As we look around our world, our neighborhood, and the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, it's clear the Spirit is calling us to a newness not neatly mapped out but very important. Amid climate crises, political polarization, conflict as far away as the Middle East and as close as our local neighborhoods, God continues to call us to "the MORE . . ." This MORE is not so much about doing but about becoming one's best self at this moment in time. It's about recognizing in the wider community spaces where God's inclusive love is alive in our immediate environments and in the world.

Relationship is heart of mission for Sisters of St. Joseph and those who journey with us. We are sisters, associates, agregees, partners in mission, and more. Currently sisters, associates, and agregees are active participants in a variety of collaborative experiences and committed to the mission, vision, and spirituality of both their home congregations and the wider landscape of living the mission of unifying love together in what many call the Community of Joseph.

Fidelity to this call grows as new expressions to emerging needs call us to new and renewed ways to BE mission. "There is a fluidity in this changing horizon ..."2 Today, this is giving rise to how canonically vowed members in a younger/newer age cohort gather, and how associates and agregees in our various CSSJ congregations are coming together to know and support each other.

One such group, Tending the Flame, is a CSSJ Federation group composed of Sisters of St. Joseph from candidacy or transfer to 10 years into final profession. Reflecting on this group, Jean McKinney, CSJ, writes, "I am fortunate to be part of our Tending the Flame CSSJ Cohort. The group is full of energy, hope, and enthusiasm. We look to the future rather than concentrate on numbers. I love interacting with a community that encompasses many different parts of the United States, Canada, and Japan. It broadens my horizon."

The Leadership Collaborative was birthed to harness the energy and amazing leadership capacity of women religious and associates who are roughly under age 65. Its mission is to foster transformational leadership for religious life and the gospel mission, now and into the future.3 Jeanmarie Gribaudo, CSJ, who is part of this, says, "The best part of being in this cohort is relationships that have been built across the country -- these relationships are so supportive as we walk into an unknown future."

In 2022, we celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Boston CSJ associates. Associates are deeply engaged in living the Congregation's mission of unity and inclusive love of God and the dear neighbor without distinction. This form of relationship has grown not only among Boston and New Mexico associates but throughout the country. Amanda Zuretti, CSJA, one of our newest Boston associates writes, "My associate relationship is a commitment to all of you Sisters who welcome us in our authentic selves and affirm us as persons of faith -- no matter where we are."

Associates of the CSSJ Federation meet regularly via Zoom, creating an even wider circle of relationship. Andrea Pearson Tande, one of the group's conveners and a consociate4 with the CSJs of Carondelet, St. Paul, MN, comments, "...we need to imagine! We need to dream! We need to be creative and inventive and daring -- prophetic, even, about what the future could hold."5

Another significant form of relationship among CSSJs is the agregees. While agregees have existed since the mid-17th century,6 the form disappeared through the centuries to be resurrected in 2004. Since then, several congregations, including Boston, have initiated the agregee relationship as an option. In 2017, our Boston Congregation began to welcome interested women as agregee candidates. Agregee (ah-greh-zhay) is a French word meaning "attached to."

Responding to the energy and desire to strengthen relationships, a national group meets regularly via Zoom. Phyllis Esposito, CSJ, Brentwood agregee director, calls these gatherings "Agregee USA." This is a true vocational call that is sometimes difficult to put into words. Agregees have commented that these gatherings are a space "where we don't have to explain who we are and who we are not." As Linda Boothroyd, CSJ Boston agregee and former associate says, "God is speaking in however God speaks. It's a vow we grow into."

Other opportunities for partners in mission include St. Joseph Worker Program, Spirits on Fire, and Charism in Motion, which foster awareness of the mission alive in themselves and others.7 As Andrea Tande writes, "We can only create what we imagine to be possible. So -- what do you imagine in the future for this community? What dreams are waiting to be lived into?" The God up ahead is calling us to the future. How will we respond?8



JOANNE GALLAGHER, CSJ, IS THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS.



1 This article is the result of research and personal interviews with the Sisters, Associates, and Agregees quoted above. A version of this appeared in "the MORE..." magazine, a publication of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston, Spring/Summer 2024,

2 Barbara Mullen, CSJ, We ARE Mission: Listening with the Ear of One's Heart, LCWR Occasional Papers, Winter 2024, pg. 4

3 Learn more about The Leadership Collaborative at https://www.thelc.global/about-the-lc

4 There are various titles used for Associates. Some of these are consociates, ohana, amigas, familia de San Jose

5 Andrea Pearson Tande recently completed her doctoral thesis titled, "Considering the Role of Associates in the Future of Women's Religious Communities" Fordham University, 2023

6 See Vacher, Margurite, Nuns without Cloister, University Press of America, Lantham, Maryland, copyright 2010, pp. 287-309.

7 For more on these programs visit https://cssjfed.org/ and https://centreinternationalssj.org/home

8 Andrea Pearson Tande, CSSJ Federation Presentation, March 2, 2024