Join us today for the Ask Sister podcast, a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about faith, nuns, prayer, religious life, and pretty much everything in between!

What: Ask Sister LIVE Podcast
When: TODAY at 6 p.m. Central Time (your timezone)
Where: www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE

THE NUNS ARE ON THE ROAD: We’ll be broadcasting today from the Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan. Join us–and our surprise guest–for this special Wednesday edition of Ask Sister!

Here are some of the questions we’ll address in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What does it mean to “live the life of Jesus”?
• What about displays of opulence in the church — fancy vestments, state-of-the-organs, gold-leafed architectural appointments? Given the poverty and need in our world today, it seems excessive. Is it a sign of increasing secularism in the church?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Mardi Gras is here and that means it is Catholic party time! Enjoy the day, but don’t forget the best part of the part — the desert! Or is it the dessert?! I was reflecting on today’s Take Five for Faith and I inadvertently switched the “desert” in here to “dessert”.

Preparation is crucial for a meaningful celebration. Advent prepares us for Christmas, Lent prepares us for Easter, and Mardi Gras prepares us for Lent. These alternating seasons of quiet and celebration help us notice and appreciate the fact that God is found not only in austerity and prayer but also in music and celebration. As a result, we experience the sustaining presence of God in every aspect of our lives. A good Mardi Gras will help us have a good Lent. A good Lent, in turn, ensures a spiritually rich Easter, which is the ultimate goal. So go ahead and celebrate Mardi Gras today! Decorate your home, gather with friends, enjoy some good food. Tomorrow you enter the desert.

That’s right, I thought it said that tomorrow I enter the dessert. That to me sounded a lot better than entering the desert (or the dragon for that matter).

Desert and dessert seem to have such opposite meanings and so whether you are entering one or the other can make a HUGE difference! The desert is often used, though not terribly correctly, as a symbol of lifelessness, vastness, and oppressive conditions . It can seem hostile and unwelcoming. Desserts, on the other hand, are sweet, lush, and luxurious. We turn to them for comfort and for celebration.

And so now I am left with this curious image of Lent — how is it both desert and dessert? If that isn’t enough to blow one’s mind check this out — the word “dessert” is actually Middle French, from desservir to clear the table, from des-de- + servir to serve, from Latin servire (Merriam-Webster). So dessert might actually be an apt image for us during Lent — to take time to clear the table and to prepare to serve.

Tell us your thoughts on desert and dessert as you prepare for Lent!

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For kicks and inspiration, listen to one of our famous podcasts on Mardi Gras. Also, don’t forget, we are doing a live broadcast of Ask Sister from a secret location tomorrow (Wednesday). And finally, join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

On Sunday I had the privilege of being part of the Rite of Sending, the Rite of Election, and the Call to Conversion which were celebrated first at Saint Clement Church where my friend is in formation to become a Catholic and later in the day at Holy Name Cathedral, the home parish of all of us Chicagolanders.

In the course of the celebrations, I had an opportunity to mingle and talk with the newly Elect (formerly “catechumens”, people being baptized for the first time) and the Candidates (person coming from another Christian tradition or renewing their own Catholic faith). I was so moved by their commitment and their palpable joy in this moment and in their journey toward full communion with the Catholic Church. They are a fantastic group of women and men, with a most excellent good shepherd in their primary catechist, Christina Bax, Pastoral Associate and Director of Evangelization at Saint Clement.

Cardinal George presided at The Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion and gave a scripturally robust homily that was so encouraging to those gathered. And I was struck once again by these words of the Rite which the Cardinal proclaimed with such solemnity: “Christ’s body, the Church, recognizes your desire.”

Here’s some photos from the celebration. As we enter into the Lenten journey toward Easter, let us pray that with the Elect and the Candidates, we too might hear God’s call to conversion, “strive courageously to reach the fullness of truth,” and faithfully live our baptism.

Holy Name Cathedral

Francis Cardinal George

Christina Bax holds high the Book of the Elect

The Cardinal with The Elect and The Candidates

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

“Do not think I am sitting here to pass the time away telling you that
religious life is poetry. It is the roughest kind of prose.”
- Mother Justina Reilly, IHM (b. 1848)

Tis the season to be romantic — an awesome thing to behold! Just a few letters away however, is the word romanticize — and that can be anything BUT awesome.

Let me start with my unabashed biases:

1. I love religious life.
2. I love being a Catholic sister in community with my nuns.
3. I never lived pre-Vatican II religious life having been born after the fact.
4. I love all things “nun” — from old-school nun stories, finding a beloved copy of Bernie Becomes a Nun, bumping giddily into nuns at the airport, meeting corporate board room sisters, and more!
   …. I honestly can’t help myself!

Sister Chloe the Convent Cat reads "Bernie Becomes a Nun"

Given #3 above, I have spent a lot of time reading and asking questions and learning about religious life not only in my Sitz im Leben but religious life throughout the years, across the globe, and spanning theologies and cultures. I’m no expert, but my explorations have been enough to give me a good flavor of religious life as a whole and to see myself situated within it.

One of the challenges in not having experiencing religious life before the second Vatican Council is that we can sometimes romanticize what it was like — nuns in their flowing habits, serenity and silence, compliance both within and outside of the convent, blissful singing and playing of guitar, etc. Aspects of these things were and continue to be accurate and beautiful! Yet it gets a little dicey when we begin to imagine that that is all it was or when we focus only on the poetry of religious life and forget the rugged prose.

In addition to the sisters and nuns whom I know, there are many great resources to check out in terms of seeing what religious life was and is really like. For historical scholarship I always turn to Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson, the leading expert on the history of Catholic sisters and nuns in the United States. Here are some links for Dr. Thompson:

• Guest appearance on In Good Faith – an hour-long show including a section where Dr. Thompson discusses what “the “good old days” of religious life was actually like.
• An 18-lecture series on The History of Women Religious in the United States. The publishers of this series, Now You Know Media, have provided the first lecture for free. Listen to the Introduction and Lecture 1: Discovering Foremothers: Origins of Women’s Religious Life.
• “Concentric Circles of Sisterhood” – an essay that appears in the book Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Monroe, Michigan (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1997)
• Faculty and publications information at her page on Maxwell School of Syracuse University

For theological and scriptural scholarship I turn to my own nun, Sister Sandra Schneiders.

• Guest appearance on our very first episode of In Good Faith
• Another guest appearance for our A Nun’s Life fundraiser where Sister Sandra talked about saints, saints, and more saints! Father James Martin, SJ, is also featured on this podcast — he’s got some great stuff on religious life and vocations as well!
• A series of essays on religious life initially published by National Catholic Reporter and now gathered in the book Prophets in Their Own Country
• Books on religious life by Sandra Schneiders

This is only a smattering of what is out there, but very good places to begin!

So let’s talk about past and present religious life? What are “romanticizations” that you’ve encountered? What questions do you have about “the good old days” and today?

P.S. Check out the last night’s Ask Sister where we tangled with this topic as well — recording will be up by Saturday!

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

AS102 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on February 16, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: becoming a nun in the old days? hopeful husband-to-be wonders if convent trumps marriage, online vocation help, professional nuns, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What do today’s teenagers think about nuns?
• I have known a dear friend for over two years. One day I wish to be her husband. However she is seeking a life as a nun. Should I keep my feelings to myself in fear I may be in her way to a life as a sister, or should I confess my feelings?
• I have seen a few convents that have weekend retreats where women can go to experience what it is like. Is there any website where I can get a list of all convents that have these events? Be sure to check out Vision Vocation Network!

• • Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace
  • Poor Clares of New Jersey
  • Redemptoristine Nuns

    More info on scoping out nuns at aNunsLife.org/comeandsee – links to resources to help discern how to become a sister or nun

• What to do if you don’t get a good vibe from a religious community? Does that mean you don’t have a vocation?
• Can you be a speech language pathologist and a nun too?
• Knowing what you know now about past nun life, as opposed to modern day nun life, would you have joined then, or not?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/ and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

“Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.”
- James 1:19-20

In today’s world, it seems like everyone has something to say. There’s nothing wrong with that (I say as I type these words). But James’ letter reminds us to listen before we speak or react to what others say or do.

Listening is easy to do – when I agree with what I hear. But when I hear something that’s totally not what I agree with, it’s much more challenging. Yet James’ letter doesn’t say I have to agree with everything I hear! But it urges me to respond in Christ-like way.

What James does ask of me is to respect differences of opinion – to stand in my own truth while allowing others to stand in their own truth. My prayer for today is to listen carefully to other people, especially those whose political, religious, or social viewpoints are very different from my own.

While it might be tempting today to avoid conversations on controversial topics, I will remind myself instead to listen without judging others or myself and in doing so to cultivate a spirit of patience and acceptance in the world.

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

Ah, love. It is good, isn’t it! No matter how crazy this day gets commercially, I still get a kick out of giving and receiving “valentines”, seeing little red and pink hearts everywhere, and hearing the sweet stories of valentine celebrations.

As a Catholic Sister, I still enjoy the romanticness of the day, though of course the celebrations are different today than my “pre-nun” days. And, my sense of what love is has evolved over the years too as I’m sure it has for you as well.

Here are a few quotes that speak to me about how I see love now … please share some of your own!

• “Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.” – Father Pedro Arrupe, SJ (talk given to a group of religious sisters per Father Kevin F. Burke, SJ)

• “As for what concerns our relations with our fellow men [sic], the anguish in our neighbor’s soul must break all precept. All that we do is a means to an end, but love is an end in itself, because God is love.” – Saint Teresa Benedict of the Cross (Edith Stein) (source unknown)

• “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” — Saint Augustine (source unknown)

• “It is not so essential to think much as to love much.” — Saint Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, Fourth Mansions 1.7)

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

I was at our IHM Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan, this past weekend. It is always great to be home and to hang out with my nuns. I want to tell you about this amazing moment that happened at the Sunday Eucharist. Chapel of course was filled with IHM Sisters, associates, family and friends of the community, and a variety of visitors.

I was sitting about midway back and in front of me was the family of one of our sisters who is in health care. Sister was in a wheelchair at the side of the row. Next to her was this precious young woman, a grandniece perhaps, maybe in her late teens, early twenties. The young woman had on a bright fuchsia and had fabulous blue-painted nails. She emanated vitality and youth!

When I first saw the family, I thought how sweet it was that they were here and wondered briefly what the young woman might have been feeling sitting there with her aunt and surrounded by so many adults and elders. I wondered if she felt uncomfortable or nervous or out of place. It didn’t take long for me to find out that my fleeting thought was far from the truth.

Around the time of the homily, the young woman turned toward her aunt and smiled  – a long, beaming smile. She reached gently for her aunt’s hand and for a few minutes the two just looked at one another with this profound tenderness and love. For the rest of Mass, they remained this way, hand in hand.

I don’t remember the homily or much of the rest of Mass but I can tell you that in that moment an old nun and a young woman preached one of the most powerful homilies I will ever have the privilege of witnessing.

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

Today is the feast of St. Scholastica (d 543 CE), a remarkable woman who has influenced spiritual seekers to this day! Among her life’s work was the founding of a monastery of nuns just a few miles from the monastery established by her famous brother, Benedict.

A year ago, Benedictine sister Lynne Smith described St. Scholastica’s life and ministry during an Ask Sister podcast. We’re delighted to offer this recording of Sister Lynne’s story of St. Scholastica!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

AS101 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on February 9, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: how nuns elect their community leaders, saying no to nun smear campaigns, the common good, the book of Genesis, varied images of God and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• The IHM sisters recently elected a new leadership team. How is this done?  Do sisters run against each other? Are there term limits? Is the process similar for most orders?
• What about general chapter for contemplative monasteries or for international communities? And differences or similarities?
• A listener named Anna talks about her joys and challenges in reading the book of Genesis and encountering a myriad of images of God — are there any wrong images of God? What happens when one image is used as the only image of God?
• Mentioned in the broadcast: “Are Our Images of God Growing?” by Pat McCloskey, O.F.M. in Catholic Update

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

IGF014 In Good Faith with Meredith Gould, recorded live on February 8, 2012. Produced by aNunsLife.org Ministry. Topics include: real-life ups and downs in ministry, the domestic church, social media in parishes, insights from Judaism, religious kitsch.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Guest: Meredith Gould

Meredith Gould the author of eight books, including The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions(Doubleday) and Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar? (Morehouse) and most recently, Getting #Married, Using Social Media to Celebrate the Sacred. She’s founding moderator of the weekly Twitter-based chat about church social media (#chsocm) and blogs about culture and faith at More Meredith Gould.

Show Notes:

• How Meredith’s faith journey led to full-time ministry using social media
• The practical challenges of responding to the call to service–and making a living in the process
• Home-based rituals that extend practices of the faith into the “domestic church”
• The foundational role of Ignatian spirituality
• How Judaism informs Meredith’s understanding of Catholic Christianity
• Religious kitsch as an expression of spiritual passion
• Encouraging the use of social media in the parish–risks, successes, and new insights
• The power of social media for evangelization
• Advice for others who seek to use social media for ministry

Details: The broadcast is free and open to the public. You can tune in from any place you have internet access. We also have a chat room for you to use during the broadcast in order to connect with one another and with us. You can also submit your questions ahead of time by using the comment box below.

If new to A Nun’s Life podcasts, the podcasts are basically like tuning into a radio program, but instead of broadcasting it on the airwaves, we broadcast it on our website. All you have to do is visit our website and make sure the volume on your computer is up.

More information including upcoming shows and recordings of past episodes can be found at the In Good Faith program web page.

At the end of January, Sister Maxine and I had the awesome privilege of attending our congregation‘s General Chapter. It was a week long and consisted in prayer, community, study, conversation, reflection, and decision-making. Our primary decisions were to embrace a specific direction for our congregation over the next 6 years and to elect a new leadership team.

Although Chapter is part and parcel of our life as Catholic sisters and nuns today, it might seem like a secret event veiled in mystery for those outside of religious life! So, here’s a bit more about what Chapter is. I am drawing here from my brother Redemptorists who provide a great intro on General Chapter.

The General Chapter is a visible expression of a fundamental sense of democracy that lies at the heart of religious life. This democracy is based on the radical equality of all the members by virtue of their baptism and their religious consecration, hence their common vocation to be prophets or spokespersons for God. In this sense, a General Chapter resembles more the gathering of Mary and the apostles at Pentecost than a modern parliament or congress. The participants in the General Chapter gather in the name of Jesus Christ, confident that his Spirit will help us to accomplish our work.

What are those tasks? The General Chapter must first take an honest look at the state of the Congregation… This examination should then lead the Chapter members to face honestly certain discomforting questions: are we faithful to our mission or have we slid into mediocrity? What is the Lord asking of us today? How are we being asked to change? The General Chapter will offer specific directives for the whole Congregation as it proposes a path to help [religious] live more authentically their … vocation. Finally, the delegates will elect the leadership of the Congregation for the next six years … (source: Redemptorist website)

For our IHM General Chapter, we had a gathering of over 150 IHM Sisters and were joined for some parts of Chapter by our IHM Associates and others who could be of great help in our discernment and decision-making. One of the best parts was that we come together from across the globe, across ministries, across generations, across cultures and gather under one roof. It was a visible expression of the community we experience with one another every day of our religious life no matter where we are.

What questions do you have about Chapter or related topics? Sister Maxine and I are going to tackle the subject on this week’s Ask Sister Podcast so let’s get the conversations started now!

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

As a Catholic, I feel blessed to have not one but two Madonnas in my life. I of course adore Mary the Mother of God but I also dig Madonna the performing artist! I blogged about Madonna and discernment a few months ago and yesterday was another great Madonna moment in history inspiring today’s blog post. While the Super Bowl game and commercials were entertaining, the Halftime Show was riveting!

At 53-year-old, Madonna can still rock the house big time! She did a cool collage of “Vogue,” “Music,” “Party Rock Anthem/Sexy and I Know It,” “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” and “Like a Prayer” and was joined by other top performers including Nicki Minaj (great voice), M.I.A. (gesture fail), LMFAO (first hamsters, now Madonna are grooving with them), and Cee Lo Green (who was also in a great commercial with his The Voice costars and Betty White). The visual effects were amazing too — thanks to Cirque Du Soleil and Jamie King.

Why is Madonna so awesome? Well, she’s a fabulous singer and performance artist. She is not only the Queen of Pop but she’s also the Queen of Reinvention.

Considered to be one of the “25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century” by Time for being an influential figure in contemporary music, Madonna is known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry.Considered to be one of the “25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century” by Time for being an influential figure in contemporary music, Madonna is known for continuously reinventing both her music and image, and for retaining a standard of autonomy within the recording industry. (Wikipedia)

Madonna has done dance, music, acting, fashion design, film directing and producing, writing, and business. She sees what she wants and goes after it, trying it out, turning it around, creating and recreating it. If it doesn’t quite stick or it isn’t energizing for her, she moves on. I’ve got a lot of respect and admiration for this habit of Madonna’s. Reinventing oneself is something I think we all need to do now and again.

Who doesn’t love an invention? Think of the light bulb, which had never shined in all of history until Thomas Edison switched it on on Dec. 31, 1879. Think of lasers, helicopters, microchips, elegant equations like E = mc², and even modest wonders like batteries, Velcro, and air conditioning. We honor inventors, enrich them, ask them about the meaning of life.

Reinvention isn’t in that league. The tip-off is the “re,” meaning it’s been done before. If invention is the dazzling hit, reinvention usually begins as a miss. But a miss that is taken back into the workshop, rethought, reworked, and brought out for a second, third, or fourth try can change the world. The light bulb, for instance, only stayed lit after it hadn’t at least 6,000 times. Each time, Edison and his co-workers took stock of what went wrong, made improvements, and tried again. His invention was a serial reinvention. (by John Yemma, Editor for The Christian Science Monitor, February 5, 2012)

Reinvention is not annihilating what was or who we’ve been, rather it’s tinkering a bit and finding a new way to be most fully ourselves.

In  what way are  you inspired by Madonna? What might you need to bring back into the workshop, rethink, rework, and bring out again to change your life and perhaps the world?

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.

AS100 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on February 2, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: Highlights in honor of 100th episode, World Day for Consecrated Life, GPS rosary for religious life, vow of obedience vs. doormat, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• In honor of the 100th episode of Ask Sister, audio clips of some of our favorite shows: tin-can podcast #1, Chloe the Convent Cat, putting the “man” in “mantilla,” and the sisters’ best jokes.
• World Day for Consecrated Life–an opportunity to celebrate God’s calling in our lives.
• The Rosary as a GPS for finding one’s way to religious life.
• The Rosary as a Marian devotion, and the role of Mary in our lives and in the tradition of religious life.
• Fond memories of the glow-in-the-dark Rosary.
• How does one live out the vow of obedience, without falling into the unhealthy habit of being a doormat? The ups and downs of obedience not just for sisters but for all Christians!

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/ and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

The New Orleans paper, The Times-Picayune posted a great story this week — Young lawyer fights for social justice on her way to becoming a nun (January 29, 2012). The article is about Alison McCrary, a young woman who is a lawyer and in the process of becoming a Catholic sister with the Congregation of Saint Joseph. Alison lives with a community of St. Joseph sisters near Bayou St. John.

You might be wondering, A nun AND a lawyer? But of course! Justice and Catholic nuns go hand-in-hand!

Alison sees her role as a lawyer fighting for social justice meshing perfectly with becoming a nun.
“People have such a misconception of what nuns are,” she says. “We’re supposed to run into the world, not out of it. Our eyes are wide open, and our sleeves are rolled up.”

…

“There are so many struggles of the poor and oppressed,” she says. “If I’m not engaged in some kind of social change, then something is wrong.” During an internship with the PeaceWomen Project at the United Nations in 2005, she met impressive women doing the kind of work she wanted to do. “I found out they were lawyers,” she says. “I was inspired by what they were doing, and that planted the seed for going to law school.”

…

She entered the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in August 2007. During her work as a paralegal and volunteer activities as a law student, she met several Sisters of St. Joseph and saw the important work they were doing, and she felt called to become a nun. “I met Sister Helen Prejean and Sister Lory Schaff and all these incredible women who were living the gospel values, and I thought, ‘I want that,’” she says.

She started meeting with a spiritual advisor, and after finishing law school and passing the bar in May, 2010, she took the first step to becoming a Sister of St. Joseph on Aug. 15, 2010. “I knew I had to find the beauty in the middle of all the struggle,” she says. “My decision is something I feel at peace with.” In a world that values money, power and sex, she is ready to live the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. “I believe our vows have a lot of meaning,” she says. “I feel like I’m called to that commitment.”

As you read Alison’s story, what strikes you? What gives you something to think about in terms of your own life?

Our guest blogger today is our friend Sister Hildegard Pleva, OSsR. Sister Hildegard is a regular at evening prayer, appeared on an Ask Sister podcast, and has guest blogged before! You can find Sister Hildegard and the Redemptoristine nuns at the blog Contemplative Horizon.

“… Form ever follows function…”
~ Louis Sullivan, 1856-1924, Father of Modern American Architecture

Our contemplative monastic community has been searching for a new monastery. Our current home and its land is changing hands requiring us to move. In the process have had to explain over and over again the nature of our life and how radically it differs from service oriented apostolic religious life.

The mental image of a cloister is often limited to a dark monastery vestibule or parlor where the visitor glimpsed a heavily veiled nun behind metal grille appointed with spikes to remind that the encounter would not include a touch or kiss.

These images belong to the past and do not point to the real purpose of the cloister. The architecture of enclosure supports the life of prayer to which the nuns are dedicated. The enclosure ensures silence and solitude. It is a living space for the community set apart from space open to the public; that more private space for a community praying, working, eating and recreating together while managing a large household. It allows those activities to cluster around the center which is prayer and praise at the Eucharistic and the Liturgy of the Hours.

Within the enclosure all of the functions of the monastic household are carried out 24/7 within a fixed group of members. It must have room for everyone to do everything together most of the time. No members will be off to a ball game or have a late night at the office. No one will go out to work. No one can arrive home after a long hard day and announce their departure to take in dinner and movie with a friend. These realities determine architectural form.

In our search we visited large homes and former convents. Invariably we realized that each structure conformed to the “form follows function” rule. Private homes were built to be just what they were. Buildings designed for apostolic religious supported the kind of life they lead, a life with work outside the residence. No effort at remodeling would successfully transform them into suitable monastic structures. We had to face in-depth consideration of our monastic enterprise. “What is it we wish to protect; what is it we wish to nourish and pursue in the structure we envision?” “Form follows function”; not the other way around. In the end we recognized that no mere structure will guarantee dedicated contemplative life. Thoughtful design provides suitable space, an environment conducive to prayer, a place apart. The rest is the work of God’s grace in the desiring soul.

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.
Our prayer leaders for this week are Audra of Awkward Catholic fame
and Regina who is engaged in Soul Composting!

Welcome back today’s guest blogger — Sister Lynne Smith, OSB, a member of the inclusive Benedictine community, Benedictine Women of Madison, at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, WI. Sister Lynne was our guest on a recent Ask Sister podcast so be sure to listen in!

Someone asked me recently if I felt I had to give up a lot to become a sister. Something in me resists thinking about religious life in terms of giving something up. The question might come from the image of monks “leaving the world” to live in the desert or from the image of religious life as made up of strict ascetical practices.

To be sure, one does give up some things to enter a community and there is asceticism involved in religious life. The practice of asceticism is different in each order. For Benedictines, living in community with our promises of stability, obedience and conversion of life is the asceticism. The rub of daily life and living patiently with our own and one another’s weaknesses is asceticism enough!

My aim of seeking God through Benedictine life leads me to make choices that might seem to others to be loss. For me, those choices help me be available to God and others. I find it helpful to think about entering religious life as a change of lifestyle just as marriage is a change of lifestyle. One exchanges one way of living for another. The change involves some loss as well as gain and it takes time to adjust to the new way of living.

Religious life is about pursuing your heart’s desire. It’s like falling in love. When you fall in love with someone and start spending more time with him or her, you give up some of the ways you used to spend your time. In the process, you gain the love of your life. Over time as you nurture your relationship, you discover you have gained much more than you ever gave up. So it is in religious life.

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For a taste of life in community, check out our Benedictine Sojourner experience for single Christian women. Live in an inclusive ecumenical community at Holy Wisdom Monastery for a year. Pray, play, work and learn with us.

For a shorter experience in the summer consider spending two weeks to a month with us as a Volunteer in Community.

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Join the A Nun’s Life Community for prayer at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room today.
Our prayer leader for this week are Audra of Awkward Catholic fame
and Regina who is engaged in Soul Composting!

Today we are pleased to introduce you to today’s guest blogger: our friend, Sister Michele Fisher of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

This past week, the Sisters in my local community and I had the grace of hosting a group of students from the Newman Association of Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania.  They were seeking to do a Winter Break Mission Trip and their first requirement was to stay with a religious community and try to find service opportunities sponsored by religious communities. Imagine that!

Our contact started almost nine months ago when I received an e-mail from their president. Strangely enough, the e-mail went into my SPAM folder. Good thing for them that I give my SPAM folder a thorough review before deleting it!

Over the course of months following that initial e-mail, the plans for our week together began to take shape.  I know that there was prayer and discernment taking place at both ends of the state (we live in Philadelphia, on the eastern part of Pennsylvania and they are from the northwestern corner of the state). But God had us covered! As the week of the students’ arrival got closer, I began to have all kinds of thoughts – anything from “Did I find the “right” service experiences for them?” to “What if they don’t like the meatloaf?”

Last Monday evening, when I got the call that our long-awaited visitors had arrived, my heart did a little dance and I begged the good Lord to “take the wheel!” I could tell by the joy with which we greeted one another that this was going to be a special week.

The greatest joy for me was watching how freely they related to one another, to the Sisters and to the people that they served during the week. In their simple smiles, willing gestures and even in their tiredness at the end of the day, they filled the place with the fragrance of God.

When they drove past the convent after bidding us all farewell, there was a bit of sadness in the cold January air. We will miss our dear young friends! Thank you, dear friends, for your example of love in action, faith in practice and boundless trust in the goodness of God!

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There will be no prayer leader today but please feel free to meet at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room to connect with the A Nun’s Life Community. We will have prayer leaders Wednesday through Friday for the week.

Founded in 2008, the HOPES Center is the newest ministry of the Racine Dominicans. The mission the HOPES Center is “to shape the future by collaborating for healing, peace, spiritual growth and action on behalf of justice.”

The HOPES Center includes three unique services. Cup of Hope is a fair trade coffee shop. Purchasing fair trade products from the Just Trade store is one way of fighting global poverty by providing workers throughout the world with a living wage. The HOPES Center provides mental health and healing arts services free of charge to people who are homeless or at risk of being homeless in Racine County.

How can the HOPES Center offer free services? The Board Directors, staff and volunteers at the Center seek grant monies, fund-raise, and accept monetary gifts to carry on the work. The dream is that one day profits from sales in the coffee shop and fair trade store will also help support services to those in need.

The HOPES Center is located at 507 Sixth Street, Racine, Wisconsin. Stop by for a cup of coffee or hot chocolate or consider a unique gift from Just Trade. Not near Racine? Visit HOPES Center at www.racinedominicans.org and click on the HOPES logo. Be sure to sign up for the HOPES newsletter and learn about ways that you, too, can volunteer.

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The mission of the Racine Dominicans: “Commitment to truth in the light of the Gospel compels us to consecrate our whatever power and influence we have personally and as a community, to sustain the fundamental right of every person to pursue the fullness of life and to share in the common good.” (Racine Dominicans, Constitutions 8.1)

For more on the Racine Dominicans and to meet some of the sisters, check out our Ask Sister podcast with the Racine Dominicans.

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There will be no prayer leader today but please feel free to meet at 6 p.m. CT in the chat room to connect with the A Nun’s Life Community.

AS099 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on January 19, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: Mass fracas over word changes in liturgy, unruly use of church rules, finding a spiritual mentor, does God have plans for the world, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• Why are some people vehemently upset about the changes to the Mass? Jesus is still Jesus in the Eucharist — isn’t that why we go to Mass anyway?
• Can I be a sister if I am not a conservative Catholic (or in other words, have a problem with strict applying of rules in the church)?
• Where to find a spiritual mentor when it seems there’s not one anywhere nearby.
• What are God’s plans for today’s world?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Join us today for a live broadcast of In Good Faith, a conversation exploring God’s call in everyday life hosted by A Nun’s Life Sisters Maxine and Julie.

On Air: Today from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central Time (your time zone)

Where: www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE

Guest: Coach Cathy Rush

Cathy Rush was the head women’s basketball coach at Immaculata College (now University) from 1970-1977. She led Immaculata to three consecutive AIAW national titles from 1972-1974. Coach Rush also led the 1975 U.S. Women’s basketball team at the Pan American games to a gold medal finish. She was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 7, 2008. She was inducted into the women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. She is the founder and president of Future Stars Camps.

Be sure to check out The Mighty Macs movie featuring Cathy and the Immaculata IHM Sisters!

Details: The broadcast is free and open to the public. You can tune in from any place you have internet access. We also have a chat room for you to use during the broadcast in order to connect with one another and with us. You can also submit your questions ahead of time by using the comment box below.

If new to A Nun’s Life podcasts, the podcasts are basically like tuning into a radio program, but instead of broadcasting it on the airwaves, we broadcast it on our website. All you have to do is visit our website and make sure the volume on your computer is up.

More information including upcoming shows and recordings of past episodes can be found at the In Good Faith program web page.

What questions or topics would you like Coach Rush and the nuns to discuss?

My spiritual exercise for this morning was to imagine a perfect me in a perfect world.

It was great! No more struggles or stress or frustration. No more weighing decisions and wondering if I should do one thing instead of another. No more need to consider if I should cultivate more virtues in my life. I would already know the answers! I would already know what to do! I would already be perfectly virtuous! I was giddy at the prospect of perfection.

Then doubts began to creep in. If everything was perfect, including me, what kind of life would that be? I’d never experience the joy and challenge of learning. I might never be surprised again. What would happen to the thrill of adventure?

When it comes right down to it, if I had a choice, I would choose an imperfect me in an imperfect world. Ok, granted I don’t have that choice. I suppose I could be bummed out that no matter how hard I try in this life, I’m not going to be perfect. The world isn’t going to be perfect. Yet scripture tells me that I’m a part of God’s good creation. That even in the midst of imperfection, humanity and the rest of creation is pleasing to God.

So my prayer today is to embrace my God-given imperfection – to bring creativity to situations where frustration might otherwise set in, to cherish eccentricities in myself and others, and to be okay with striving but not yet arriving.

What are your thoughts about imperfection? Feel free to type them in the comment box below (and no need to worry if your spelling isn’t perfect

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for a live podcast and chat every weekday at 6 p.m. CT
(find your time zone) at aNunsLife.org/live

We had a very interesting conversation about penance and sacrifice on the last Ask Sister podcast. For some people those are harsh, negative words, but for others, they are words of freedom and wholeness. While discussing this, an interesting word popped up from the chat room: austerity. That’s another great word that tends to be dismissed as harsh and negative. But what does it really mean? Does it have a place in Catholic faith and spirituality today?

What does it meant to be austere? When in doubt, turn to Sister Merriam Webster!

aus·tere adj \ȯ-ˈstir also -ˈster\

1 a : stern and cold in appearance or manner; b : somber, grave
2 : morally strict : ascetic
3 : markedly simple or unadorned
4 : giving little or no scope for pleasure
5 of a wine : having the flavor of acid or tannin predominant over fruit flavors usually indicating a capacity for aging

While I appreciate #5, it’s probably not the definition we are after here. As we look through the first 4 definitions, however, there is are several distinct meanings for “austere” ranging from the more harsh, negative sense (stern, cold, no pleasure) to the positive (simple, unadorned).

In centuries past, austerity was often interpreted in practices that were indeed harsh and unhealthy. These include but are not limited to repression, self-denial and other severe “bodily penances” — that is, physical actions taken to avoid and “defeat” occasions of sin. There are many dangers to body and spirit when a person is compelled by and engages in these extreme acts. And what is extreme and severe for one person may be quite natural and necessary for another. I leave this discussion to others much wiser and knowledgeable about such matters than myself. What I’m more interested in is the “ordinary” practice of austerity.

Some of austere actions — when properly understood within Catholic spirituality and one’s relationship with God, and with the support of a spiritual mentor — can be a help to one’s spiritual life. Fasting and abstinence, for example, may be done as a penance (an act moving toward reconciliation/wholeness after one has turned away from God) or as an act of sacrifice (letting go of one good for a greater good) — listen to Ask Sister AS098 episode for more on the distinction. But these are not to be “extreme” nor unhealthy for mind, body, or spirit. Saint Jerome (who himself was a bit too overzealous when it came to austerity) cautions that us:

“Be on guard … lest you imagine yourself to be perfect and a saint; for perfection does not consist in this virtue. It is only a help; a disposition; a means though a fitting one, for the attainment of true perfection.” (source)

(By the way … “true perfection” is another one of those phrases we often misinterpret … will write about that tomorrow. Email me your thoughts or good theology quotes on “true perfection” @   )

Austere practices also include fasting and abstinence — these maybe done as a penance (an act moving toward reconciliation/wholeness after one has turned away from God) but also as an act of sacrifice (letting go of one good for a greater good) — listen to Ask Sister AS098 episode for more on the distinction.

It is this more accessible form of austerity that I think bears consideration and reflection. Also the aspect of “markedly simple or unadorned” that Sister Merriam points out in the definition above. These choices, practices, actions, and movements of the spirit are ones that are very personal and unique to each one of us. They may be things that are part of our way of life, or they might be things that we do for a defined period of time.

One small example from my own life is when I felt drawn to not eat meat. It is a choice for me that has deep spiritual meaning along with physical and emotional aspects. It is indeed “necessary” for me in the sense that it allow me to be most truly myself. For me, it is a movement toward wholeness. But just because it is that way in my life, doesn’t mean that it is a “higher good” or more spiritually significant than other practices in which others engage. It’s what works for me. I have no need to broadcast it (well, other than as an example here), or to tout my awesome vegetarianness. I don’t think of it as extreme or radical — it just is what I need to do.

Each of us has and are drawn to these kind of “austerities” in our own life. But it’s up to you to know them and choose them. A spiritual director or mentor can provide some help and guidance and I definitely recommend one if you are unsure what to do or the thing you feel compelled by has a significant spiritual, physical, and/or emotional impact on you (e.g., I talked with my doctor and with a couple of my nuns when I realized I wanted a life-long commitment to not eat meat).

What are your thoughts or wonderings about austerity? What are some other ways that you practice austerity that is “markedly simple, unadorned”?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for a live podcast and chat every weekday at 6 p.m. CT
(find your time zone) at aNunsLife.org/live

AS098 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on January 12, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: the difference between penance and sacrifice, speechless God, is grief a rejection of faith, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What is the difference between penance and sacrifice?
• Austerities and asceticism
• I don’t feel like God is telling me much. Am I going to hear a voice one day before graduation telling me to go to a convent? Or is saying “I want to go to college and study anthropology” sufficient?
• Measuring up to the holiness of friends and other people.
• My mother died recently and I’m very sad. But some of my bible study friends say, “She’s in heaven with God now and you should be happy about that.” Is my sadness somehow a rejection of my faith?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Join us today for a live broadcast of In Good Faith, a conversation exploring God’s call in everyday life hosted by A Nun’s Life Sisters Maxine and Julie.

On Air: Today from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central Time (your time zone)

Where: www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE

Guest: Sister Pat Daly, OP

Sister Patricia Daly, O.P. is a Dominican Sister of Caldwell , NJ and has worked in Corporate Responsibility and Socially Responsible Investing for over 25 years. She serves as the Executive Director of the Tri-State Coaltion for Responsible Investment, an organization of 40 Roman Catholic Dioceses and Congregations of Women and Men in the NY metropolitan area. Pat represents these institutional investors to the national Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility: 275 Roman Catholic, Protestant and Jewish organizations holding more than $110 billion in investments. Pat is also the Corporate Responsibility Representative for the Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell , NJ and consults for the American Baptist Churches in their Socially Responsible Investment Program. See Sister Patricia onCBS News!

Show Notes:

• Sister Pat’s community, the Dominican Sisters of Caldwell, New Jersey, and her attraction to their commitment to social justice
• what it means to do socially responsible investing
• personal investors and institutional investors (including dioceses and other Catholic organizations)
• asking the question about where people who are poor, hungry, homeless, etc. fit in with our choice of investments
• “the power of one is not to be underestimated”
• helping companies do good in the community and also have just practices within their corporate structure and policies and how they are impacting society as a whole
• sometimes (especially in the early days) it’s a struggle for companies to engage with their shareholders about social responsibility
• how Jesus informs Sister Pat’s ministry — Jesus as a change agent who understood the abuses in the economic governance and faith systems and challenged them
• a critical vocation to speak up for people who have no role or power in society
• successes that Sister Pat has seen through the years, e.g., working with General Electric (responsible for much of the contamination), other companies, religious orders, and the community to clean up PCB contamination along the Hudson River
• the effects of global warming being addressed more and more compared to 20 years ago when they filed the first shareholder resolution on climate change
• criteria to evaluate companies in which one wishes to invest can be found at iccr.org, tricri.org, greenamerica.org
• disappointments that Sister Pat has encountered, e.g., addressed the irradiation of food but didn’t at the time have the resources to address concerns around genetically-modified foods
• is better to only invest in companies that have their social-responibility acts together or to stick it out in less socially responsible companies and demand change?
• it’s all about dialogue — understanding a companies culture and bringing in one’s concerns so that both can walk away and say “I did a good thing”
• the Catholic Church’s role in promoting socially responsible investing
• a quandary when a company that has questionable practices invests generously in church and community work
• the Occupy Wall Street movement
• abuses around compensation for senior executives
• what it’s like to be a Catholic sister in the board room and in the media spotlight
• Ford on the “best of” list of the really good guys in terms of social responsibility — also Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Red Lobster) with food sustainability, Walt Disney Company with concerns in supply chain — not only make changes with their companies but instigate change within their industry
• a company that could do better is Exxon Mobil, especially around greenhouse gas emissions
• the so-called “sin stocks” — gambling, liquor, and tobacco stocks
• myth busted — the truth is that you can do well investing in socially responsible investing

Details: The broadcast is free and open to the public. You can tune in from any place you have internet access. We also have a chat room for you to use during the broadcast in order to connect with one another and with us. You can also submit your questions ahead of time by using the comment box below.

If new to A Nun’s Life podcasts, the podcasts are basically like tuning into a radio program, but instead of broadcasting it on the airwaves, we broadcast it on our website. All you have to do is visit our website and make sure the volume on your computer is up.

More information including upcoming shows and recordings of past episodes can be found at the In Good Faith program web page.

We may be nuns and have a penchant for talking nun stuff, but we are all about promoting ALL vocations — and that’s why no matter who you are, what you do, or what your spiritual persuasion is, we’re here for you!

This week is a great time to celebrate all manner of vocations because it is National Vocation Awareness Week (NVAW) which began in 1976 by the U.S. Catholic Bishops. It coincides with the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus. This is of course is très significant because the Church recognizes the universal call to holiness of every Christian by virtue of her or his baptism.

What does this mean? Here’s a snippet from one of my favorite Church documents, Lumen Gentium – The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church from the Second Vatican Council.

[We are called] to live “as becomes saints”, and to put on “as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience”, and to possess the fruit of the Spirit in holiness….

All the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ. They must follow in Christ’s footsteps and conform themselves to God’s image seeking God’s will in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history.

The classes and duties of life are many, but holiness is one—that sanctity which is cultivated by all who are moved by the Spirit of God, and who obey the voice of God and worship God … in spirit and in truth. These people follow the poor Christ, the humble and cross-bearing Christ in order to be worthy of being sharers in God’s glory. Every person must walk unhesitatingly according to her or his own personal gifts and duties in the path of living faith, which arouses hope and works through charity. (Lumen Gentium)

What crosses your mind when you think about what it means for God to be calling YOU?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for a live podcast and chat every weekday at 6 p.m. CT (find your time zone) at aNunsLife.org/live

Sister Hiltrudis Powers of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, was an amazing nun and artist. She died on December 31 and left a legacy of beauty.

Sister Hiltrudis Powers was well-known for her work painting colorful murals, designing stained-glass windows, and making sculptures, silk-screened banners and other items that decorate churches here and abroad. (source)

She was born in Quincy, Illinois, and belonged to the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, Missouri. The sisters are known for their beautiful artwork.

In 1945, when Sister Powers was 25, the director of the embroidery department died. Sister Powers was named director of what came to be the Ecclesiastical Art Department, and this became her life’s ministry.

She specialized in stained glass, metal and wood. When newly appointed Archbishop Justin Rigali needed a coat of arms, the St. Louis Archdiocese commissioned Sister Powers to design and craft the work in copper and enamel on wood.

Before Vatican II, in 1962, her order’s art department made articles only for Catholic churches. After that, the department began making artworks for other denominations….

Sister Powers designed the miter and stole worn by Pope John Paul II during his visit to St. Louis in 1999, according to the order.

Here is an awesome sampling of Sister Hiltrudis’ work.

Stole for Pope John Paul II

Iron works in St. Joseph Chapel in O'Fallon, MO at the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood

Stained-glass window in St. Joseph's Chapel that Sister Hiltrudis Powers designed and help make.

AS097 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on January 5, 2012. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: travel troubles for road nun, Christian feminists – do they really exist?, building the kingdom of God locally and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What happens when a nun is traveling and runs into really bad weather? Is prayer her only option?
• What does it mean to be a Christian feminist?
• What does it mean to build the kingdom of God? How can we do that locally?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821

Dear Sister Elizabeth Ann,

Just a short note to say that I’m a big fan of yours! It’s not just because your feast day is on my birthday, which it is. Or that my momma’s name is also Elizabeth Ann (BTW she’s a huge fan too).

I really admire your sense of adventure, or whatever spirit it was that allowed you to say “yes” to God in so many different ways. Raised an Anglican in New York, you married and went to Italy with your hub and one of your five kids. (My mom and dad also raised five kids).

It must have been very difficult when your husband died in Italy. Yet even then, you did not lose faith. Even then, you turned to God. Maybe the challenge of being a single parent led you to such a deep desire to help others. Back in New York, you became a Catholic and raised your kids.

And then you began a religious order! Way to say “yes” to that one – the Sisters of Charity, Emmitsburg, Maryland, was the first order of women religious that originated in the United States! (My congregation was also founded in the U.S.!) Not only did you and your sisters help many poor young women by providing free Catholic education, but you left a legacy that’s still vibrant nearly 200 years later!

Throughout the day today, I’m going to pray in these words you wrote to a good friend in a letter in 1810:

“Faith lifts the staggering soul on one side, hope supports it on the other, experience says it must be and love says let it be.”

Thanks for the many ways you said “yes” to God, Sister Elizabeth Ann!

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer (Mon.-Wed and Friday) at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live. Join us there on Thursdays at 6 p.m. for the Ask Sister broadcast.

Kateri Tekakwitha stained glass window by Debora Coombs in St. Mary

Let’s hear it for the Mohawk Valley area of New York state! From that area of the world not one but TWO soon-to-be saints have emerged (not counting myself who was born a mere 3 hours away).

“The Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk Indian, spent most of her life here during the 17th centurY. About 200 years later and 40 miles to the west, the Blessed Mother Marianne Cope began a religious life that focused on providing medical care in central New York and the Hawaiian islands.

On Dec. 20, Pope Benedict XVI certified miracles attributed to the two women, the final step toward sainthood. The women’s canonization is expected to happen this year.

When they are elevated to sainthood, they’ll be among just 12 of the Catholic Church’s thousands of saints who either were born in America or ministered in what is now the United States.” (source)

While many may be familiar with Kateri, let me fill you in a bit more on Mother Marianne. She belonged to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.

“Mother Marianne Cope’s roots in the Mohawk Valley began in Utica, where her family settled in 1840 after emigrating from Germany the previous year, when she was a year old. A factory worker until she joined the Franciscan sisters in Syracuse in the early 1860s, the young nun worked as a nurse and hospital administrator, helping to found two hospitals — St. Joseph’s in Syracuse and St. Elizabeth’s in Utica — that are still in operation today. Under her direction, no one was denied medical care, according to Sister Patricia Burkard, general minister of the Syracuse-based Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.” (source)

Marianne Cope in a 1883 photo provided by the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities

She was “the only one of 50 religious leaders to respond positively to an emissary from Hawaii who requested for nuns to help care for Hansen’s disease patients on Kalaupapa.” This earned her the title “beloved mother of the outcasts.” The place where she went was a settlement on Molokai island run by Father Damien who was recently canonized a saint in 2009.

“Marianne was known for demanding money from the government to help the leprosy patients. She wasn’t “afraid to pursue anything for her people,” said Sister Davilyn Ah Chick of Honolulu….

The nuns said Marianne is credited with having a school built and teaching women and girls to sew and garden. She was also a source of support during a time of much suffering, which included abuse, families forced apart and the banning of pregnancies, [Sister Rose Annette] Ahuna said.

Marianne died there of natural causes in 1918.” (source: Hawaii nuns describe life of soon-to-be saint, Jan. 2, 2011)

We look forward to the canonizations!

I was out with friends on New Year’s Eve and they joked saying, you are like the most interesting nun in the world”, a shout-out of course to the clever Dos Equis commercials featuring Jonathan Goldsmith as the Most Interesting Man in the World. I had to laugh because there is some truth in that! Not that I’m particularly interesting (after all, I was in bed by 11 p.m. that night), but there is something about NUN-NESS that is infinitely intriguing and captivating.

It has nothing to do with what we wear, although I did once wear an Easter hat that caused quite a stir. And it has nothing to do with what we do (I have ministered in bicycle stores and bars). I think it has much to do with seeing things and making choices that our society deems crazy and turning them into a blessing.

• making lifelong vows of  obedience, poverty, and celibacy
• making everyday and life decisions in common
• upholding the dignity of the “least” (e.g., the poor, the outcast, the enemy, the oppressed)
• holding secular and sacred not as opposites but as one
• believing that through the cross comes the resurrection

Even as a nun of 10+ years now, I am still wholly compelled by all that is NUN. It is truly an adventure that engages all aspects of my being — mind, body, spirit, memory, hopes, dreams — and is crazy goodness! What is cool is that I find that so many nuns are like this. Just listen to their stories of how they have lived. Read the histories and foundation stories of congregations. What’s not to love?!

As we head into the new year, I encourage you to tap into your inner nun and allow this new year to take on all sorts of awesome adventures that thoroughly engage you.

And in this spirit, “Stay thirsty, my friends!”

P.S. Some advice for the new year …

I am not a big fan of the New Year’s resolution thing, and so I wasn’t planning on blogging about anything resolution-esque.

But then I read Father Jim Martin’s post over at Huffington Post, 12 Really Stupid Things I Never Want To Do Again (December 29, 2011). As I reflected on it, I realized that I’ve partaken of a dozen or so really stupid things myself! So I figured it wouldn’t hurt for me to consider something new for the new year. No, not a new really stupid thing, but a new idea or habit or virtue I could reflect and focus on.

Nothing much had come across my path in the last 24 hours so I figured I’d just skip it. Then, as I was going through me email, I found one that our IHM Community sent out — a “Remembering” reflection in honor of my friend and IHM Sister who died early this week. In her remembering I found these words of hers:

Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God.
Painful moments, trust God.
Every moment, thank God.
    ~ Sister Frances Ryan, IHM

These are words that I will treasure and strive to live out of as Frances did throughout her life. You can read more about Sister Frances in a 2009 article on our IHM website.

S096 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on December 29, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: run-ins with the Blessed Virgin Mary, hanging on to pre-Vatican II stuff, adopt-a-nun, how to know and respond when God is calling, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• I’m not Catholic but have had a few run-ins with the Blessed Virgin Mary. What could this possibly mean?
• Is it wrong to hang onto pre-Vatican II understandings and expressions of the faith? Of religious life?
• I’d love to spiritually adopt a nun. How to I go about doing so?
• How do you know if God is calling you to something, and what can you do about it?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from which you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Icame across this article yesterday about Prof. Thompson, one of my fav historians! Through her work, she tells the stories of U.S. women religious and how they have shaped U.S. culture and society. Plus she’s a lively writer–she makes history come alive! I am grateful to her and all historians who help to share accurate, authentic stories about sisters!

Sister Julie and I were delighted to have Prof. Thompson join us on a live podcast last year. To hear a recording of the conversation, go to the In Good Faith webpage.

Are there sisters you know whose stories should be told? Please share your stories here and on the A Nun’s Life Discussion Forum

* * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

Photo by eye2eye

But this debate was incredible! I couldn’t stop listening. The four debaters included the great great grandson of Charles Darwin, a prominent rabbi in California, a philosophy professor and author, and a college president and former policy analyst in the Reagan administration.

One of the first statements I heard was that this wasn’t a debate about the existence of God or the rationality or irrationality of faith, but about the human-made phenomenon of religion. Context is soooo important!

Here’s the link to the debate, which is on a program called Intelligence Squared.

After listening to the debate, I came away with more questions than answers regarding whether or not the world is better off without religion. But I deeply appreciate the new insights I gained on both sides of the question. Take a listen and see what you think. Would the world better off without religion?

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 24 :: O Lex Mundi written by Regina

I’m not afraid of the dark. Although I don’t like waking up in the dark during winter, in general I am very comfortable with dark places and spaces. Some of my most creative moments come deep in the night, long after so many have already gone to rest; sometimes I genuinely lament the constraints of 9 to 5 employment that require consistent, relatively early bedtimes. Dark for me is like a cocoon, a place where life is being nurtured.

And yet, I love light.

sunlight through bark

Stained Glass, IHM Motherhouse, Monroe, MI

I love sunrises and Christmas lights and candles and long summer evenings and stars shining in the inky night and luminaria illuminating pathways and the play of light through trees, leaves, bark and clouds and through stained glass windows and lightning.

Luminaria on Christmas Eve

And I love Jesus, the Light of the World. I want to live in that Light. I want to dance in that Light. I want that Light to flow around me and illuminate my world. I want that Light to shine through me so that when people encounter me they see the Light of the World and it brings them joy the way sunrises and Christmas lights and stained glass windows and lightning and luminaria bring me joy.

I want to be in the Light.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

BONUS MUSIC FOR CHRISTMAS EVE

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 22 :: O Rex Gentium written by Meredith Gould. Meredith is the author of eight books, including The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions (Doubleday) and Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar? (Morehouse). She’s founding moderator of the weekly Twitter-based chat about church social media (#chsocm) and blogs about culture and faith at More Meredith Gould.

O King of nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.

While most people usually focus on the “O King of nations” part of this O Antiphon, I remain fixated on the last two lines. More precisely, I keep zooming in on the word “clay.” Being fashioned from clay by the Creator is a metaphor that has always worked for me.

Add water to clay and it becomes mud. Add even more water and mud turns into a slurry. Slurry can be washed away, but not without leaving a messy trail. Let mud dry out and it can be crumbled into dust. Dust is always at risk for blowing away before being reconstituted as clay.

On a brighter note, clay is very pliable. How well I know this.

During my years as a visual artist, I’d switch to pottery whenever I needed a break from drawing. I loved the tactile messiness of working with clay as it swirled into form on the pottery wheel. When the form wobbled off-kilter, I happily pounded it back down into a lump and started over. Happy about the pounding. Happy about the starting over.

We humans seem quite adept at pounding ourselves and one another into lumps, let’s not blame God for this. Instead, let’s give thanks for every opportunity to be formed, yet again, by our loving Savior of clay. God knows, I do.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 21 :: O Radiant Dawn written by Sister Joyce

Original art by Sister Joyce Durosko, IHM

O Oriens: “O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.”

I saiah had prophesied, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” (9:1).

Listen to this verse sung in Gregorian chant by the North American Choir:

O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

What dawn do you await in your life?

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 20 :: O Key of David written by Denise Gorss, Web Editor at Loyola Press, where she works on various online projects including managing the photo blog Picturing God: Faces and Traces of the Divine

O Key of David, open the gates to our heavenly home.

In the days of key cards and remote controls, the image of today’s O Antiphon, “O Key of David,” may not have the same effect it once did. It seems too easy to just “beep, beep” and imagine the gates swinging open.

With God’s grace, the essence of the gates opening is true, and we are granted free access thanks to the death and resurrection of the one we will welcome as a child just days from now. When Jesus comes, it’s as though the locks are changed, and we can hope for salvation. But we need to take some action here too.

We need to prepare our hearts to walk through the gates. We need to leave something behind to go forward. Maybe it’s a dependence on familiarity, or a struggle with any one of a number of worldly temptations, or something else that we’d rather be kept locked away. But in welcoming a new key, we likely have to open ourselves in honesty about that something else. The old key won’t work once the locks are changed.

There’s something to be learned by remembering the act of physically touching a key to the lock and turning it to open the door. Sometimes the key sticks a little, or we accidentally pull out the wrong key on our first try, because we are too preoccupied to check which of the items hanging from the chain is right for the situation.

But Jesus will always be the right key.

So even though the Key is coming, and the Key will determine what opens or remains shut, we need to ask ourselves, are our hearts and hands ready to open the unlocked door?

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 19 :: O Radix Jesse written by Regina

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

Two years ago after my sister’s kidney transplant, I planted a Bleeding Heart plant in her honor. And then I promptly forgot to tend to it, and it withered away. When our landscaper cleaned up the garden in late summer, the plant was gone.

My untidy garden

The following spring as I came into the house after work, I noticed a green shoot, roughly in the spot where I had planted the Bleeding Heart. As I am an untidy gardener, I did not pay it much attention, thinking it was perhaps a weed, or at best a wild flower. Several weeks later, I came home and found a tiny pink blossom on my “weed” – our plant had come back, because the roots had never been torn away – it remained in the earth, patiently awaiting it’s time to bloom yet again.

As we complete this homestretch in Advent, the cry of “Come and deliver us” feels particularly pressing, particularly acute. We long to be delivered from the dark (literal and spiritual, for some), we long to be delivered from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we long to be delivered from the frustration of politics as usual and corporate greed… Even in our longing, though, we spy hope, like a tiny bloom on a spring plant, because we long for the Root of Jesse, promised to us so very long ago. The Root of Jesse is strong, it is sure, and no amount of neglect, or hapless tending to our spirit changes that. The Root of Jesse remains, and so our hope of deliverance remains.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

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.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 18 :: O Adonai written by Erin Edwards (Regina’s sister!)

When my sister, that would be Regina, asked me to sign up for a blog for Advent for a Nuns Life, I said “Sure, I can do that”. I’ve written devotions for Advent for a good part of my adult life. This is a piece of cake, I mean really, I am theologically trained, how hard could this be? Then panic struck….Wait, I’m a Protestant…. How am I going to write a devotion for a Catholic Community?? Yes, I was raised as a Catholic and I still pray the rosary, and I wear St. Gerard and St. Lucy on a chain around my neck (no, really I am Protestant). Then I remembered who I AM. I am a child of God. You are children of God. We are connected by the love we have for God.

And we are connected because together we proclaim Jesus is Lord! How wonderful is that! The phrase puts a song of joy within in my soul and heart.  It brings light out of darkness, it turns tears into joy and it transforms lives because when Jesus is Lord, our role is to be good and faithful servants. Learning how to be good servants and stewards transforms our lives!

In Advent, we take time to prepare for the birth of our Lord and think about how we can become better servants. It’s not always an easy road when we turn our lives to serving the Lord, but for me it is the only road I know. It is embedded in me that my life is to serve the Lord; it is what I do. It is what I prepare for each Advent season. It is a way for me to reemphasis my life as a servant, as a follower of Christ.

I pray that you all are blessed through the rest of this Advent season!!  My husband and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 17 :: O Sapientia (O Wisdom) written by Wren

"Sophia, Divine Wisdom" - Gouache and gold leaf on sculpted board, written by Mary Plaster 2003

December 17 marks the beginning of the “octave before Christmas”, when the seven “O Antiphons” are recited before the Magnificat during Vespers during the Liturgy of the Hours.

Catholic SAT words FTW! Let’s engage in a little clarification, shall we?

To begin with, the Liturgy of the Hours are prayers said at certain times of the day; usually this means you are praying the Divine Office, which are the official prayers sanctioned by the Catholic church. However, some people pray other prayers during these times that are not the Divine Office, though most Catholics use these terms interchangeably (kind of like “nun” and “sister”). If you were to pray the full Liturgy of the Hours, there are seven times in the day for prayers: The Office of Readings, otherwise known as Vigils or Matins, which in modern times may be prayed at any time of day, but traditionally are prayed at midnight. Next comes Morning Prayer, AKA Lauds, which nowadays is prayed any time between 6 and 11AM, and traditionally was prayed at dawn. Then Midmorning Prayer, AKA Terce, prayed at about 9AM. Midday Prayer (AKA Sext) is next, which is prayed around noon. Then Midafternoon Prayer is prayed around 3PM, and Evening Prayer, AKA Vespers, currently is prayed between 4 and 11PM but traditionally prayed between 3 to 6PM. Night Prayer, AKA Compline, is prayed before bedtime. Not everyone who prays the Liturgy of the Hours prays all seven hours, but some do. And no, each prayer does not take an hour: the word “hour” here is somewhat like saying “o’clock”. It’s like saying a store is open “round the clock” or “24 hours”: the LotH are formal prayers prayed around the clock.

So in the case of the O Antiphons, we are talking about something recited (or chanted) during Evening Prayer.

The Magnificat, which is Latin for “[my soul] magnifies,” is also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary. It is taken from Luke 1:46-55, where Mary says: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.” (RSV)

Each of the O Antiphons highlights one of the titles for the Messiah. We start with O Sapientia, which means O Wisdom: “O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.”

So, now that we all know what the O Antiphons are, and when they are prayed, let’s talk about why they are prayed. During Advent, we are anticipating and celebrating the forthcoming arrival of Jesus. As we get closer, the O Antiphons are a way to meditate on some of the many attributes of Jesus, examining one per day. Today, on the first day of the octave, we meditate on “Jesus is wisdom.”

As part of my Advent meditations, I began reading Matthew straight through, and am reminded of John the Baptist: he had prophesized that one greater than he would soon come, and when Jesus sought him out to be baptized, he seemed surprised, recognizing right away Jesus’ wisdom, when he said, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” In modern sci-fi terms, this would be like Yoda asking Luke to teach him about the force, and Luke saying, “But you’re Yoda.” Did I just reference Star Wars when talking about the gospel? Yes, yes I did.

There are certain figures in life that everyone can see their wisdom. Do you need to be Buddhist to think the Dalai Lama is a pretty wise man? Of course not. Did John need to witness all the miracles that Jesus had not yet performed or the resurrection in order to know how wise he was? Nope. He recognized him for what he was. Later in the gospel, while in jail, John sends word through his disciples asking if indeed Jesus is the Messiah when he hears of Jesus’ many deeds (Matt. 11:2-6), which means that he recognized Jesus’ wisdom before he even knew for certain that he was the one (I will refrain from making a Matrix reference here).

As we contemplate the impending arrival of Jesus at Christmas, take a moment to meditate on Jesus’ wisdom in your life. How does it manifest? Do you take comfort in his teachings in the gospel? Do you work to seek his direction in your life?

Happy Advent!

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 16 :: John the Baptist written by Sister Julie

Ever pray with a hip hop song? I’m prayin’ this one today. It’s Stephen the Levite’s song “John the Baptist”(music and lyrics below).

I love this song — for such a familiar Bible story, so many new images pop up in my mind when I listen to Stephen the Levite’s retelling of the story. Makes me want to “get with this” and proclaim “Yo, God is here!”

The verse that struck me upon first listening was, “not a reed bent easily he was built for this.” This is particularly meaningful for me because it reminds me that we are built by God with both strength and tenderness, standing tall like an oak yet flexible like leaves in the wind. I’m conscious that if I swing too much toward “unbending” or “easily bent” then i lose my center, I lose my footing in God and in myself.

What strikes you in this song and why?

“John the Baptist” by Stephen the Levite on the album Forerunner EP

Yo, what the deal wit’ this, voice cryin’ out in the wilderness/ “make the ways of the Lord straight, no hills in it”/ level out the valley’s make plains, He’s revealed to kids/ prophesied by Isaiah, He’s fulfillin’ it// spirit of Elijah with the same clothes killin’ it/ Camel hair and a leather belt no frills in it/ What did you expect to see, some kind of silkiness?/ not a reed bent easily he was built for this// More than a prophet, he’s a man on a pilgrimage/ the messenger, written of in Malachai, spillin’ it/ “Repent of your sins, He can cleanse all your filthiness/ There’s a new era comin’ through, can you get with this//

Hook: The Kingdom of Heaven’s at hand (get with it)/ Repent, the Kingdom of Heaven’s at hand (get with it)/ and switch, the Kingdom of God is at hand/ (get with it) ya dig? the Kingdom of Christ is at hand (get with it)//

Check the hype bruh, cats call John “the Baptizer”/ wild style vow since a child, Nazerite stuff/ cousin of the Son, born of parents that are righteous/ leapin’ in the belly when the fetus of the Christ comes// Mary and Elizabeth can identify, “the/ Spirit of the Lord is in here” queue the choir/ not a lot of singin from the pops Zechariah/ vocalizin’ doubts had him silent for the nine months// neighbors get floored when the Lord broke his silence/ couldn’t even chat, now the cat prophesies stuff/ all that God’s done got ‘em wonderin’ the kind of/ man he’s gon’ be, a strong beast from the wild cuz// fast forward, John’s at the Jordan spittin’ fire/ “b3ar fruit…axe is at the root…brood of vipers”/ there’s a new steeze and you’ll see the Messiah/ is comin’ next, I’m just here to prep ’til His time ’cause//…

Hook

Peep the drama, Christ comes just like he taught us/ John baptizes little cousin in the water/ Dove drops with a little ac’ from the Father/ sayin’ that He’s pleased with Him, leavin’ ‘em awestruck// dudes must’ve missed when he spit what his job was/ seein’ that when Jesus baptizes, all come/ upset, thinkin’ He’s a threat to what John does/ not so, John got low, givin’ props up// “i need to shrink so that he can be honored/ He holds the mic, I’m the hype man, I’m not much/ He get’s the Bride, I’m the side groom it’s not dumb/ i’m gon’ rejoice at his voice, I’ll be all done// same team, say the same thing, see the plot bruh?/ last words lotta cats heard ‘fore he got plucked/ later on he fades from the pages he’s got one/ scenes left, he will see death, but it’s fine ’cause//…

Hook

End the saga, foul plot, mouth got him locked up/ there for a while, so His doubts start to pop up/ sent a couple cats just to ask “was I wrong cuz”/ came back, tellin’ of the acts He’d accomplished// After peeps left Jesus was rep’ed for’em hard bruh/ sayin’ he’s the greatest man born of a mama/ wonder what the reason they seized him at all was?/ let me go back, show the wackness upon us// Herod wil’ed took the spouse of his Mom’s son/ John put him on blast sayin’ it was wrong but/ He’s shook, knowin’ peeps took him for a prophet/ she’s not, fiendin’ for the opp just to squash ‘em/ chance comes, he received a dance from her daughter/ “anything you want will be yours” is the offer/ mama says, “bring me John’s head on a charger”/ but he’s just a finger, the Kingdom of God comes//

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 15 :: Mary written by Sister Maxine

Artwork by He Qi

With Christmas just around the corner, ‘tis the season for Nativity sets. They seem to be everywhere – at churches, the grocery store, schools, my neighbors’ front lawns. Inside each of them is the familiar figure of Mary, about to give birth to Jesus.

In some of the Nativity sets, Mary wears a blue and white flowing gown and is surrounded by dramatic lighting. In others, she looks like a travel-weary young woman in threadbare clothing. In one very unusual Nativity set Mary is wearing a 1960s style peasant blouse and a long brown skirt probably made of organic material (Joseph was wearing sunglasses).

The various images of Mary make me think about the various Marys in my life, and the ways they symbolically give birth to something new. There are the two Marys who received me into the IHM congregation, certainly a life-changing moment for me. There is the good friend Mary whose death at an early age awakened in me a profound sense of the beauty of life. There is the Mary who was my first encounter with Vatican II theology and, to my astonishment, talked about an imminent, loving, caring God and a Church known as the People of God.

So as I go by the Nativity sets this year, I say a prayer for all the Marys in my life, the Marys who are the source of new life not only for me but in all the relationships around them. Thank you, Marys!

Who are the Marys that you know who bring forth new life? How have they affected you?

Mary, be with us as we seek to be a source of new life and hope in the world, to be the bearer of Christ to all we encounter in our life

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 14 :: Joseph written by Marla

In trying to write about Joseph, I realized I know little about him despite his importance in the whole nativity narrative of scripture. I know that superstitious Catholics have long believed that burying a statue of this under-appreciated saint in the back yard is a step in the right direction for anyone trying to sell a home, but aside from that I’m sorry to say I know almost nothing about dear old Saint Joe..

Scripture doesn’t help. Joseph is hardly mentioned at all in the gospels. Mark ignores him completely. A quick search at Gateway Bible online shows a measly eleven references to this brave soul who took on the enormous task of being stepfather to the Savior.

Despite Joseph’s minimalist biography, we can know with certainty that he pleased God. After all, Joseph said yes to God, just like Mary did, just as the prophets did, and just as the apostles did. He agreed to marry a pregnant girl and raise a child that was not his own. That’s a big deal.

But saying yes always is.

My friend Colleen taught the kids in our parish—and me—improvisation every Wednesday for an entire year. According to Colleen, the first rule of improv is to always say yes! If your partner on stage says, “Can you tell me how to get to State Street?” you have to give directions, thereby saying yes to his premise. If you say, “I’ve never heard of State Street” you are saying no to the bit and the scene stalls. In other words, saying yes means opening up to every possibility.

Saint Joseph absolutely opened himself up to any and every possibility. He was asked to serve God and he said yes, and I’ll bet his life was never the same again. And even with a tiny 11 references in scripture, Joseph is not a figure we are ever likely to forget.

In this season of Advent, may we all be more willing to open ourselves up to whatever God requires of us. Even if we have to practice saying yes every day, let’s go for it. Because saying yes to God can only bring amazing goodness (even if it hurts a little).

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 13 :: Solomon written by Sisters Julie and Maxine

Sometimes wisdom doesn’t come in a nice neat package. It can be messy, cranky, weird, and downright bizarre. Who would have thought that the great king of wisdom — Solomon, the son of David and builder of the first temple of Jerusalem — would have suggested a very gruesome solution in order to settle a dispute between two mothers? Yet, in the end, the case was solved and Solomon has been praised for centuries for his most unusual exercise of wisdom.

We could use a little bit of unusual wisdom today. We had a full day planned for today and not one, not two, but a whole bundle of contrarieties popped up today throwing a gorilla wrench in our plans. Now we both appreciate a good plan and when it is blown asunder, it’s difficult to switch gears. Any chance you can relate?!

You might think that just because we are nuns that we would blissfully and serenely adjust to life’s unexpected twists and turns. But, you know, we’re human too and bliss is not what we were initially feeling. Then we took a moment and decided that out of this unexpected chaos, we could still make good on our day. We could make a choice to ape-preciate the gorilla wrenches and open ourselves to the new possibilities while simultaneously bidding farewell to the perfectly-good-but-no-longer-helpful plans we once had.

And therein lies the wisdom of Solomon — sometimes wisdom comes in very unusual packages. In what we initially took as a preposterous problem (how dare life change our plans!) we discovered a new way to be with one another and with our plans for the day. Surely the two women who fought over the child, each claiming that the child was theirs, thought it preposterous when Solomon suggested dividing the child in two. But one woman tapped into the deepest truth of her own being and her love for the child, and was willing to shift gears for the sake of the child. She didn’t hold onto her previous position (give me the child) though she had every right to. Rather she shifted and opened herself to the new. The other person? Not so much. She was willing to dig in her heels and take her “half” of the child. Obviously that would not end well.

So here’s our invitation this day — what contrariety has come your way? What unusual wisdom may be lurking within the situation?

Solomon, be with us as we negotiate the contrarieties of our daily life. Help us to use the wisdom and creativity that God has gifted us with and to remember always our truest self in Christ.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 12 :: David written by Audra from the blog The Awkward Catholic

Yesterday Regina wrote that God knew what (s)he was doing when (s)he picked little David to be anointed. So we fast forward to when David’s three older brothers went off to war with Saul. Jesse, David’s father, asked David to see how his brothers were getting along in the war. When David reaches the camp Goliath had already proved to be impossible to beat. Israelite soldiers were running scared from this giant but to David he was not so much a scary giant as an obstacle to the Israelite people.

David’s brothers become angry and accuse him of being a smart aleck. David believes he can actually defeat Goliath because he had protected his sheep from lions and bears. Saul and the others try to convince him otherwise but David don’t care. David gets what he wants. He tells the others repeatedly that God had their backs. Saul gives David his really nice armor but it made David too uncomfortable so he takes it off. David goes with what he knows…his sling and five smooth stones and the rest is history.

It took just one pebble to bring a giant obstacle down. Even though at first David wasn’t sure why God chose him, he certainly felt confidant that God had his back. But maybe David was so confident because he didn’t understand why the others were scared. David never experienced the feeling of God leaving him. God never failed. What if we acted as though we never felt God leave us? What if at all times we felt confident that God has given us the right tools to get the job done? How many Goliaths would we be able to “slay”?

It’s a message we hear over and over again yet we need to hear everyday- God will never leave you. There are times in my life when I sensed defeat just around the corner. There were days I thought things were never going to get better. However, it was the little “pebbles”- the little blessings- that defeated the darkness. Those were the moments I was confident God had my back.

As always I found God helping me throw pebbles at Goliath because I didn’t have the strength to throw the boulders.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the nuns and community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. CT at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 8 :: Moses written by Marsha

The Burning Bush, Ratner Museum

It was later that I began to realize the significance of what happened there. When Moses asks the “force” in the burning bush to identify itself, the name that God gives to himself is “I am that I am.” Other ways of translating this might be, “I am the one who IS,” or “I am the one who is BEING ITSELF!” “I am EXISTENCE” or “I am REALITY.”

Note: The word “Yahweh” means “I AM.” The Hebrew letters that spell that word are YHWH or JHVH (Y=J, V=W in the Semitic alphabets). There are no vowels. The translators of the King James Version of the Bible added vowels to the Hebrew consonants and came up with JeHoVaH. More recent scholars have rendered the same consonants as YaHWeH. It’s the same word. And it always means “I AM.” Note: Orthodox Jews even today believe that this word Yahweh is so sacred that it is never to be spoken, so they always speak of God with euphemistic epithets: “Master of the Universe, “The LORD,” etc.)

Until that revelation, human beings thought that gods were big, powerful beings, related in some way to the people who worshiped them, related to the forces of nature. But they could be managed, placated, bargained with. They weren’t reality itself.

But a God who is not “A” being, but who IS BEING itself, EXISTENCE, itself – that’s a whole other matter. For one thing, if this God is himself the very ground of being, the very essence of what REALLY IS REAL, (or as later theologians put it, “the First Cause”) then God could not be one of a set. Instead there could only be ONE basis of reality. So we have here the first glimmer of monotheism. We have a God who is much too big, much too powerful, much too terrifying to be bargained with, to be manipulated or control. How do you control what is REALLY REAL?

And what happens next is what always happens when humans encounter GOD. God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to SET MY PEOPLE FREE!

Jesus, beginning his ministry, reads from Isaiah – “I am come to set the captives free.” When we encounter God the Son, consubstantial with the God the Father, we find that this One God, the Creator, the First Cause, the very Ground of Existence itself has chosen to create and sustain his creation out of motives of love. And that he calls us to participate with him in the process of creation by cultivating and building and developing what we had been given – and to share in the task of setting captives free.

So: be careful around those burning bushes. If you recognize the holy, if you take off your shoes, if you listen, you may hear a voice that tells you God’s name and your own. And you may find yourself sent out to set captives free – those captive parts of yourself awaiting salvation, those broken parts of the world that need to be mended and set free. You, like Moses, may have to speak truth to power and take the consequences.

LINKS TO MOSES RESOURCES:

• Yakov Azreil Poem
• James Weldon Johnson
• Y2Yahweh VIDEO
• Poem by Doug Tanoury

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday
at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

AS095 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on December 8, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: nature and theology of grace, renouncing things one never had, nun vows, the Trinity as two men and a hen?, my church NO my church!, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What exactly is grace? Is it like The Force or getting a shot of Red Bull?
• How does grace lead to freedom?
• Two men and a hen — A new image for the Trinity?
• Can a person renounce something if they’ve never had it? e.g., can I give up sex if I’ve never even had a romantic relationship?
• Aren’t the vows about renouncing things?
• Whose church is it, anyway? Is the Church my church, your church, God’s church, or our church?
• A Sister is interviewed on CBS News regarding the Apostolic Visitation and sisters’ responses

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/ and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 7 :: Jacob written by Marla (reposted from last month)

Jacob Wrestling with God by Carl-Heinz Kliemann. Woodcut, 1962

Genesis 32 tells the story of Jacob wrestling with God. God actually instigates the match, and the two wrestle all night long. When God has accomplished whatever it was He set out to do (and we never really know what that is), He simply grabs Jacob’s hip bone, wounds him, giving him a reminder to carry with him for the remainder of his life, and let’s Jacob go. Nowhere does it say why the wrestling happened.

I think I might know a little something about that. I wrestle with God every day. It started when I was a kid and my life didn’t make sense with the God I was coming to know. Part of the reason I wrestle with God concerns the plea Jacob makes in Genesis: “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” Considering that God started the fight, this is a very curious plea, but I get it. It was Jacob’s cry, and it is most assuredly mine.

Years ago, after I first realized a personal attachment to this story of Jacob and God, I had to keep going back and re-reading the plea as doubts arose in my mind about the wording. Was it, “I will not let You go until You bless me?” Or “I will not let You go unless You bless me”?

The first version implies that God will, indeed, bless me eventually.

The second version is the correct one, however. “I will not let You go unless You bless me.” Unless. Meaning, God might choose never to bless me, but, by all that is holy, I’m not going to make not blessing me easy for God! I’m making clear exactly what I want from God, and until God agrees, here I am.

Maybe when God started our wrestling match, He never dreamed I would latch on and become a permanent fixture.

But He knows everything, right? Omniscience changes the flavor of the whole deal. God knew I was going to harass Him to the end of my days, just like He knew Jacob was going to be in it for the long haul.

Every night, before I sleep, my final words are, “Lord, hold onto me.” I wrestle even in my sleep. As my body decreases, my determination to cling to God increases.

Sometimes I beg for that blessing so that I might finally rest. Honestly, I think that’s exactly when I’ll get this particular blessing, too: right before I rest. In the meantime, I’ll hold on. I’ll keep up the fight. To stop without a blessing… that would just be wrong. That would be more than I could bear. “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

Where there is a certain knowledge, a knowing, a faith, if you will, in the statement, “I will not let you go until You bless me,” there is a certain hope and an absolute determination in saying, “I will not let You go unless You bless me” I struggle mightily with faith. Determination? I have boatloads.

If God knew I would accept his challenge but never let go “unless You bless me,” maybe He wanted to make sure I stayed with Him throughout my life. Maybe he knew I would wander off if he appeased me with a blessing too early.

The hope is in believing He might never abandon me, and that if He did go away momentarily, at least I would have His blessing. Conversely, if I never received His blessing, at least I would know He would always be with me. We wouldn’t be casually walking along, either. We would be grappling, intimately embraced in a fight for my life.

Many days I yell at God. I am vocal and needy and demanding and pitiful. Other days I am quietly struggling. Aren’t we all all of these things and more as we discern God’s plan for our lives?

I’m guessing it was God’s plan all along that I grab hold and never let go. And I’ll bet that’s God’s plan for you, too.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday
at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 6 :: Isaac written by Sister Julie

"Sacrifice of Abraham" by He Qi

The story of Abraham being asked by God to sacrifice his child Isaac reminds me of my first philosophy class in college: Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. As fascinating as Nietzsche is with the whole “God is dead” thing (love him or despise him, Nietzsche definitely got people thinking!), I was particularly taken with Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), a Christian philosopher who wrote the book Fear and Trembling which including a mind-blowing section on the sacrifice of Isaac. Kierkegaard wanted to understand what Abraham must have been going through as he tried to reconcile the demands of his two loves and to make an impossible choice between the two. While I can’t say I understand all the philosophical wonderings of Kierkegaard, I can say that I started looking at this story from a whole new perspective.

It was sort of like getting inside Abraham’s head and looking at the situation as he was going through it, not with the advanced knowledge that in the end, God would prevent him from sacrificing Isaac. What was that “either/or” (the title of another of Kierkegaard’s works) like for Abraham? Did he envision anything beyond either/or? How did he contain all of these emotions and thoughts as he tried to “act normal” with Isaac, his wife Sarah, and his friends? The 3-day journey to Mount Moriah must have been torturous for Abraham. And then I think about Isaac who probably felt his dad’s dis-ease but had no idea what it was about until that fateful, terrifying moment when he realizes his dad is going to kill him. How does he possibly come to terms with this? And not just Abraham or Isaac, but what about his wife Sarah or his companion Eliezer or that poor ram that eventually did take a hit for the team?

Life seems full of either/or’s, like we are always being forced into a binary — either yes or no, either in or out, either for or against, etc. Yet even if we don’t quite understand what happened in the story of Isaac, we can know that other possibilities exist. The story gives us a greater breadth of understanding when we face our own either/or situations. For me, I feel called to be open to the unimaginable, to not give up on loving even to the knife-sharp point of death.

Think about your “either/or”. What helps you break the binary and see possibility? Where is God in either/or for you?

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday
at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 5 :: Abraham and Sarah written by Sister Julie

One of my most favorite movies ever is the classic Rob Reiner film The Princess Bride. It’s an unusual yet deeply compelling fairy tale of love, evil, pirates, swords, and the infamous R.O.U.S. (rodents of unusual size). Throughout the movie, unexpected things happen, leading the too-smart-for-his-own-good kidnapper Vizzini to exclaim repeatedly, “Inconceivable!” (see clips of Vizzini uttering “Inconceivable!” on Youtube.

When I think back to the story of Abraham and Sarah, I like to imagine Abraham and Sarah looking at each other in shock and, in Hebrew, exclaiming, “Inconceivable!”

• God calls them to leave everything and to go to a new land where they would become a blessing for all (Genesis 12:1-7) – Inconceivable!
• Abraham asks Sarah to pretend she’s his sister so they can safely enter Egypt (Genesis 12.8-20) – Inconceivable!
• “Your descendants shall be like the stars.” (Genesis 15:5) – Inconceivable!
• God says that Sarah, though barren and 90-years-old, shall bear a child (Genesis 17 and 18) – Inconceivable!

God patiently walks with Abraham and Sarah and offers then one very simple explanation for these unexpected turns of events:

“Is anything too wonderful for God to do?” (Genesis 18:14)

As we too walk with Abraham and Sarah on this Advent journey, what moments in your life have been “Inconceivable!”? What have  you learned about God and yourself in those times?

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday
at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 4 :: Noah written by Audra from the blog The Awkward Catholic

As a child of the Catholic school system advent meant one thing: paper crafts. One of the most popular crafts was the Jesse tree. This was my favorite because it was the most involved and took the longest. Each day we would learn about a person represented in the Jesse tree and then draw a symbol of that person. I liked how each symbol had a story behind it — this probably explains my love of Icons today.

My favorite symbol — besides Jesus — was Noah. I liked Noah because I got to draw animals. (Although Noah is sometimes represented by rainbow.)

Now that I’m older, my relationship with the Jesse tree and Noah has matured. I now look to the Jesse tree as a rich history of the people who have shaped our Jewish/ Christian stories. They are the roots of our family tree.

I view the Noah story as one of sustainability and responsibility to our animal friends — that God loved her creatures so much as to save two of each kind so they could be cared for and enjoyed for future generations. Of course, one can not forget the covenant God made to Noah, his family and the animals after the flood. God promised to never destroy the earth by a flood again.

It’s amazing that as we grow the Bible stories of our youth grow with us. Sometimes the childish reasons stay with us — I still like drawing animals — but the meanings of the stories deepen and shape who we are as Christians. This Advent I want to take a person from the Jesse tree and revisit them to see how my view has of their story has changed.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 3 :: Fall of Humanity written by Regina

The man replied, “It was the woman you put beside me, she gave me the fruit, and I ate it… The woman replied, “What is this that you have done?” Genesis 3:12-13

I would have eaten the fruit.

I’m sure of it.

And I would have been just like Adam and just like Eve, giving excuses, passing the blame, saying “it’s not my fault! That guy over there made me do it.”

I know this, because I’m just like that now. When my hand gets caught in the proverbial cookie jar, my impulse is to talk my way out of it, to try to convince God that He’s the one that’s got it wrong, that what He’s asking of me isn’t quite the right thing because…

That person was unkind to me, first, so she deserves my retaliatory words.

Or, I had a really bad day, and I’m grumpy, so I should be allowed to be unkind.

Or, I work hard for my money, so I should be allowed to spend it however I want, even though I could be a better steward with my resources.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

Maybe you know the feeling, too.

And I know the feeling of frustration that comes from a person making excuses to me for their behavior, so I can only imagine how God must feel when I stand there with excuse after excuse for why I shouldn’t have to live by the rules. Luckily for me, God is Infinite Love and Infinite Grace, so instead of getting angry with me and smiting me and banishing me, I imagine that my stubborn refusal to get with the program just makes God sad… because God sees in me true Potential – God sees in me all that I am capable of if only… if only I would surrender myself fully to Him. If only I would embrace that grace… if only I would stand on the promises of God, then I would be able to move beyond the Fall and maybe, just maybe, glimpse Redemption.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 2 :: Eve And Adam written by Sister Maxine

I clearly recall the first essay that I wrote that pleased me. It was preceded by tons of writing that did not. But what made the essay pleasing to me wasn’t that it was perfect (it was far from perfect….). It was that I managed, at long last, to adequately express what I was thinking and feeling. Through it all, I learned that the act of creation has beauty and power and pain and joy.

When I read the creation accounts in Genesis, I can only imagine how God must have felt. In the first creation story (Gn 1:2-3), God brings forth order from chaos and shapes the universe. Each day, God creates something new. Creation nears its high point on the sixth day, with land animals and humanity, and reaches its apex on the seventh day, with the sabbath. On the last day, I imagine that God breathes a sigh of relief and satisfaction and thinks about creating pizza as a way to celebrate.

When I read the second creation account (Gn 2:4ff) which introduces us to Adam and Eve, I see God at work once again. But the story line is different—and foreboding. The story begins with God making a man out of earth and reaches its high point with God’s last act of creation, a woman. There is only one thing that God forbids the humans to do – to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Everything else in the garden is theirs to enjoy.

At this point, the writer in me is like, “Things are NOT going to go well for the humans.” Maybe I’m projecting my own human weakness, but I can almost taste the apples from that tree.

What am I to do with these two stories – one that speaks of the intrinsic goodness of creation and the other, of the potential for tough challenges and temptations along the way. For me, there is comfort in knowing that God hasn’t yet written the final word on the story of creation. I am part of that story. By living with the compassion, love, and integrity that Jesus models, I seek to shape a story of hope for all of creation.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

IGF011 In Good Faith with Father Anthony Gittins, recorded live on December 1, 2011. Produced by aNunsLife.org Ministry. Topics include mission, evangelization, discipleship, and liberation; magisterium and ministerium of the Church; discernment and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

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Guest: Father Anthony Gittins, CSSp

Father Anthony Gittins is a member of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) and a professor of mission and culture at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Illinois. For the past twenty-five years he has with and among homeless women on the streets of Chicago and in a shelter. For seven of those years he was part of Genesis House – a community where women struggle to escape from prostitution (from CTU website).

Show Notes:

• How Fr. Tony’s faith journey informs his sense of mission
• Edwina Gately and working at Genesis House

“Just love them, she said. And I thought how simple it sounds, and how complicated it is to love people.”

“Our job is to love them, not to judge them. And once they begin to love themselves then they have the responsibility to love their neighbor as themselves. But meanwhile it is their neighbor’s job to love them.”

• Ministering  as a pastor in Sierra Leone to learn the “grammar of the language and the grammar of the culture”
• Teaching theology at Catholic Theological Union through the lens of culture, e.g. the cultural implications of reading Scripture
• The relationship between mission, evangelization, discipleship, and liberation
• Mission is about God is intrinsically a God of movement, of engagement, of relationship — reaching out into the world … it is like God’s dynamic breathing out God’s spirit (God’s cosmic, creative breath that is sending forth) — and God’s breathing in (God calling people, reconciling people, embracing people, forgiving people)
• Evangelization is the way we talk about Jesus, the incarnation of God’s mission … Jesus’ mission brought down to earth … describes everything that Jesus does because Jesus is utterly and totally committed to God’s mission
• Discipleship is a one-word job description for us, a faithful living out of what Jesus was doing — not doing our own t hing but learning how to do Jesus’ thing by watching and learning from Jesus
• Liberation – Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and has SENT ME to liberate people, to set people free from anything that binds them in any way.”
• God’s mission has a church! The church’s job is to do God’s mission
• Discernment is required to know where we fit in God’s mission
• Discerning and making decisions “in good faith”
• The difference between feeling comfortable or content and feeling peaceful
• The Church and the relationship of tension between “power” and “piety”
• How to deal with “catechism flame-throwers”
• The relationship between Magisterium and Ministerium

Details: The broadcast is free and open to the public. You can tune in from any place you have internet access. We also have a chat room for you to use during the broadcast in order to connect with one another and with us. You can also submit your questions ahead of time by using the comment box below.

If new to A Nun’s Life podcasts, the podcasts are basically like tuning into a radio program, but instead of broadcasting it on the airwaves, we broadcast it on our website. All you have to do is visit our website and make sure the volume on your computer is up.

More information including upcoming shows and recordings of past episodes can be found at the In Good Faith program web page.

During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.

Day 1 :: Creation written by Regina

But the earth became chaos and emptiness, and darkness came over the face of the Deep – yet the Spirit of God was brooding over the surface of the waters. — Genesis 1:2

A few years ago I was on vacation at Lake George with my then-husband. We had a boat, and on a beautiful, clear day we were skipping along the top of the lake without a care in the world, until I started to have a panic attack. Seemingly out of nowhere, I felt like the water of the lake would swallow me up, down, down, down into the Deep.

Maybe you know that feeling, like the water, the world, your job, your responsibilities are so chaotic, so tumultuous, that you’re going to be swallowed entirely. You think to yourself, “I can’t go on like this! There must be a change!” You cry out to God, “Save me! Hear my cry!”

The Psalmist knows that feeling. In Psalm 130 he writes, “Out of the depths I cry to you, God! God, hear my voice!” John Rutter, the British composer, set this Psalm to music as part of his Requiem. Take a listen.

Whenever I listen to it, I think of the Creation story, of the tehom, chaotic and formless, and how it is the very Source of Life, the ruach Elohim , the Breath, the Spirit of God that calls forth life from within the chaos, and life Becomes.

And so it is with us, in our own chaotic and sometimes formless lives, that we cry out to God from our own Deep and the Spirit of God comes to us and calls forth Something New. Where we knew pain and devastation, there is a spark of joy and creation.

A great criticism of the so-called “holiday season” is that there is too much chaos, too much to do, too many responsibilities and too often we don’t stop enough to truly enjoy it. As we enter into Advent fully on this first day of December, I could tell you exactly the same thing. I could tell you to cull your to-do list and rethink your commitments and tell you to stop and smell the poinsetta. Or, you could do what I’m learning to do:

Embrace the tehom.

In the chaos, feel the Breath of God upon you, stirring you to life, bringing you into Becoming, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *

AS094 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on November 30, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: nun hairstyles, a question of morals, debunking nun myths for your friends, explaining nuns to a 4-year-old child, weird detours, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.

Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• A novelist wants to know what’s under the veil for sisters circa 1960: hair or no hair?
• A listener asks if there are moral qualifications to be a nun. We’ll expand the convo to talk about moral qualifications for vocations of all types.
• What to tell friends about nuns and virginity, nuns and trust funds, and nuns who are parents.
• Can sisters and nuns keep assets and inheritances when they enter religious life?
• Do nuns get an allowance or stipend?
• A mom wonders how to explain what nuns are to her four-year-old.
• Are weird detours part of God’s plan?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

I have always been fascinated with icons and iconography. I love the colors, the gold leaf, the aliveness, and the mystery of icons! It is a great blessing to have one of my own IHM Sisters as an iconographer because I get to hang around her studio, learn from her, and be in the presence of sacred art!

During our Fall Fundraiser, Sister Nancy Lee graciously allowed the A Nun’s Life film crew into her studio where she explained how icons are made and what they mean.
We did an 8-part series of videos which are available for free here and on the A Nun’s Life Youtube Channel. Part I is below and the others you can find at anunslife.org/iconography.

Part I: Becoming and Iconographer

Visit at anunslife.org/iconography for all 8 videos!

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

Happy Advent! Throughout the world many parishes have begun fully using the new Roman Missal with the start of the new church year yesterday. So how did it go for you?

At the parish I went to (I was away from my home church during the Thanksgiving holiday), the experience was a bit mixed. I was very excited to experience this new moment but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Turns out that the changing of the words was indeed an interesting experience with some members using the new translation (there were copies for everyone) and others just responding with the former translation. In addition some were not responding at all which is a problem no matter what translation is used! I faithfully followed the instructions in my booklet but I have to say I missed a few correct responses because the rhythm of the former translation just came so naturally! All in all, it wasn’t a big shocker. It was the community at prayer and worship.

As we proceed with the implementations of the new translation of the Roman Missal, I have to keep reminding myself that this is not the last word either for the liturgy or for the Church as a whole. While I am displeased with some of the wording (some new, some which was retained), I have to remember that no translation is equal to the Word, and no translation is finally determinative of who we are, what are theology should/should not be, how we are to be in the world. The final word resides alone in Jesus the Christ. This commitment to the Word of God, along with the treasure of the Catholic faith, impels us to be people of Gospel love, of social justice, of compassion, and of prayer. And just as the beatitudes are right along side the woes in Luke’s Gospel, we must be on guard against being judgmental towards one another, against complacency, and against collusion with unjust and anti-Gospel behavior and systems. It is this commitment that must ring true in every choice of words — liturgical or otherwise.

The words that did stand out to me at yesterday’s liturgy were not those of the new or old translation but those of faith. The liturgy at the parish I went to began not with a restlessness over the new translation but with the announcement that a baby would be baptized. The welcoming and the sacrament of baptism put in bold relief what the liturgy is really about. Yes, the words are important, but a commitment to Jesus Christ in and through the community of faith is at the very top. With a few humble gestures and poignant words, in the little bundle of life of a child, we remembered who we are and whose we are.

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight and every weekday at 6 p.m. Central Time at aNunsLife.org/live.

We just celebrated Thanksgiving here in the United States. But everywhere at anytime we can give thanks. So, on this day, for what are you thankful? What or who fills you with gratitude?

What was said to the rose that made it open
was said to me here in my chest.

What was told the Cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was

whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever

was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them

so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is

being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that’s happening here.

The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,

in love with the one to whom every that belongs!

Poem by Rumi, a 13th c. Persian Muslim poet, theologian, and Sufi mystic
Translation by Coleman Barks

AS093 Ask Sister podcast published on November 24, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. This is a Special Edition on Saints, holiness, and joy. The nuns are joined by Catholic superstars Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, and Father James Martin, SJ.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

Sister Sandra Schneiders

• What is the Scriptural basis for the saints?
• In iconography and in various visual renderings, the saints are often pictured with some kind of symbol that speaks to something about their life — Teresa of Avila is pictured with a dove and quill, Saint Joseph with carpentry tools. Centuries from now, what symbol would you hope would be associated with you?
• What does holiness mean in general as well as in the ups and downs of our daily life?
• What was it like first getting to  know the author of the Fourth Gospel?
• Check out Sister Sandra’s new book Prophets in Their Own Country: Women Religious Bearing Witness to the Gospel in a Troubled Church

Father James Martin

• What role do saints play in our prayers?
• Is it considered a miracle that some saints do not decompose after dying?
• Isn’t holiness a pretty serious thing? What role do joy, humor, and laughter play in the spiritual life?
• What’s the deal with relics?
• What advice would you give to people who want to live a saintly life?
• Check out Father Jim’s new book Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

I never met Sister Valsa, but she is my sister and yours. My heart breaks for the congregation, family and friends of Sister Valsa John, SCJM, a Sister of Charity of Jesus and Mary who was killed a week ago. See Stephanie Nolen’s piece for the Globe and Mail – Activist nun who fought Indian mining companies brutally murdered (November 17, 2011). Here are some quotes:

Sister Valsa, 52, was from Kerala in south India, and 24 years ago took her vows as a member of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary. She was one of the remarkable breed of Indian religious figures who are grassroots social activists, who immerse themselves in the most marginalized and impoverished communities and work on literacy, basic health care and human rights. Sister Valsa said she did Jesus’s work by teaching the aboriginal people – known in India as adivasi or “tribals” – about their rights to their land….

Sister Sudha [Varghese, her close friend], who attended the funeral Thursday, said most who knew Sister Valsa believe it was people from the Santhal community, in the pay of the mining company, who killed her. “This is what the companies do: they divide people. When people are this poor, when someone gives them a little money, they can do anything,” she said. “Valsa knew it, and so many times we asked her to leave. But she said, ‘These are my people and I cannot leave them.’ ”

While the proverbial jury’s out in terms of who is actually responsible, news sources tend to name the coal company or possible local people who were angry with Sister Valsa for reporting to police the rape of a woman in the village.

Said Bishop Julius Marandi of Dumka, “Her violent death was a terrible shock and a great loss to the Church. We seek justice, but while we mourn this loss, our mission for the poor, the weak and voiceless will continue, strengthened and renewed by the blood of Sister Valsa, who now intercedes for human rights, justice, dignity and hope of these people.” (source: AsiaNews)

I’ve been reflecting a lot on Sister Valsa’s life and her death. No one knows where one’s vocation will lead — for some, to be a person of compassion, for others a teacher or a missionary or a parent. For all of us, our vocation leads to our death — not directly, perhaps, but in one way or another we find in our death that final statement of how we have lived our life. For some, one’s vocation necessarily entails facing death. I remember my own Sister Alice Baker, IHM, talking about her trip to the Holy Land. She talked about having to discern the possibility of her own death because she was going on a peace mission in a volatile region. I can’t even pretend to know what that means.

I lead a relatively peaceful existence with no threats to life other than the usual ones that all of us human beings face. Sure, I’ve had my share of “close-calls” but I’m intact for the most part! I am blown away by those like Sister Valsa and Sister Alice and so many others who have faced the real possibility of death. For some like Sister Valsa, death has come directly as a result of living fully one’s vocation.

You know, I’ve always wondered why in Compline — night prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours — the last prayer always reminds us of death. “All powerful God, grant us a restful night and a peaceful death.” I think it may be a reminder of our ultimate source and end in God and a reminder to take to heart our vocation. Not sure, but I will definitely keep pondering.

How do you understand “a vocation unto death”?

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

Saint Cecilia by Ellen Chavez de Leitner

Today is the feast day of Saint Cecilia! Although we know little about Cecilia’s life, she remains an inspiration and ever-popular saint in our Catholic faith. She is known particularly for being a patron saint of music. Here’s why:

The Acta of Cecilia includes the following: “While the profane music of her wedding was heard, Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse.” It was this phrase that led to her association with music, singers, musicians, etc.” (source)

Here at A Nun’s Life, we have a great fondness for Saint Cecilia. Many of our podcasts open with the song “Bits and Pieces” which features Saint Cecilia prominently. The song is written and song by the fabulous folk group, Wild Carrot. Here’s the first verse and chorus:

Bits and Pieces
(Pamela Temple; © 1998 Chocolate Dog Music (BMI))

I’ve got a box crammed with pictures of places I’ve been
and my backpack is worn at the seams.
I’ve got letters written in foreign tongues from friends who think
my tongue’s a foreign tongue too.
Stories, yeah, I’ve got some of those
Tell me how much time can you spare
I’ve seen profiles in purple suns and weavers in the mountains
I’ve held the hands of hard­lived lives

And I’ve got Bits & Pieces, Bits & Pieces
I’ve gathered
I want them to sew themselves together
While I sleep
And I call on St. Cecelia
St. Cecelia
Send me, send me
a song …

So in honor of Saint Cecilia we invite you to share a verse or two of your favorite song which you sing in your heart out of love for God!

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone). Just go to aNunsLife.org/live.

Sunday’s liturgy was beautiful as our church welcomed catechumens and candidates who are moving toward full communion with the Catholic Church. As a sponsor, I had the awesome privilege of sitting in front with my person. As I knelt during the Eucharistic prayer, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the liturgy, of common prayer among the People of God, and of Christ’s presence in and among us.

And then I realized that this would be the last time I celebrated Mass this way. My parish community and every Roman Catholic Church in the English-speaking world will begin to use a revised translation of the Mass at the next Sunday liturgy which coincides with Advent and the new Church year.

Although I’ve experienced the English translation of the Mass my whole life, using the vernacular (the language of the people instead of Latin) is a relatively new experience — as in only about 40 years old. Since then, scholars have learned much about the experience of the celebrating the Mass in English as well about translations from the original Latin.

“This new translation will employ the best of what we have learned about translation and liturgical language in two generations of celebrating the Liturgy in the vernacular. It will provide an opportunity to reflect ever more deeply on the eucharistic celebration that lies at the heart of the Church’s life.

In accord with the rules for translation established by the Holy See, the revised translation follows the style of the original Latin texts more closely, including concrete images, repetition, parallelisms, and rhythm. The English used in the Mass texts is more formal and dignified in style. Where possible, the texts follow the language of Scripture and include many poetic images. In addition, the third edition contains prayers for the celebration of recently canonized saints, additional prefaces for the Eucharistic Prayers, additional Masses and prayers for various needs and intentions, and some updated and revised rubrics (or instructions) for the celebration of the Mass. (source: Ten Questions on the Roman Missal by the USCCB)

Like many Catholics, I am not sure what to expect from this third translation of the Roman Missal. I am looking forward to the emphasis on the language of Scripture and use of poetic images. While I like the familiar languages and images of the current translation, I am excited by a renewal of intentionality at Mass because we will each have a heightened awareness of what we are saying and doing as we learn how to pray in a new way together. At the same time, I am disappointed that a more rigorous formality has been introduced and that there is still pieces of language that are exclusive of women (“for us men and for our salvation”) and images of God that are overwhelmingly masculine. If indeed we are moving closer to Scripture then we in fact should be including along with Father and King the many different images of God including that of Mother, Lion, Lover, Baker Woman, Sower, and many more. I hope and pray that parish leaders will carefully implement Roman Missal 3.0 and at the same time be sensitive to necessary adaptations.

For now and for this week, however, I will cherish my last Mass with the current Roman Missal. Roman Missal 2.0, you’ve been my constant companion. I have celebrated with you, cried with you, and witnessed some of the most beautiful landmarks of my Catholic life with you. You were there when my siblings married their spouses, my nephews were baptized, and my parents renewed their vows. You were there when my friends became Catholic or were ordained or got married or when we celebrated their Mass of Resurrection. You were there when my IHM sisters celebrated Jubilee and when I professed my vows as an IHM Sister. I am grateful for you, Mass 2.0. Goodbye.

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer tonight at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone). Just go to aNunsLife.org/live. Also we’ll give an update on the Fall FUN!raiser and announce the winner of the Grand Prize iPad 2!

AS092 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on November 17, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: call and dread in discernment, a novelist seeks info on real-life nuns, ministry to and with children, cooking and cleaning nuns, and more!

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• The work of discernment: call and dread. Really?
• Novelist asks about nuns in childcare ministries, and Sister Camille Brouillard responds by describing what it was like to minister to children with AIDS.
• I found a description of sisters and nuns on a diocesan website that describes their lives in terms of cooking and housekeeping and wanting to be loved and, oh yeah, some prayer too. What’s up with that?

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

Ilove this reflection on discernment! For me, it pretty much describes in a nutshell my experience of discerning God’s call, especially at times when I find an intersection where I thought only one road existed.

Photo by Alesa Dam

The reflection was written by Sister Mary Fran Gilleran, IHM, and was published in Midwiving a Vibrant Future, by the Leadership Council of Women Religious.

The work of discernment sets a challenge before us. We enter a process of choice and decision-making with many aspects to it. The deepest calls of our lives, the times when we know we have to choose, are profound moments.

These moments always seem to have two sides: call and dread. A call that challenges us, that we know is right, confronts us with dread at the same time. We know this call will require new demands of us. It will require taking on and letting go of familiar patterns and ways of being comfortable. It elicits dread even though we know it is time, it is needed, it is even good for us and for the whole.

Midwives of the new must know when to push for the next stage and when to simply breathe in and through both call and dread. They are two sides of the same invitation. There is a time to throw away. And it is all part of one process.

How does this reflection resonate with your experience of discernment?

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Join A Nun’s Life community tonight for prayer at aNunsLife.org/live at 6 p.m. CT (your time zone) Come a bit early or stay a bit late and chat with us in the chat room!

I am fascinated with a newly published letter that Madonna (the artist and performer) wrote when she was twenty years old. The letter (courtesy of the website Letters of Note) is addressed to film director Stephen Lewicki as a sort of “résumé” for the lead role in his film A Certain Sacrifice. She mentions how she wanted to be a movie star or a nun, and how, after trying things out, she decided to pursue a music career.

… and, after a bunch of interesting stuff about her life, the letter concludes …

Initially I was a bit miffed that Madonna compared being a nun to a disease, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the comparison represents a fine bit of discernment. Madonna recognized that trying out life as a nun led her to “dis-ease”, that is, a lack of ease in her own life, a feeling of being “not at peace” or “out of sync”.

Thank God Madonna did recognize that “dis-ease” because she was then able to open herself up to another calling as a singer-songwriter, actor, and entrepreneur! She is hands down one of the greatest artists of our time. Granted, I would gladly take Madonna as one of my nuns, but I am nonetheless delighted that she followed her calling and gifted the world with her art.

How do you negotiate the sense of “ease” and “dis-ease” in your own life?

What insight started percolating as you read Madonna’s words and thought about her life calling?

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Join A Nun’s Life community tonight for prayer at aNunsLife.org/live at 6 p.m. CT (your time zone) Come a bit early or stay a bit late and chat with us in the chat room!

On this day of celebration for IHM Founders Day and for the A Nun’s Life Community surpassing its fundraising goal, we give thanks for you and for the way the Spirit continues to live and move and have being in the world and in us! We welcome as our guest blogger today our dear friend and IHM Sister, Margaret Brennan.

Today we celebrate one hundred and sixty-six years of IHM life… and as we do on each Founder’s Day, we look back to many celebrations of the old story which we learned from our earliest days in the congregation … the frontier community of Monroe, the log cabin, the first women, the zealous young founder – Louis Florent Gillet whose words have given us life and continued existence – “…if I cannot find a religious community I will make one.” And so he did.

When the young Redemptorist missionary visited Baltimore from Monroe, he met Theresa Maxis Duchemin who was searching for a spiritual home in which she could pursue her calling. On November 10, 1845, Louis and Theresa along with Charlotte Martha Schaaf and Therese Renaud formed the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The story of the two founders, like those of many others, was fraught with struggle and challenge that honed and humbled their spirits in the crucibles of suffering and misunderstanding. Yet in the end, they both came to rest in the deep consolation of knowing that a work begun in poverty and obscurity had flourished and taken root.

Today we continue to stand within the charisms of these two founders at another critical juncture in religious life. The over-flowing novitiates of the pre-Vatican era are no more and have given way to another reality, the deep meaning of which has yet to be discovered and discerned.

Women religious such as Sandra Schneiders IHM and Joan Chittister, OSB, among others have written and reflected on this reality. Rather than being discouraged, they have seen in the changing landscape of religious life a new hope, a new direction, and a new understanding of a way of life that has enriched the Church in countless
ways for generations.

We are challenged today to see the working of God’s Providence in our present reality … to find meaning rather than mourning or dispair. We are challenged further to consider the possibility that what lies ahead of us is not something merely to survive but, by the grace of God, something that will truly allow us to flourish.

** Final Day of A Nun’s Life FUN!raiser! We’re at $9,919 and need less than $1,000 by the end of today! Please consider kicking in $10 — if each of us does, we’ll be sure to make it! Plus you just might win an iPad 2 too! Plus tonight at our Ask Sister podcast we’ll be giving away 3 fabulous giveaways for folks in the chat room! Donate now at http://anunslife.org/donate

9 Saints Novena – Saint Joseph – by Bcoop

Saint Joseph and Christ Child icon by Michael O'Brien from Ontario Canada (www.studiobrien.com)

Reflection: Day 9 – Saint Joseph
Joseph of Nazareth is one of those hidden people in the Bible, but he played a big part in the lives of Jesus and Mary. He only appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, first as an entry in the genealogy of Jesus and a link to King David’s line. He is mentioned as the husband of Mary and the father of Jesus. He was a carpenter in Nazareth. Matthew pictures him as a man who hears an angel’s message and protects his family from Herod’s wrath. Later, Luke tells the story about 12 year old Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple and his parents’ search for him. Then Joseph disappears from the scene.

Perhaps the most important statement about Joseph in the Gospels is that he was a “just man”. That is, a person of integrity, of compassion, who is upright, sincere, and true. A person who lives in and for God, who is wise and learned in the Torah. Luke tells us that Jesus “grew in body and in wisdom, gaining favor with God and other people”. (Lk 2:52) I think he learned this along with carpentry at Joseph’s side.

Prayer:

Pray with us, Saint Joseph,

• patron of the Universal Church, teach us to walk in the Way of Jesus.
• patron of workers, help us to provide meaningful employment and adequate wages to all.
• refugee from Herod’s hatred, help us to be compassionate and open to those in trouble.
• father of your family, bless our families and teach us to live in love.
• teacher and guide for the child Jesus, help us to guide and support each other on life’s way.

Suggested Reading:

• The Bible

Join A Nun’s Life Community in the LAST DAY OF THE FUNDRAISER! We are close to our goal of $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

AS091 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on November 9, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry.  Topics include: novelist needs info for nunfiction, hanging up on a call from God, how nuns pray, submissiveness, unholy spirits, gay saints

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• A novelist is looking for info for a new work of nunfiction
• Hanging up on a call from God? What happens when a nun leaves religious life?
• A rosary a day? How nuns pray.
• What is submissiveness?
• Unholy spirits and what to do about them
• Are there any gay saints?

Do you have a question for us? Using your computer, record your question on voice mail. It’s easy to do! Just click this Record link to get started! Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

8 Saints Novena – Father Augustus Tolton – by Audra

Reflection: I would like to introduce you all to a good spiritual friend of mine: Fr. Augustus Tolton, the first African American priest in the United States.

Augustus Tolton was born a slave in 1854 in rural, Missouri. He was baptized a Catholic at St. Peter’s Church in Brush Creek, Missouri. His father died right before serving in the Civil War. Wanting a better life for her children, Augustus’ mother escaped slavery with her three children forty miles east to Quincy, Illinois. There Augustus would find his calling as a Catholic Priest.

However, since he was black, no seminary in the United States would accept him. He was sent to the Propaganda Fide in Rome where he studied with seminarians from all over the world. As soon as he was ordained he asked to be placed as a missionary in Africa, but instead, he was sent back to his home parish in Quincy.

No matter where he went, his deep baritone voice would be heard by people of different cultures together in the same church. The other priests became jealous of Fr. Tolton’s popularity and made it impossible for him to stay in Quincy. Deeply heartbroken Fr. Tolton accepted his new mission in Chicago. There, he raised funds to build a church for the African American community. While funds were being raised, “the good Father Gus” as people called him, ministered all over the Chicago ghetto. Unfortunately, Fr. Tolton never got to see his church finished as he died of a heat stoke at the age 43.

Fr. Gus was truly a servant of God as he preserved time and time again. He once wrote to St. Katherine Drexel, “I shall work and pull at it as long as God gives me life for I am beginning to see that I have powers and principalities to resist anywhere and everywhere I go.” Even though Fr. Gus’ church was never finished, his spiritual legacy lives on in those who hear his story. He is a role model for all who are in the minority to follow God no matter the cost.

Prayer:  ”O God, we give you thanks for your servant and priest, Father Augustus Tolton, who labored among us in times of contradiction, times that were both beautiful and paradoxical. His ministry helped lay the foundation for a truly Catholic gathering in faith in our time. We stand in the shadow of his ministry. May his life continue to inspire us and imbue us with that confidence and hope that will forge a new evangelization for the Church we love.” (from the Canonization Prayer)

Suggested Reading:

• A Biography of Fr. Gus by Fr. Roy Bauer
• Support Fr. Gus’ cause for canonization

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

7 Saints Novena – Dorothy Day – by Bcoop

Reflection: Dorothy Day (born: November 8, 1897; died: November 29, 1980)

Dorothy Day on picket line with farm workers in Lamont, California, 1973

I wonder how Dorothy feels about being “nominated for official sainthood”? She is reputed to have said: “Don’t call me a saint. I don’t want to be dismissed so easily.” Saints do run the danger of being “photoshopped” – all their quirks and warts smoothed away until they appear as bland as marshmallows. That might be more difficult to do with Dorothy.

Dorothy’s whole life was marked by concern for the injustices of society and the plight of destitute people. She spent her life joining charity and justice. As she said: “There was a great question in my mind. Why was so much done in remedying social evils instead of avoiding them in the first place? . . . Where were the saints to try to change the social order, not just to minister to the slaves but to do away with slavery?” (Long Loneliness, p. 45)

Dorothy’s first job as a journalist was with the New York Call, a socialist newspaper. Her reporter colleagues were socialists, communists, labour organizers for the American Federation of Labour and the Industrial Workers of the World and various free thinkers and anarchists opposed to conscription and the entry of the United States into World War I.

The labour movement, socialist ideas, and her own experiences of hardship had a strong influence on Dorothy’s commitment to social justice. At the same time, she was searching for some inner connection with the God who was enticing her. Brought up in a nominally Protestant home, Dorothy was drawn to the ritual of the Catholic Church.

In 1927 Dorothy’s daughter, Tamar, was born and was baptized in the Catholic Church. Dorothy said: “I did not want my child to flounder as I had often floundered. I wanted to believe, and I wanted my child to believe, and if belonging to a Church would give her so inestimable a grace as faith in God, and the companionable love of the Saints, then the thing to do was to have her baptized a Catholic.”

Dorothy’s interest in religion, as well as the birth of Tamar, led to the break-up of her common-law marriage. This freed her to be received into the Catholic Church and started her on a search to bring together her faith and her social values.

In 1932 Dorothy met Peter Maurin and the Catholic Worker was born. These communities still work to fulfil these words of Dorothy: “The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”

Prayer:  Help us dear Dorothy, to overcome our fear with love, our selfishness with compassion, and our anger with peace.

Suggested Reading:

• Main website for the Catholic Worker
• Social Justice Teachings, Catholic Worker House in Oklahoma City

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

6 Saints Novena – Latin American Martyrs – by Marla

Reflection: Wherever great evil thrives, great saints are made. Evil, as in Latin America from forever until today, kills and steals and destroys. It is horrific, but predictable.

Saints like Archbishop Oscar Romero learn great lessons and turn their lives around; Romero himself was martyred for repeatedly calling on the Salvadoran government to love the poor instead of killing them.

The six Jesuit priests along with their cook and her daughter were murdered in their home by US-backed Salvadoran forces in 1989 were guilty of preaching peace and caring for the poorest of the poor.

When the Salvadoran government killed people who spoke up against injustice and left them to rot on the streets, with the understanding that anyone who moved the bodies would be subject to the same treatment, the Four Churchwomen chose to honor the corporal works of mercy taught by the Catholic Church and buried the dead anyway. Just before the three nuns, Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, Maryknoll Sister Ita Ford, and Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke, along with lay missioner Jean Donovan were murdered and left in a shallow grave, Clarke wondered aloud to her friends, “I know death is coming. Will I be faithful?”

These and other saints from that evil time and place spoke truth to power—even to US power who gave money to the evil Salvadoran armies—and nothing is harder to do when death is chasing you down.

Prayer:  Dear Creator, may we, like the Latin American Martyrs, be willing to have our eyes opened and our lives changed. May we ask daily, as Maura Clarke asked on the eve of her murder, “Will I be faithful?” With the other churchwomen, may we be willing to live our faith without fear of reprisal. And with the spirit of all Latin American martyrs and saints, may we be bold enough to speak truth to power even when the truth will cost us. Bless us with your love of justice.

Suggested Reading:

• Companions of Jesus: The Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador by Jon Sobrino
• Salvador by Joan Didion
• Disturbing the Peace: The Story of Father Roy Bourgeois and the Movement to Close the School of Americas by James Hodge and Linda Cooper
• Salvador Witness: The Life and Calling of Jean Donovan by Ana Carrigan

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

5 Saints Novena – Saint Dominic Guzman – by Bcoop

Reflection: While almost everyone knows and loves Francis of Assisi, few are familiar with his contemporary, Dominic de Guzman. Dominic was born about 1170 in Caleruega, a small village in Spain. I could write a biography but you can get that from Google. Instead I’d like to tell you why I love this man.

As a student Dominic needed and treasured his books. This was before the invention of the printing press so they were laboriously made by hand and couldn’t be replaced at a local book store. When famine struck, Dominic sold his precious books to feed the poor.

He opened himself to the unknown when he saw a need for change. He left what he knew and was comfortable with, and entered into uncertainty to discern the path God was calling him to.

Dominic was cheerful. When he and Francis met I imagine them having some good laughs about wolves and birds, among other things.

Dominic lived outside of “boxes”. He blended and brought things, and people, together rather than separating them.

Perhaps this could be summed up best by what I wrote in my Journal so many years ago:
I think of Dominic – a man of joy and prayer, a man who treasured his friends, and in their common passion for living and preaching the Gospel, deepened in relationship to become “Family”.

Simon Tugwell wrote:

“The faith of God in people makes, every now and then, a person come true.
And then a heart is rhythmed to the very beat of God,
a mind to truth, and a mouth to gospel,
wooing the matter of man to God.”

Prayer:

Joyful Friar
Patient Teacher
Grace-filled Preacher
Gospel man of prayer
Pray for us and walk with us in God’s Way.

Suggested Reading:

• Early Dominicans from Classics of Western Spirituality
• International Dominican website
• Reflections on readings, resources, etc
• Bcoop’s Journal of my pilgrimage to the lands of Dominic)

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

3 Saints Novena – Saint Francis of Assisi – by Audra

Reflection: Saint Francis of Assisi is one of the most popular saints ever. There have been hundreds of books, several movies and one Broadway play done on this twelfth century saint. But for me, what makes the cool points go through the roof is that Saint Francis has his own comic book- and not just any comic book a Marvel comic book. Yes, that’s right. The kings of the comic books wrote a comic book about Saint Francis.

Francis Berandone was born into the middle class but always dreamt of being a knight. He fought in the Perugian War but was captured and put in prison for a year. It was while he was in prison that Francis first began to experience the hints of how God was calling him. In prison, Francis saw how the very men he had respected and served valiantly with were now fighting each other for food. Instead of joining them, he found that he felt joy when he gave food to the other prisoners.

When freed, Francis returned to his partying ways — and was really good at it. When fights between the pope and German princes broke out, he again was lured back to his dream to be a knight. Francis purchased the finest armor and rode with other soldiers to defend the Church. But one night before the war, God told Francis in a dream to return to Assisi. A would-be knight turning away from a fight was more than Francis’ family could bear and they were embarrassed by him. So one day Francis went to Mount Subasio to pray. He didn’t hear God’s voice but felt freer just by praying. Francis prayed intensely for a year but still couldn’t hear God’s voice. Then one day while walking he came upon a leper. At first Francis was scared, but then he felt overwhelmed with compassion and reached out and gave the leper a hug.

Later on, Francis went to the San Damiano church to pray in front of the Crucifix. Suddenly Jesus came alive and told Francis to “rebuild my church.” Francis took this to heart, and did his best to sell his merchant father’s bolts of clothes for building supplies. Unimpressed, his father found out and took him straight to the bishop. Francis’ father asked for the clothes back. Francis obliged, and right then and there took off all of his clothes in front of everyone. This marked Francis’ choice to leave behind all the expectations of his family and his own expectations and follow God.

A few days later Francis’ friend Bernardo asked to join him. Eventually more men joined them. Seeing the numbers grow Francis went to the Pope to ask if he would start a new religious order. The Pope said no, but that night he had a dream that Francis was able to rebuild the church. The next day the Pope gave Francis his blessing.

When Francis returned to Assisi, his friend Clare — yes, THE Clare — came to him asking to join his new order. Francis was hesitant at first, but then told Clare that she could live under the same laws as the Friars. The Poor Clares were born!

A few comic book days later, Francis witnessed the battle of the crusades and decided to speak with the sultan to stop the war. Francis gained the respect of the Sultan and was given a pennant so he could safely travel to all of the holy places of Jesus’ life.

After the trip, Francis came back to find his order … umm… not in order. They forced him to write rules other than the Gospels to live by. So Francis did what he always did when he needed to pray: he headed for the hills. Like Jesus, Francis spent much time in prayer in mountains. There on Mount La Verna he received the Stigmata. He became an instant celebrity as people heard about these extraordinary marks of  holiness. Over the next two years Francis’ health deteriorated. As he lay on the death bed Francis said, “Praise the Lord, for our Sister, death whom none can escape. My soul is at peace. I am prepared to meet her. Welcome Sister Death.” Francis died on October 3, 1226.

Saint Francis to me is an everyday, working person’s type of saint. He was also crazy. Crazy for God that is. I wish I can be that type of crazy. He didn’t care if you were man, woman or beast — you were a child of God and worthy of love. I think that’s why he is also the patron saint of animals. They were his sisters and brothers too.

Prayer: A very popular Prayer NOT written by Saint Francis but is something he would say: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Suggested Reading:

• “Francis, Brother of the Universe” Comic Book by Marvel
  
• Life of Saint Francis of Assisi by Saint Bonaventure

** Be sure to join in today’s Litany of the Pets at 6 p.m. Central Time followed by the first ever PAWCAST featuring the pets of A Nun’s Life Community! Click here for more info on the Litany of Pets and Pawcast!

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

AS090 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on November 3, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Special Saintly Edition. Topics include: saints in a cave, saintly symbols-coffee and ice cream, decommissioned saints, saintliness in scripture

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
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Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• How St. Syncletica ditched her entourage and headed for a cave
• Coffee, bicycles, trees, open vessels, ice cream and other symbols of sainthood
• When saints go marching off the General Roman Calendar–where do they go?
• Sister Sandra Schneiders on holiness from the perspectives of St. Paul and the Fourth Gospel

Do you have a question for us? Using your computer, record your question on voice mail. It’s easy to do! Just click this Record link to get started! Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

2 Saints Novena – Theresa Maxis Duchemin and Louis Florent Gillet – by Sister Julie

Reflection: Saints take many forms, canonical and otherwise. In today’s novena we celebrate all the saints who have gone before us “marked with the sign of faith,” those who may not be canonized but who have had a profound influence on our lives. Today we honor two such saints, founders of the religious congregations of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

While general superior of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, Theresa Maxis Duchemin met the Redemptorist missionary Louis Florent Gillet, who was seeking women religious for schools in the still new State of Michigan. After much discernment, Theresa agreed to help Gillet found a new congregation in Monroe. On November 10, 1845, Theresa along with Charlotte Schaaf and Therese Renaud, became  the first members of a new religious community dedicated to education in the frontier land of Michigan.

In January 1846, they opened St. Mary’s Academy in Monroe. As the community and mission grew, Father Gillet was forced to leave and return to Europe in 1847. Though flourishing, the community struggled to deal with Louis’ departure and their struggle worsened with a sudden separation from Theresa. Theresa was caught in the middle of a jurisdictional dispute about the congregation between the bishops of Philadelphia and Detroit. The bishop of Detroit held Theresa responsible, deposed her as General Superior, and sent her to the Pennsylvania foundation, which later became a separate branch of the congregation. Despite these trials, the new community persisted in its Redemptorist spirit of humility, simplicity, and zeal.

Theresa and Louis’s legacy of courage, peace and service to the poor continues in now three IHM congregations of Monroe, Michigan, Immaculata, Pennsylvania, and Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Prayer: We pray that we might tap into God’s gifts to each of us of courage, peace, and service, even when it seems the struggles and trials that we bear are too much. We trust with Theresa and Louis, that God will bring all our efforts to good.

“May the same faith and hope and courage of those loved ones who are ‘dwelling now in Light—yet ever near’ inspire us to continue bravely and earnestly the glorious work so nobly begun.” (Mother Theresa McGivney, IHM, November 10, 1945)

Suggested Reading:

• Paths of Daring, Deeds of Hope: Letters by and about Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin by Sister Margaret Gannon, IHM (Published in Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1992)
• Building Sisterhood: A Feminist History of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the IHM Sisters of Monroe, Michigan (Syracuse University Press, 1995)
• Also, be sure to spend time with the icons of Louis and Theresa by Sister Nancy Lee Smith, IHM, iconographer

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

2 Saints Novena – Josephine Bakhita – by Sister Maxine

Reflection:  St. Josephine Bakhita shows us that forgiveness and freedom walk hand in hand. Kidnapped into slavery as young girl in Sudan, Bakhita was sold and re-sold in African slave markets. The name, Bakhita, meaning “Fortunate One,” was given to her by her kidnappers. 

 Bakhita faced great physical, spiritual, and emotional adversity during her enslavement. But even  these experiences could not destroy the seeds of hope and transformation that lived in Bakhita.

Eventually, Bakhita was purchased by a family that, by the standards of the times, treated her kindly. She later moved to Italy with the family, and there she met the Canossian Daughters of Charity. With them, she began her journey into the Catholic faith and was baptized. The sisters were among those who helped Bakhita, baptized as “Josephine,” achieve her freedom, and soon she entered the congregation.

 St. Josephine forgave her kidnappers and captors. They had caused enormous pain in her life, yet she chose forgiveness. In doing so, she rejected hate, anger, fear, and revenge—emotions that, in themselves, enslave people and rob their capacity for joy.In forgiving others, St. Josephine chose freedom, and in her freedom, she found joy.

Prayer:  Walk with us, St. Josephine Bakhita, at times when we feel unable to forgive others. Help us find our way through the pain we’ve experienced. Help us open ourselves to transformation. Free us from that which can enslave us. Walk with us into a new place of joy.

Suggested Reading:

• http://www.canossiansisters.org.au/about/bakhita.html 
• http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20001001_giuseppina-bakhita_en.html   

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

1Saints Novena – Mary our Sister – by “Bcoop”

Reflection: With an elevated title like “Mother of God”, we might forget that Mary was a young Jewish girl from Palestine. She lived in a Country dominated by a foreign power, knew the violence of occupation, of fear, of anger at injustice, and probably joined in lamenting the slowness of Israel’s God in rescuing the people. Mary spent her days doing the routine stuff of life, like going to the village well to draw water for her family or learning to cook as her mother did. She went to the Temple as the Law of Moses prescribed. She learned to listen to what was in her heart. One day, she became pregnant with new life and we all know where that led. We might think that because she was Jesus’ mother she is elevated beyond anything we might aspire to. But when Jesus praises her, it is because she had open ears and a responsive heart to God’s Word.

Like Mary we are pregnant with God’s own life. We are called to give birth to that life in our world and our circumstances. Mary shows us the way in her example of hearing God’s Word and acting with it.

Prayer: Be our companion on this journey dear sister Mary. Teach us the ways of wisdom as you taught your son Torah. Encourage us by your strength, inspire us by your attentiveness, and be our midwife in witnessing to Christ in our life.

Suggested Reading:

• Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints by Elizabeth A. Johnson
• Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture by Elizabeth A Johnson
• Miryam of Judah: Witness in Truth and Tradition by Ann Johnson

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

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.

Idon’t know if saints ever did stand-up comedy, or if the Scripture writers ever LOL’d at what they wrote. But they do show us that there’s a connection between faith, humor, happiness and transformation. It’s what Father James Martin writes about in his new book Between Heaven and Mirth.

Sister Julie and I are delighted that Father Martin will join us for a live podcast on All Saints Day! It’s part of our very first A Nun’s Life Fun!raiser. We’ll talk with him about saints and the role of humor in the spiritual life. Join us in the live chat room during the podcast, which begins at 2 pm Central, to ask questions and share your best spiritual humor! Check out the sidebar to the right for more info about events during the Fun!raiser!

In the meantime, if you need a spiritual boost, check out this video clip of Father Martin sharing a joke with journalist Sally Quinn.

We hope you can join us for the podcast with Father Martin and for other fun and one-of-a-kind events during our nine-day Fun!raiser. A Nun’s Life Ministry relies on gifts from readers and listeners like you, who make these podcasts and this ministry possible. We encourage you to support this ministry that strives to promote religious life and to encourage people in living their calling. Please consider a one-time gift or a monthly gift to support the ministry. Thank you!

Cute as a Button!

A Nun’s Life is going to the dogs … and the cats, and the chickens, and the hamsters. November 4 is a celebration of our furry, feathery, and scaly friends, and Saint Francis!

During the day, check out the fourth day of our Saints Novena daily blog series featuring Saint Francis of Assisi. (The Saints novena begins on November 1.)

Then in the evening, pray with us and your pets during a live broadcast of Praying with the Sisters. In the comment box below, we invite you to give the name of your pet and mention whether your Fifi is a dog or snake or horse, etc. We’ll bring all the pets by name into prayer during the Litany of Pets. The podcast begins at 6 p.m. CST.

And don’t miss the Pawcast by Chloe the Convent Cat and Friends right after prayer at 6:30 p.m. CST. We need your pets’ help for this one-of-a-kind podcast! Here are super kitties Yuan, Deidre, and Maggie telling you how you can help!

Being the eager beagle that she is, Button got her video in pronto and suggested she be featured to help other pets with their videos. Take it away, Button!

So get your pets into action and help support A Nun’s Life Ministry! For more information or to submit your videos, email the Pawcast Team: … and maybe while the pets are filming their video you can check out how to make a donation to animal-loving, catnip-friendly, biscuit-ready A Nun’s Life Ministry!

Ask Sister podcast recorded live on October 27, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: do family duties trump religious life, schnauzer in the convent, Mrs. Sister, so many choices–how to decide which religious order to enter

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
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Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• Family duties vs. the call to religious life — which takes priority?
• Can pets come too when a person enters religious life? Dilemma of the mini-schnauzer.
• Have you heard of any movement that advocates sisters being allowed to marry?
• I would like to become a sister. Now the problem is, which congregation? The more I search, the more I get confused.

Do you have a question for us? Using your computer, record your question on voice mail. It’s easy to do! Just click this Record link to get started! Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

For many U.S. Catholic sisters and indeed for many Catholics across the U.S. and abroad, the Apostolic Visitation of American Women Religious that began in 2009 turned out to be a graced opportunity to reflect on apostolic, or ministerial, religious life. At the public helm of this reflection has been Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM, professor emerita of New Testament Studies and Christian Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology/Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. She has served as president of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality and on te board of directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America. Perhaps her greatest claim to fame, however, is that she is a person deeply grounded in prayer who has given her life to serving God, the Church, and the world. She is a person whom I am proud to call my sister.

At the time of the Apostolic Visitation, Sister Sandra stepped up, offering her reflections on religious life into the public forum. These were certainly not random thoughts and opinions but ones steeped in faith and “in decades of biblical scholarship, religious life scholarship, and lived experience in a congregation.” (Sister Maria Cimperman, OSU, writing about Sister Sandra). These reflections, originally published by National Catholic Reporter, are now collected in the book Prophets in Their Own Country: Women Religious Bearing Witness to the Gospel in a Troubled Church, published by Orbis Books.

A note about the title … We can be a bit sceptical about prophets, especially when one self-appoints oneself as a prophet! The job description for a prophet has never been public acclaim or celebration or even a pat on the back. It is perhaps one of the most arduous of callings that exists. Yet the Church recognizes that some callings are prophetic by nature. One such calling is religious life.

“Religious Life has, from its inception, been recognized not simply as a ‘work force’ in the church but as a prophetic vocation…. For a hundred years before the [Second Vatican] Council a process of institutionalization, standardization, and even domestication muted to the point of virtual silence the specifically prophetic character of the life. Religious began to rediscover that important dimension of their identity as they emerged into public life by their increasing participation in social justice issues in the 1960s and their enthusiastic espousal in the Church of the agenda of Vatican II. Intrinsic to the prophetic vocation within the Judaeo-Christian biblical tradition is the tension between prophecy and institution.” (Prophets in Their Own Country, 22-23)

Though the Apostolic Visitation has faded from the news, the important articulations of who we are as women religious remain as well as the deep connection that women religious have across congregations and with the wider lay Catholic community (women religious are lay people after all). Sister Sandra’s book is a great springboard into deeper reflection on religious life as a gift to the Church and to the world.

Sister Sandra has joined us before at A Nun’s Life Ministry for our In Good Faith program, and she will join us again for a live broadcast on Tuesday next week, November 1, at 9 a.m. CST. We’ll talk with Sister Sandra about the saints as we honor All Saints Day. Join us! The event is one among many others to help kickoff the A Nun’s Life Ministry 1st Annual Fundraiser, and we encourage you to support this ministry that strives to promote religious life and to encourage people in living their calling. Please consider a one-time gift or a monthly gift to support the ministry.

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!

What’s up with the news coverage of Anita Caspary?

Caspary, a luminary in religious life died at age 95 on October 5. She was a great woman, scholar, and leader. Her faithfulness to the call of the Second Vatican Council and her love of the gospel are impressive. Anita Caspary had integrity. Too bad that some of the recent news articles about her don’t.

The headlines give the first clue. Here’s the headline from a recent New York Times article: “Anita Caspary, Nun Who Led Breakaway From Church, Dies at 95.” A similar headline appears in the Washington Post: “‘Rebel nun’ Anita Caspary, leader of breakaway Los Angeles order, dies at 95.”

Breakaway? From the church? Really? In the 1960s, Caspary served in leadership for the Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters in Los Angeles. The congregation took seriously the Vatican II call for the renewal of religious life. They began to make changes accordingly – in daily prayer times, in religious dress, in their types and locations of ministry, etc. (And they weren’t the only ones. Sisters across the U.S. were moving in similar directions.) But the archbishop of Los Angeles objected to the changes. And when the sisters didn’t stop, he retaliated.

Ultimately, Caspary and about 300 other sisters chose to leave the congregation and begin a new, non-canonical community. To my way of thinking, they didn’t “breakaway.” There wasn’t a “schism,” as the NYT article characterized it. The sisters left an oppressive, unfair situation. They did so after much deliberation and prayer. And their departure wasn’t from “the church” but from an abuse of power by some in formal roles of authority in the church.

Compare those headlines with this one, from the National Catholic Reporter: “Anita Caspary, religious visionary, dies in Los Angeles: ‘Integrity’ moved her community to sever canonical ties to church.” A great headline and a good article.

As I read the articles, I gave thanks for Caspary. I celebrate her life and her legacy to religious, the church and the world.

May you rest in peace, Anita Caspary.

Anita Caspary published a book in 2003, Witness to Integrity, that describes the events that took place during her time in leadership in the 1960s. It’s an interesting and informative account!

When I taught catechism to 5th and 6th graders, it was inevitable that there would be lots of giggling and mock-scandalized looks when reference was made to the word hell. It’s a legit word which means something all together different from something based on a Dante novel or creepy horror film.

In it’s basic form hell is “a place or state of turmoil or destruction” (Merriam-Webster), and in terms of faith, hell is “the state of complete separation from God for all eternity; it is experienced by those who decide to reject God” (see Loyola Press for more on Catholic basics).

We often use the term hell in colloquial ways, for example, when we say our day was hell or our office desk looks like hell, both of which refer to the basic definition of hell. We the living may also refer to hell as a present reality where we feel in a state of separation from God — not permanent or complete but serious and threatening nonetheless.

Once in a while those two worlds of hell collide. I’ve been meditating a lot on the passage from Matthew 12:43-45 where the unclean spirit is evicted from a person, goes out to find another home but can’t so returns back to the same person only to find everything neat and tidy. The nasty spirit then brings buddies “more wicked than itself.”

Sometimes being in a space that is “hell” (untidy, messy, disorganized) can lead to the other kind of “hell” where we are lured away from God. I find that when I have stuff all around me (stacks of papers or books, to-do lists, laundry, correspondence, etc.) or too much stuff (do I really need 17 sweatshirts?) I can get quite distracted from my focus on my relationship with God and my participation in God’s mission. I can feel myself saying, “Just a minute, God, let me just get this out of the way first.” And of course that “just a minute” might last a half hour, a day, a month, and can sometimes lead to a whole lifetime of “just minute”.

So what do we do? How do get the hell out of our daily life? How do we simplify, order, reduce, make peace with, etc., the swirl around us that can lure us into saying, “just a minute!” to God?

While not always successful, here are some of the things I do or at least aspire to do!

1. Reduce sweatshirt inventory. I’m a nun, not a sports team promoter! I try to keep clothing, books, etc. to a reasonable minimum. There is no hard and fast rule for this and each person has to find that line of enough v. too much.
2. Beg, borrow, and … share. Do I really need to own my own copy of the latest bestseller from my favorite author? No, no I do not. I’m getting better at making use of online resources, borrowing stuff from my sisters and family and friends, using online movie rental programs, etc. In turn, I try to share what I have so that others can also keep a handle on any looming hell.
3. Discern the finer things in life. Reminding oneself of what one’s priorities and true values are can be really helpful in making choices to reduce all manner of hell. So for example, I do enjoy a good cup of coffee. So even though I’m out and about a lot, I try to keep buying stuff to a minimum and save myself (and my budget) for that one amazing cup of coffee. That’s a small example, but the same works for how we make choices about our life and how we engage in relationships. Is this what I really want to be about?
4. Embrace the space. The temptation is great to fill up clean space with more junk — and this holds true for our physical space, emotional space, and spiritual space. Herein lies the apt observations of Matthew too. We get all of our stuff cleaned up, admire our effort, and then proceed to say, “Now I’ll just add this in because it looks great in this new space …” and so on. We’ve got to find ways to own our new space and tend to it diligently and regularly so that we don’t just open the door and let a bunch of gansta spirits take over again. I try to have my “space maintenance” time in the morning and at night — it includes solitude/silence, tidying up my living space, addressing and letting go of aggravations over which I have no control, and truly being at peace with the space and with myself!
5. Hit the road. Sometimes we need a reprieve from the hell that we have created or that is threatening to overtake us. On a day-to-day basis I might go and sit in a quiet place outside or in a stairwell or something. When I am in need of more, I might spend the day at the park or go on retreat, or hang out with my family, or read a wildly engaging novel. These are good times for rest and recovery so that we can be re-energized to head back into the thick of things with a new mindset, some creative ideas, and a grounding in our deepest self with God.

Ever try any of these things? What other steps work for you?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

We are grateful for today’s guest blog post by Marg, in honor of World Food Day yesterday!

“You’re so fat!” is a high compliment in cultures where food is scarce. In 21st century America, that same sentence could land you in a pile of trouble. Clearly, food is an elemental, complex, emotionally loaded topic in both its absence and its abundance! In the Old Testament, the Jews, a people living in a desert, envisioned heaven as a place of plenty. Isaiah, describing the time after the end of time, says:

On this mountain [Zion], the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples A feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. — Isaiah, 25:6

I sit here with my far-too-ample gut, smelling the wonderful supper that Karol is making for us, and I think about that quotation. It’s about God satisfying all our wants…not just satisfying them, but providing the finest of the fine for those who are faithful. In making his point, Isaiah focused on real food, beyond the reach of most people of his time, but food that provided a substantial, universally understandable metaphor.

Breaking Bread with Friends

No matter how good the food, however, eating alone is not much fun. My elderly great-aunt essentially lost interest in eating because she was lonely. When she had company, her appetite returned. Sharing food with someone you care for is a strong defense against loneliness. The Last Supper is the quintessential model of Jesus providing the finest of sustenance – his own body and blood – and sharing it with his friends. Sharing food with good friends expresses love and builds community. In a totally different context, consider the following story as another example of how sharing food can build community, even among strangers.

For 16 years, [Joe Cahn], the self-appointed “Commissioner of Tailgating” has traveled to stadium parking lots around the country, sampling food and making friends. “I call it the original Facebook….Here, when you want to friend somebody, you give them food. On the Internet, when you want to friend somebody, you push a button. What’s more fun?”

“The difference between friends and acquaintances is our friends come into our kitchen. Our acquaintances stay in the living room, waiting to get served. Our friends walk in with their spoon and take stuff out of the pot.”

Joe Cahn, Quoted by Glenn Yoder in The Boston Globe, October 12, 2011, p. G-35

Sharing food is not a uniquely human trait. I’ve seen a flock of cedar waxwings perched on a bough passing berries from one to another until each gets something to eat. Interspecies sharing may be an even less common phenomenon, but take a look at this video clip for an interesting example.

So this is my “Irish Stew” of thoughts about food. What thoughts do you have about sharing food…with friends, with strangers, in different contexts? What are your feelings? There are a multitude of possibilities!

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

We are grateful for today’s guest blog post by Kerri Leigh Power

Sister Julie’s recent post about crosses made me think of the small silver crucifix that I bought while in New Mexico last year, at one of the many roadside shrines that we visited. I love this little cross – it reminds me of our trip and the excitement and reverence that I felt visiting these sacred sites where so many had come before me to find stillness, comfort and connection to God.

Yet I rarely wear the cross in my daily life, and I wondered why. I think it has to do with a reluctance to display my faith openly. How would my cross be interpreted by others? What assumptions would they make about my ideas and beliefs? Do I want to answer questions, to invite strangers to categorize me based on their own understanding of what that tiny cross signifies?

And then I thought of another wonderful trip, our visit to Turkey last spring. Although Turkey is officially a secular country, the presence of Islam permeated our experience as Western visitors. No matter what city we were in, the Islamic call to prayer was a daily companion — waking us in the morning, accompanying us on our walks through town, and usually the last thing we heard as we drifted off to sleep. In every mosque we encountered Muslim pilgrims, men and woman, praying openly and with a complete absence of self consciousness.

It was the first time I had been in a country where faith is so much a part of the daily breath of life. And while I know there is infinite complexity below the surface of what I saw, I still envied the easy presence of spiritual practice. I envied the men and women I watched from my hotel window at 6:30 one morning, walking through dark rainy streets towards the golden light of the mosque. I envied the women I saw praying at the tomb of the poet and mystic philosopher Mevlâna (Rumi), oblivious to the stream of people passing behind them, their hands cupped towards their chests, their focus turned inwards.

I don’t think my faith needs to be always on display, like a piece of jewelry, but I would like it to be such a comfortable part of my daily life that I’m at ease expressing it before others, whether they understand it or not. I’m not sure how to do this though, and it’s something I continue to explore.

Do you ever find it hard to express your faith openly? What inspires you to do so?

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Join the nuns tonight at 6 p.m. CST with a live prayer broadcast from the IHM campus in Monroe, Michigan, with a special NL community member guest and DJ!

AS088 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on October 13, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: Sister Godmother, faithful-or not-to the magisterium, tithing when the collection plate passes you by, what it means to embrace a vocation.

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• Can a nun be a godmother, and vice versa?
• I’ve heard the phrase “faithful to the magisterium.” What does it mean to be faithful–or not–to the magisterium? If not, is that a fast-track to excommunication?
• Is it okay to give my weekly church donation to other charitable organizations? Is it still considered tithing to the church?
• How does a person embrace a vocation?

Do you have a question for us? Using your computer, record your question on voice mail. It’s easy to do! Just click this Record link to get started! Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.

The other day, my gardener friend Fran gave me the last tomato of the season from her garden. Tonight, when the festival of Sukkot begins, I’m going to celebrate that tomato, a symbol of abundance.

Sukkot is an annual festival that began in ancient Israel as a thanksgiving to God for the Fall harvest. It also commemorates the forty years that the Jewish people lived in the wilderness after their exodus from slavery in Egypt. Sukkot means “huts” or “booths” in Hebrew. The word brings to my mind an image of humble dwellings of a people in transition, a people whose true home was in God.

In solidarity with the Jewish community, I’ll give thanks for a bountiful harvest. Not only for the tomatoes, onions, carrots, lettuce and many other great things that came from Fran’s garden. But also for the joys of friendship and the recognition that God is with me in all seasons.

So tonight, cheers for the tomato! What comes to mind for you as a symbol of thanksgiving for the Fall harvest in your life?

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

A nun cares for a wounded soldier in this detail from a larger Civil War-era print featuring the field ministry of Holy Cross Father P.P. Cooney. In Civil War battles, at least 300 Daughters of Charity ministered to soldiers on both sides of the war. (CNS photo/courtesy University Archives, The Catholic University of America)

Catholic nuns and sisters are no strangers to the battlefield. In a recent interview with Catholic News Service, Sister Betty Ann McNeil, DC — a Daughter of Charity and archivist of the Emmitsburg, Maryland, province — said that the Daughters of Charity and 11 other religious communities had a unique role in the Civil War.

The sisters provided food, water, bandages and basic medical care. They also gave spiritual solace to soldiers who requested it: praying with them, distributing religious medals, baptizing the dying and writing letters home to soldiers’ families.

At Gettysburg and other Civil War battles, at least 300 Daughters of Charity ministered to soldiers on both sides of the war. In all, more than 600 sisters from 12 religious orders responded to this national crisis by doing everything from bandaging soldiers in the battlefield to coordinating makeshift hospitals. (source: “Story of sisters’ role in Civil War ‘under-told,’ archivist says” by Carol Zimmermann in the Archdiocesan newspaper, The Boston Pilot, 10/07/2011)

Sister Betty Ann said “little is known about the role of these sisters in history because they simply were responding to the needs of the time, not unlike the work these sisters continue today in caring for the sick and helping those in need.” She herself knows quite a bit about the history because of her own work in editing the book Charity Afire about the sisters’ Civil War ministry. She was particularly inspired by Sister Juliana Chatard.

Sister Juliana Chatard [was] a young Daughter of Charity who longed to be in the field of action. Eventually this young woman, who was from the North, was sent to Richmond, Va., and made an administrator of a soldiers’ hospital there….

Describing the 1862 Battle of Richmond, Sister Juliana said fighting during the weeklong battle started each day at 2 a.m. and ended around 10 p.m. with bombs “bursting and reddening the heavens” just yards from the hospital door. She also said the sisters at the hospital were shaken by cannon firings and the “heavy rolling of the ambulances filling the streets bringing in the wounded and dying men. The entire city trembled as if from an earthquake with the exception of few short hours.”

As Sister Betty Ann sees it, Sister Juliana’s ministry was similar to what so many of these sisters were doing during a time of great national turmoil.

“Her charity knew no bounds,” she said. “Her love embraced the Northern soldier who was dying as well as the Southern soldier who was thirsty.”

Read the entire article at The Boston Pilot website.

What other stories have you heard of involving nuns at war? In what ways are Catholic nuns today serving “during a time of great national turmoil”?

Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

This past weekend Sister Maxine and I had congregational meeting — IHM Sisters and Associates gathered in person and via the Internet to pray and talk about our life together. Coming up in January we will be electing a new leadership team (each religious community does this ever 4-6 years) and so we wanted time together as a community to discern and discuss what will be needed for and from the leaders who will be elected in January.

What amazes me about religious life, and in particular my IHM life, is that we are very intentional about making decisions together, truly discerning how the Spirit is calling us, and being willing to hang in there with each other even when it’s tough. In our elections for a new leadership team, we don’t send out head-hunters or gather up a search committee, or start campaigns and platforms. Instead, true to our life as Catholic sisters and nuns today, we gather the whole community together to pray, discern, discuss, and pray some more.

We believe that community governance, founded on Jesus’ presence in
our midst and on our love and respect for one another, enables us more
fully to live the gospel and to proclaim the reign of God.

“We are committed, therefore, to governance which expresses

• faith in Jesus Christ,
• love of one another,
• respect for the individual,
• participation and collaboration,
• corporate decisions and actions.” (from our IHM Constitutions)

I don’t think I ever would have thought this type of corporate decision-making was possible prior to my becoming a nun. I’d just never seen this kind of thing done before. Seriously — a group of 200+ people coming together, valuing each person’s voice, open to the Spirit of God, and making big decisions together. Whoa!

Granted, we hit bumps in the road on occasion — after all, there’s that little thing I like to call our human condition that enters in! But what never ceases to amaze me is that we hang in there together. We don’t throw up our hands and leave the table. We stick it out, trusting that by the grace of God, we will make it through and end up in a good place — even if we can’t see it at the moment.

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Join A Nun’s Life Community for evening prayer and chat at 6 p.m. CST (your time zone) today at aNunsLife.org/live.

AS087 Ask Sister podcast recorded live on October 6, 2011. Sponsored by aNunsLife.org ministry. Topics include: the meaning of the word virgin, the prequel to a nun’s life, what’s up with Martha and Mary (Luke 10), finding God, speed-dialing for the Divine

Click PLAY below or right-click here to download the MP3.
Subscribe to A Nun’s Life Podcasts:

Ask Sister podcast is a live podcast where you have the opportunity to engage with us and ask questions about nuns, prayer, religious life, or pretty much anything in between!

Here are some of the topics we addressed in this Ask Sister podcast:

• What does the word “virgin” mean in religious life?
• Are nuns supposed to act like nothing in their “non-nun” life existed? Are you allowed to talk about funny stories from your childhood?
• Scripture Soundings: What’s the scoop on Martha and Mary? Jesus serves up some surprising words. (Luke 10: 38-42)
• Developing a relationship with God
• Speed-dialing for God

Do you have a question for us? Contact us http://anunslife.org/contact/and, using your computer, record your question on voice mail. Be sure to give us your first name and city from where you are calling. We’ll play your message and respond on the Ask Sister podcast. You can also comment below. In whatever way you contact us, please know that your last name, email address, and any other private information will be kept confidential.