Occasional Papers

The Summer 2020 issue of Occasional Papers, Our Journey to the Borders and Beyond, will be an important edition that looks at the call to religious in these chaotic and rapidly changing times. Writers in this issue explore the kind of presence religious are invited to embody for the sake of the world. How do we live with authenticity, integrity, and depth this spiritual journey that takes us to the borders of what we have known and compels us to move beyond? What does the world -- in all its changing dimensions -- most need for us to be?

The 2020 issue of Occasional Papers derives its title, Leading with Moral Imagination, from the work of John Paul Lederach. He states that moral imagination “develops a capacity to perceive things beyond and at a deeper level than what initially meets the eye. It has a capacity to give birth to something new that in its very birthing changes our world and the way we see things.” (The Moral Imagination, p.

The Summer 2019 issue of Occasional Papers is entitled Our Search for Meaning. A document created by LCWR several years ago, “Dimensions of Leadership,” notes that an essential part of spiritual leadership is “an ability to connect the richness of the inner world with the significant challenges and movements of a given time.

Cecilia Canales, OP; Gemma Doll, OP; Michele Vincent Fisher, DSFN; Joan Gallagher, CSJ; Joy O'Grady, CSC; Staying Grounded in a Time of Uncertainty: The Summer 2018 issue of Occasional Papers focuses on how we might effectively thrive in the uncertain and difficult situation in which the world finds itself.

The Winter 2018 issue of LCWR’s Occasional Papers takes the theme, “At the Heart of Our Life.” For several years, LCWR has been exploring the enormous shift taking place in human evolution and has been asking questions about the role of religious life as this shift occurs. Along with all the changes transpiring in the global community, changes are occurring as well in religious life as it has been known in recent decades. 

This issue of Occasional Papers takes the theme, “Put Out into the Deep,” (Luke 5:4). Through a variety of approaches, we explore the call that comes to us through the complexities of these times – globally, nationally, and within religious life realities. Fragile global economies, acts of terrorism, enormous growths in science, rapidly evolving technologies, as well as seismic changes in our religious communities create conditions that urge us toward deep thought and reflection in ways perhaps not required by earlier times.

This issue of Occasional Papers on “Living into Love” focuses on the call to explore the mystery of Love and increase our own capacity for inclusive love that compels us toward transformative action for the life of the world. Drawing on ideas and insights raised during the 2016 LCWR assembly, these articles probe concepts on the transformation needed in the world today and the potential that a contemplative stance in life provides for unleashing the energy of inclusive love.

This issue of Occasional Papers on “Living Transformation” explores the multiple processes of transformation underway in the cosmos and on this planet and how our personal journeys intersect with these larger stories of transformation. Writers explore: What is it that the world needs from us as we individually and corporately undergo transformation – transformation of our understandings of life, of ourselves, and of religious life? Why does it matter that we fully participate in the processes of transformation as we are able?

This issue of Occasional Papers explores the period in religious life as one rich with potential for deep transformation. Although one could interpret the difficult changes being experienced within religious institutes today as a sign that this way of life is dying, these deep changes may also be seen as a way of preparing religious congregations for significant transformation. The articles in this issue provide assistance to religious with effectively navigating this period marked by large amounts of loss, relinquishment, and death. Such losses can become obstacles to the ability to re-imagine religious life for these times and the times ahead.

The focus of the Summer 2015 issue  of Occasional Papers springs from a concept put forward by Jesuit superior general, Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, SJ. While addressing those working in Jesuit higher education, Fr. Nicolás noted a phenomenon he named the “globalization of superficiality” that has risen due to our new capacities to access information; publish our opinions; be exposed to multiple options, values, and visions of life; and become “friends” with mere acquaintances or total strangers on social networks. These realities, he says, can lead us away from the painstaking work of serious, critical thinking; of forming communities of dialogue in search of truth and understanding; and of building true and meaningful relationships. To counter this globalization of superficiality, Fr. Nicolás speaks of a strong need to promote depth of thought, as well as imagination and creativity.

In her address at the 2014 LCWR assembly Nancy Schreck, OSF explored the concept of living and ministering in what she termed “the middle space.”  As she noted, religious life is currently in a middle passage with “the in-breaking of something new, of major shifts in world view, our cosmology, with the concurrent breakdown of so much of what is familiar.” The Winter 2015 issue of Occasional Papers will explore the challenges of embracing religious life in the middle space and the potential of these times.

The Summer 2014 issue of Occasional Papers is dedicated to an exploration of discernment through many lenses, including what it means to discern in light of new understandings of the universe.

New understandings of the cosmic story have clearly captured our attention. But what do these insights have to do with our everyday lives? The authors in this issue include women religious who are making the connections between the cosmic story and religious life, and particularly religious life leadership, as well as women religious from other cultures who are integrating the new insights into their lives and work in settings of great poverty and violence.

This issue of Occasional Papers focuses on how we take in new information and create an openness for seeing and understanding “the new” which God is doing. What does it take to live in the world today where much of what seemed certain and secure is no longer such, and where divisions in ways of thinking and perceiving seem to be separating us? What are the unique challenges to religious leaders during these times? How can women religious leaders best engage their members in inquiries that stretch their capacity to be transformed by new learning and new ways of comprehending the action of God?