by Sister Julie on June 23, 2009
American fashion model and actress Heather Graham recently revealed that her parents threatened to send her to a convent when she was young.
The Hangover star has admitted that she almost became a nun and is relieved she became an actress instead.
Graham told the Daily Star: “When I was a child my parents threatened to send me to a convent. I’d have made a terrible nun.
“I’m a good Catholic girl in the way Madonna is in the sense that I’m not that good at all… I want to be vamping it up in short skirts and low-cut tops to the end.” (source: Digital Spy)
I always find these news items to be curious (e.g., Natalie Portman’s celibacy issues). It seems the contrast between the stereotypical docile/dour/suppressed Catholic nun and the rebellious/vivacious/sensual bad girl makes for great entertainment news.
Yeah, yeah, so readers get a few laughs at imagining a “bad girl” as a Catholic nun and the fantastic havoc and scandal she may have created within the holy confines of a convent. But please, must we play on bad stereotypes of Catholic sisters and nuns for a cheap laugh? Is it worth fueling a stereotype of nuns as docile/dour/suppressed in order to fuel an equally disturbing stereotype of women as “the bad girl”?
When I first read this news piece, I thought little of it. But it’s been weighing on my mind and heart because it seems so trivial but yet reinforces a negative message about Catholic sisters and nuns.
I want to tell Ms. Graham that if she only knew how many hell-raisers and “bad girls” have come to the convent — and stayed — that she would probably have seemed like a wall flower in comparison.
by Sister Julie on June 22, 2009
Nunday is back and to celebrate we have my own IHM Sister Sharon Holland. Sister Sharon is not only a legend, but a holy and gentle woman of God.
Sister Sharon, one of the first female lawyers to work at the Vatican, was recently presented with an award (a bronze statue created by sculptor Clay Enoch) from the Catholic Health Association (CHA) on April 23 in Rome. Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of CHA, presented the award, saying Sister Sharon was the association’s “greatest asset in Rome.”
The CHA Board of Trustees passed a resolution honoring Sister Sharon for her years of assistance to CHA and the U.S. health ministry at large. According to Ed Giganti, vice president of communications and marketing for the United States’ CHA, the board’s resolution proclaimed Sister Sharon “a champion of American religious congregations and their ministries” throughout her time in Rome.
Since 1988 Sister Sharon has worked as bureau chief of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life at the Vatican. In 2007 Sister Sharon was awarded the International Medal from St. John’s University in Rome. In the citation for that award , St. John’s called Sister Sharon one of the world’s leading canon lawyers and said she “models what is best about religious life.”
After getting word about Sister Sharon’s CHA award, journalist John L. Allen, a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and analyst for CNN and NPR, wrote, “Aside from being an accomplished canon lawyer and trailblazer for women at the Vatican, Holland is also a legend in religious life.” (source; hyperlinks mine)
Sister Sharon is retiring from her ministry in Rome and returning to Michigan this month.
Pictured: Lloyd H. Dean (CHA Board), Sister Carol Keehan, DC, and Sister Sharon Holland, IHM, holding the award.
by Sister Julie on June 15, 2009
I am happy to say that the Petri Dish Convent is no more. What we hoped was a fixable problem was really a massive mold problem that had made it’s way through cabinet wood, drywall, and wall studs. Not pretty. So on Saturday we moved into a new house that will serve us well and be a place of hospitality for visiting sisters and others. The last few weeks have been rather trying but there is light at the end of the tunnel (much better than mold), and we are looking forward to unpacking and getting back to our life and mission.
Regular A Nun’s Life posts (including Monday is Nunday posts) will return tomorrow!
In the meantime, here is today’s “mid-morning” reading (Terce) from the Liturgy of the Hours.
Sisters and brothers, be joyful. Try to grow perfect; help one another. Be united; live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
- 2 Corinthians 13:11
by Sister Julie on June 11, 2009
We have our first visiting nuns at the Petri Dish Convent. Both are our own IHM sisters — one came from Puerto Rico and the other from Monroe. They are on their way to the Giving Voice conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The conference is for women religious under 50 years of age. It’s a great opportunity to hang with young sisters from a variety of communities across the country. I was looking forward to going — especially to meeting Sister Susan Rose of Musings of a Discerning Woman — but given the petri dish situation, I need to stay back and figure out what our next steps are.
Even though Sister Maxine and I have had our hands full with realtors and rehabbers, Home Depot runs, sorting through boxes, etc., we LOVE having our sisters here with us. They are such a support to us, encouraging us as we work through these issues, praying with us, and eating and playing with us! We had the best time last night out at a pizzeria and then coming home to watch The Flying Nun on DVD (will write about that in future!!).
Their presence reminds me of the importance of “being with” others. It’s not “doing for” or “taking control of” but simply and powerfully “being with”.
by Sister Julie on June 8, 2009
It’s been a week since we opened the new convent. “New” merely refers to the fact that it’s new as a convent, but in actually it’s an old house with the normal and not-so-normal problems associated with old houses. Take the pipes for example. All corroded. Had to be replaced which delayed our ability to move in. Monday and Tuesday night we ended up with stuff in the truck and ourselves at a local hotel courtesy of the realtor. Moved in on Wednesday. Started cleaning on Thursday only to discover that the base of the lower kitchen cabinets was like a science experiment gone wrong with mold creeping up from the edges. Needless to say, it’s a mess and our move in experience is less than desirable. Still, it’s fixable and we love the house and neighborhood. As soon as the rehabbers get through replacing the offending cabinets, the convent will be in good shape.
As we work with the rehabbers, I am reminded of our IHM Sisters who in the 1930s oversaw the building of our 380,000 square foot building. I wonder how they did it all. We just have a small old house in need of rehab, but they had to start from scratch, put their vision into concrete — literally, and know enough about building, construction, electrical, plumbing, finances, environment, health care, residential living, etc. to build a home for our sisters and create a physical symbol of our IHM life. In just the last few days, I’ve learned a lot about this stuff, and I’ve also learned a bit about the guys working here like their family and why they like/dislike this kind of work, and for the young guys who cut our lawn, what their hopes and dreams are for their own futures.
True, our priority is fixing this place and getting rid the petri dish that is our kitchen, we also are about being present to people no matter where or how we meet them, even if we are the ones who are in need at the time. This is something I have taken always seen in my sisters, especially my nun Joyce who has such a beautiful way of working with people. She doesn’t see “a maintenance person” or “a secretary”, she sees a person full of dignity and light who is using her or his gifts, earning a living, supporting a family, ministering to others. Though shy by nature, I think always of Joyce when I encounter workers of any kind — and I remember to cherish them as she does and as Jesus shows us time and again in the Gospels.
How have you cherished a worker lately?
by Sister Julie on June 1, 2009
I have often heard Catholic sisters and nuns say, “Join the convent, see the world” because many of us do travel quite a bit for ministry and mission. Along with that comes the always pleasant task of actually moving. You know what I mean — boxes, tape, clutter, dust, lifting, moving, renting, changing, bubble wrap, exhaustion!
Moving also gives one the opportunity for self-reflection, to think about what one is attached to, how simply one lives, what facilitates community and mission, etc.
As you might suspect, I am in the process of moving — like right at this moment. My computer is the last to go. In an hour I will be picking up our 17′ rental truck (the experience of driving that thing in Chicago will probably make for an interesting blog post!) in order to move out of my current abode and to a new house with another IHM sister where we can live and offer hospitality to our IHM sisters and others.
Chloe the Convent Cat is coming along with us, and as you can see, she’s a bit self-reflective too.
We’ve done a great job at sorting and donating stuff. It’s so easy to accumulate “stuff” so I’m hoping to keep things simple. I feel better when I have less clutter, less stuff to be distracted by. After traveling so much, I realize that most of what I need I can toss in a backpack.
What have been your experiences of “move”? What does living simply mean for you?
by Sister Julie on May 28, 2009
Question from Nathalie that raises an interesting topic …
… is it okay to pray for Jesus? I mean, I know we pray TO Jesus, but… I really would like to pray for him… because he and his message are often misunderstood, misused and abused – to serve self-centered ends. I guess he probably doesn’t NEED us to pray for him, but… I don’t know. I just want to pray for him.
Hi Nathalie, Good question! My first response is that yes, it’s okay to pray for Jesus. Prayer, after all, is talking and listening to God. When we pray for someone, we are in relationship with God and bringing the person and her/his needs before God. At their heart, “praying for” and “praying to” are actually more like “praying with” than anything. So with Jesus, we are deepening our relationship with him, consciously bringing the cares and concerns of Jesus to the forefront while we are with him. While Jesus is God and so does not “need” anything per se, prayers for Jesus are like what you wrote — that he and his message be understood and lived from the heart.
Another way to understand “praying for Jesus”, is more along the lines of how the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures spoke of “blessing God”. You’ll find this kind of language in many places, especially in psalms and canticles. One of my most favorite ones is the canticle of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel 3 (in a Catholic Bible). The three were tossed into a white-hot furnace as punishment for going against King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree to worship his gods, not the God of Israel. Instead of certain death, the three walked around singing and blessing God. Here’s part of their canticle:
Bless the Lord, all people on earth; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, O Israel; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you priests of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you servants of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
Bless the Lord, you who are holy and humble in heart; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. (NRSV translation)
How else might we understand “praying for Jesus”? What is your own experience of this?
