Weavings is a monthly reflection that is the collective effort of the Wheaton Franciscan Covenant Companions and Sisters to provide spiritual nourishment that helps us feel God’s presence in daily living and invite an openness to God.
The Subtle Power of Words
Written by Jeanne Connolly, Wheaton Franciscan Covenant Companion (WFCC)
Since reading a reflection by Sr. Mary Elisabeth Imler1, I have been pondering words and phrases that subtly divide us, and how these subtle language differences shape our behaviors, actions, policies, and practices. I began to consider the difference between “Covenant Companion with the Wheaton Franciscans” and “Wheaton Franciscan Covenant Companion.” I use both phrases depending on the situation, but resonate most with the latter.
When I introduce myself in public, I may say, “I am a Covenant Companion with the Wheaton Franciscans.” This helps others know that I am in relationship with the Wheaton Franciscan community. The word “with” means “accompany” and suggests that we are walking side by side on a shared journey. It honors the covenant as an ongoing relationship, although not as my identity.
Yet, the phrase, Wheaton Franciscan Covenant Companion, makes my heart swell. It holds for me a grounding and names a heart identity that I have freely chosen to embody. It places me within the whole and acknowledges that the covenant shapes my sense of self. It is declarative and speaks of belonging and depth of commitment. It says, “This is who I am.”
All communities are comprised of unique hearts, souls, and expressions. The shared journey of a Wheaton Franciscan (vowed and covenanted) is seeking oneness in spirit for the sake of God’s kin-dom. For me, it is subtly more than separate souls walking side by side; it is we together in messy mutuality on a shared journey. Holding both phrases together helps me understand the fullness of the call. I am with the Wheaton Franciscans—engaged, listening, walking in solidarity—and I am a Wheaton Franciscan, daughter of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary—rooted, claimed, formed, and transformed by this relationship.
The subtle difference between the two is not a contradiction, but a tension that feels Franciscan: belonging without possession, commitment lived through relationship, identity expressed through accompaniment, and shared responsibility for the good of the whole Wheaton Franciscan community.
- How would you name your “heart identity?”
- How do you think these subtle differences in phrasing impact our behaviors, decisions, policies, and practices?
- Imler, Mary Elisabeth, Leadership Requires Movement: Choosing Even When Uncertain; LCWR Occasional Papers, Winter 2026, pp 17-19. ↩︎
So, so, so good and true and important, Jeanne Dear.