Follow Up to WATERmeditation
“Ministry of Presence”
with Kitty Madden
Monday, November 6, 2023 7:30 PM ET
Video can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNdcir7ORzI
WATER is grateful to Kitty Madden for bringing the importance of the “Ministry of Presence” to our attention.
Kitty Madden is a co-member of the Loretto Community. She taught Social Work at Siena Heights College in Adrian, MI. She has lived in Nicaragua since 1986 when she was a Maryknoll Lay Missioner. She has accompanied rural women with high risk pregnancies through the Casa Materna Mary Ann Jackman in the northern highlands of Matagalpa. It is a wonderful project that surely has saved and improved the lives of many women and their babies.
Kitty began with the following prayer:
Blessing of the Present Moment
May the God of the PRESENT MOMENT be with you,
slowing you down,
revealing to you the sacred gift hidden in each moment of your day’
May you develop a reflective heart
enabling you to be present to life,
a heart that can take the time to move beyond the visible,
to touch the precious mystery of life and living’
May the blessing of the PRESENT MOMENT be upon you, dear friend,
And upon all our world!
- Kitty changed the words from the “you” form to the “we” form.
Kitty began with greetings from the northern part of Nicaragua where she has learned so much from the women there. She lifted up the people of Gaza and Israel at the time of pain for the world.
Her planned remarks were set aside after the events of October 7th. Gaza brings back memories to her of the Contra war in Nicaragua in 1986 when she went there. She expected to stay for 8 months but in fact has been there for 38 years.
She talked about learning from people there how to be present to people both up close and at a distance. She underscored the Maryknoll Sisters concept of accompaniment, being with not doing for, which Kitty learned working on a coffee farm and in the health center. People tell her they are grateful for her work but mostly they are grateful for her presence.
She cited theologian Henri Nouwen’s book Gracias: “Be with us as a companion who walks with us neither behind nor in front, in our search for life and ultimately for God.”
Other ways of being with people who are distant in addition to accompaniment include:
- Kything– a conscious decision to be spiritually present to a loved one at a distance. Some people set aside a specific time to connect with one another in spirit and in prayer.
- Tongelen– a Buddhist practice that invites people to breathe in the suffering and pain of others and then breathe out peace, love, and healing. Kitty invited us to do this with the people of Gaza who are in such pain as we pray for peace.
This is the graphic that was displayed for the meditation time.
After the 22 minutes of communal contemplation, these were some of the comments people made:
- A Loretto Community colleague who represented that group at the United Nations learned about “ministry of presence” from an older woman who frequented the UN a few times a month. The woman was not an official of any sort but travelled some distance from home just to be present.
- Kitty told about the impending death of a friend and that she kything with her. Friends around the U.S. and Kitty connect with their dying friend every night by lighting a candle and singing songs the friend enjoys.
- Another colleague spoke of his friend who set up a ministry of prayer and presence in reading, PA. He learned that by giving to others one also opens oneself to receive from others. The friend was a giver, but did not receive as readily. Our colleague focused on the importance for himself as a minster to receive as well as give.
- The ministry of presence is so important as we age, one colleague observed. When one can no longer go out and minister, there is still a “vital importance to ministry of presence when the doing is difficult.”
- A woman who lives in a small city in Canada visited the encampment of those who lack housing in her city. A homeless woman had been killed and the group planned a memorial service. The leaders of the service were mostly indigenous people so smudging with sweetgrass and the passing of a speaking stone were part of the service. It was a powerful ministry of presence.
- A further thought to add to Kitty’s idea of presence: This woman is on the board of a homeless shelter. She is trying to figure out her role now that she can’t donate nor open doors. But she can be and is present.
- A Spanish-speaking colleague, originally from Argentina, was able to speak in Spanish with some people as part of her work. But when it came to the Rwandan women who were in the group, she could not speak Swahili. But she could be present, taking a hand, noticing, just being there.
- Kitty concluded with gratitude for being part of this event.
Mary E. Hunt concluded by remembering that the first donation to WATER came from the Loretto Community in the early 1980’s. Kitty’s presence brought a number of Loretto Community members to this meditation.
Mary prayed for peace, peace, and more peace. On a night like, this we need steady accompaniment as the war in Gaza and Israel has knocked Ukraine and Russia to the back pages of the news.
