by Sister Julie on August 11, 2008
After reading a post about sci-fi nuns in a forum, I wondered why the sci-fi nun is so compelling to people. 
Frankly I think real nuns are way more cool than fictitious nuns. Write a novel about a nun’s quest for justice, a religious community’s care for abused children, a nun’s dedication to community and poverty in a society that values individualism and consumerism. Now that would be awesome.
To highlight the diversity of how nuns have given radical witness to the gospel and to the goodness of life, here’s a sampling of news stories from just the last few days …
Nun spent her life fighting for the homeless and against war and nuclear arms - “Faith was Flats protester’s arsenal” by Virginia Culver for The Denver Post (August 10, 2008)
Nun gives life to teaching and hospital work - “Beloved Sister Cecilia turns 95″ by Brenda Levins McCorkle for The Daily News Online (Longview, WA) (August 9, 2008)
Carmelite nun Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta) martyred 66 years ago - “The Life and Death of a German Jewish Christian Nun by Roderick Strange for The Times Online (UK) (August 8, 2008)
Nun ministers in and around New Orleans - “Marking an Anniversary: Congregation celebrates nun’s 50 years of service” by Eva Jacob Barkoff for The Times-Picayune (New Orleans) (August 7, 2008)
Would love to hear your comments (especially my sci-fi buddy Jen!)
by Sister Julie on June 17, 2008
Responding to yesterday’s post Emissary of light to people in their darkest hours about Sister Mary Ann Rawson, SNJM, a Sister sent me this email message …
Today’s blog eminded me of this sister who just retired as the Catholic Chaplain at a state hospital … She’s a remarkable woman, with a heart 10x the size of her! It’s an incredible story of healing:
Finding Beauty and Healing Among the Saints (LA Times, April 18, 2008)
It’s about Sister Nuala Ryan of the Sisters of Saint Louis. She is retiring as the Catholic chaplain at Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona, California. One of the captions in the photo gallery of Sister Nuala recounts this story:
A priest once asked Nuala why she taught at Lanterman when she could have been elsewhere, when much of her flock cannot pray, or dance, or sing. Where else, she asked him, could she walk each day among saints?
In another caption, Sister Nuala talks about the importance of PRESENCE which was mentioned in the article about Sister Mary Ann too.
Sister Nuala Ryan reaches out to clients as she conducts Sunday service. “Oh, we miss so much,” she said. “We get so busy, so caught in an agenda, and we forget even that heaven, or paradise, is really about presence. These clients are calling: be present with me. Sit with me. Laugh with me.”
by Sister Julie on June 7, 2008
I’m hanging out at Starbucks so I can cool off. Just installed my AC units this morning but still hot and muggy. I left Chloe the Convent Cat sprawled on the rug and licking an ice cube. What happened to the rest of Spring??
Today the IHMs in Chicago are gathering from far and wide for a cook-out, book study, and prayer. I’m looking forward to being all together. We are reading The House on Mango Street
by Sandra Cisneros. It’s a series of vignettes about Esperanza …
… a Chicana (Mexican-American girl), who is about twelve years old when the novel begins. During the year, she moves with her family into a house on Mango Street. The house is a huge improvement from the family’s previous apartment, and it is the first home her parents actually own. However, the house is not what Esperanza has dreamed of, because it is run-down and small. The house is in the center of a crowded Latino neighborhood in Chicago, a city where many of the poor areas are racially segregated. Esperanza does not have any privacy, and she resolves that she will someday leave Mango Street and have a house all her own. (source: SparkNotes)
Have you read it? What do you like about it?
"She wrote the way she lived: on the fly, without retrospect, always on the way, climbing higher."