Change is never easy. Change, if we are spiritually alert, leads us to the prophetic edge. This ‘edge’ of life, where nothing is clear or certain, is the pregnant space of change, of the ‘new wine and new skins’ of the gospel. Within this silent interior space is where the voice of God tells us “My ways are not your ways; my thoughts your thoughts” (Is 55:8). At this creative edge of life, the ego is not to be in the driver’s seat. The ego needs to dwell in a posture of listening, of surrender, of conversion. In a chapter talk I gave over a year ago I quoted this from the book by Massimo Borghesi The Mind of Pope Francis: “A mystical thinker is an open thinker, who does not close the spirals. As Pope Francis said, ‘The mystical dimension of discernment never defines its edges and does not complete the thought’” (p. xxvii-xviii). Let us take this inside: open thinker, not closing the spiral or defining the edges…NO this is God’s work. How then do we arrive at this inner silent space which is the ‘mystical’ dimension of our lives? I believe just one word if understood in its true meaning is key to ‘open-ended’ thinking, to living in and with the mystical life which is never static. That word is ‘metanoia’, conversion. ‘Meta’ means ‘to move beyond’, noia means ‘mind’. In metaphysics according to Jay Parini in his book, Jesus The Human Face of God, meta means “grow large or increase” (p.xv). He continues: “So the word, quite specifically, means: ‘to grow large in mind.’ When scriptures suggest that one should ‘repent’ in order to be ‘saved,’ this actually means that in addition to having a change of heart – and that remains a core meaning here – one should go beyond the mind, reaching for awareness of the spirit, for a deep grounding in God” (p.xv-xvi). Having a change of heart, growing large in mind and heart…Practically this means going beyond all those incessant thoughts that the mind can spew forth, and it means surrendering when I fall into the space of having to be right, which closes one off to God, to the Word of truth and love. It seems to me that the fruit of metanoia, if understood here, is magnanimity, wide open for God’s work, wide open to the ‘other’, wide open to God’s will. Metanoia is about expansion of heart and mind…it is an opening for God to lead, to guide, to show us the way, the truth and the life. Do we want inner change and growth? Do we question from time to time where do I need conversion in my lived life? Is my mind and heart too narrow, too rigid or restricted? ‘Today if you hear God’s voice harden not your hearts’ (Psalm 94:8): this is metanoia, open to change, open to surrender ‘my’ way, my hardened views of others or of situations. God works in a heart ready to change.
Metanoia, which is used fifty-eight times in the New Testament, “suggests a beckoning by God toward the human soul, an invitation to spaciousness and awakening. It implies a reaching beyond (meta) the mind (noia), a wish to acquire a wider spiritual awareness” (p.xvi). Dear Sisters, this is why this one word is so important for any change…the inner spaciousness allows God to work in and through each of us, individually and as a community. This prophetic edge is where our community is called to be during this time of transition, transition in leadership, transition as we lean forward into a future that is unknown yet beckons us forward, for God’s life is always calling, always calling us to be more than we are right now, more than we are as a community right now. In transitions where the future is not clear, fear can easily circle around our hearts and freeze our capacity to listen deeply. Fear, anxiety will be there. And still the Divine call beckons, the prophetic call of ‘metanoia’. Jesus’ FIRST spoken words in the gospel of Mark are “Repent, for the kingdom of God is here” (Mk 1:15), the fullness of God’s life, the fullness of God’s love and mercy, this has arrived in Jesus.
The ‘new’ is before us with the change in leadership. It is a time of hope for the new always comes with the aura of hope. As a way to support our new Superior*, let us enter this transition putting our fears and anxieties aside, always faithful to listening to the silent promptings of God’s word of life…If we face the days ahead in this way, without a doubt ‘all shall be well, all manner of thing shall be well’ (Julian of Norwich). Imagine if we would paint this picture of our community: a community with a magnanimous heart and mind, wide open in facing the challenges that lie ahead. Indeed ‘all shall be well’.
Sr. Kathy DeVico
Chapter Talk – Seventeenth Sunday of the Year – July 27, 2025
* Effective July 27, 2025, Sr. Claire Bouttin was appointed Superior Ad Nutum. We are grateful for Sr. Kathy’s 27 years of loving service and leadership of Redwoods Abbey.
