pam Mueller, director of Campus Ministry at Brescia, smiles as she discusses the “Spirituality of Aging.” Studies on health care in Scotland taught medical personnel that it’s important to recognize the spiritual needs of patients as well as the physical, she said.
Sister Pam tells the participants that if we are aging successfully, we grow kinder and less self-centered. She offered a quote from the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard that, “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” But a new adaptation of that quote says, “…but a mystery to be lived.”
Dr. Kay Corpus was the first speaker of the day and discussed the spirituality and healing offered through yoga.