Sisters Spring Retreat focuses on prayer and forgiveness

The Ursuline Sisters’ Spring Retreat the week of March 4-8, 2024, brought the return of Marie Dennis to the Motherhouse, a noted nonviolence expert sharing her thoughts on “Diving Into a Sea of Prayer.”

Dennis is senior director of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, a program of Pax Christi International, where she was co-director from 2007-19. She worked for Maryknoll Missioners for 23 years, has published seven books, and in 2016 was named National Catholic Reporter’s Person of the Year.

Dennis, a laywoman who lives in the Assisi Community in Washington, D.C. – where Sister Dianna Ortiz lived – presented the Summer Retreat in 2023. This week she gathered with the Sisters in the Rainbow Room of Saint Joseph Villa to talk about forgiveness. Here are some photos from March 4.

Marie Dennis asks the Sisters to “reflect on the power of forgiveness” as they begin the afternoon session of the retreat on March 4.
The Sisters pause during the opening prayer of the afternoon session. From left are Sisters Susanne Bauer, Amanda Rose Mahoney and Vivian Bowles.
From right, Sisters Pam Mueller, Karla Kaelin, Mary Gerald Payne and Barbara Jean Head listen to Marie Dennis talk about the disharmony in society. “The ‘we’ of ‘we the people’ seems to be missing,” she said.
Sister Kathleen Dueber, left, and Sister Susan Mary Mudd listen to Marie Dennis talk about how to navigate living in today’s world of “disinformation and demonization.”
Ursuline Associate Mary Danhauer, left, takes notes, as Sister Sheila Anne Smith, center, and Sister Emma Anne Munsterman listen to Marie Dennis talk about forgiveness. “Forgiveness doesn’t mean letting terrorists do what they want. It means there is a different way to respond than with violence,” she said.
From right, Sisters Martha Keller, Marie Joseph Coomes, Catherine Marie Lauterwasser and Ruth Gehres, with Sister Grace Swift in the background, listen to Marie Dennis ask them to “think about a time when you needed forgiveness.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *