November is a month that U.S. Americans traditionally express our gratitude through the celebration of Thanksgiving. This year is special because the month also honors Catholic sisters and nuns. For the past few months, people have been sending in letters to thankyousister.com expressing their gratitude and support of women religious. Now in the month of November, those letters are being published on the same website and also sent to various leaders in the Catholic Church.
Here’s part of one of the letters posted yesterday:
“Over the past seven years, I have had regular contact with Sisters of Mercy. Before I met them, I had never before met a Sister and I’d had almost no contact with Catholics. I’d had a lot of prejudices against Catholics, and I’d expected them to be mean, narrow, simple-minded, and incredibly rigid.
I was delighted to see all of the prejudices of my early years quickly dispelled by the Sisters of Mercy I’ve met and worked with over these many years. The women I have met have been genuinely warm, hospitable, intelligent, well-spoken, deeply religious and spiritual, and they live out the tenets of their faith in such a way that gives me great hope for Christianity. They do not ask what one’s faith is before they give healing or love; they offer their help to all who come to them, regardless of denomination or religion.”
It is a delight to read these letters and to celebrate the lives of so many women who have given their lives to the quest for God and to living the Gospel of Jesus. And it is inspiring to see how people have been transformed through their encounter with sisters — and how sisters have been transformed through their encounter with those whom they seek to serve!
Who (anyone, not just a sister!) has had a transformative influence in your life? What gift have they given you?
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Join us this evening for Praying with the Sisters podcast — 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) at http://anunslife.org/live. We’ll pray with today’s readings from the Bible and take time for prayer requests.
Any remember, Friday is now dedicated to your questions about a nun’s life, prayer, ministry, and everything but the convent sink! Ask your questions through the week and we’ll respond to them during the Ask Sister podcast on Friday at 6 p.m. Central Time
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I have recently come out of a depression. While I was depressed I quit doing everything that mattered most to me; playing flute, singing, dancing, etc. Actually I was forced to give up the flute, and my dreams of becoming a professional flutist due to an injury, which is what caused me to become depressed in the first place. The flute was such an integral part of my life since childhood; it was my identity and my comfort. So to have to give that up after it had been the most important part of my life for 12 years was devastating to me. It was about two years ago that I felt better enough to take up singing again and re-joined the church choir. Sister Theresa was always encouraging me to sing and kept complimenting me. Whenever you are depressed your self esteem takes a big hit and it’s hard to get that back. She didn’t know my situation and I never told her, but her constant encouragement really helped me to heal and to take pleasure in singing once more. I am now slowly healing enough to play the flute again, although dreams of symphony orchestras and concert tours are still firmly in the past, I can enjoy playing just for me 10-15 minutes per day. A drastic drop from the 5-8 hours I used to play but God has blessed me with other graces, including singing with Sister Theresa. God bless and have a great evening.
Many thanks, Jeannie. Depression is a tough, tough thing to deal with. I’m glad for you that Sister Theresa is in your life and that you are healing. Hang in there, Jeannie — from a former clarinet player!
This seems a particularly special day to thank all IHMs–it’s FOUNDERS DAY! For those interested, check out this site for a bit of background…: http://www.ihmsisters.org/www/About_Us/History/founders.asp
Happy Founders Day, especially to Julie and Max!