Hat tip to Emily.
Showing posts with label Sisters of Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sisters of Life. Show all posts
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Religious Communities and Young Vocations
"A Monastic Kind of Life"
From SLATE
By Harold Fickett
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The Catholic Church has always seen the contemplative life as the "Air Force" in its spiritual struggle, as the Rev. David Toups of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commented—a conduit of spiritual power. Though the number of young people entering monasteries, convents, and the priesthood has drastically dropped from the mid-20th century, some new approaches to religious vocations have inspired some young people in America to embrace this idea, replenishing several of the older religious orders and filling new ones. One such community with a young population, nestled in the Ozarks, is a place that could symbolize Catholicism's true hope for renewal in our time. Founded in 1999, the Clear Creek Monastery has grown from 13 to 30 monks who are intent on building a community that will "last for a thousand years." Clear Creek is also part of the "reform of the reform," a rethinking of Vatican II that has led a number of religious orders—such as the Dominican Sisters in Nashville, the Sisters for Life in New York, and Benedict Groeschel's Franciscan Friars of the Renewal—to rediscover their original mission and flourish.
The growth in these orders provides a striking contrast to the continuing decline in Catholic monastic and religious life generally. In 1965, there were twice as many religious priests and brothers as today. There are just one-third as many nuns. According to Sister Mary Bendyna, executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the average monk is in his early 70s, the average nun in her mid-70s. The mission of many orders has become simply caring for their aging populations as they sell properties and consolidate with others.
The Vatican II document dealing with monasticism, Perfectae caritatis, counseled both "a constant return to the sources" of the Christian life and "their adaptation to the changed conditions of our time." Issued in October 1965, this re-examination of the religious life came as the cultural revolution of the 1960s began its magical mystery tour. It was received with wild and contradictory enthusiasms by a restive population of monks and nuns. Many of the large Catholic families of the World War II generation sought spiritual favor—or simply status—by giving one of their children to the church. These donated priests, nuns, and monks often wanted to leave or instead sought to accommodate the religious life's demands to their personal ambitions. For a time, the life of Catholic religious orders became about social justice issues, psychological issues, peace studies, interreligious dialogue, the ecology movement—everything and anything, seemingly, except the central proposition: that one can know a loving God and be transformed.
The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles are the most famous example of the combustible combination of the times and the dissatisfaction of many religious. In 1966, humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers led a series of "encounter sessions" with the sisters, urging them to seek personal fulfillment. Within the next several years, the order nearly vanished. In many orders at the time, the vow of chastity was widely ignored.
Russell Hittinger, the Warren professor of Catholic studies at the University of Tulsa, admits that many of those who entered religious life before Vatican II simply did not have a calling. Those who truly have a call to monasticism—or other forms of the religious life—begin by falling in love with the pursuit of holiness, as did the monks of Clear Creek.
The Clear Creek story goes back to the University of Kansas. In the early 1970s, six young men who would become founding monks of Clear Creek were students in the Pearson College Integrated Humanities Program. Literally hundreds of Pearson's students became Catholic converts, inspired by professor John Senior, who conceived of a contemplative monastery close to the Lawrence campus. After he learned of a traditional Benedictine monastery in Fontgombault, France, he sent two young men off on a scouting mission with an instruction: "Bring back an abbot." These American students, and the others who soon followed, went to France thinking they would soon return to establish a monastery, bringing renewal to American Catholicism and society. But the demands of monastic life and obedience soon revealed this to be youthful presumption.
In 1999, a full 25 years after leaving for France, six of the original University of Kansas students, along with seven fellow monks, returned to America to start Clear Creek, establishing the first foundation for men of the Benedictine Congregation of Solesmes in America. On a 1,200-acre tract of land once owned by an infamous moonshiner, the Clear Creek monks use the old Latin rites both for Mass and the daily offices. Indeed, a return to traditional practices is a common element among those religious orders experiencing renewal. Many young nuns, for example, choose to wear a traditional habit even when their older religious sisters choose modest secular fashions.
Scores of families have purchased land nearby to raise their families in the shadow of the monastery, where they often join the monks in their liturgical celebrations. These families tend to be the crunchiest of the Crunchy Cons, into home schooling, the "local foods, local markets" movement, and sustainable farming. This growing community is one of the surest signs of Clear Creek's importance. This follows the classic spiritual pattern: Saints traipse off into the wilderness, and the world eventually follows, unbidden, as with the Cistercians, who turned the swamps and fens of Europe into arable land and saw communities spring up around them.
The emergence of Clear Creek and other growing monastic communities suggests there will always be young people who ask whether their devotion to God should take precedence over their own personal ambitions and even the natural desire for a family. (The A&E special God or the Girl was an insightful documentary about this.) Today's young people, who have grown up in a highly commercialized and manipulated landscape, are particularly eager to connect with a more authentic way of living. Far from being pressured into pursuing religious vocations, they find their families often protest, feeling they are losing their children to a life that's too isolated.
But after the first heady period of romance comes a long and difficult obedience, as every monk or nun eventually recognizes. Fidelity can result in humility, though, which is the deepest source of the beauty to be seen at Clear Creek and other monastic foundations. From its rich liturgical rites to the pastoral details of its life as a working farm, as the monks raise sheep, make furniture, tend their orchard, and care for a huge vegetable garden, Clear Creek is what a monastery is meant to be—a sign of paradise.
Father Anderson says, "We were only a bunch of bums, but by becoming nothing, you can be a part of something great."
Harold Fickett is an associate editor of GodSpy.com and the author of The Living Christ and other books.
From SLATE
By Harold Fickett
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Catholic Church has always seen the contemplative life as the "Air Force" in its spiritual struggle, as the Rev. David Toups of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commented—a conduit of spiritual power. Though the number of young people entering monasteries, convents, and the priesthood has drastically dropped from the mid-20th century, some new approaches to religious vocations have inspired some young people in America to embrace this idea, replenishing several of the older religious orders and filling new ones. One such community with a young population, nestled in the Ozarks, is a place that could symbolize Catholicism's true hope for renewal in our time. Founded in 1999, the Clear Creek Monastery has grown from 13 to 30 monks who are intent on building a community that will "last for a thousand years." Clear Creek is also part of the "reform of the reform," a rethinking of Vatican II that has led a number of religious orders—such as the Dominican Sisters in Nashville, the Sisters for Life in New York, and Benedict Groeschel's Franciscan Friars of the Renewal—to rediscover their original mission and flourish.
The growth in these orders provides a striking contrast to the continuing decline in Catholic monastic and religious life generally. In 1965, there were twice as many religious priests and brothers as today. There are just one-third as many nuns. According to Sister Mary Bendyna, executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, the average monk is in his early 70s, the average nun in her mid-70s. The mission of many orders has become simply caring for their aging populations as they sell properties and consolidate with others.
The Vatican II document dealing with monasticism, Perfectae caritatis, counseled both "a constant return to the sources" of the Christian life and "their adaptation to the changed conditions of our time." Issued in October 1965, this re-examination of the religious life came as the cultural revolution of the 1960s began its magical mystery tour. It was received with wild and contradictory enthusiasms by a restive population of monks and nuns. Many of the large Catholic families of the World War II generation sought spiritual favor—or simply status—by giving one of their children to the church. These donated priests, nuns, and monks often wanted to leave or instead sought to accommodate the religious life's demands to their personal ambitions. For a time, the life of Catholic religious orders became about social justice issues, psychological issues, peace studies, interreligious dialogue, the ecology movement—everything and anything, seemingly, except the central proposition: that one can know a loving God and be transformed.
The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles are the most famous example of the combustible combination of the times and the dissatisfaction of many religious. In 1966, humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers led a series of "encounter sessions" with the sisters, urging them to seek personal fulfillment. Within the next several years, the order nearly vanished. In many orders at the time, the vow of chastity was widely ignored.
Russell Hittinger, the Warren professor of Catholic studies at the University of Tulsa, admits that many of those who entered religious life before Vatican II simply did not have a calling. Those who truly have a call to monasticism—or other forms of the religious life—begin by falling in love with the pursuit of holiness, as did the monks of Clear Creek.
The Clear Creek story goes back to the University of Kansas. In the early 1970s, six young men who would become founding monks of Clear Creek were students in the Pearson College Integrated Humanities Program. Literally hundreds of Pearson's students became Catholic converts, inspired by professor John Senior, who conceived of a contemplative monastery close to the Lawrence campus. After he learned of a traditional Benedictine monastery in Fontgombault, France, he sent two young men off on a scouting mission with an instruction: "Bring back an abbot." These American students, and the others who soon followed, went to France thinking they would soon return to establish a monastery, bringing renewal to American Catholicism and society. But the demands of monastic life and obedience soon revealed this to be youthful presumption.
In 1999, a full 25 years after leaving for France, six of the original University of Kansas students, along with seven fellow monks, returned to America to start Clear Creek, establishing the first foundation for men of the Benedictine Congregation of Solesmes in America. On a 1,200-acre tract of land once owned by an infamous moonshiner, the Clear Creek monks use the old Latin rites both for Mass and the daily offices. Indeed, a return to traditional practices is a common element among those religious orders experiencing renewal. Many young nuns, for example, choose to wear a traditional habit even when their older religious sisters choose modest secular fashions.
Scores of families have purchased land nearby to raise their families in the shadow of the monastery, where they often join the monks in their liturgical celebrations. These families tend to be the crunchiest of the Crunchy Cons, into home schooling, the "local foods, local markets" movement, and sustainable farming. This growing community is one of the surest signs of Clear Creek's importance. This follows the classic spiritual pattern: Saints traipse off into the wilderness, and the world eventually follows, unbidden, as with the Cistercians, who turned the swamps and fens of Europe into arable land and saw communities spring up around them.
The emergence of Clear Creek and other growing monastic communities suggests there will always be young people who ask whether their devotion to God should take precedence over their own personal ambitions and even the natural desire for a family. (The A&E special God or the Girl was an insightful documentary about this.) Today's young people, who have grown up in a highly commercialized and manipulated landscape, are particularly eager to connect with a more authentic way of living. Far from being pressured into pursuing religious vocations, they find their families often protest, feeling they are losing their children to a life that's too isolated.
But after the first heady period of romance comes a long and difficult obedience, as every monk or nun eventually recognizes. Fidelity can result in humility, though, which is the deepest source of the beauty to be seen at Clear Creek and other monastic foundations. From its rich liturgical rites to the pastoral details of its life as a working farm, as the monks raise sheep, make furniture, tend their orchard, and care for a huge vegetable garden, Clear Creek is what a monastery is meant to be—a sign of paradise.
Father Anderson says, "We were only a bunch of bums, but by becoming nothing, you can be a part of something great."
Harold Fickett is an associate editor of GodSpy.com and the author of The Living Christ and other books.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
A discernment reflection and information on retreats from the Sisters of Life
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May the Name of Jesus be praised!
A blessed fourth week of Advent to you!
A blessed fourth week of Advent to you!
The next Sisters of Life Come and See retreat
will be Thursday, March 19 – Sunday, March 22.
If you would like to attend, please call 718.863.2264.
If you would like to attend, please call 718.863.2264.
We’re also hosting a retreat for young women ages 18-35 from Friday, Jan 30 – Sunday, Feb 1 called “Perfect Love Casts out all Fear” (not a discernment retreat). The information is on the attached document. To register, go to www.sistersoflife.org/vmg.html. (We can only register those who have not yet attended this retreat) Please pass the word!
In Christ, our Life,
Sr. Mary Gabriel, SV & Sr. Mariam Caritas, SV
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Sr. Mary Gabriel, SV & Sr. Mariam Caritas, SV
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When we Sisters of Life gather for supper during the days preceding Christmas, we do so in the dark. All the lights in and near the refectory are out, and winter darkness shrouds the yard outside. We begin to pray without the benefit of seeing the ones standing by our side, until the candles on the Advent wreath are progressively lit, lending a warm glow to the room. The blessing said, the Sisters begin to sing and the sound of “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” fills the air.
Emmanuel. God-with-us. He is with us, and Advent draws us back to this truth as darkness gives way to light. It was our Blessed Mother who first conceived the light of the world - how easy it is to forget she did so in the darkness. In the midst of the weariness of sin all around her, she held with fidelity the flame which was the Life of Christ within her. She did so during the first Advent as she did at Guadalupe, when, pregnant with Jesus, she transformed a culture and a people with the beauty of roses in winter.
Her yes opens a way for the light. Her generous maternity fearlessly offers it to others. In the warmth of her yes we are healed, we see our truest self, we find courage. The light dawns, and we have the benefit of seeing those who stand by our side. Christ is conceived again, by you and me, even if in darkness: the darkness of our time, the darkness of the unknown required of total surrender, the darkness of our own hearts (one thing we do not share with Mary). Emmanuel, God-with-us. God-with-us as we are, not as we would like to be. The very name Jesus means God saves, and he does.
And when we let him, what a transformation, what a revolution of love it is! Like the vulnerable Babe of Bethlehem, this fire is alive; it must be tended in the confessional, fueled by charity and forgiveness, delighted in through adoration. Encountering his Life within is heaven on earth, and joy that no circumstance, no suffering, no evil, can take from us. His presence reveals that you and I are known and loved and awaited[1] by the One who governs all things. This is peace the world cannot give, and the power behind any good we accomplish. The more faithfully we tend the flame of his Life within us, the more truly free we will be and the more blazing his Life will be in the world.
Doing something great, something worthy, with one’s life starts in the darkness, in the secret recesses of the heart. It starts with the courage to say yes to a love which will set you on fire, which will burn away every impurity, every fear and hesitation holding you back from total worship, total giving.
Pope Benedict has said that “…the world needs lovers, and these we call saints.” Yes the world needs lovers: lovers of Christ, lovers of his Life which he so readily gives us. Lovers of the human person, of the poor, the weak, the voiceless, lovers of truth, lovers of beauty. The world needs lovers so confident of being loved, so filled with God, that they are able to take off the masks and let others come close. Purity does not hold others at a distance – quite the contrary. If the word ‘diabolical’ means to separate, slander, divide, this is what sin does. Purity, innocence, allows others to draw very close.[2] Yes, the world needs innocent lovers, not afraid to allow others to be a burden, not afraid to allow others to lean on them that the flames of the Holy Spirit, the ever-newborn Life of the Christ, may warm and heal and, eventually, set their hearts ablaze.
This Christmas, let us kneel with humility at the foot of the crib. Let us give our yes to the light, however great the darkness seems. And, receiving the fire of God’s love anew, with fearless generosity let us offer Him, our true hope, to the world. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!
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[1] cf. Pope Benedict XVI. Spe Salvi, 3
[2] “…the privilege of (Mary’s) Immaculate Conception… which sets her apart from our common condition, does not distance her from us, but on the contrary, it brings her closer. While sin divides, separating us from one another, Mary’s purity makes her infinitely close to our hearts, attentive to each of us and desirous of our true good.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Lourdes Sept. 14, 2008)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Discernment Meditation from the Sisters of Life
Below is this month's wonderful discernment meditation from Sr. Mary Gabriel, SV, Vocations Director for the Sisters of Life. As an FYI, the Sisters of Life will be having their fall Come and See Retreat from October 30 - November 2, 2008, and for the first time a Women's Retreat from November 14-16, 2008.If you are interested in either the Come and See Retreat or the Women's Retreat, please visit the Sisters of Life website for more information.
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October 15, 2008
“And nothing would again be casual or small…” Today is the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila . Daughter of the Church, Doctor of the Church, mystic, Carmelite reformer and foundress, for everything she was, she was fully herself: she was authentic. I love the story of her long awaited visit to one of her Foundations. The nuns had lovingly prepared her favorite meal of partridge. St. Teresa arrived and had barely crossed the threshold of the convent when, spying the cooked bird, she immediately set upon devouring it as the nuns watched in shock. Looking up, she acknowledged their astonishment by saying with an educating sincerity: “Sisters, when I pray, I pray, and when I eat partridge, I eat partridge.” In life she is said to have been magnetically attractive; even when we read her works today, her passion for the Lord and her courage in carrying out His works seem to communicate themselves to the reader, setting heart after heart ablaze down the centuries.
But St. Teresa’s life wasn’t all fervor – her courage was first exercised in accepting, after a long struggle, the greatness for which her soul was meant. She entered the convent at age 21, but it was years later – at age 39 – that she truly gave her fiat to the Lord. She tells us in her Autobiography that before that total surrender, her soul was tormented by mediocrity. She wasn’t in mortal sin, but her soul was constantly in danger because she was literally caught in the snare of habitual venial sin – she liked being liked by others, and she allowed herself to be drawn along by the current of the crowd, despite knowing in her heart of hearts that God was asking more of her.
So what propelled St. Teresa out of the mud and into living water? After almost 20 years of roller-coasting up and down between holy desire and moral mediocrity, she began to pray more deeply, despite her faults, and she prayed through the trials of seeing those faults more clearly. She increasingly came to trust that the disquiet in her heart reflected a reality - something had to change in her. And she also became increasingly aware that she was powerless to do the changing. One night, she slipped into the chapel to pray and saw an image of the suffering Jesus which had been placed there for a feast. As she gazed at our Lord wounded for love, St. Teresa was so deeply moved she felt her heart would break, and she was filled with deep sorrow for her weak response to so tremendous a love. In that moment she crossed the threshold of trusting abandonment: “I threw myself down beside Him, shedding floods of tears and begging Him to give me strength once for all so that I might not offend Him…placing all my confidence in God. I believe I told Him then that I would not rise from that spot until He had granted me what I was beseeching of Him.” She was made free, and began to live out her Amen – her total yes - to the Lord. And what an Amen it was.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we know we, too, need conversion, deeper conversion. We may have moments of fervor, of desire to be totally for the Lord but when given the opportunity to actually live by that desire in the small things, it is remarkably easy not to. It is easy to let venial sin become casual, almost expected, to not think twice about gossiping, or making rash judgments about someone, or even lying, to cower when someone brings up issues like abortion or same sex marriage. But these failings, while not separating us totally from the love of God, offend the love of God – they wound Jesus’ Heart and they impede our becoming Saints. We know this, and when we recognize them in ourselves, we can get discouraged into thinking the spiritual status quo is our permanent territory. But this is not the promise He gives us! Integrity is what we seek and what gives peace – it’s the promise of living as sons and daughters of God. “Holiness” is connected with “wholeness.” And the opposite of integrity is duplicity, a kind of deceit within ourselves. Though it’s easy to stay there, who really wants to?
Here we are in October, in the midst of the 40 Days for Life, Respect Life month, Our Lady’s month and in preparation for an election. Is there a better time than now to place ourselves in trust before our loving Savior, to allow His gaze of mercy to penetrate the deepest recesses of our hearts and to leap with abandon into the promise of life He offers? He wants to light us on fire and awaits our confidence in His power to do so. My goodness, the whole world awaits our confidence. May there be a chorus of Amen’s rising from the earth, allowing His Holy Spirit to pour out power and love anew upon our world so thirsting for the change only He can give.
St. Teresa of Avila , pray for us!
Check out the Catechism of the Catholic Church # 598, 1432, 1487, 1863
Thursday, October 9, 2008
"Today's Nun Has A Veil--And A Blog"
From TIME
By Tracy Schmidt, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
emphases and (comments) mine - BW
For the iPod generation, it doesn't get more radical than wearing a veil. The hijab worn by traditional Muslim women might have people talking, but it's the wimple that really turns heads. And in the U.S. today, the nuns most likely to wear that headdress are the ones young enough to have a playlist.
Over the past five years, Roman Catholic communities around the country have experienced a curious phenomenon: more women, most in their 20s and 30s, are trying on that veil. Convents in Nashville, Tenn.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and New York City all admitted at least 15 entrants over the past year and fielded hundreds of inquiries. One convent is hurriedly raising funds for a new building to house the inflow, and at another a rush of new blood has lowered the median age of its 225 sisters to 36. Catholic centers at universities, including Illinois and Texas A&M, report growing numbers of women entering discernment, or the official period of considering a vocation. Career women seeking more meaning in their lives and empty-nest moms are also finding their way to convent doors.
This is a welcome turnabout for the church. As opportunities opened for women in the 1960s and '70s, fewer of them viewed the asceticism and confinements of religious life as a tempting career choice (Once again, it is NOT a career choice. If that were what religious life was, no one would join - it would be a pretty poor "career" choice.). Since 1965, the number of Catholic nuns in the U.S. has declined from 179,954 to just 67,773, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. The average age of nuns today is 69. But over the past decade or so, expressing their religious beliefs openly has become hip for many young people, a trend intensified among Catholic women by the charismatic appeal of Pope John Paul II's youth rallies and his interpretation of modern feminism as a way for women to express Christian values.
As this so-called JP2 generation has come of age, religious orders have begun to reach out again to young people--and to do so in the language that young people speak. Convents conduct e-mail correspondence with interested women, blogs written by sisters give a peek into the habited life and websites offer online personality questionnaires to test vocations. One site, Vocation-network.org frames the choice much like a dating service, with Christ as the ultimate match. "For a long time, we neglected to invite people to see what we are about," says Sister Doris Gottemoeller of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of America, a national order. "I think we're more ready to do that now."
And although the extreme conservatism (Strange way to put it - most in religious life would see it as the most liberating and free life.) of a nun's life may seem wholly countercultural for young American women today, that is exactly what attracts many of them, say experts and the women themselves. "Religious life itself is a radical choice," says Brother Paul Bednarczyk, executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference in Chicago. "In an age where our primary secular values are sex, power and money, for someone to choose chastity, obedience and poverty is a radical statement."
That radicalism is, ironically, embodied by the wearing of the veil. Decreed unnecessary by Vatican II (Say what? Where is that in the Documents of Vatican II? Number 17 of Perfectae Caritatis says - "The religious habit, an outward mark of consecration to God, should be simple and modest, poor and at the same becoming. In addition it must meet the requirements of health and be suited to the circumstances of time and place and to the needs of the ministry involved. The habits of both men and women religious which do not conform to these norms must be adapted." Funny, I don't see the part about veils being decreed unnecessary. In fact I also don't see the part where is says stop wearing the habit.) and shed happily by many older nuns, the headdress is for many of today's newcomers a desired accessory. "A lot of my older sisters would never wear the veil," says Sister Sarah Roy, 29, who is the only member of her Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Ill., to do so. (The others wear a simple dark dress adorned by a pin.) Though she admits "people just stare at you like you're a freak," she adds, "It's a trend (If you consider centuries upon centuries a trend - perhaps not wearing the veil is the trend.)with younger women wanting to wear the veil now."
Newer nuns see the veil as a public expression of faith, says Cheryl Reed, author of Unveiled: Inside the Hidden Lives of Nuns. "You can understand why a woman who has given up sex, freedom and money would want to wear her wedding dress--which is what they consider their habits to be. You want to say, 'I'm special. I gave this up.'" (I don't know many Sisters wearing habits, and I know quite a few, that would say, "I'm special. I gave this up." Quite the opposite really.)
Katharine Johnson isn't sure yet which wedding dress she will choose--a white one or a black one. At 21, she is in her third year of discernment. For now the senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign dresses as her classmates do, though on her ring finger she wears a miniature rosary and a favorite T shirt reads, EVERYONE LOVES A CATHOLIC GIRL. She still dates but limits physical contact to kissing. "As I date men and I date convents, I am waiting for God to say, 'This is where your heart belongs,'" she says.
Becoming a nun typically takes seven to nine years. After the period of discernment, a woman enters a religious community as a postulant, and she reflects upon her vocation and helps with chores around the convent. At the end of what is primarily a yearlong spiritual retreat, the postulant and her advisers in the community decide whether she will become a novice and study Catholic theology and ministry for up to two years. She may then take her temporary vows. After an additional four to eight years during which she serves the convent's mission, she makes her final vows and becomes a professed nun.
At the Sisters of Life Formation House in the Bronx, N.Y., 16 young women are making their way through that journey. They include a former Marine, a professional opera singer, a United Nations aide and a recent Yale grad. They have left behind paychecks, apartments, even boyfriends. Sister Thérèse Saglimbeni, 27, a novice who joined the convent in 2005, recalls watching the sisters playing volleyball while she was a student at the nearby State University of New York Maritime College. "I was with my boyfriend and had said how fun the sisters looked," she says. "He said, 'Well, why don't you join them?' And I replied, 'Well, maybe I will!'"
The other sisters chuckle when Saglimbeni recounts her saucy retort. But many of their loved ones feel less jovial about the women's decision to take the veil. "For those who are called, there is a real falling in love. You are filled with a joy and desire to be with God," says Sister Mary Gabriel Devlin, 32, vocation director at Sisters of Life. "Their families are not experiencing this, so it can be hard for them to understand." The sense of alienation can be even greater when women choose an order that isolates them from their families and others so that they can devote themselves to strict schedules of regimented prayer. Convents like Sisters of Life that combine contemplation with active ministry to the public are the most popular among young women.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
By Tracy Schmidt, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
emphases and (comments) mine - BW
For the iPod generation, it doesn't get more radical than wearing a veil. The hijab worn by traditional Muslim women might have people talking, but it's the wimple that really turns heads. And in the U.S. today, the nuns most likely to wear that headdress are the ones young enough to have a playlist.
Over the past five years, Roman Catholic communities around the country have experienced a curious phenomenon: more women, most in their 20s and 30s, are trying on that veil. Convents in Nashville, Tenn.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; and New York City all admitted at least 15 entrants over the past year and fielded hundreds of inquiries. One convent is hurriedly raising funds for a new building to house the inflow, and at another a rush of new blood has lowered the median age of its 225 sisters to 36. Catholic centers at universities, including Illinois and Texas A&M, report growing numbers of women entering discernment, or the official period of considering a vocation. Career women seeking more meaning in their lives and empty-nest moms are also finding their way to convent doors.
This is a welcome turnabout for the church. As opportunities opened for women in the 1960s and '70s, fewer of them viewed the asceticism and confinements of religious life as a tempting career choice (Once again, it is NOT a career choice. If that were what religious life was, no one would join - it would be a pretty poor "career" choice.). Since 1965, the number of Catholic nuns in the U.S. has declined from 179,954 to just 67,773, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. The average age of nuns today is 69. But over the past decade or so, expressing their religious beliefs openly has become hip for many young people, a trend intensified among Catholic women by the charismatic appeal of Pope John Paul II's youth rallies and his interpretation of modern feminism as a way for women to express Christian values.
As this so-called JP2 generation has come of age, religious orders have begun to reach out again to young people--and to do so in the language that young people speak. Convents conduct e-mail correspondence with interested women, blogs written by sisters give a peek into the habited life and websites offer online personality questionnaires to test vocations. One site, Vocation-network.org frames the choice much like a dating service, with Christ as the ultimate match. "For a long time, we neglected to invite people to see what we are about," says Sister Doris Gottemoeller of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of America, a national order. "I think we're more ready to do that now."
And although the extreme conservatism (Strange way to put it - most in religious life would see it as the most liberating and free life.) of a nun's life may seem wholly countercultural for young American women today, that is exactly what attracts many of them, say experts and the women themselves. "Religious life itself is a radical choice," says Brother Paul Bednarczyk, executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference in Chicago. "In an age where our primary secular values are sex, power and money, for someone to choose chastity, obedience and poverty is a radical statement."
That radicalism is, ironically, embodied by the wearing of the veil. Decreed unnecessary by Vatican II (Say what? Where is that in the Documents of Vatican II? Number 17 of Perfectae Caritatis says - "The religious habit, an outward mark of consecration to God, should be simple and modest, poor and at the same becoming. In addition it must meet the requirements of health and be suited to the circumstances of time and place and to the needs of the ministry involved. The habits of both men and women religious which do not conform to these norms must be adapted." Funny, I don't see the part about veils being decreed unnecessary. In fact I also don't see the part where is says stop wearing the habit.) and shed happily by many older nuns, the headdress is for many of today's newcomers a desired accessory. "A lot of my older sisters would never wear the veil," says Sister Sarah Roy, 29, who is the only member of her Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Ill., to do so. (The others wear a simple dark dress adorned by a pin.) Though she admits "people just stare at you like you're a freak," she adds, "It's a trend (If you consider centuries upon centuries a trend - perhaps not wearing the veil is the trend.)with younger women wanting to wear the veil now."
Newer nuns see the veil as a public expression of faith, says Cheryl Reed, author of Unveiled: Inside the Hidden Lives of Nuns. "You can understand why a woman who has given up sex, freedom and money would want to wear her wedding dress--which is what they consider their habits to be. You want to say, 'I'm special. I gave this up.'" (I don't know many Sisters wearing habits, and I know quite a few, that would say, "I'm special. I gave this up." Quite the opposite really.)
Katharine Johnson isn't sure yet which wedding dress she will choose--a white one or a black one. At 21, she is in her third year of discernment. For now the senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign dresses as her classmates do, though on her ring finger she wears a miniature rosary and a favorite T shirt reads, EVERYONE LOVES A CATHOLIC GIRL. She still dates but limits physical contact to kissing. "As I date men and I date convents, I am waiting for God to say, 'This is where your heart belongs,'" she says.
Becoming a nun typically takes seven to nine years. After the period of discernment, a woman enters a religious community as a postulant, and she reflects upon her vocation and helps with chores around the convent. At the end of what is primarily a yearlong spiritual retreat, the postulant and her advisers in the community decide whether she will become a novice and study Catholic theology and ministry for up to two years. She may then take her temporary vows. After an additional four to eight years during which she serves the convent's mission, she makes her final vows and becomes a professed nun.
At the Sisters of Life Formation House in the Bronx, N.Y., 16 young women are making their way through that journey. They include a former Marine, a professional opera singer, a United Nations aide and a recent Yale grad. They have left behind paychecks, apartments, even boyfriends. Sister Thérèse Saglimbeni, 27, a novice who joined the convent in 2005, recalls watching the sisters playing volleyball while she was a student at the nearby State University of New York Maritime College. "I was with my boyfriend and had said how fun the sisters looked," she says. "He said, 'Well, why don't you join them?' And I replied, 'Well, maybe I will!'"
The other sisters chuckle when Saglimbeni recounts her saucy retort. But many of their loved ones feel less jovial about the women's decision to take the veil. "For those who are called, there is a real falling in love. You are filled with a joy and desire to be with God," says Sister Mary Gabriel Devlin, 32, vocation director at Sisters of Life. "Their families are not experiencing this, so it can be hard for them to understand." The sense of alienation can be even greater when women choose an order that isolates them from their families and others so that they can devote themselves to strict schedules of regimented prayer. Convents like Sisters of Life that combine contemplation with active ministry to the public are the most popular among young women.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
"A Window for God"
From the Love and Life Site blogBy Sr. Talitha Guadalupe (Sisters of Life novice)
All vocations are of the Cross. Vocation is the place where you realize that what your heart yearns to do is so far beyond you that it can only be accomplished in Christ. Thus you give yourself fully to Christ, sacrificing yourself to Him, and trusting that by doing so you participate in the world’s salvation. Each of us has a unique vocation. Each of us is a unique image of God; no one else can show God to the world as you can. He has a beautiful and totally individual plan for each one of us.
I first discovered my vocation calling at World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002. I was sixteen at the time and very young in my Catholic faith. For the first time, I saw the Stations of the Cross, or perhaps it would be more correct to say that I experienced the Cross. I saw Jesus sacrifice Himself and knew it was for me. In that same moment, as I was watching Jesus die on the Cross, my older sister leaned over to me and said, “Have you ever thought of being a nun?” In her voice, I heard the voice of God. From the moment onward, I never doubted my religious vocation. However it was not until five years later, when I was on a “Come and See” weekend with the Sisters of Life, that I was able to concretely make the connection between the love of the crucified Christ and my sister’s revealing of my vocation. During those five years, I was searching for signs, for ways of knowing which community I was called to join. Then, when I met the Sisters of Life, I prayed before the Crucifix and I knew I did not need signs. I knew God’s love for me on the Cross was enough. Could there be any greater sign than a God who died for me?
Thus, I entered the Sisters of Life and spent nine months as a postulant, living with the community but not yet being a sister. During this time, I prayed about the mission and identity God had for me. I prayed about who I was in His eyes. Then I was given the gift of entering the novitiate, receiving the holy habit and a religious name, Sister Talitha Guadalupe. One month and one day after entering the novitiate I found myself on a plane to Sydney, Australia to attend another World Youth Day.
When we arrived in Sydney we went immediately to Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral. There Sister Mary Anglica pointed out to me something I had never seen before. As you enter the Cathedral, there is a beautiful stained glass window showing the Gospel story from which my name is derived. The window depicts Jesus raising a young girl to life and in the corner is the inscription, “I say to you arise.” In Arabic the words are “Talitha, koum.” Then, the next day when I was praying before Mass, I asked God to show me what my mission was to be for this World Youth Day. I opened the Gospels, and the story was my story, the story of the raising of the little girl. It was as if God was saying to me that my mission was just to be, to be who I am in His eyes and to allow Him to show the world something of Him through me. I was to be His stained glass window, reflecting to the world an image of Him that no one else could.
I stand in awe of this reality. Always in the past, I have prayed for signs to know who I am called to be. After this World Youth Day I feel that God has revealed to me who He wants me to be. He asks me to be His Sister Talitha and He entrusts me to the care of Our Lady of Guadalupe that this may be so. Now I need to pray for a different type of grace, for the grace not to discover my identity but to live inside it and to truly experience it as God’s gift to me. I was given the grace to touch Pope Benedict (at the Mass on Saturday morning for priests, seminarians and young religious) right in front of my window in St. Mary’s Cathedral, the window of Talitha, after to having prayed to Our Lady of Guadalupe that this may be so. In this I feel that through the Church, God is asking me to truly live my identity, to truly allow Him to radiate through me.
This was indeed my experience of World Youth Day. I did not witness any major conversions, but I was able to be present to many people and I saw the power of this. I saw the power of allowing myself to be small before God and simply to be where He placed me. One encounter in particular resonates in my heart. Towards the beginning of the week, I was walking and saw some anti-Catholic cartoons lying on the ground. I felt compelled to pray for those who were handing out the cartoons, and did so, entrusting them to Mary and asking her to draw them into the heart of Christ and to heal any bitterness they may be feeling. Then, a few days later, I actually saw a man, “Peter,” passing out these cartoons. At first I walked by, but then I felt impelled to go back. I asked Peter what he was doing, and he said he was just passing out some Baptist biblical literature. Then he looked out into the sea of pilgrims walking by, a sense of wonder came over him, and he said, “There are tens of thousands of people here and Christ died for each one of them.” My heart too stopped before this marvel and together Peter and I were filled with wonder at God and His love. Then I asked Peter to pray for me and shared with him my name. He smiled when he heard my name, recognizing it from the Scriptures, and said he would always remember me. He thanked me for being sweet and I left. I do not know what God will do with this encounter, but it touched me. It touched me to be able to share with Peter, a man who was attacking the Church, my identity as a daughter of the Church, and to be able to stand together in wonder before God.
God is awesome in the truest sense of the word, and He has a mission for each one of us. Sometimes we wonder what this mission could be; we worry that we will never find it. But we need not worry. Eventually God leads us to a place where our hearts meet His in such a way that without really even being aware of it, we radiate His presence. We are each uniquely created in His image and thus we each show something of Him to the world.
As Sisters of Life, we speak of our mission in terms of the Annunciation and the Visitation of Mary. We speak of conceiving Christ beneath our hearts and carrying Him forth into the world as Mary did. This was always a hard image for me. I felt that in giving Christ away, I would lose Him. Yet, God has shown me that this is not so. Instead, in receiving Christ, in receiving Him fully, I am so transformed into His image that I share Him in being myself. It is my being and not my doing that He desires and so it is with every person. As Cardinal O’Connor, our founder and father would pray, “God wants to reach out to others through your hands, God wants to speak to others through your lips, and God wants others to look into your eyes and see Him. Give God permission.”
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Holy Habit Rocking the Boat "Downunder"
From the Sisters of Life - Love and Life Blog
Holy Habit Rocking the Boat "Downunder"
Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei (SV novice)
About 39 days ago I exchanged the very blue, and somewhat ambiguous Sister of Life postulant outfit, for the flowing folds of the holy habit and became one of eleven proud new novices. Needless to say, after walking the streets of Sydney, Australia for a week, there isn't a flicker of ambiguity about what I am about, and the powerful witness of the habit.
"You are the first Sister in habit I have seen in twenty-three years!" said one woman.
"Look mum, an angel." said one awe-struck five year old on the train.
"I just LOVE your robes...vestments...why your'e so young! Tell me, what ARE you?" exclaimed another Aussie.
The stares are unabashed, and the cellphones and cameras are snapping pictures at furious rates. At times you feel like a bit of a tourist attraction as a five minute walk in the city guarantees a strangers request for a picture with you. If this wasn't enough, (and I give my word this is a true account) I sat in transit on the bus sure that the stylish, blonde-haired, twenty-something, deep into the tunes of her i-pod would remain indifferent to me, her habited peer sitting a seat away. Low and behold, within five minutes she had removed her head gear and was inquiring about mine. With cordial curiosity and openess she asked question after question. I was the very first Sister she had ever seen. She grew more and more in awe as I accounted the essence of religious life, and described the great joy and freedom that embracing Christ's call to love Him with an undivided heart has brought my life, when I just a year ago, like her, was a bright-eyed young twenty-something with the world at my feet. Both equally delighted with the encounter, she bid me 'goodday,' with a smile and the Love and Life Site palm card in hand, hopeful to join us for the festivities and learn more.
No doubt the Holy Spirit is on the move and the Sisters of Life are being called in God's shuffles of witness and Providence. What a grace, what a privilege, to wear the holy habit and serve as public witnesses to Christ.
Holy Habit Rocking the Boat "Downunder"
Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei (SV novice)
About 39 days ago I exchanged the very blue, and somewhat ambiguous Sister of Life postulant outfit, for the flowing folds of the holy habit and became one of eleven proud new novices. Needless to say, after walking the streets of Sydney, Australia for a week, there isn't a flicker of ambiguity about what I am about, and the powerful witness of the habit.
"You are the first Sister in habit I have seen in twenty-three years!" said one woman.
"Look mum, an angel." said one awe-struck five year old on the train.
"I just LOVE your robes...vestments...why your'e so young! Tell me, what ARE you?" exclaimed another Aussie.
The stares are unabashed, and the cellphones and cameras are snapping pictures at furious rates. At times you feel like a bit of a tourist attraction as a five minute walk in the city guarantees a strangers request for a picture with you. If this wasn't enough, (and I give my word this is a true account) I sat in transit on the bus sure that the stylish, blonde-haired, twenty-something, deep into the tunes of her i-pod would remain indifferent to me, her habited peer sitting a seat away. Low and behold, within five minutes she had removed her head gear and was inquiring about mine. With cordial curiosity and openess she asked question after question. I was the very first Sister she had ever seen. She grew more and more in awe as I accounted the essence of religious life, and described the great joy and freedom that embracing Christ's call to love Him with an undivided heart has brought my life, when I just a year ago, like her, was a bright-eyed young twenty-something with the world at my feet. Both equally delighted with the encounter, she bid me 'goodday,' with a smile and the Love and Life Site palm card in hand, hopeful to join us for the festivities and learn more.
No doubt the Holy Spirit is on the move and the Sisters of Life are being called in God's shuffles of witness and Providence. What a grace, what a privilege, to wear the holy habit and serve as public witnesses to Christ.
Sisters of Life at World Youth Day in Australia
(Click on picture to see enlarged version of picture with Cardinal Pell)The Sisters of Life are at World Youth Day and they have a blog for their time in Australia:
The blog has some more great pictures including this one of Sr. Mary Theotokos Ray, SV, who I posted about recently...
You can also visit their main website for the
"Nuns on World Youth Day recruiting drive"
From the HeraldSun / Australia
An order of New York City nuns hopes to recruit young Catholic pilgrims to the priesthood and sisterhood during World Youth Day (WYD).
The Sisters of Life order, which has convents in the Bronx and Manhattan, is expecting 20,000 WYD pilgrims to visit the "Life and Love" site near the University of Notre Dame campus in inner Sydney during the six-day event.
The sisters will hold seminars and present an expo on life vocations with talks on love and parenting.
Pilgrims considering entering a seminary or convent, or those curious about marriage, can visit the site at Chippendale tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
"Many of the sisters discovered their vocations at World Youth Days when they were literally immersed in a microcosm of faith and support," Sister Mary Gabriel said.
She said WYD was an opportunity for pilgrims to hear the calling of a religious vocation.
"I do anticipate that many, many young people will discover their vocation, whether that's to marriage and family, to religious life, to enter the priesthood, across the board.
"I do believe that this event will open the door for many people to recognise their path to definitive love."
An order of New York City nuns hopes to recruit young Catholic pilgrims to the priesthood and sisterhood during World Youth Day (WYD).
The Sisters of Life order, which has convents in the Bronx and Manhattan, is expecting 20,000 WYD pilgrims to visit the "Life and Love" site near the University of Notre Dame campus in inner Sydney during the six-day event.
The sisters will hold seminars and present an expo on life vocations with talks on love and parenting.
Pilgrims considering entering a seminary or convent, or those curious about marriage, can visit the site at Chippendale tomorrow, Thursday and Friday.
"Many of the sisters discovered their vocations at World Youth Days when they were literally immersed in a microcosm of faith and support," Sister Mary Gabriel said.
She said WYD was an opportunity for pilgrims to hear the calling of a religious vocation.
"I do anticipate that many, many young people will discover their vocation, whether that's to marriage and family, to religious life, to enter the priesthood, across the board.
"I do believe that this event will open the door for many people to recognise their path to definitive love."
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
"Called to a Life of Serving God"
Chino Hills woman a success story of efforts to promote vocation
From the Press-Enterprise
By SEAN NEALON
Michelle Medina is going against the trend.
At a time when the number of nuns has dropped sharply, the 25-year-old Chino Hills resident is preparing to join the Sisters of Life in the Bronx, N.Y., in September.
Medina is a member of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Chino Hills, which San Bernardino diocesan officials say is an example of a church that successfully promotes becoming a nun or priest.
Medina is one of seven or eight people from the church in the process of becoming nuns or priests, said Sister Sarah Shrewsbury, who as vocation director of the San Bernardino Diocese steers men and women into religious life. She credited the church's vocation committee and youth ministry.
Medina's father taught her to pray and instilled a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. She attended Catholic schools. She served as a leader at Catholic retreats and summer camps.
In high school, she started feeling God calling her but couldn't pinpoint what she should do.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
From the Press-Enterprise
By SEAN NEALON
Michelle Medina is going against the trend.
At a time when the number of nuns has dropped sharply, the 25-year-old Chino Hills resident is preparing to join the Sisters of Life in the Bronx, N.Y., in September.
Medina is a member of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Chino Hills, which San Bernardino diocesan officials say is an example of a church that successfully promotes becoming a nun or priest.
Medina is one of seven or eight people from the church in the process of becoming nuns or priests, said Sister Sarah Shrewsbury, who as vocation director of the San Bernardino Diocese steers men and women into religious life. She credited the church's vocation committee and youth ministry.
Medina's father taught her to pray and instilled a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. She attended Catholic schools. She served as a leader at Catholic retreats and summer camps.
In high school, she started feeling God calling her but couldn't pinpoint what she should do.
Read the rest of the article HERE.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sr. Mary Theotokos Ray, S.V.
With great joy and thanksgiving to Almighty God I post about a former student of mine, now very good friend and Godmother to our youngest son Samuel, who recently received her new religious name, Sr. Mary Theotokos, S.V., and the habit of the Sisters of Life. I've posted about Sr. Mary Theotokos before, and I will more than likely post about her again in the future. What can I say, I feel like a proud parent. Sr. Mary Theotokos was in a youth group I moderated, the Frassati Society, and it was on one of our retreats with the Trappist Monks at Mepkin Abbey that she first "heard" the Lord's call. It came in the form of a 90 year old monk asking if she or any of the the other high school girls on the retreat had ever considered becoming sisters or nuns. After much laughter, hers being perhaps the loudest, Sr. Mary Theotokos (then Stephanie) said "No!". She would hear that question repeated in her prayers everyday thereafter. See folks, we MUST ask the question!
Over the next year we had many talks and discussions about vocations, and she began to seriously discern a call to the religious life. In the spring of her senior year of high school Sr. Mary Theotokos would first meet the Sisters of Life on a mission trip to New York. From that first meeting, she knew these Sisters would one day be her sisters.
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Fast forward five years to September 2007 and Sr. Mary Theotokos would enter postulancy with the Sisters of Life after graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Dallas with a degree in Theology (did I mention how proud of her I am?). The picture to the left is of her (front left) and her fellow postulants during the first weeks after they entered the community.
This past Friday, as providence would have it, we were able to visit with four of the Sisters of Life (from left to right in the picture to the left) Sr. Mary Theotokos, Sr. Mary Angelica, Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei, Sister Mary Gabriel (Vocations Director for the Sisters of Life) when they came to Belmont Abbey College to work with, and be present to, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) Missionaries who are in the midst of their summer training at the college.
Understanding Jasmine
by Sister Mary Theotokos Ray, S.V.
She was the first girl I saw as we walked in to the Youth 2000 weekend retreat. While all the other teens were inside adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, she was outside, smoking a cigarette and talking on her cell phone. I smiled to myself because I recognized her rebellion as something I would’ve done when I was her age.
Two minutes earlier I had been complaining to Sr. Therese about having to lead a small group at the Youth 2000. I told her, “I’m not ready.” Sr. Therese laughed and said, “Well God thinks you’re ready. It’s all about poverty…being vulnerable. He’ll give you the words to say. But more than anything, these kids just need to see you – your joy, your light, you faith.” As we passed the girl who was smoking and talking on her cell phone, Sr. Therese said, “See, like that girl. She’s yearning for Christ but she doesn’t even know it yet.”
An hour later we met – her name is “Jasmine” and she was placed in my small group. I learned that her parents were alcoholics, and that she herself began to drink heavily and do drugs at a very early age. Although she was only in high school, she had already experienced a great deal of suffering and yet, she was determined to do whatever she could to create a better life for her younger siblings. That’s why she was on the retreat – for them. Then she told me that she didn’t believe in God.
I thought to myself, “If only she knew the love of Christ.” Immediately I knew in my heart that Jesus was thirsting for her, yearning for her love, but at the same time I was feeling totally empty and helpless in the situation; I didn’t know where to begin. I sensed her hurt and her need of healing. I recognized her passion to love but also her fear and lack of trust in others. I understood that her cynicism and anger were simply a cover to protect her gentle and kind heart. I knew that the evil one had been filling her with lies – so much so that she felt totally alone and isolated.
So I ended our first small group meeting with, “Whether you believe in God or not, He is real. He created you, unique and special. He loves you with an infinite merciful love. And He is present with us today in the Eucharist. So I’m asking you to just be open – open to Him and His love. He is dying to love you and for you to love Him. Go before Him in adoration and tell Him all your hurts, your disappointments, your frustrations, your desires. Just be open…and listen for His response because He wants you to know Him.”
After lunch our small group met again and we talked about God’s mercy. I told them that no sin is too big for God to forgive. God is always faithful, no matter what. Even when the rest of the world lets us down, God keeps His promises. Then I invited all the girls in my group to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation sometime during the weekend. I felt that deep down Jasmine desired to believe in God, and I believed that Reconciliation would be the best way for her to receive His grace. Jasmine laughed at the invitation and said “No way.” After the small group broke up, I suggested that she talk to a priest and tell him her frustrations and why she didn’t want to go to confession. She asked me why and I asked her, “Can you admit that you need healing?” She started tearing up, and I said, “Then a priest can only help. Christ heals us of all our sins, our hurt, and our anger.”
Suddenly she made the decision to go to confession; she hadn’t been since her First Holy Communion. She made promise that it would help her. I promised that Christ would give new life to her soul in confession and healing grace. She held my arm and asked me to find her a priest.
She looked at me with longing eyes-full of fear, and sadness and hurt. I knelt down to pray as she followed the priest to the confessional. When she was finished and the priest gave her absolution, she hugged him and then started to cry. She cried for a long time, but the fear, the sorrow, the pain, and the anger were gone. I knew that the road ahead for her would not be easy-because there were many things that needed to change-but she would be okay because she would not walk alone; Christ would lead her.
God also gave me the grace to realize that He would guide me, too, if I would just open myself up to His love, and let Him lead me. In the vulnerability of not knowing how I could help Jasmine, I had to rely on Jesus completely. By the end of the day, I was amazed at how He taught me to live by faith, to trust in His mercy, and to open myself up to His love.
Over the next year we had many talks and discussions about vocations, and she began to seriously discern a call to the religious life. In the spring of her senior year of high school Sr. Mary Theotokos would first meet the Sisters of Life on a mission trip to New York. From that first meeting, she knew these Sisters would one day be her sisters..jpg)
Fast forward five years to September 2007 and Sr. Mary Theotokos would enter postulancy with the Sisters of Life after graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Dallas with a degree in Theology (did I mention how proud of her I am?). The picture to the left is of her (front left) and her fellow postulants during the first weeks after they entered the community.
Then on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 she received her new name and habit. In case you're wondering, she did not choose her name, or even offer it as an option - Mother Agnes chose it for her - and what a beautiful name it is! Below are the names of the newly habited Sisters of Life: Back row: Sr. Mariae Veritas (Therese Dorobek), Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei (Rachel Yates), Sr. Bethany Madonna (Beth Burwell), Sr. Bernadette Therese (Jennifer Swan) Middle Row: Sr. Catherine Peter (Sandra McIver), Sr. Maria Ann Michaela (Jen Takach), Sr. Mary Angelica (Mary Germann) Front row: Sr. Amata Filia (Laura Dierschke), Sr. Mary Theotokos (Stephanie Ray), Sr. Talitha Guadalupe (Leslee Simms), Sr. Hosanna Christi (Maria Pereyra)
This past Friday, as providence would have it, we were able to visit with four of the Sisters of Life (from left to right in the picture to the left) Sr. Mary Theotokos, Sr. Mary Angelica, Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei, Sister Mary Gabriel (Vocations Director for the Sisters of Life) when they came to Belmont Abbey College to work with, and be present to, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) Missionaries who are in the midst of their summer training at the college.We were overjoyed to have an opportunity to visit with Sr. Mary Theotokos and the other Sisters on Friday. Seeing her in a habit for the first time seemed like the most natural thing in the world - and indeed it is! I could go on at length, but I will refrain. Please keep Sr. Mary Theotokos, and her fellow novices in your prayers - especially as they head off with 37 of their sisters to World Youth Day in Sydney where the will host the LOVE LIFE SITE with the Knights of Columbus Collegians and the John Paul II Institutes. The website (previous link) has a beautiful video which you can watch here.
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Finally I wanted to post a beautiful story she wrote as a postulant for the recent quarterly publication from the Sisters of Life "Stories from the Streets" (Issue 28, Spring 2008):
Understanding Jasmineby Sister Mary Theotokos Ray, S.V.
She was the first girl I saw as we walked in to the Youth 2000 weekend retreat. While all the other teens were inside adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, she was outside, smoking a cigarette and talking on her cell phone. I smiled to myself because I recognized her rebellion as something I would’ve done when I was her age.
Two minutes earlier I had been complaining to Sr. Therese about having to lead a small group at the Youth 2000. I told her, “I’m not ready.” Sr. Therese laughed and said, “Well God thinks you’re ready. It’s all about poverty…being vulnerable. He’ll give you the words to say. But more than anything, these kids just need to see you – your joy, your light, you faith.” As we passed the girl who was smoking and talking on her cell phone, Sr. Therese said, “See, like that girl. She’s yearning for Christ but she doesn’t even know it yet.”
An hour later we met – her name is “Jasmine” and she was placed in my small group. I learned that her parents were alcoholics, and that she herself began to drink heavily and do drugs at a very early age. Although she was only in high school, she had already experienced a great deal of suffering and yet, she was determined to do whatever she could to create a better life for her younger siblings. That’s why she was on the retreat – for them. Then she told me that she didn’t believe in God.
I thought to myself, “If only she knew the love of Christ.” Immediately I knew in my heart that Jesus was thirsting for her, yearning for her love, but at the same time I was feeling totally empty and helpless in the situation; I didn’t know where to begin. I sensed her hurt and her need of healing. I recognized her passion to love but also her fear and lack of trust in others. I understood that her cynicism and anger were simply a cover to protect her gentle and kind heart. I knew that the evil one had been filling her with lies – so much so that she felt totally alone and isolated.
So I ended our first small group meeting with, “Whether you believe in God or not, He is real. He created you, unique and special. He loves you with an infinite merciful love. And He is present with us today in the Eucharist. So I’m asking you to just be open – open to Him and His love. He is dying to love you and for you to love Him. Go before Him in adoration and tell Him all your hurts, your disappointments, your frustrations, your desires. Just be open…and listen for His response because He wants you to know Him.”
After lunch our small group met again and we talked about God’s mercy. I told them that no sin is too big for God to forgive. God is always faithful, no matter what. Even when the rest of the world lets us down, God keeps His promises. Then I invited all the girls in my group to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation sometime during the weekend. I felt that deep down Jasmine desired to believe in God, and I believed that Reconciliation would be the best way for her to receive His grace. Jasmine laughed at the invitation and said “No way.” After the small group broke up, I suggested that she talk to a priest and tell him her frustrations and why she didn’t want to go to confession. She asked me why and I asked her, “Can you admit that you need healing?” She started tearing up, and I said, “Then a priest can only help. Christ heals us of all our sins, our hurt, and our anger.”
Suddenly she made the decision to go to confession; she hadn’t been since her First Holy Communion. She made promise that it would help her. I promised that Christ would give new life to her soul in confession and healing grace. She held my arm and asked me to find her a priest.
She looked at me with longing eyes-full of fear, and sadness and hurt. I knelt down to pray as she followed the priest to the confessional. When she was finished and the priest gave her absolution, she hugged him and then started to cry. She cried for a long time, but the fear, the sorrow, the pain, and the anger were gone. I knew that the road ahead for her would not be easy-because there were many things that needed to change-but she would be okay because she would not walk alone; Christ would lead her.
God also gave me the grace to realize that He would guide me, too, if I would just open myself up to His love, and let Him lead me. In the vulnerability of not knowing how I could help Jasmine, I had to rely on Jesus completely. By the end of the day, I was amazed at how He taught me to live by faith, to trust in His mercy, and to open myself up to His love.
Sister Mary Theotokos Ray, S.V. with her Godson Samuel.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Discernment Meditation from the Sisters of Life for June 2008
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"If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have, give to the poor and
then come, follow me." (Mt.19: 21)
The answer our Lord gives to the rich young man confirms what the man has
already recognized: following the commandments alone is not enough to
satisfy his thirsty heart. His question, "What more do I lack?" implies that
there is still a lack - there is something in him not yet given, and that
not-givenness is experienced as a poverty, as a yearning, as a need to be
met. I am not yet who I am meant to be.
"What more do I lack?" And Jesus says, "If you wish to be perfect..." If you
wish not to lack, then "go, sell what you have, give to the poor and then
come, follow me." If you wish to have that interminable human lack filled,
stop reaching out habitually for things that can never reach the depths of
who you are. Empty yourself, attend to the needs of others, and then train
your eyes, your heart, your life, on me.
Don't we ask this question of Jesus? What more do I lack, Lord? For I know I
lack, I know I am not yet who I am to be. His answer is always the same, and
always imbued with our greatest reality: his look of love. When we allow
ourselves to meet the intensity and tenderness of His gaze, it's as if a
burning ember of love leaps from His Sacred Heart and penetrates our own,
lodging itself there, insisting on response.
Last Thursday evening, in the chapel of our Formation House, eleven young
women turned the eyes of their hearts and minds in a more definitive way
towards the fire-y gaze of the Divine Bridegroom. One by one, they were
called by a new name and approached the altar to receive their religious
habit and the constitutions of the Sisters of Life. As Mother Agnes clipped
each new novice's hair she said, "I take a lock of your hair as a sign of
your desire to be totally dedicated to Christ in this way of life. May He
one day receive you as His spouse." Because they were more divested by His
Love, they became- necessarily - more invested in His Love. The word "habit"
has the same root as the word habitat. It comes from the latin habitare - to
dwell, to live. These new novices choose to dwell in the Heart of Jesus, and
literally place their bodies within clothing that marks them, to the world
and to themselves, as His alone.
In this month of June we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the source of the
Divine Love poured out for us on Calvary and at every Mass - the source of
the fire of Divine Love that captures the hearts and imaginations of those
called to religious life. Religious are brides of Christ - icons of the
Church, the Bride of Christ. Religious, smitten by Jesus' crucified love,
are a living pledge of the Church's virginal, bridal love for the Lord. In
our very persons, religious cry out in response to our amazing God, "We
believe! We have known your love. We await your return with lamps alight:
Come, Lord Jesus!" We are living brides who know a living love - the living,
burning embers of Divine Love. These embers are not meant to smolder out but
to leap up into blazing flames that consume within us all that is not Him
and in the process, transform us into who we truly are.
The prophet Ezekiel tells us of God's promise: "I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your hearts of stone and
give you a heart of flesh" (Ez. 36:26). This new heart is the Lord's Heart,
which still beats as does yours and mine. Being devoted to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus is being devoted to His sacred humanity. Whenever we are devoted to
another's heart, we seek to ease that heart, to be a balm to that heart, to
delight that heart. Jesus' Heart needs that love, too, and He looks for it
from you, from me. His Heart, so tender, is continually hurt by neglect,
indifference, contempt. Each of us has experienced a hurt of the heart - we
tend to build walls in response. Jesus, the Lamb of God, never turns away
from these hurts but remains open and exposed in them. His Love is stronger
than any suffering, than any evil, and His Sacred Heart stands before every
lack of love without defense, suffering the pain and offering to bring new
life where there is none.
But He does not wish to accomplish this alone. He asks us to bear His Life
to the world: "with God all things are possible." And so we turn to the
tenderness and the intensity of His gaze, which divests us of all that is
not Him and pierces us anew with the flaming embers of His love. "Go, sell
what you have, give to the poor and then come, follow me." May the union of
our trust with His power satisfy every lack and bring an explosion of Mercy
and Life to the world!
Sr. Mary Gabriel, S.V.
Vocations Director/Sisters of Life
St. Jane Frances de Chantal Convent
"If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have, give to the poor and
then come, follow me." (Mt.19: 21)
The answer our Lord gives to the rich young man confirms what the man has
already recognized: following the commandments alone is not enough to
satisfy his thirsty heart. His question, "What more do I lack?" implies that
there is still a lack - there is something in him not yet given, and that
not-givenness is experienced as a poverty, as a yearning, as a need to be
met. I am not yet who I am meant to be.
"What more do I lack?" And Jesus says, "If you wish to be perfect..." If you
wish not to lack, then "go, sell what you have, give to the poor and then
come, follow me." If you wish to have that interminable human lack filled,
stop reaching out habitually for things that can never reach the depths of
who you are. Empty yourself, attend to the needs of others, and then train
your eyes, your heart, your life, on me.
Don't we ask this question of Jesus? What more do I lack, Lord? For I know I
lack, I know I am not yet who I am to be. His answer is always the same, and
always imbued with our greatest reality: his look of love. When we allow
ourselves to meet the intensity and tenderness of His gaze, it's as if a
burning ember of love leaps from His Sacred Heart and penetrates our own,
lodging itself there, insisting on response.
Last Thursday evening, in the chapel of our Formation House, eleven young
women turned the eyes of their hearts and minds in a more definitive way
towards the fire-y gaze of the Divine Bridegroom. One by one, they were
called by a new name and approached the altar to receive their religious
habit and the constitutions of the Sisters of Life. As Mother Agnes clipped
each new novice's hair she said, "I take a lock of your hair as a sign of
your desire to be totally dedicated to Christ in this way of life. May He
one day receive you as His spouse." Because they were more divested by His
Love, they became- necessarily - more invested in His Love. The word "habit"
has the same root as the word habitat. It comes from the latin habitare - to
dwell, to live. These new novices choose to dwell in the Heart of Jesus, and
literally place their bodies within clothing that marks them, to the world
and to themselves, as His alone.
In this month of June we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the source of the
Divine Love poured out for us on Calvary and at every Mass - the source of
the fire of Divine Love that captures the hearts and imaginations of those
called to religious life. Religious are brides of Christ - icons of the
Church, the Bride of Christ. Religious, smitten by Jesus' crucified love,
are a living pledge of the Church's virginal, bridal love for the Lord. In
our very persons, religious cry out in response to our amazing God, "We
believe! We have known your love. We await your return with lamps alight:
Come, Lord Jesus!" We are living brides who know a living love - the living,
burning embers of Divine Love. These embers are not meant to smolder out but
to leap up into blazing flames that consume within us all that is not Him
and in the process, transform us into who we truly are.
The prophet Ezekiel tells us of God's promise: "I will give you a new heart
and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your hearts of stone and
give you a heart of flesh" (Ez. 36:26). This new heart is the Lord's Heart,
which still beats as does yours and mine. Being devoted to the Sacred Heart
of Jesus is being devoted to His sacred humanity. Whenever we are devoted to
another's heart, we seek to ease that heart, to be a balm to that heart, to
delight that heart. Jesus' Heart needs that love, too, and He looks for it
from you, from me. His Heart, so tender, is continually hurt by neglect,
indifference, contempt. Each of us has experienced a hurt of the heart - we
tend to build walls in response. Jesus, the Lamb of God, never turns away
from these hurts but remains open and exposed in them. His Love is stronger
than any suffering, than any evil, and His Sacred Heart stands before every
lack of love without defense, suffering the pain and offering to bring new
life where there is none.
But He does not wish to accomplish this alone. He asks us to bear His Life
to the world: "with God all things are possible." And so we turn to the
tenderness and the intensity of His gaze, which divests us of all that is
not Him and pierces us anew with the flaming embers of His love. "Go, sell
what you have, give to the poor and then come, follow me." May the union of
our trust with His power satisfy every lack and bring an explosion of Mercy
and Life to the world!
Sr. Mary Gabriel, S.V.
Vocations Director/Sisters of Life
St. Jane Frances de Chantal Convent
Sunday, April 20, 2008
"Young adults holding vigil rewarded with papal handshake"
By Catholic News ServiceNEW YORK (CNS) -- Several hundred young adults holding a vigil behind the security perimeter around the house where Pope Benedict XVI was staying were rewarded April 18 with a papal handshake.
Helen Osman, director of communications for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said more than 1,000 people had gathered throughout the evening near the residence of the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations.
Members of the Sisters of Life, a religious order founded by the late Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York, organized young people from three New York parishes to keep a vigil at the residence where Pope Benedict was staying.
"Some just came out of curiosity," but there also were members of the Legionaries of Christ, playing guitars and beating drums, and members of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal and Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, she said.
Obviously, Osman said, they had let archdiocesan officials know of their plans and at about 8 p.m., the U.S. Secret Service began allowing small groups to pass the traffic blockade and approach the residence.
Pope Benedict came outside "after dinner" at about 9 p.m., said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.
The pope spent about 10 minutes shaking hands with the young religious and other young adults who got the Secret Service nod.
They sang "Happy Birthday" to the pope; he waved to them and to a small group of media that had staked out the residence, then he went back inside.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Lenten Meditation from the Sisters of Life
The following post is a Lenten Discernment Meditation from Sr. Mary Gabriel, SV, Vocations Director for the Sisters of Life:
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Know that you and all your loved ones are in the prayers of the Sisters of Life as we progress through this holy season!
-Lenten Discernment Meditation-
Lent came upon us early this year. Here we are entering March, already deep in the Holy Season. During Lent the Church calls us to fast. What is the purpose of fasting? Christian sacrifice is not about giving to God what He would not have without us but rather it is about receptivity. God does not need our coffee or our jelly donuts. The real purpose of fasting is to make room in our hearts for Him. In choosing not to take a cup of coffee or a donut we are saying to the Lord, I abstain from trying to fill my own desires and give you the empty space in my heart to fill as You desire. The season of Lent is a season of Love. The Lord is speaking to each of us when He says; “So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.” Hos 2:16
Deep in the heart of every woman is the desire to be loved for herself. The Lord places these desires in our hearts, and He intends them to be fulfilled. The trouble is that we often try to fulfill our desires by our own means. It is a great struggle to surrender control and allow the Lord to fill our hearts in the time and the way He has designed for us uniquely. Opening one’s heart to the possibility of a religious vocation can be a scary thing. We are afraid. Will the Lord really fill the desires of my heart? Will I lose my identity, the uniqueness of who I am? We fear letting go of what I want to do and how I want to do it. We fear the unknown. The answer to all these fears is Love, and love is a person - Jesus Christ. Cardinal O’Connor would encourage “Do not be afraid to put yourself into the hands of the God who created you.” The Lord is faithful, tender, and gentle. Mother Teresa would often tell her Sisters: “Go into the Chapel, sit before the Tabernacle and say ‘Here I am Jesus, love me.’” It is in sitting in front of Him and allowing Him to love you that you will come to know and surrender to His loving plan for you.
Every definitive vocation, whether it be to marriage or religious life, is fundamentally a call to spousal love. The question each of us must ask, especially in a time of vocational discernment, is: Lord, You have created my heart to give and receive love, how are you calling me to love with my entire life?
Lent is a precious time to re-orient ourselves to the serious and joyous reality that Jesus Christ has redeemed us and set us free through His sacrificial, spousal love. We belong to Him. Lent allows us time to grow in our response to His love and to fan the fire of love in our hearts for Jesus - to love Him ardently that we might love others as ourselves.
As Sisters of Life, through the faithful living of our vows, we seek to surrender daily to the Lord trusting that our love will be made fruitful in Him. Through the power of consecration, grace is pour into the people hearts around the world, that others too may say YES to the gift of life and self-giving of love.
This Lent thousands of women will be shocked to learn that they are pregnant, many others will learn they cannot conceive a child. Married couples will face new threats to the bond of their marriage. Families will watch as loved ones struggle with a long-term and debilitating illness. Each of these situations is a call to love. Each requires the grace of heroic love, to accept the Lord’s promise of life within particular circumstances.
You too, at this point in your life, during this holy Lenten season, can become instruments of grace for others. Every little fast, every yes to heroic love, every prayer from the heart, every emptying of yourself will fan into greater flame the fire in your heart, transform you to receive the fullness of Love in the beating Heart of Jesus, and will make more room in the world for His grace to be received.
Do not be afraid to cast down your idols this Lent to make room for the Living God.
+
Know that you and all your loved ones are in the prayers of the Sisters of Life as we progress through this holy season!
-Lenten Discernment Meditation-
Lent came upon us early this year. Here we are entering March, already deep in the Holy Season. During Lent the Church calls us to fast. What is the purpose of fasting? Christian sacrifice is not about giving to God what He would not have without us but rather it is about receptivity. God does not need our coffee or our jelly donuts. The real purpose of fasting is to make room in our hearts for Him. In choosing not to take a cup of coffee or a donut we are saying to the Lord, I abstain from trying to fill my own desires and give you the empty space in my heart to fill as You desire. The season of Lent is a season of Love. The Lord is speaking to each of us when He says; “So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.” Hos 2:16
Deep in the heart of every woman is the desire to be loved for herself. The Lord places these desires in our hearts, and He intends them to be fulfilled. The trouble is that we often try to fulfill our desires by our own means. It is a great struggle to surrender control and allow the Lord to fill our hearts in the time and the way He has designed for us uniquely. Opening one’s heart to the possibility of a religious vocation can be a scary thing. We are afraid. Will the Lord really fill the desires of my heart? Will I lose my identity, the uniqueness of who I am? We fear letting go of what I want to do and how I want to do it. We fear the unknown. The answer to all these fears is Love, and love is a person - Jesus Christ. Cardinal O’Connor would encourage “Do not be afraid to put yourself into the hands of the God who created you.” The Lord is faithful, tender, and gentle. Mother Teresa would often tell her Sisters: “Go into the Chapel, sit before the Tabernacle and say ‘Here I am Jesus, love me.’” It is in sitting in front of Him and allowing Him to love you that you will come to know and surrender to His loving plan for you.
Every definitive vocation, whether it be to marriage or religious life, is fundamentally a call to spousal love. The question each of us must ask, especially in a time of vocational discernment, is: Lord, You have created my heart to give and receive love, how are you calling me to love with my entire life?
Lent is a precious time to re-orient ourselves to the serious and joyous reality that Jesus Christ has redeemed us and set us free through His sacrificial, spousal love. We belong to Him. Lent allows us time to grow in our response to His love and to fan the fire of love in our hearts for Jesus - to love Him ardently that we might love others as ourselves.
As Sisters of Life, through the faithful living of our vows, we seek to surrender daily to the Lord trusting that our love will be made fruitful in Him. Through the power of consecration, grace is pour into the people hearts around the world, that others too may say YES to the gift of life and self-giving of love.
This Lent thousands of women will be shocked to learn that they are pregnant, many others will learn they cannot conceive a child. Married couples will face new threats to the bond of their marriage. Families will watch as loved ones struggle with a long-term and debilitating illness. Each of these situations is a call to love. Each requires the grace of heroic love, to accept the Lord’s promise of life within particular circumstances.
You too, at this point in your life, during this holy Lenten season, can become instruments of grace for others. Every little fast, every yes to heroic love, every prayer from the heart, every emptying of yourself will fan into greater flame the fire in your heart, transform you to receive the fullness of Love in the beating Heart of Jesus, and will make more room in the world for His grace to be received.
Do not be afraid to cast down your idols this Lent to make room for the Living God.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The Church’s Religious Life
From First Things
Posted by Ryan T. Anderson on February 5, 2008
(Emphases mine)
The Drudge Report is highlighting this BBC article on the decline of religious life in the Catholic Church. Here’s the basic gist:
Newly published statistics showed that the number of men and women belonging to religious orders fell by 10% to just under a million between 2005 and 2006.
During the pontificate of the late Pope John Paul II, the number of Catholic nuns worldwide declined by a quarter.
The downward trend accelerated despite a steady increase in the membership of the Catholic Church to more than 1.1bn.
However, correspondents say even this failed to keep pace with the overall increase in world population.
I’ve often wondered what the decline in religious life has meant for the average Catholic. Personally, I can count the number of religious sisters and brothers that I know on one hand–and this includes people I met growing up in Baltimore, attending college and then working in Princeton, and now living and working in Manhattan. If I include diocesan priests (technically “secular”), the number jumps up, but even then it’s fair to say that I don’t really “know” most of the priests who have administered the sacraments to me. If push came to shove, there would probably be a couple priests from college and New York who, in a time of trouble, I’d feel comfortable going to see. My parents experienced something different. They, of course, went to Catholic schools all their life, were taught by religious brothers and sisters, and still have vivid memories of the relationships that were forged–relationships that secured them in the faith. One wonders what the loss of religious witness and a ministry of presence has meant to the Church simply on a person-to-person level.
Of course times change. Renewal movements in the Church have opened new possibilities for Christian vocation and holiness in ordinary life. People who might have joined religious communities in times past now find themselves involved with groups like Communion and Liberation, Opus Dei, Regnum Christi, Focolare, and the Neo-Catechumenal Way–all providing lay people with models, organizational supports, and what certainly seem to some like lay vocations. The members of these groups say that a rising tide lifts all ships and a general increase in holiness in the Church will–and, according to their experience, already has–led to priestly and religious vocations. If they’re right, and they likely are, one shudders to think how much more drastic the decline in religious life would be if the renewal movements didn’t exist.
Some will argue that the Church doesn’t need robust religious communities, especially not the ones in monasteries and convents. It’s no longer the Middle Ages, and the Catholic Church doesn’t need to sustain Western culture behind the walls of the Carmel. So much for contemplative life–and the prayers that sustain the Church. The active religious communities? Well, they’re fine and good, but can’t we leave this social work to professional social workers? And in light of the feminist movement, can’t women aspire to something more than soothing bed sores in Calcutta? Somehow the personal witness of a life radically devoted to Christ in loving service to others seems radically discounted.
Yet the institutional loss has been no less severe. And here my mind immediately jumps to some of the most pressing needs daunting contemporary society: decent education for those who can’t afford it; food, drink, shelter and assistance to independence for the homeless; health care for those whose salaries can just meet their bare necessities like rent, heating and electricity, and groceries. One wonders if the state will ever be able to meet these needs–let alone the need for personal care and human love. Maybe the charitable activities of the Church alone will suffice. What would happen to our inner cities if Catholic schools, hospitals, soup kitchens and shelters shut down? But the sad reality is that many of them depend on governmental moneys. When the Church had a ready supply of celibate religious–without the need to earn a wage to provide for a family, with the freedom to give themselves completely to their ministry, and expecting (even vowing) a life of poverty–staffing Catholic schools and Catholic hospitals was much easier.
The situation isn’t entirely bleak. One is forced to think about communities like the Nashville Dominican sisters, or the Sisters of Life, or the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal–youthful, vibrate, orthodox, flourishing communities. Maybe they’re the future of religious life.
I’m just thinking out loud, and I’m rambling, so I’ll stop here. But maybe this Lent a prayer intention should be for an increase in vocations to religious life.
Posted by Ryan T. Anderson on February 5, 2008
(Emphases mine)
The Drudge Report is highlighting this BBC article on the decline of religious life in the Catholic Church. Here’s the basic gist:
Newly published statistics showed that the number of men and women belonging to religious orders fell by 10% to just under a million between 2005 and 2006.
During the pontificate of the late Pope John Paul II, the number of Catholic nuns worldwide declined by a quarter.
The downward trend accelerated despite a steady increase in the membership of the Catholic Church to more than 1.1bn.
However, correspondents say even this failed to keep pace with the overall increase in world population.
I’ve often wondered what the decline in religious life has meant for the average Catholic. Personally, I can count the number of religious sisters and brothers that I know on one hand–and this includes people I met growing up in Baltimore, attending college and then working in Princeton, and now living and working in Manhattan. If I include diocesan priests (technically “secular”), the number jumps up, but even then it’s fair to say that I don’t really “know” most of the priests who have administered the sacraments to me. If push came to shove, there would probably be a couple priests from college and New York who, in a time of trouble, I’d feel comfortable going to see. My parents experienced something different. They, of course, went to Catholic schools all their life, were taught by religious brothers and sisters, and still have vivid memories of the relationships that were forged–relationships that secured them in the faith. One wonders what the loss of religious witness and a ministry of presence has meant to the Church simply on a person-to-person level.
Of course times change. Renewal movements in the Church have opened new possibilities for Christian vocation and holiness in ordinary life. People who might have joined religious communities in times past now find themselves involved with groups like Communion and Liberation, Opus Dei, Regnum Christi, Focolare, and the Neo-Catechumenal Way–all providing lay people with models, organizational supports, and what certainly seem to some like lay vocations. The members of these groups say that a rising tide lifts all ships and a general increase in holiness in the Church will–and, according to their experience, already has–led to priestly and religious vocations. If they’re right, and they likely are, one shudders to think how much more drastic the decline in religious life would be if the renewal movements didn’t exist.
Some will argue that the Church doesn’t need robust religious communities, especially not the ones in monasteries and convents. It’s no longer the Middle Ages, and the Catholic Church doesn’t need to sustain Western culture behind the walls of the Carmel. So much for contemplative life–and the prayers that sustain the Church. The active religious communities? Well, they’re fine and good, but can’t we leave this social work to professional social workers? And in light of the feminist movement, can’t women aspire to something more than soothing bed sores in Calcutta? Somehow the personal witness of a life radically devoted to Christ in loving service to others seems radically discounted.
Yet the institutional loss has been no less severe. And here my mind immediately jumps to some of the most pressing needs daunting contemporary society: decent education for those who can’t afford it; food, drink, shelter and assistance to independence for the homeless; health care for those whose salaries can just meet their bare necessities like rent, heating and electricity, and groceries. One wonders if the state will ever be able to meet these needs–let alone the need for personal care and human love. Maybe the charitable activities of the Church alone will suffice. What would happen to our inner cities if Catholic schools, hospitals, soup kitchens and shelters shut down? But the sad reality is that many of them depend on governmental moneys. When the Church had a ready supply of celibate religious–without the need to earn a wage to provide for a family, with the freedom to give themselves completely to their ministry, and expecting (even vowing) a life of poverty–staffing Catholic schools and Catholic hospitals was much easier.
The situation isn’t entirely bleak. One is forced to think about communities like the Nashville Dominican sisters, or the Sisters of Life, or the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal–youthful, vibrate, orthodox, flourishing communities. Maybe they’re the future of religious life.
I’m just thinking out loud, and I’m rambling, so I’ll stop here. But maybe this Lent a prayer intention should be for an increase in vocations to religious life.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Sisters of Life and Discernment
This is an old post from Adam's Ale by Bridget who is now with the Sisters of Life and was featured in the MTV Video about her...
Just a year ago, I was sitting in my spiritual director’s office. I was in the depths of discernment, and when I say depths I mean deep dark places of confusion, uncertainty and doubt. If you have ever discerned any vocation or even asked God what His will is for something, I’m sure you have been in a similar place. (Aside: God wants us to trust Him totally because that is from where our greatest joy will come as He allows us to be emptied of everything so that He is all we have to cling to, as we realize His steadfast love and mercy). I had already applied to the Sisters of Life, and was awaiting a response from the Sisters. This particular day I was pouring out all the reasons I couldn’t be a Sister…
Giving up my dream of being a doctor, missing my family, not playing volleyball, not being around to watch my brother and sister grow up, not being around as my nephew grows up, being afraid of a forever commitment, asking my family to sacrifice as I go, not being present to my friends etc…
After listening intently to the list, a list he had heard many times from me, my Spiritual director simply and matter of factly asked… “ Is He worth it?”
Is He worth it? Is Christ who was calling me to Himself worth it? Is He worth the sacrifice of family and friends? Is He who came to us in a stable worth my stepping out into the unknown and unheard of? Is He who was stripped of His clothes worth my putting on blue and white forever? Is He who cared so little about money that He gave the money bag to Judas worth me renouncing all personal ownership and making a vow of poverty? Is He who was nailed to the Cross for me worth my nailing my heart to the Cross with His? Is He who gave me life worth my giving my life back to Him? Is He who called the children to Himself worth giving up marriage and bearing my own children? Is He worth it? It is a simple question and requires a simple answer with astronomical implications.
The truth is, He IS worth it. He who is Love Himself came to us, to become one with us. He came to us so that our humanity might be lifted up into his divinity, both now here on earth and eternally. He who knew more deeply the pain the pain of separation from His heavenly Father and His dear Mother, He who knew He was calling His mother to a pierced heart, called Her anyway. And He exalted Her also. He who is love Himself, who pours Himself out to us continuously through the Eucharist. He who humbles Himself to come into our Hearts at every Mass, will bring us the greatest peace and joy when we surrender our hearts to His will and His Love. He will never be out done in generosity and so when we give our Hearts He will give us 100 fold in return. Mt 19:29
After being with the Sisters of Life for nine months and in preparing to enter the novitiate, I have come to know beyond the theoretical, through the intimate encounter with Christ who is my love and the source of all I am, that when I fall into His arms, despite the pain of sacrifice, He will guide me and lead me and take care of all my loved ones. He will shower His grace into my heart and bring me joy and peace than I could have never imagined. We were worth His dying, we were worth His thinking us into existence. He who is the omnipotent, ruler of the universe and intimately gentle lover of our souls is worth all we can give to Him.
Just a year ago, I was sitting in my spiritual director’s office. I was in the depths of discernment, and when I say depths I mean deep dark places of confusion, uncertainty and doubt. If you have ever discerned any vocation or even asked God what His will is for something, I’m sure you have been in a similar place. (Aside: God wants us to trust Him totally because that is from where our greatest joy will come as He allows us to be emptied of everything so that He is all we have to cling to, as we realize His steadfast love and mercy). I had already applied to the Sisters of Life, and was awaiting a response from the Sisters. This particular day I was pouring out all the reasons I couldn’t be a Sister…
Giving up my dream of being a doctor, missing my family, not playing volleyball, not being around to watch my brother and sister grow up, not being around as my nephew grows up, being afraid of a forever commitment, asking my family to sacrifice as I go, not being present to my friends etc…
After listening intently to the list, a list he had heard many times from me, my Spiritual director simply and matter of factly asked… “ Is He worth it?”
Is He worth it? Is Christ who was calling me to Himself worth it? Is He worth the sacrifice of family and friends? Is He who came to us in a stable worth my stepping out into the unknown and unheard of? Is He who was stripped of His clothes worth my putting on blue and white forever? Is He who cared so little about money that He gave the money bag to Judas worth me renouncing all personal ownership and making a vow of poverty? Is He who was nailed to the Cross for me worth my nailing my heart to the Cross with His? Is He who gave me life worth my giving my life back to Him? Is He who called the children to Himself worth giving up marriage and bearing my own children? Is He worth it? It is a simple question and requires a simple answer with astronomical implications.
The truth is, He IS worth it. He who is Love Himself came to us, to become one with us. He came to us so that our humanity might be lifted up into his divinity, both now here on earth and eternally. He who knew more deeply the pain the pain of separation from His heavenly Father and His dear Mother, He who knew He was calling His mother to a pierced heart, called Her anyway. And He exalted Her also. He who is love Himself, who pours Himself out to us continuously through the Eucharist. He who humbles Himself to come into our Hearts at every Mass, will bring us the greatest peace and joy when we surrender our hearts to His will and His Love. He will never be out done in generosity and so when we give our Hearts He will give us 100 fold in return. Mt 19:29
After being with the Sisters of Life for nine months and in preparing to enter the novitiate, I have come to know beyond the theoretical, through the intimate encounter with Christ who is my love and the source of all I am, that when I fall into His arms, despite the pain of sacrifice, He will guide me and lead me and take care of all my loved ones. He will shower His grace into my heart and bring me joy and peace than I could have never imagined. We were worth His dying, we were worth His thinking us into existence. He who is the omnipotent, ruler of the universe and intimately gentle lover of our souls is worth all we can give to Him.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Discernment Meditation from the Sisters of Life
Anyone who desires to and has not yet visited the Sisters of Life, their next Come & See retreat will be March 13-16, 2008. If you are interested, please call Sr. Mary Gabriel or Sr. Kathrine Marie at 718.863.2264 to get more information.
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“Blessed by your sacrifice, strong in your love, O Christ, our grateful voices to you we raise…” So began, in glorious harmony, the recessional song of our community’s Thanksgiving Day Mass.
On this weekend, most people take time to acknowledge the many ways in which they are blessed; they recognize what they have been given and offer thanks through prayer, leisure with family and friends, and by helping the needy.
What does it mean to be blessed? To consider oneself “blessed” still connects to the holy for most people. It means receiving Divine favor, it means receiving good things. But the original meaning of the word “blessing” meant to be sprinkled with blood, as in the Old Testament, and therefore sanctified and brought into a sacred covenant with God (cf. Exodus 24:8). Like all things of God, a blessing is relational. To be blessed by God - to be given something by Him - is to be brought into relationship with Him. And that is the greatest reason to give thanks.
Thanksgiving for the Christian, the Catholic, is an everyday event, a crucial event. “Thanksgiving” is what the word “Eucharist” means. The Lord Jesus has made Himself for us a perpetual “thanksgiving” to the Father. It is He who has brought us reconciliation - a relationship of peace- with our Father in heaven. It is He who has made it possible for us to not only receive the love of the Father into eternity, but for us to respond to such abundant love with the gift of ourselves. It is He who makes our thanks to God meaningful.
This is so stunning a reality that it requires a certain drawing back in the midst of the recognition of our many blessings to contemplate the means through which they were made possible: through the Blood of Jesus. Our blessings are true because there is still a sprinkling of blood. We are blessed by His sacrifice. Jesus’ self-offering in love is for each of us the fulfillment of all God’s promises; the gateway to His and, through Him, our, resurrection. And thus we memorialize His Paschal mystery and offer Him to the Father at each Mass. Having received the blessing of God in Jesus, we are free to offer ourselves, in blessing, to the Father. The Catechism tells us that “when applied to man, the word "blessing" means adoration and surrender to his Creator in thanksgiving” (# 1078).
Only in the context of a loving relationship, a blessed relationship, with our Lord, are we able to surrender our very lives, our natural desires, our plans into His hands in following a vocation. Only in such a context are we able to become truly Eucharistic, saying to the Lord and to the Church: “This is my body, given for you…”
It’s easy to surrender to God, to give Him our “all” in the midst of consolation. But these moments pass. Each of us also knows moments when it’s not so easy; when we’re inclined to sorrow, distrust, or rebellion, even if hidden in one’s mind and heart. These dark times can cause us to distrust our own desires to love and serve the Lord. They can cause us to suffer spiritual memory loss of the many ways Jesus has revealed His amazing love to us. They can cause us to retreat from previous and authentic resolutions to surrender all into His loving hands.
But these moments of poverty are powerful opportunities for growth! When we choose to offer ourselves in love to the Lord during these times, we can be sure that it is truly ourselves we offer Him, and even the littlest gift made in darkness becomes most genuine, most meaningful. Our relationship with the Lord, our blessing, is still true, even if we don’t feel its reality. So what do we do? When discouraged, don’t run from your prayer life, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Be faithful and even more diligent in generosity. Take the time to be attentive to how much you have received, and make a litany of thanksgiving (for everything from family and friends to education and housing to your favorite Chinese food) to God. Recognize that even the difficult times are part of His blessing. Our Lord knows how much you have to give, and He praised the widow’s mite. Don’t be afraid to offer Him your own two pennies.
We have been blessed by the sacrifice of Christ, our King. As we began this weekend conscious of His gifts, we end it conscious of His Lordship. The sovereign One has handed Himself over to be emptied and broken for us that we might be blessed, healed. He has entered our lives, He walks with us, He makes our offering worthy. As we ponder the majesty of His Kingship, as we prepare for the humility of His Advent, let us surrender everything to Him without fear. He leads the way. May Jesus Christ be praised.
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“Blessed by your sacrifice, strong in your love, O Christ, our grateful voices to you we raise…” So began, in glorious harmony, the recessional song of our community’s Thanksgiving Day Mass.
On this weekend, most people take time to acknowledge the many ways in which they are blessed; they recognize what they have been given and offer thanks through prayer, leisure with family and friends, and by helping the needy.
What does it mean to be blessed? To consider oneself “blessed” still connects to the holy for most people. It means receiving Divine favor, it means receiving good things. But the original meaning of the word “blessing” meant to be sprinkled with blood, as in the Old Testament, and therefore sanctified and brought into a sacred covenant with God (cf. Exodus 24:8). Like all things of God, a blessing is relational. To be blessed by God - to be given something by Him - is to be brought into relationship with Him. And that is the greatest reason to give thanks.
Thanksgiving for the Christian, the Catholic, is an everyday event, a crucial event. “Thanksgiving” is what the word “Eucharist” means. The Lord Jesus has made Himself for us a perpetual “thanksgiving” to the Father. It is He who has brought us reconciliation - a relationship of peace- with our Father in heaven. It is He who has made it possible for us to not only receive the love of the Father into eternity, but for us to respond to such abundant love with the gift of ourselves. It is He who makes our thanks to God meaningful.
This is so stunning a reality that it requires a certain drawing back in the midst of the recognition of our many blessings to contemplate the means through which they were made possible: through the Blood of Jesus. Our blessings are true because there is still a sprinkling of blood. We are blessed by His sacrifice. Jesus’ self-offering in love is for each of us the fulfillment of all God’s promises; the gateway to His and, through Him, our, resurrection. And thus we memorialize His Paschal mystery and offer Him to the Father at each Mass. Having received the blessing of God in Jesus, we are free to offer ourselves, in blessing, to the Father. The Catechism tells us that “when applied to man, the word "blessing" means adoration and surrender to his Creator in thanksgiving” (# 1078).
Only in the context of a loving relationship, a blessed relationship, with our Lord, are we able to surrender our very lives, our natural desires, our plans into His hands in following a vocation. Only in such a context are we able to become truly Eucharistic, saying to the Lord and to the Church: “This is my body, given for you…”
It’s easy to surrender to God, to give Him our “all” in the midst of consolation. But these moments pass. Each of us also knows moments when it’s not so easy; when we’re inclined to sorrow, distrust, or rebellion, even if hidden in one’s mind and heart. These dark times can cause us to distrust our own desires to love and serve the Lord. They can cause us to suffer spiritual memory loss of the many ways Jesus has revealed His amazing love to us. They can cause us to retreat from previous and authentic resolutions to surrender all into His loving hands.
But these moments of poverty are powerful opportunities for growth! When we choose to offer ourselves in love to the Lord during these times, we can be sure that it is truly ourselves we offer Him, and even the littlest gift made in darkness becomes most genuine, most meaningful. Our relationship with the Lord, our blessing, is still true, even if we don’t feel its reality. So what do we do? When discouraged, don’t run from your prayer life, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Be faithful and even more diligent in generosity. Take the time to be attentive to how much you have received, and make a litany of thanksgiving (for everything from family and friends to education and housing to your favorite Chinese food) to God. Recognize that even the difficult times are part of His blessing. Our Lord knows how much you have to give, and He praised the widow’s mite. Don’t be afraid to offer Him your own two pennies.
We have been blessed by the sacrifice of Christ, our King. As we began this weekend conscious of His gifts, we end it conscious of His Lordship. The sovereign One has handed Himself over to be emptied and broken for us that we might be blessed, healed. He has entered our lives, He walks with us, He makes our offering worthy. As we ponder the majesty of His Kingship, as we prepare for the humility of His Advent, let us surrender everything to Him without fear. He leads the way. May Jesus Christ be praised.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Sisters of Life Discernment Meditation for October
Most High Gift of God
As we enter into the height of autumn here in New York, we are busy with a beautiful project the Lord has entrusted to us. At World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia, the Sisters of Life, the Knights of Columbus and the JPII Institutes will be hosting a powerhouse of awesome events at The Love and Life Site. The site is specifically dedicated to inspiring young people to passionately proclaim the beauty and truth of Human Life and Human Love. Together we will respond with a resounding "yes" to the Lord’s gifts of Love and Life.
In preparation for WYD, Pope Benedict XVI has invited young people to "observe how the Holy Spirit is the highest gift of God to humankind, and therefore the supreme testimony of his love for us, a love that is specifically expressed as the "yes to life" that God wills for each of his creatures." What does it mean to say that the Holy Spirit is the Most High Gift of God?
God gives us His Life. God wills our existence, breathing His very Spirit into our bodies and souls. God gives us His Love. Through the Holy Spirit, God pours His Love into our hearts. In the Mystery of the Trinity the Holy Spirit is the Love between the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is God’s own self-giving Love.
The Holy Spirit is the very principle of self-giving. In receiving the Holy Spirit we receive God’s Love for us and at the same time we are receiving the capacity to love as God loves; "self-giving" love. The Holy Spirit is "self-giving" and in whomever He touches, the Spirit creates a dynamism that leads that person, in turn, to be self-giving gift to others. The Holy Sprit is the one who gives us the capacity to make a gift of our own life and live it as a "living sacrifice." (Cantalamessa - Come Creator Spirit)
A person "cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself." (GS. 24) This is one of the most well-known lines from the Vatican II Documents. Does it not resonate true in your heart? In the experience of giving of yourself in love to another person - in genuine self sacrificing love for a family member or a friend, in purity to a man you have dated, through generous person to person volunteer service, in the witness of your married friends who deeply live the sacrament of marriage - you become more fully alive, you discover wonder and meaning in life, even in suffering, and you know a deep joy.
This is at the heart of being created in the image and likeness of God: we have been created for self-giving love. The fundamental vocation of every human person is to love. Ask the Lord, how are you calling me to love Lord? Whom are you calling me to Love? Our ultimate destiny is to enter into the total, mutual self-giving love of the Trinity.
As Consecrated Religious we make this loving gift of ourselves to Christ. This is only possible after we first open ourselves to receive His radical gift of himself to us through the Holy Spirit, receiving at the same time the capacity for self giving love, enabling us to make a gift of ourselves to Him in return.
Self-giving love is life giving. The self-giving love of spouses brings forth new life in their children. The self-giving love of a religious woman and her Spouse, Jesus, brings forth new life in souls.
Ask God to pour His love into your heart, and the Holy Spirit WILL give you the power of His self-giving love.
If you would like to know more about the amazing Adventure of Grace at WYD 2008 in Sydney check out http://www.blogger.com/www.lovelifelink.org <http://www.lovelifelink.org/> Spread the Good News and tell everyone you know - friends, family, campus minister, pastors, youth group leaders - look for the Love Life Site Down Under. It’s Time to Live.
Interested in finding out more about a vocation to the Sisters of Life? Contact Sr. Mary Gabriel, SV at St. Frances de Chantal Convent, 198 Hollywood AveBronx, NY 10465 (sorry - no email)
As we enter into the height of autumn here in New York, we are busy with a beautiful project the Lord has entrusted to us. At World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia, the Sisters of Life, the Knights of Columbus and the JPII Institutes will be hosting a powerhouse of awesome events at The Love and Life Site. The site is specifically dedicated to inspiring young people to passionately proclaim the beauty and truth of Human Life and Human Love. Together we will respond with a resounding "yes" to the Lord’s gifts of Love and Life.
In preparation for WYD, Pope Benedict XVI has invited young people to "observe how the Holy Spirit is the highest gift of God to humankind, and therefore the supreme testimony of his love for us, a love that is specifically expressed as the "yes to life" that God wills for each of his creatures." What does it mean to say that the Holy Spirit is the Most High Gift of God?
God gives us His Life. God wills our existence, breathing His very Spirit into our bodies and souls. God gives us His Love. Through the Holy Spirit, God pours His Love into our hearts. In the Mystery of the Trinity the Holy Spirit is the Love between the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit is God’s own self-giving Love.
The Holy Spirit is the very principle of self-giving. In receiving the Holy Spirit we receive God’s Love for us and at the same time we are receiving the capacity to love as God loves; "self-giving" love. The Holy Spirit is "self-giving" and in whomever He touches, the Spirit creates a dynamism that leads that person, in turn, to be self-giving gift to others. The Holy Sprit is the one who gives us the capacity to make a gift of our own life and live it as a "living sacrifice." (Cantalamessa - Come Creator Spirit)
A person "cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself." (GS. 24) This is one of the most well-known lines from the Vatican II Documents. Does it not resonate true in your heart? In the experience of giving of yourself in love to another person - in genuine self sacrificing love for a family member or a friend, in purity to a man you have dated, through generous person to person volunteer service, in the witness of your married friends who deeply live the sacrament of marriage - you become more fully alive, you discover wonder and meaning in life, even in suffering, and you know a deep joy.
This is at the heart of being created in the image and likeness of God: we have been created for self-giving love. The fundamental vocation of every human person is to love. Ask the Lord, how are you calling me to love Lord? Whom are you calling me to Love? Our ultimate destiny is to enter into the total, mutual self-giving love of the Trinity.
As Consecrated Religious we make this loving gift of ourselves to Christ. This is only possible after we first open ourselves to receive His radical gift of himself to us through the Holy Spirit, receiving at the same time the capacity for self giving love, enabling us to make a gift of ourselves to Him in return.
Self-giving love is life giving. The self-giving love of spouses brings forth new life in their children. The self-giving love of a religious woman and her Spouse, Jesus, brings forth new life in souls.
Ask God to pour His love into your heart, and the Holy Spirit WILL give you the power of His self-giving love.
If you would like to know more about the amazing Adventure of Grace at WYD 2008 in Sydney check out http://www.blogger.com/www.lovelifelink.org <http://www.lovelifelink.org/> Spread the Good News and tell everyone you know - friends, family, campus minister, pastors, youth group leaders - look for the Love Life Site Down Under. It’s Time to Live.
Interested in finding out more about a vocation to the Sisters of Life? Contact Sr. Mary Gabriel, SV at St. Frances de Chantal Convent, 198 Hollywood AveBronx, NY 10465 (sorry - no email)
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Discernment Meditation
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Sr. Mary Gabriel, SV, Vocations Director for the Sisters of Life, sent me her discernment meditation for this month (below) as well as the above picture of their 12 new postulants including our son's Godmother, Stephanie (too bad they're not attracting any young women to their order - and the ones they did attract look so sad - it's a shame).
On the last World Day of Consecrated Life Pope Benedict XVI reminded those who follow Jesus in living the evangelical counsels that, "in choosing Christ we let ourselves by ‘conquered’ by Him without reserve…"
The word ‘conquer’ means "to take possession by force." We don’t tend to think of Jesus as ‘conquering’ because He comes as a Lamb and not as a wolf. We don’t tend to think of the Holy Spirit of Jesus as ‘possessing’ us because Jesus does not enslave us but sets us free. The force Jesus uses to conquer is the force of His love. Jesus desires that we allow His love to conquer and take possession of each of us - the whole of our person - that we might know and participate in His salvation; that we might be sons and daughters of the Most High God, able to love and forgive and live as He does.
The Scriptural passage we use in reference to vocations and to our charism is "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." But this isn’t the whole of the passage. As a whole, Jn 10:10 reads, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." When we allow Jesus to come into our hearts to give us abundant life, He must "break into" the personal and intimate dimensions of our lives. While a thief does such "only to steal and kill and destroy" Jesus does so to give us life and to give it to us abundantly. Jesus conquers with His Love. Nevertheless, with Jesus there is an experience of a "taking" from us, which can be uncomfortable, especially in the beginning when we only know the harshness of the world’s taking and do not yet know the peace and joy that come from "losing our lives" for the sake of Jesus. As the Lord leads us closer to Him, it isn’t unusual to experience moments of trepidation that demand new depths of trust in Him. But, as Pope Benedict reminded us at World Youth Day in Cologne: "If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great… Be completely convinced of this: Christ takes from you nothing that is beautiful and great, but brings everything to perfection …"
Since the Garden of Eden it’s been difficult to totally place ourselves in the hands of another, and of the Other. But our current culture teaches us, even subconsciously, to guard our ‘lives’ - read: our wants and will - with vengeance. We daily see and hear messages about the human person that smell of violation, through pornography or cruelty or both. The images and words that spur us to ‘take’ simultaneously nail down the fear that we will be ‘taken’. It’s a recipe for a cycle of unfulfilled unhappiness. This fear is wrapped around the contraceptive industry, the abortion industry, the euthanasia industry. Aspects of life designed to invite us into beautiful mutual vulnerability have become, for some, moments of rejection of the other for the sake of self. But the fear that propels such actions isn’t just felt by those entrenched in the culture of death. "The truth is we are all very much captive to powers that anonymously manipulate us!" So says Pope Benedict in his latest book, Jesus of Nazareth. The violation of our sacred dignity begins in the historical context in which we find ourselves. It’s as if a tea bag of violation has been plopped into the hot waters of our culture and there it steeps, and we all drink of it in varying degrees. Interestingly, the thesaurus gives as an antonym to "violation" the word "consecration."
And those who are consecrated, beginning with all the baptized and more radically with religious (so all of us), are to so allow Jesus and His Spirit to conquer us, to possess us, that we become contagious, living antonyms to the violation of the human person so present in our world. Letting the Lord conquer us means giving ourselves totally to Jesus, day in and day out, even and especially when fidelity to His love demands what is difficult for us. Such a consecrated life, a conquered life, has a powerful effect on the world. For the first thing Jesus takes away from us is sin: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…" (Eucharistic Prayer). He takes away our sins, "so vanquishing them as to rob them of any substance or reality…" (Pope Benedict XVI). And in place of our sins, He gives us Himself, His Holy Spirit. As His Spirit frees us, strengthens us, lifts us up, so His Spirit in us offers a whiff of fresh air to those otherwise choking in the smog of sin. The more deeply we live our consecration, whether baptismal or religious, the more powerful a purifier we become - the more our very presence (actually Jesus’ presence in us) can draw others and help others to experience restoration and renewal (new life) where sin and darkness have violated their dignity and sown death.
We pray and trust our consecrated religious lives as Sisters of Life has just such effect! And now we have a new city and country in which to let the Holy Spirit conquer through us! At the end of August, three of our Sisters, Sr. Antoniana Maria, Sr. Monica Faustina and Sr. Mary Clare, became pioneers in our community when they were missioned to our first International foundation in Toronto, Canada. As they departed from our hub here in New York, I was reminded of the millions of courageous and generous religious throughout the history of the Church (even until the middle of last century), who, when following a call from the Lord, left all that was familiar to them knowing that they would never see their friends and family again on earth. Many of these brave lovers of Christ went to meet their martyrdom. How so many of these, now in Heaven, must be cheering our Sisters on as they follow what is deepest in all of our hearts: to be missionaries of the Lord of Life and Love to the ends of the earth, giving everything to Jesus and not counting the cost! May each of us allow Jesus’ love to so conquer us that we joyfully offer our lives, in whatever way He calls us, for His glory, our joy and for the salvation of souls!
In the midst of the announcement and preparation for this new mission, our community was blessed with the awesome gifts of still other members diving to deeper depths in their own response to Christ’s love. Only in the context of His love do we have the courage and joy to live radically for Him. In June, four new novices (Sr. Joan Marie, Sr. Maris Stella, Sr. Brigid Ancilla Marie and Sr. Mary Aquinas) were invested in the habit of the Sisters of Life. The more we allow the Holy Spirit, the Love of God, to quench our thirst, the more our thirst for Him increases until nothing can satisfy but Him alone. In the beginning of August, four of our Sisters professed perpetual vows (Sr. Rita Marie, Sr. Veronica Mary, Sr. Bridget of Jesus and Sr. Mary Gabriel) and two professed first vows (Sr. Bernadette Maria Pieta and Sr. Maria Emmanuel). And, just two weeks ago, 12 young women entered our community as postulants: Beth Burwell, Laura Dierschke, Therese Dorobek, Mary Germann, Sandra McIver, Maria Pereyra, Stephanie Ray, Kelly Schulz, Leslee Simms, Jennifer Swan, Jen Takach and Rachel Yates. How blessed we are by the love Jesus has poured into their hearts! May they become saints for Him, fountains of new life in the world. Please pray for them as they live their fiat. Following the Lord, loving the Lord, is awesome, but it is demanding. Jesus takes away our sins, but He also desires to take away whatever might keep us from loving Him alone and above all else. Do not be afraid to let Him into every corner of your being, to follow Him in your thoughts, words, actions and with your life. For, while a thief comes "only to steal and kill and destroy" Jesus comes "to give life and to give it abundantly." And what a Life He gives! May His Name be praised.
"… whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead." (Phil. 3: 7-11)
Please let us know if you would like to attend our next Come & See Retreat: Nov 8-11, 2007 at Villa Maria Guadalupe!
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