Our last move fit in a 17' truck. Might be time for an upgrade!

We have always know the Holy Spirit was in the lead of A Nun’s Life Ministry. Our role has been to keep up with where the Spirit is taking us. When the Spirit pointed us in the direction of Toledo, Ohio, we were a little surprised!

Sure we knew that the ministry was expanding like loaves and fishes but we only had one basket! It’s difficult to fit an 8-channel mixer, a 5-drawer steel file cabinet, and 3 desks in a single basket!

So when we started looking for a new space, we went out with an open mind, took in all the possibilities, and found ourselves in Toledo, Ohio!

So really, why Toledo?

• We can say “Holy Toledo” all the time.
• We’ll be at the edge of the Great Black Swamp, a glacially-caused wetland in northwest Ohio.
• An homage to Teresa of Avila who journeyed from her home in Avila to set up a new monastery in Toledo, Spain.
• Because we can go to Tony Packo’s, famous hotdogs made even more famous by Jamie Farr, a.k.a., Corporal Max Klinger on M*A*S*H*.

Oh, yeah, and a divine office that is the answer to our prayers!

Since our move will take place the second and third week of April, you can expect to see lots of moving footage as well as a couple paint-splattered nuns. We also plan to do a “moving edition” of Ask Sister to capture all the joys and tribulations of moving. If you are on Facebook, be sure to “Like” us at Facebook.com/aNunsLife where you’ll find regular real-time updates. The ministry will continue even through the move with regular blog posts, forum conversations, chat, and Praying with the Sisters.

Please keep us in your prayers as we sort, pack, and move!

Here’s your chance to do your holiday shopping AND help out A Nun’s Life Ministry. We’ve partnered with iGive.com so that whenever you use their search engine or shop at stores that have signed up with them, A Nun’s Life gets a donation!

Here are some stores that you may be using already (plus there are many, many more!):

Click here to begin at iGive.com. Many thanks for all the ways that you support our ministry! You can also donate directly to A Nun’s Life or become a corporate sponsor.

Here we are, October 31. To those in the United States and a few other shadowy places, it is the dark night of the souls a.k.a Halloween. But to everyone else, it’s just an ordinary, non-scary day where everything seems normal …. or so they think.

Through the ministry of A Nun’s Life, now EVERYONE can experience the drama of

… TERRIFYING concepts like discernment, docility, and diffractometers (“Noooooo, anything but the D words!”)

… nuns whose off-key attempts at singing will HORRIFY you and make you CURSE the day you came into the world wide web

… CREEPY SPIDERS crawling all over our website in search of information on the activities and metadata of those CRAZY nuns

… and all kinds of awe-inspiring God CANDY and perhaps even a few TREATS along the way!

Spider Man + Flying Nun = SPIDER NUN! Spider Nun says, "Donate Now!"

Give to a ministry that tries to make you smile even on a day when, at any moment, we could be overrun by ZOMBIES.

DONATE NOW by clicking FUNDRAISER or the SPIDER NUN photo!

And, join us tonight for prayer at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) today … prayer will be necessary because then we are going to have a special guest on air with a VERY DRAMATIC kickoff to the FUN!raiser! It’s all happening at aNunsLife.org/live!

DISCLAIMER: Although many songs were killed in the making of this ministry, no nuns, spiders, zombies, or potatoes were harmed.

Announcing the first annual A Nun’s Life Ministry FUN!raiser! The nuns are going to put the “FUN” in fundraising! Be sure to tune in to aNunsLife.org all this week and then on our “dramatic” kickoff on October 31, Halloween night (6 p.m. CST) and throughout the FUN!raiser November 1-9.

The theme is “All Saints, All The Time” which ties in perfectly with the official start on November 1, All Saints Day. We’ll focus on saints and saintly topics throughout the FUN!raiser. We’ll also have special events including an iPad 2 Giveaway, live broadcasts with religious rock stars Sister Sandra Schneiders and Father James Martin on the saints, a 9-day novena meditation on the saints, a “pawcast” featuring Sister Chloe the Convent Cat and her furry, scaly, feathery friends, and more! For more info on the FUN!raiser and to donate, check out the official FUN!raiser HQ at anunslife.org/fundraiser.

This is an opportunity for you to support A Nun’s Life Ministry, to say, “Yes, this ministry makes a difference in my life and in the world. I want to play a part in ensuring it keeps on rockin’!” A Nun’s Life has been there when you’ve secretly researched becoming a nun, when you hit a low point in life, when you wondered about what extreme unction had to do with anything, when you wanted friends to connect with on ideas and issues important to you, and more.

Now we need your help. Your financial support helps ensure that you can listen to our daily podcasts; read about Catholic nuns today, spirituality and theology, religious life, and living the Gospel in daily life; interact on an engaging discussion forum; pray daily with a community of faith that spans the globe; and more.

A Nun’s Life is an innovative ministry with a compassionate presence that encourages people to connect more deeply with God and one another and to live fully one’s vocation in life. We are online pilgrims — women and men, young and old, who strive to live the Gospel and seek God through faith, ministry, and community. For more information about the ministry, check the links below or peruse the A Nun’s Life Ministry brochure.

And please, SPREAD THE WORD! Invite your friends, your pets, the organization where you work, your neighbor’s mother-in-law, your cousin’s doctor, and the guy in front of you in line at the grocery store!

Sister Julie and Sister Maxine are going to World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain! World Youth Day is an experience with people worldwide and with the Pope. It is celebrated every three years in a different country. This year it will be celebrated in Madrid from August 16th to 21st, 2011.

We received a grant to go to Madrid with our broadcast equipment and two broadcasting professionals from our A Nun’s Life community. We’re going to connect with, listen to, and record the stories of young people and religious from across the globe. We’ll explore how people experience God’s calling and the many different ways this calling is incarnate!

Not only are we going to record video and audio, but we are going to BROADCAST LIVE from World Youth Day! That’s right, you’ve seen us broadcast live every weekday from the A Nun’s Life Studio, now witness the MOBILE STUDIO in action! Our main broadcast days will be August 16, 17, and 18. Now there is a bit of a time difference with Madrid being ahead by 7 hours as compared to Chicago (e.g., 12 noon in Chicago is 7 p.m. in Madrid). Check your time zone!

We don’t know exactly what the schedule is but we’ll be sending updates via Twitter, Facebook, and our A Nun’s Life eNewsletter … so be sure to follow, friend, and/or subscribe!

We’ll send another update soon and are in the midst of creating our NL-WYD webpage.
08/08/2011 UPDATE: NL-WYD webpage now available at anunslife.org/wyd.

If you are going to WYD, be sure to let us know and maybe we can rendezvous in Madrid. If you have special prayers that you’d like us to tuck beneath our mantles, let us know too. Use the comment section below!

And please spread the word that BROADCASTING NUNS ARE GOING TO WYD!

We are delighted to announce that YOUR forum is here! The A Nun’s Life Community Forum is up and running and ready for you to use!

Carry on conversations inspired by the blog, podcasts, or chat room or strike up a new conversation about something of interest to you! We invite you to check it out, register (it’s free and easy!), and start exploring!

You’ll have lots of folks around to hang out with and to help navigate the new forum. We’d like to introduce you to two of the NL Community Forum moderators: Marsha West and Marguerite Krupp. Both have been members of the NL community for a while and both have professional expertise in facilitating the online community experience. We are truly blessed. Our thanks go out to them and to all the folks who have helped along the way including KCMayrie, Dominic our forum designer, the folks at vBulletin.org, and the Holy Spirit!

To access the forum, simply go to anunslife.org/forum or click on the menu item FORUM at the top of every page or on the home page of this website. For those of you who were members of the A Nun’s Life Vocation Forum in the past, we have integrated the forum within this one — to join the Vocation Forum, you must be discerning and request access from Sister Julie or Sister Maxine. Details are on the forum.

Let us know what you think, and any ideas, questions, inspirations you have about the forum itself or the A Nun’s Life Community! And be sure to spread the word far and wide inviting people to check out the new forum. Use the handy social media links below or send an email or shout from a rooftop!

YAY for NUNS! A Nun’s Life Ministry and our Benedictine friend, Sister Christine Ereiser, are mentioned in this article from Ad Age Digital. Check it out!

What Nuns, Yes Nuns, Can Teach You About Social Media
The Sisters Are Tweeting, and Using Social Media for Social Good
by Bernhard Warner

Warner highlights the following things nuns can teach folks about social media:

• Ethics.
• Commitment.
• The power of doing.
• Values.
• The power of listening.
• The power of creativity.

For prayer today, visit our Praying with the Sisters page for a recording of today’s readings and reflection.

We love the Genesis readings from last week, especially the parts where God says, “Let there be …” and then light oceans, earth, vegetation, creatures, and other things appear. God speaks a word, and the word becomes incarnate!

No Quincy students were injured in this renovation. Bruises and sore muscles excluded.

A Nun’s Life Ministry has had its own day of creation — a new office space. Until now we’ve been operating happily out of our convent dining room but the ministry is beginning to grow beyond that space and taking over our kitchen, living room, and even Chloe the Convent Cat has had to downsize in order to accommodate the growth of A Nun’s Life! Lest microphones and computers and various gizmos take over the whole of the convent, we discerned that it was time to get an office of our own.

We are so excited for this new moment in A Nun’s Life history and we look forward to the many new surprises up ahead. As we move into our new space, many of you have asked how you can help. Some of you have helped with painting and with moving Sister Mildred the File Cabinet. Some of you have shared your expertise, prayers, and sheckles. Upon a number of people’s urging, we were asked to put together a wishlist of things needed for the office and ministry. Thus was created the A Nun’s Life Wishlist via Amazon which you can access easily at aNunsLife.org/wishlist. You can also donate directly to the ministry via PayPal at aNunsLife.org/donate. A Nun’s Life Ministry relies on the support and encouragement of you, the NL community. Thank you for being co-creators with us!

For prayer today, visit our Praying with the Sisters page for a recording of today’s readings and reflection.

The Sisters of A Nun’s Life wish you a blessed Christmas. May the new life of Christ be with you and all of your family and loved ones. We hold you in our heart and in our prayers.

One of the members of our online community here made this video for us last Christmas and we loved it so much we are posting it again. Enjoy!

Now you can become one with the nuns with your very own A Nun’s Life apparel and accessories. Shop A Nun’s Life Gift Shop today! All proceeds benefit A Nun’s Life Ministry, helping people discover and grow in their vocation, that is, their life’s calling, by engaging questions about God, faith, and religious life.

These one-of-a-kind items are perfect for gifts for others and for yourself! Don’t miss the classic “Equipped for Mission” T-shirt featuring original artwork by the fabulous artist Anni Betts.

We’ve also got “Nuns in the Hood” Hoodies, pens and pencils, WWSD sticky pads (what would Sister do?), and more.

This is our first venture into offering A Nun’s Life stuff. We welcome your suggestions and ideas about the gift shop and about items you’d like to see here!

And don’t forget … spread the word!

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

We were so inspired by web guru Avinash Kaushik‘s suggestions about using connecting one’s blog with Twitter and Facebook that we did some tweaking to our website. Look for the following icons on every page.

Please try these out, especially the Facebook and Twitter ones. Find a page on the website that you’d like to share with your friends and followers. You’ll also notice a Tweet counter and a Facebook Share counter. These are to get us all motivated to tweet and share the love!

Here’s what each icon does:

• Share on Facebook – Share with your Facebook friends any aNunsLife.org page and ask them things like, “Did you know that nuns keep grilled cheese sandwiches in their pockets?!”
• Tweet the article – Click on the Twitter icon at the end of the article in order to share it with your Twitter followers. For example, invite followers to join you in the chat room.
• Save the Fave on your computer – Whether they are your “favorites” or “bookmarks” just click here and boom! it’s saved on your Internet browser.
• Save the Fave on Google – Similar as the above, but uses Google’s web-based bookmarking service as opposed to saving it on your local computer.
• Print the page – Even though we like saving trees, we know printing happens. This is nice and printer-friendly. The same click will also give you the option to save the page as a PDF.
• Email your buds – Email a friend or two or ten whenever you come across some juicy or inspiring tidbit here at aNunsLife.org.

What other ideas do you have for helping us keep connected with you and reaching out to others online .. or offline!?

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Happy Feast of Saint John of the Cross! Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

I am getting ready to head to a national conference on vocations here in Chicago so I thought for today, I’d highlight some “oldies but goodies” of stuff we’ve had on A Nun’s Life website. These are some of my favorites.

VIDEO: Sister Joyce Durosko, IHM, on Are you open to being surprised by God?

BIKE ADVICE: Ride Like a Nun … Sister Julie offers advice to a world-class cyclist Emma Pooley who currently rides for Cervélo TestTeam.

STORM CHASER: Sister Maxine, the Storm Chasing Nun … not sure what she wouldn’t do to get good video footage!

ROADKILL: Can you find Sister Julie’s unfortunate reference to Fried Roadkill? Yup, it’s that unpredictable when you’re doing a live broadcast!

NUN ON A PLANE: Think Snakes on a Plane was a good flick? I think they should make Nun on a Plane. Even better.

BABY MEDITATION: Eat. Poop. Play. Sleep. Rinse. Repeat. Inspired by my little nephew, Simon.

Let us know via the comment box below what some of your faves are and why! Note: You’ll find many “odd” ones in the category “random writing“.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

With two new podcast series starting in September, Sister Maxine and Sister Julie are bringing you the most interesting people and topics around spirituality, ministry, discernment, social media, vocations, and more!

In a few short weeks, we are launching two new monthly podcast series. These live, interview-style programs will be broadcast live on our website. You are invited to join the conversation with us and our guests via our chat room during the live show. You can also submit questions ahead of time for our guests.

Here’s a glimpse of the two programs:

In Good Faith features guests who are nationally known for their ministry in spirituality, religious life, and discernment. The program will run every first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. CST.

Our first show will be on September 2, 2010, and feature Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM. Sister Sandra is a leading authority on Catholic women’s religious life and a frequent contributor to Catholic periodicals, as well as a renowned author. She is professor emerita of scripture spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley where she teaches courses such as biblical spirituality, Christian spirituality and religious life.

On October 7 we’ll be talking with Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson, a professor of history at Maxwell School of Syracuse University, where she also holds appointments in the departments of religion, political science, and women and gender studies. Peggy is the leading expert on the history of women’s religious life in the United States.

We’ll be adding more information to the In Good Faith program page and our podcast schedule soon!

Digital Ministry focuses on using Internet technologies and social media for ministry. The program is a mix of things covering technique, technology, and theology in order to enhance one’s capacity to do ministry, to witness to the Gospel in everyday life on the Internet. The program will run every second Thursday of the month at 3 p.m. CST.

Our first show will be on September 9, 2010, and feature Ms. Lisa Hendey, founder and editor of CatholicMom.com, author of The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul, freelance writer, and website designer. Lisa is one of the leading figures in Catholic social media today.

On October 14 we’ll be talking with Father Andy Alexander, SJ, and Ms. Maureen McCann Waldron, partners at Creighton University’s Collaborative Ministry Office and Online Ministries. Father Andy and Maureen have done extensive ministry in tending to people’s spiritual hunger in the digital world.

We’ll be adding more information to the Digital Ministry program page and our podcast schedule soon!

We are able to provide these programs free to listeners because of sponsor support. If you would like to sponsor In Good Faith or Digital Ministry, visit our Become a Sponsor page for more information.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

Are you ready for A Nun’s Life Ministry 2.0? Like the Kindom of God it is “already but not yet”! We’ve redesigned the site, added a new podcast series (plus another new series on the way), started broadcasting via a live video stream (“I see nuns!”) for Praying with the Sisters and Ask Sister, and upgraded the chat room. Plus we’ve done lots of behind the scenes things with technology and organization.

Tomorrow you will experience yet another new moment in A Nun’s Life history. Sister Maxine (whom many of you know via the podcasts and various events) will be joining me as a blogger! Sister Maxine will be blogging right here every Wednesday about anything related to a nun’s life — which covers just about everything! I am delighted to have my IHM sister and A Nun’s Life partner as a sister blogger. To welcome Sister Maxine, please be sure to stop by the blog tomorrow and join in conversation with her, me, and other visitors!

Let us know what you’d like us to write about on the blog or talk about on the podcast! What social media or form of technology would you like us to use or use more of (see icons at the top of the sidebar for links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and RSS)?

Our mission continues to be helping people discover and grow in their vocation, that is, their life’s calling, by engaging questions about God, faith, and religious life. Through this we also raise awareness about who Catholic sisters and nuns are today. Your prayers, support, and donations are greatly appreciated.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for prayer today via our live podcast “Praying with the Sisters” and chat room. Just before 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone) join us at http://aNunsLife.org/LIVE … more info on that page.

A Nun’s Life Ministry is the home of daily blog posts and live podcasts; a community of spiritual seekers and friends; the Vocation Forum for people exploring God’s call in their life, the Community Forum for 24/7 conversation on topics of your choice; resources on discernment, becoming a Catholic sister or nun, prayer, spirituality, Catholic faith, and religious life; connections to religious communities across the globe; and last but not least, “the nuns” – Sister Maxine and Sister Julie (and don’t forget Sister Chloe the Convent Cat!).

We’ve recently crossed the 1,000th blog post mark, added a brand new podcast on ministering using social media, redesigned the website, and planned a few more surprises! We are growing and expanding to continue to serve the online community, to raise awareness about the adventure of religious life, and to walk with people on their spiritual journeys.

We are at a critical moment in our growth and we need your help to continue so this ministry. As we grow we need to tend to our budget for all the stuff that makes A Nun’s Life possible. Please take a moment and donate to A Nun’s Life Ministry.

There are two ways you can donate now:

1. Donate with a credit card or PayPal account:

2. Send a check to A Nun’s Life Ministry:

A Nun’s Life Ministry
PO Box 44
Steger, IL 60475

For any donation above $10 we will send you a highly collectible   A Nun’s Life bumper sticker that can be affixed to pretty much anything! Just make sure to include an address we can send it to! (Colors are a bit more purplish than what is shown in the image.)

Please know that any support you can offer is greatly appreciated. Be part of this exciting, innovative way of living the Gospel today!

In the spirit of Lenten anticipation, we welcome you to the “almost but not yet” new website at aNunsLife.org!

It’s “almost” because the new structure and design are up and running. It’s “not yet” because, well, the it’s not finished yet. We’ve got links and articles to add, a couple of new gizmos to find, and lots of stuff to test–you get the idea. We hope you’ll be part of the process. Let us know what you think about the look, the content, and the navigation of the site. Got suggestions or ideas? We’d love to hear them! Send us an email.

Peace,
Sister Julie and Sister Maxine

A Nun’s Life Ministry — building community in the context of faith and prayer.

Greetings and happy Monday after Christmas! I’m hanging out in the Buffalo, New York, airport with free Boingo wireless (thanks, Google!) and about 45 minutes before we start boarding.

I had a wonderful Christmas with my sister and her family, my parents, and friends and family. And Sister Maxine is headed back from her family home too and will be picking me up in Chicago. We’ll both be on the air tonight at 6 p.m. Central Time (click for your timezone) for our regularly scheduled Praying with the Sisters Podcast. Join us!

Speaking of podcasts, I am delighted to announce that A Nun’s Life Podcasts are now  available on iTunes! Right before Christmas we worked with Cliff Ravenscraft of PodcastAnswerMan.com on creating an RSS feed for our podcasts and submitting it to iTunes. With his help we were approved and are up and running on iTunes! He also helped us with a few other bits of technology to help us improve our podcasting skills and technology. If ever you need help with podcasting, definitely check out Cliff and tell him Sister Julie sent you!

Here’s our iTunes link: A Nun’s Life Podcasts on iTunes

We only got a couple past ones up but will have other soon. Be sure to subscribe. If you are not an iTunes user, you can also use these links:

This is only the first of enhancements to our ministry that we’ll be bringing to you. We’ve got some other cool stuff planned and, as always, will maintain the hospitality and warmth of A Nun’s Life! And I’ll be back to blogging on a regular schedule!

Peace and all good things to you!

As A Nun’s Life Ministry grows, I’ve begun learning more and more about entrepreneurship and what it’s like to grow an organization from the ground up! I recently picked up Martha Stewart’s  book The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Grow, or Manage a Business because she’s not only a great source of creative ideas for food, gardening, and organizing, but she has such a good entrepreneurial spirit and insights.

A Nun’s Life Ministry is becoming a bit of an entrepreneurial enterprise. We started as a humble blog with no anticipated readers and now we’ve grown to a website with podcasts, a blog, live chat, a forum, and lots of links and resources. As I write this we are engaged in a process to redesign our website to make it easier to get around and to participate in our community here. We are also planning “offline” ways of connecting as well as more online ways.

We are actively seeking — and receiving, thanks be to God! — grants and donations to help our ministry grow so that we can continue to be present to you in the same ways and in new ways! We’ve got a faithful reader who donates $5 each month religiously, and we’ve got others who make one-time donations when they can. And we’re beginning to look at other ways such as offering both tons of free stuff (the blog, articles, podcasts, etc.) and a subscription service to additional podcasts, articles, etc. to help cover the costs. Our goal is to turn A Nun’s Life Ministry into a self-sustaining ministry. If you have any ideas, or in-kind gifts or services, or financial help that you’d like to use to help us grow, we’d love to hear from you.

And of course, let us know what you’d like to see, listen to, and experience at A Nun’s Life Ministry?

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Join A Nun’s Life community for prayer at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone). Tomorrow is the Ask Sister Podcast. If you have questions for us, please email them to us at sister (@) anunslife (.) org.

The community here at A Nun’s Life is growing each day! Many of you read our blog posts, join our podcasts, interact with one another in our chat room and forum. As we actively plan for the future, we’d love to have your input on what you like, what you’d like to see more of, and new things you’d like us to try. Our ministry is for you so your input is invaluable! Please take a moment to jot down a couple thoughts on one or more questions using the comment box below (or replying by email if you are an email subscriber).

1. My favorite part of A Nun’s Life Ministry is …..
2. I would love to see more on ….. (particular topic)
3. It’d be great if A Nun’s Life used more … (particular kind of social media, e.g., twitter, video).
4. I would tune in every single week to a podcast by nuns if the podcast was about … or resembled the NPR show …. or had a format like …
5. For a live podcast, the best time of day is ….. and my best day of the week is ….
6. I’ve listened to one of your podcasts (Praying with the Sisters, Nun News Roundup, or a special interview) and I would encourage you to …

Many thanks for you input! I know it’s not always convenient to do a survey like this, but please know how helpful it is to us. Feel free to provide us with any other helpful feedback.

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Join us for prayer today at noon Central Time at http://anunslife.org/live.

Amidst all the discussion on and reality of the Apostolic Visitation of U.S. Catholic Sisters and of the doctrinal assessment, there are some really cool things out there that affirm the beauty and adventure of religious life and the women who living this life here in the United States. Here are a couple of examples:

• Women and Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America – “a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in association with Cincinnati Museum Center. It reveals the mystery behind a small group of innovative American women who helped shape the nation’s social and cultural landscape.”
• Thank You, Sister – a letter-writing campaign by “those of us who have been served by or served with women religious to stand in support and express our gratitude for these women who have given us so much.”

A Nun’s Life Ministry is in full support of Catholic sisters and nuns. Our ministry is devoted to connecting with people, to helping folks discern their vocation, and to presenting accurate and authentic information and images of Catholic sisters and nuns in today’s world.

Sister Maxine and I were recently at a Catholic conference in Chicago and gave out “I support Sisters and Nuns” buttons. We still have some left and are offering them now for a small donation of $3 a piece. Donations above and beyond that goes 100% into our ministry. Our goal is to get these buttons circulating across the country and beyond. Supplies are limited but if we have any $ left over, we’ll print another round.

How do you get your button? Send us your name and address, # of buttons, and donation via PayPal with a click of the donate button. It’s not necessary to have a PayPal account to use PayPal. There’s an option to donate via credit card or bank account. (Sorry in advance for the huge donate link … can’t seem to get it any smaller):

Thanks in advance for your support of Catholic Sisters and Nuns.

In light of the article and the very good discussion about Catholics and the Culture of Hate, I thought I’d post another link from our friend DavidK. It’s a “code of conduct” for commenting from Sojourners, an organization dedicated to articulating “the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.”

I will express myself with civility, courtesy, and respect for every member of the Sojourners online community, especially toward those with whom I disagree—even if I feel disrespected by them. (Romans 12:17-21)

I will express my disagreements with other community members’ ideas without insulting, mocking, or slandering them personally. (Matthew 5:22)

I will not exaggerate others’ beliefs nor make unfounded prejudicial assumptions based on labels, categories, or stereotypes. I will always extend the benefit of the doubt. (Ephesians 4:29)

It’s not a bad idea to include a similar “code of conduct” for posting and commenting on A Nun’s Life. Plus I think it would be great if we could get a “federation” of Catholic bloggers who would support and promote such a code. I like the biblically-based approach that Sojourners takes. What are your thoughts on this? What would you add/change? Are there some positive statements that can be added?

Check out Psychology Today magazine this month for an interview with me about being a Catholic sister and about A Nun’s Life. It’s called “Mass Communication: God connects through a new medium” by Jessica Pilot in Psychology Today (May-June 2009).

While I’m not happy that my name is misspelled — VIEIRA, not VIERA — I am thrilled that they put the photo of me in full regalia on the front cover of the magazine.

Nah … I’m kidding, that’s not my habit although if it were, I’m pretty sure no one would mess with me or dare to suggest a nun stereotype in my presence.

Discernment is a topic that regularly comes up on A Nun’s Life. Last month I wrote a post called How is God calling you? and a few of you asked about continuing the conversation with a spiritual director. Well, I’ve been working on that and am pleased to announce that one of my IHM Sisters who is a spiritual director will be joining us this Sunday evening from 7-9 p.m. EST for a discussion on discernment and decision-making from a faith perspective.

Sister Mary McDevitt is an Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Sister from Monroe, Michigan. For many years, she worked in areas of spiritual formation within the IHM congregation and engaged in retreat work. Sister Mary taught history of spirituality and spiritual direction at a local seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan. There she assisted seminarians and lay men and women to complete their Master of Divinity degrees before they served as pastors, associates and staff in parishes. Sister Mary is now director of Visitation North Spirituality Center in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

In preparation for Sister Mary’s visit, I asked her to provide us with an overview of what discernment is and some concrete steps to help us figure out how God is calling us. Over the next few days, I’ll post her reflections on discernment and we can chat about it. Then on Sunday, Sister Mary will join us on the blog for a live discussion (like how we did the Doubt movie discussion).

Stay tuned for more on discernment and details about Sunday’s live discussion with Sister Mary. Feel free to offer any preliminary thoughts, questions, etc. on discernment or ideas of what you’d like to see Sister Mary address within the realm of discernment. And please spread the word about this event!

This Thursday A Nun’s Life is hosting a discussion about Doubt, the movie about a nun who confronts a priest after suspecting him of having an improper relationship with a student. The discussion will be here on the blog on January 8 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

We will be joined by two Sisters of Charity of New York, the community of nuns who are featured in the film — Sister Connie Brennan, SC, the community’s archivist and Sister Regina Bechtle, SC. I am delighted and honored that they can join us and give us their impression of the movie, the making of the movie, and their experience as Sisters of Charity.

I just saw the movie with Sister Maxine Kollasch, IHM, so I’ll write up my own review of the movie and post it here prior to the discussion. I encourage you to see the move (or play) and join us for an online discussion about the movie, the Sisters of Charity, and other related topics.

If you have any questions now for the Sisters of Charity or Sister Maxine and myself, please offer them below and we’ll try to incorporate them into Thursday’s conversation.

Doubt is based on the play by John Patrick Shanley who also adapted and directed the movie version. The cast is stunning with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman,  Amy Adams, and Viola Davis.

The time has come to bid farewell to 2008. In honor of 2008, I have gone through all my blog posts of 2008 and have chosen one from each month that is a personal favorite of mine.

January – Living Simply — the closet tells the story

February – Nuns Minister via Running

March – Being a Nun is a Life, not a career

April – Portrayals of Nuns in Film and Popular Culture

May - Join the Convent, See the World

June - Ride Like a Nun

July – Letter to a Young Religious

August – A Nun, a Lutheran, and the Perfect Storm and Miss Sister 2008 – a beauty contest for nuns??

September – What God Sees

October – Nuns Just Want to Have Fun

November – The Secret Life of Bees and Images of Mary

December – Flying Kansas farmboy versus flying Nun

What topics or posts were most memorable to you?

Blogging Nun Updates

Sister Macrina Walker, OCSO, a Cistercian monastic, is the author of the blog A Vow of Conversation. Sister Macrina blogs and reflects on her current theological reading as well as other topics on her “pilgrimage to the sources of Christian truth”.

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a blog by Sister Amy Hereford, CSJ, a Sister of Saint Joseph. Sister Amy is in a degree program in Canon Law at the Catholic Univerisity of Leuven.

Sister Colleen Clair, FMA, a Salesian sister, write the blog Happynun Thinks Aloud … a Salesian Sister’s Take on Stuff. Sister Colleen has some great photos. Be sure to check out her Flickr links.

You can find these blogs listed now on Blogs by Catholic Nuns.

A Nun’s Life Updates

A Nun’s Life launched a new page called How to Become a Catholic Nun. So many folks have asked me questions around this that I thought I’d pull together a page just for you! I’ll be updating the last part on formation soon.

The Vocation Forum is doing well. Vocation Forum is a place where you can explore vocations to religious life. This forum is for those who wonder if religious life is for them and for those who are actively discerning religious life. Check it out and meet others who are discerning their vocation.

Requests

If you write or know of a blog by a Catholic nun (or woman in discernment) please let me know. I like to keep my Blogs by Catholic Nuns up-to-date so you can easily find other blogging nuns. Only requirements are that the blog be updated regularly and that the blog not be entirely anonymous.

Send in your Nun Photos!! I continue to host “Nunday” on Mondays here at A Nun’s Life. We need more submissions from you! Read Nun Photos – Got em? Send em! for details. Click to see previous Nundays.

I continue to tweak the blog and have recently discovered a handy feature which you might like. FeedBurner allows me to post a form on my blog that you can use to subscribe to my blog posts via email. That means that every time I write a post, you will receive an email with the most recent content. Cool, eh? All you have to do is use the little form on my sidebar or following this link to FeedBurner: Subscribe to A Nun’s Life by Email

Now to comment, read comments, or use other features on the blog, you’ll have to visit my blog directly. On the topic of comments, know that I always appreciate what you have to say and hope that you feel free to offer your thoughts, questions, responses, ideas, etc. whenever you’d like.

Hi All! I’m in the process of designing a new look for my blog. I’d like something that has a cleaner design and is both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional. I’m working with a professionally-designed theme which I hope to have live within a couple of weeks.

Since I’m in the process of tinkering with the blog, I’d like to know from you what you’d like to see in terms of features on the blog — not so much about the content (what I write) but how the blog works and the features or widgets that it has, the functionality.

If you’re not sure what I mean, check out other blogs — do you see something there that you’d like on A Nun’s Life — e.g.,

• a list of the most popular posts
• a seach-this-blog field
• more resources on vocations, religious communities, other bloggers, etc.
• a place to enter your email so you get an email when I write a new post
• a list of the most recent posts
• etc.

Anything else that you think,

“Gosh it would be so great if Sister Julie had ______ on her blog.”

or

“I would absolutely love to see ______ on A Nun’s Life.”

Please write them below in the comments section. Look forward to reading your ideas!

A few weeks ago I ran a survey on What would you like to see on aNunsLife.org. The results confirmed my sense that there are many people reading who are discerning religious life or who are just on the tip of considering religious life. There are also many readers who though not considering religious life appreciate the discussions on vocations and religious life because it helps them in their own calling in life.

I’ve been working on ways to be more attuned to vocation questions and concerns and desires and just discovered a plugin that’s an answer to my prayer! (Thank God for all you techies out there — your work is a real ministry because it helps people connect and meet needs. Bless you.)

I now have a page which is called Vocation Forum for those of you who would like to receive support and encouragement as you consider whether God just might be calling you to become a nun or monk, religious sister or brother. It’s also for those of you who are pretty sure religious life is for you but are not yet actively discerning with a religious community. I want to be a support to you and offer you the encouragement and and space you need to listen to what God is calling you to — whatever that ends up being!

On the Vocation Forum page, I noted that I’m not sure what this will develop into — that’s up to the Spirit and those who want to explore their vocation and religious life.

So if you are thinking about (or trying not to think about) becoming a nun or about another way of consecrated life, please click on Vocation Forum — you are most welcome to A Nun’s Life and I’m honored to have the opportunity to connect with you.

P.S. If there are any other kinds of features you’d like to see on A Nun’s Life, let me know!

Yesterday I wrote about Cycling and Meditation (BTW, I had a wonderful ride — felt great to be out, got a bruise, briefly lost my riding partner at Cicero and Devon, inhaled a bug, dodged a car driven by someone on her cell phone, saw a young deer with furry little antlers, beheld the beauty of the forest preserves, waved to a little girl on a bike, drank a ton of water, and got home safely and full of joy!)

David commented on my post and shared some of his own experience of prayer.

When “in the groove” with prayer- whether on a bike or not- it is great feeling. The words seem to take on deeper meaning than other words, and are virtually tangible. You don’t dwell on them- everything flows smoothly- but they are particularly meaningful and they seem to permeate your entire body- not just your brain.

I wish this were my daily experience with prayer, but it has not been for me. It is very weird how easy prayer and meditation sometime come, and how forced they are at other times. I have reflected upon it often and can’t find a cause and effect. Sometimes prayer is “easy” when life is going well, I am rested, not anxious, etc. Sometimes it is the opposite.

David well described the feeling of prayer when it is effortless — that is truly a gift of the Spirit. It is something we can’t conjure up ourselves. We can certainly prepare ourselves to be open to it, but it is a totally free gift of God.

I too wish that this was always my experience of prayer, and the temptation is to think “I must not be doing it right” when prayer doesn’t have that effortlessness. But prayer can take so many forms, so many feelings. “Effortlessness” — which I love — is not the only indicator of prayer. Sometimes we struggle, we get distracted, we feel out of sorts. These feelings are okay too and can be part of prayer.

Like David, I don’t like that feeling of prayer being forced … still we have to be faithful to prayer even in these times. Feeling like it is forced might mean we have to try something different — like pray the Rosary instead of centering prayer or vice versa. Or try a different time of day. Maybe it means continuing with the same prayer and just saying to God, “I’m feeling like this is really forced right now, God. I know you are with me in this.”

And remember, prayer is nothing more or less than being with God, talking and listening with Someone who loves us very much. As with other relationships, it takes time to grow with one another, learn our own quirks about how we are with the other. We can develop a “habit of prayer” by regularly taking time to pray and to develop an attitude — a life, really — of prayer such that we are always disposed to being open to God — in prayer, at work, on a bike ride, in an argument, shopping, etc. It takes practice and desire and openness on our part.

And be assured that this is God’s desire for us — to draw close with us, to be with us even if it feels forced or effortless. It is still being with God.

You may have noticed that things around the blog have changed a bit. I’ve made the leap of faith to hosting my own blog using WordPress.org open source software. Basically it means I have more control over my blog all the way down to the coding. My blog has all the same posts, comments, and content that was on my previous blog. Also, the web address is exactly the same as the old. And, if you have links to particular posts or pages, those are all in tact. What is different is the look and feel as well as a lot of “behind the scenes” things that help me do a better job of blogging and creating and responding to your ideas, questions, thoughts, etc.

For you the reader, the transition should be seamless … but if you notice any oddities, I’d be glad to know and figure out how to fix them. So here’s a quick look at the old and the new:

OLD

• my blog with “old” format
• can still be seen at http://nuns2day.wordpress.com
• won’t be updated

NEW

• my blog with “new” format
• the current live site at http://anunslife.org
• will be updated as usual

I still have a lot of tinkering to do, especially with the look of the new format. But for now, it has everything and over time it will continue to evolve. Any suggestions or feedback along the way is always helpful.

It’s that time of year — blog cleanup time. I’ve found a bunch of inoperative links and some “blogs by catholic nuns” in which the nuns are no longer blogging (bummer). I also have been wanting to add some new listings, do a “face-lift” on the blog and figure out how to manage all my wonderful “ask sister” questions. So I’ll be doing some tinkering around for the next few weeks. While I’m playing with my blog, now would be a good time to ask you –

• anything you’d like to see more of?
• any new items/widgets/pages you’d like me to begin?

As always, thanks for reading, lurking, commenting, pondering, asking, and all the wonderful things that you do. You enrich my life!

Speaking of enriching, here’s a cartoon that made me smile. I just might try it out!

(cartoon source: toothpastefordinner.com)

I can’t believe that this blog has hit the 300,000 mark! I never thought anyone other than my mother would read this (and she does, religiously)! Thanks to all of you for reading and commenting. So here’s what A Nun’s Life stats look like since beginning this blog in July 2006.

A Nun’s Life: a blog about being a Catholic nun in today’s world
http://anunslife.org

Total Views: 300,509

Best Day Ever: 4,769

Posts: 297

Comments: 1,967

Spam: 11,407

Number of “Blogs by Catholic Nuns” (listed on my blog): 38

“Ask Sister” questions: too many to count

Nuns managing all of the above: 1

… stats courtesy of WordPress.com, Sister Julie’s blogging platform of choice …

Last week I had the pleasure of talking with Sister Marie Pappas, CR (Sisters of the Resurrection), host of the program “Pathways of Learning” on The Catholic Channel #159 on Sirius Radio.

Sister Marie Pappas is the Superintendent of Schools of the Archdiocese of New York with responsibilities for the education of more than 107,000 students in the largest Catholic school system in the nation. She is a Sister of the Resurrection [New York Province], the only order of women religious that, as Sister Marie likes to say “was founded by a mother and her daughter.” Sister has an MA in Religious Education from the Angelicum in Rome, as well as a P.D. in Religious Education and has taught and lectured at the Notre Dame Pontifical Institute and at the Catechetical Conference of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Sister thinks of Pathways of Learning as a “nationwide conversation about life’s larger lessons.” Conversations include finding God in today’s movies, girl bullies, if and what American teenagers think about God, whether kids are suffering from homework overkill, and the threats faced by Catholics living in the Middle East war zone. (source)

We spent an hour together discussing how we became nuns, what it’s like being a nun today, and my blog, A Nun’s Life. Because of our difference in age (Sister Marie entered around Vatican II, and I entered around Y2K) we brought varying perspectives to what it was like to decide to become a nun, wear a habit, minister, live in community, and many other things. What was remarkable was how much we had in common (though from different generations and different communities) and how it seemed as if I’ve known Sister Marie my whole life (this interview was our very first meeting). I admire Sister Marie, the work she is doing and the beautiful way that she lives her religious life. Sister Marie is definitely “A Nun You Should Know”.

The show airs tomorrow (Tues, Oct 23) from 1-2 p.m. (eastern standard time) on Sirius. If you don’t have Sirius you can start a free 3-day trial and listen via the Sirius Internet Radio (http://www.sirius.com/listenonline).

I don’t think I’ve ever won anything I’ve been nominated for. Not that I’m complaining, it just seems to be a fact of nature. Well, there was that one time I was named May queen for a May Crowning (it’s a Catholic thing … for a cool book that includes talk of May Crownings, check out May Crowning, Mass and Merton by Liz Kelly) … though Mary was more the headliner and I was like the opening band. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

So a gentleman by the name of Chris Abraham nominated my blog ANunsLife.org for Blogger’s Choice Awards in the Best Religion Blog category. It’s an honor to have my blog nominated. I spent some time looking through the other nominees. I did a search using the word “catholic” on the Blogger’s Choice Awards Web site and came up with a whole host of new-to-me blogs. These blogs are vast in terms of their content and perspectives. Many, many are apologetic oriented. Take a look at the range of blogs by Catholics. Let me know if you hit on one that is really interesting and/or quirk-ily Catholic.

Oh, and if you want to check out the nomination for my blog, click this icon.
There’s also a bunch of other categories with interesting blog nominations.

In the process of catching up on blogging and blogging buddies, I read this post on Sister Susan Rose’s blog Musings of a Discerning Woman.

Vision Magazine is a vocation magazine that is filled with all sorts of helpful and insightful info on religious life, discernment, prayer, and religious communities.

The 2008 Vision magazine has the article “Give us this day our daily blog” on page 80. which features Susan Rose’s blog as well as this little blog here and other blogs.

The Web site that publishes the Vision magazine is the VISION Vocation Network. It is one of the most comprehensive Catholic religious vocation Web site featuring many articles and tools to help in the discernment process. I highly recommend the Web site and the magazine. Way back when, I had a copy of Vision magazine that was my companion in the early days of discerning. It gave me a glimpse of the range and variety of religious communities and perspectives on religious life. I did have to put the magazine down for a few weeks after I did the religious life quiz because the results were positive for a religious vocation. It kind of freaked me out at the time because I was so sure religious life was not for me. Once I calmed down, I realized that it wasn’t so much the quiz itself but my reaction to the quiz that held some key information about where God was calling me. God uses all things to call us to Godself. Amazing.

So, check out Sister Susan Rose’s post “Vision Magazine: Vocation Blogs” and VISION Vocation Network.

Can you believe that one whole year has passed since I wrote my first post?! And, as of today, there have been over 200,000 visits!

This jubilee gives me pause for reflection and for gratitude. I am so grateful to each one of you for reading, commenting, encouraging, challenging, and questioning. A blog by its nature is not a one-way street (though I certainly have an advantage as the writer! ); it is a conversation, an encounter, a place to find and give hospitality to all who visit. I am also grateful for my IHM Sisters whose love and support and presence in my life sustain me. As an IHM Sister, I am at home with God, myself, and my community.

So what’s next? Good question. I have some tinkering around to do with the logistical aspects of the blog. For one thing, my categories drive me crazy so I’d like to revamp them. Also, the “Ask Sister” section is huge and needs to be more manageable for me and for folks reading or asking questions. I did establish a sister blog (so to speak) called AskSister.org to better organize questions so people could find stuff by category or search engine more easily. But I haven’t yet worked out the kinks (and there are kinks).

I’d like to know what your thoughts are — what would you like to see in this blog? are there certain topics or questions or issues or features that you’d like to see or see more of?

Again, thank you for hanging out with me I look forward to what this next year of blogging brings!

When I first started this blog, I called it “Nuns2day” thinking to be clever in a text messaging kind of way. But, over time, I’ve discovered that it is a bit confusing when you say to someone — check out my blog at anunslife.org — that would be the number 2, not “to”. Then on top of the whole homonym issue, the blog address is kind of long with the WordPress in there. So, I got a new domain name: aNunsLife.org … nice and simple (though the lack of an apostrophe does bother my editorial sensibilities).

My blog is still hosted by WordPress. I would never think of leaving WordPress because I love the ease of use, the options, and the excellent support that they give. What is cool is that they allow one to have their own domain name (you have to register for that separately. So while you can still get to my blog via anunslife.org, WordPress automatically redirects it to my new domain name. So I think if you have links to my blog, they should still work. But the most correct address is now ANunsLife.org.

As a result of that shift, I’m also changing my email. I’m still checking email at my nuns2day address but will now be using anunslife(at)yahoo(dot)com. I lost some emails in the transfer so I do apologize to those of you who emailed and never heard from me. Also, my blog’s spam tank is always filled with some kind of junk, but sometimes a non-spam comment ends up in there which I can easily miss. Just so you know.

Last but not least, I’m working on revamping the Ask Sister section so that it’s easier to navigate and load the page.

Any blog related suggestions that you’d like to offer while I’m in the process of revamping?

I’m still thinking on this notion of blogging as ministry. I’m curious to know …

Yesterday I had the delightful opportunity of having lunch with folks at the University of Chicago Divinity School where I spoke a bit about my blog and my life as a nun. I enjoyed their warm hospitality and good dialogue.

I wanted to talk a bit about the topic of blogging as a form of ministry, something which I hadn’t considered when I first started blogging. It was through my friend Bill and his blog Dying Man’s Daily Journal that I really began to see my presence in the blogosphere and my blog as a form of ministry. Early in my blogging endeavors, Bill found me and asked me to come to his blog and comment on a question regarding God. Thus began a little conversion for me from seeing a blog as a hobby to seeing it as a ministry. There were two reasons for this: 1) Bill’s invitation itself called me to ministry and 2) Bill’s style of writing, his honesty, his wonderful love of life, and his natural ability to make people feel at home on his blog helped me to see how a blog can truly be a place of hospitality. I want to thank Bill publically and to say that I think about you and pray with you every single day. Do visit Bill at his blog.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on this blogging as a form of ministry and am grateful yet again to the University of Chicago Divinity School for inviting me to be on a panel at their ministry conference: “Through a Glass Darkly: The Church and Popular Culture in the Media Age“. I’m delighted to be part of this conference and have the opportunity to develop my thoughts along this line and engage in dialogue with others. If you are in the Chicago area, check out this conference.

I’m interested to know your reflections on blogging (or podcasting or other Internet ways of communicating) as a form of ministry. Do you see yourself as ministering online? what are the benefits? what are the pitfalls?

Check out the article “Everyone from nuns to meter readers is writing about work” (April 18, 2007) in the Toledo Blade which features an interview with yours truly as well as with fellow blogging nun, Sister Susan Rose Francois , CSJP, at Musings of a Discerning Woman, and with other cool nuns. I really enjoyed the writer Chris Borrelli’s take on this subject. He did a fine job of highlighting not the novelty of nuns on the Internet but who we are as women religious and that what we do is ministry.

I had an unexpected phone call yesterday from a producer at CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. At first I thought maybe they were looking for Meredith Vieira, but no, it was for me. On Fridays they do a segment called Assignment America where viewers choose the story that they want CBS news coorespondent Steve Hartman to cover.

Every Friday we present three story pitches and you get to vote for the story you think sounds most interesting. Whichever story gets the most votes by 12 a.m. ET on Sunday is the winner.
(Assignment America)

So the producer asked if I’d like to be one of those potential stories. Sure, I said. So here’s the scoop:

This Friday April 6 on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, viewers will be given a pitch about my story along with two others. It is up to America to go to www.cbsnews.com to vote on the story that they would like Hartman to do and then that story will air the following Friday.

While I prefer to be a behind-the-scenes kinda gal, I am pleased to have an opportunity to talk about what it is like to be a Catholic nun today and the wonderful adventure that is religious life.

So tune into CBS News on Friday (after you’ve observed the holy day, of course). If you’d like to see my story covered, go online to www.cbsnews.com after the broadcast and cast your vote.

And as we say in Chicago, “Vote early and vote often!”

Yesterday the interview I had with Scott Simon aired. I must say, it is very strange hearing oneself on the radio. I was in the kitchen drinking coffee and making breakfast for one of my IHM sisters (scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, if you must know). When Scott announced my name, I thought, “Hey, I know that person….. Oh yeah, that would be me.” Very strange indeed. Anyway, it was an honor and a pleasure to talk with Scott and get to know him a bit as well. I’m also delighted that so many folks who heard the interview have visited my blog and/or left comments or sent emails.

You can listen again and again to the interview by clicking here.

I was recently interviewed by Scott Simon of National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday. Scott had all sorts of interesting questions for me about my life as a nun, my blog, and my work at Loyola Press. I’m not sure how much of it will air, but it certainly was a great conversation. The piece is tentatively scheduled to air tomorrow [ACTUALLY, it's airing March 31]. Check your local NPR station for the time. Or you can go to the Weekend Edition Saturday web site and listen at your leisure. I’m pleased that people find religious life a newsworthy topic and to have the opportunity to talk about what an adventure and gift it is.

That reminds me, I never wrote about my PRI (Public Radio International) debut on the program Fair Game. That was a very fun interview and a delightful conversation with the host of Fair Game, Faith Salie. I enjoy this program quite a bit and have listened to it ever since it premiered. It is “a satirical news and entertainment, weekday evening program” that ”covers the important stories of the day and uses insightful humor to tease out what it all means.” Check out the Fair Game web site or click on my sidebar link under “Interviews with Sister Julie”.

I

created a new page on this blog called “Ask Sister” where you can ask me pretty much anything and I’ll do my best to respond. Since I started this blog, I’ve had many questions ranging from what kind of habit do I wear to how women religious have been instrumental in American Catholicism to how to pray when God is silent. So I thought I’d dedicate a page to questions. Please feel free to ask questions and if you read someone else’s question and you’d like to respond to it, please do so.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been using a new “skin” for my blog. So far so good. I’m also trying to make this blog a bit more easy to navigate and to make resources on religious life more accessible.

I’ve added a page called “Blogs by Catholic Nuns” … it’s an annotated list of blogs that I’m aware of. Check out what other sisters are doing. If I’ve missed a blog or you see something that needs to be changed, please let me know.

A while back I wrote a page called “Nun or Sister?” which addresses the difference between the two terms and how they are often used interchangeably.

The sidebar of the blog is ever changing. I added “Recent Comments” because often people comment on past posts and it is not always easy to know where new comments are in the vast corpus of posts and comments. I also added “Decoding Formation” which is a little “series” I started a few months ago. Eventually I have to sort through “Categories” which are not as easy to define as one might think and have them more accurately reflect the content of posts.

What else would you like to see? Are there topics, resources, widgets, etc. that you would like to see addressed or used on this blog? I would be most grateful for your feedback. Sister Julie

You may have noticed that the blog has changed a bit. I’m trying out a new WordPress theme. I had a few formatting issues with my previous theme, and well, I like to change it up every once and a while just because I can. I hope this is a bit more readable than my last theme which had a lot of grey text which is not so easy on the eyes. The main text of this theme is nice and crisp. Plus I do like the little artistic touches here and there. I’ve not yet come up with a suitable image for my header. Such things are difficult to decide upon. But, I will give some attention to it come this weekend. I’m pretty good with computers and technology in general, but there are still some things about blogging and html that mystify me. So it may take me a little while to get things settled (by that time, I’ll probably have moved on to another theme, but who knows?). Enjoy your day … Sister J

Welcome to A Nun’s Life, a blog about being a Catholic nun in today’s world.

Mostly, this is my story–what it is like for me to be Catholic nun, that is, a member of a Catholic religious community of women. It’s also about nuns (or sisters … the distinction between the two will be addressed in a future post) in general, how we are portrayed in the media, and who we are “for real.” I have been very fortunate to develop friendships with many nuns, and it is through them that I have come to better know myself and this crazy thing called religious life (more on the meaning of “religious life” in future posts).

Being a nun has not always been my lifelong goal. When I was growing up, I did not dress up as a nun for Halloween. When I was a young, impressionable Catholic school girl, I did not secretly (or otherwise) pine for the veils, habits, odd religious names, and overall mystique of the nuns who taught me. The whole “nun” thing kind of snuck up on me when I wasn’t paying much attention. I absolutely love being a nun. It’s what makes me who I am and helps me to be the best person I can be for God, the Church, and the world.

A Nun’s Life is intended to be an open forum — in terms of both my musings and your comments. Please write to me about how being a nun or knowing a nun has impacted your life. Keep us posted on nuns in literature, the media, popular culture, or current events. Although the focus is on being a Catholic nun, I also welcome perspectives from nuns in other Christian or religious traditions.