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.

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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:

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.

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.

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.

Cheers for the U.S. federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph for their public show of support for their sister Elizabeth Johnson!

Elizabeth Johnson is an internationally known theologian and a professor at Fordham University. She has done a great deal of work in the area of feminst theology. Recently, her 2007 book Quest for the Living God came under fire by the Doctrine Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The nine-member group of bishops said, among other things, that the book failed to reflect the teaching of the magisterium. Johnson responded, saying in part that the bishops had seriously misinterpreted the book. Maybe that could have been avoided had the committee initially contacted Johnson to talk things over, a measure that’s included in committee’s own guidelines.

When the 900-member U.S. federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph gathered last week, it issued a corporate statement of support for Johnson. Around the same time, the Catholic Theological Society of America also publicly supported Johnson!

There are lots of issues involved in this matter – too many to address in detail here. And the situation continues to unfold.

To the Sisters of St. Joseph – way to go!! Standing together in regard to a justice issue is an important part of what it means to be sisters and what it means to be the church. For now, I’m going to re-read my copy of Quest for the Living God and savor it once more.

A guest blog post by friend and writer Kbart ….

“O Holy Ghost, sweet guest of my soul!
Abide in me and grant that I may ever abide in thee.”
From: Cardinal Spellman’s Prayer Book. New York, NY: Edward O’Toole Co., Inc. 1951.

A number of years ago, I used to work in downtown Boston. Each day at lunch, I would take a walk, and one of the stores I passed was “Matthew Sheehan’s Religious Articles.” I was curious about the shop but never made time to go in. So one day Marguerite came down to see me, and we walked past this shop, and we went in and checked out the store. It was pretty awesome, old and new at the same time. They sold Bibles for all denominations, religious books, statuary, rosaries, religious jewelry, church goods, and other religious articles. They also had a used section that featured, among other things, the old religious statues that I remember from my Catholic school days, and prayer books.

While poking around in this section, I stumbled upon this little red book called Cardinal Spellman’s Prayer Book, published in 1951. Paging through it, I found all those prayers I thought I had forgotten. I picked up the book and showed it to Marguerite, who told me who Cardinal Spellman was. I told her about the prayers, and then I put the book back. Without my knowing it, Marguerite went back and got the book and gave it to me for Christmas that year. When I opened that gift, I was happy to see it. There was something about that little book that calmed me when I picked it up, and Marguerite saw it.

I have never been much for prayers. Early on in life someone, well-meaning, tried to bring my sisters, brother and me up to be “good” Catholics – with a capital C. What that well-meaning person did was scare the living daylights out of us, to the point that we wanted nothing to do with prayers, Catholic symbols, rosaries, or Mass for a very long time. The idea of a “Holy Ghost” also scared the living daylights out of me, especially since our very devout and well-meaning grandmother assured us that this Ghost was ever-present and knew all about us. Life goes on, and while my sisters and brother may be spiritual, and possibly believe in a God, they would definitely NOT consider themselves Catholic. Me on the other hand, while I have tried to run away from being Catholic with a Capital C, I find that over the years, being catholic with a small c is something that keeps calling me.

This little prayer book is one I go back to every now and again. One of the first prayers I remember I looked up was the “Hail Mary,” because I couldn’t remember how it went. The second prayer was the “Memorare.” In the case of the “Memorare,” the remembered words brought me a sensation that had never happened before, and it calmed me, and I felt safe. The other thing was the book never referred to the “Holy Spirit,” but to the “Holy Ghost.” And now rather than scaring me, it makes me laugh. And I realize that as I proceed in my Spiritual journey, maybe I do stand a “ghost of a chance!”

In what ways do you feel the Spirit inside of you? Have there been times in your life when your own search for Spiritual understanding, with a capital S, has scared you? What have you done to overcome struggles to accept your own Spiritual path?

A guest blog post by friend and broadcast colleague Audra

One day while reading a bible passage on the Internet I noticed that the particular Gospel story started with the word “now”. I thought it was peculiar to start a story- mostly written in the past tense- with the word “now”.

I started to say “now” over and over again and reflected on what it meant. Then it hit me- maybe the Gospel writers (or it’s translators) wanted to put Jesus’ acts in our everyday life. For me, putting “now” into the story breaths life into the Gospels. It makes me realize Jesus’ mission on earth- to spread the Good News and serve others- didn’t stop when he rose from the dead.

It also puts me touch with the whole human family. Like right NOW someone in our human family is clothing the naked; right NOW someone is feeding the hungry; right NOW someone is visiting a prisoner in jail…and so on.

They are breathing the life of Jesus into this world.

Even though few of us rarely get the chance to participate or see these activities there are simple examples of people breathing Jesus’ life in to this world now.

For example, right now, someone is writing a kind word to a friend on Facebook.
Right now, someone smiles and waves to an old neighbor as he goes for his daily walk.

In what ways have you seen or participated in breathing Jesus’ life into our daily world now?

Audra is a professional weather girl for a radio station in western Illinois. She is also an avid polka fan and sometimes author of the blog theawkwardcatholic.blogspot.com.

DM006 Digital Ministry with Cliff Ravenscraft, the Podcast Answer Man, on techniques and technology around all things podcasting. Recorded live on February 10, 2011. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. Be inspired by technology, technique, and theology.

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

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Guest: Cliff Ravenscraft, the Podcast Answer Man

Cliff Ravenscraft is the founder of GSPN.TV and is a full-time podcast producer and consultant. Among his shows is Podcast Answer Man, a weekly broadcast on techniques and technology around all things podcasting!

Topic: The nuns talk with Cliff about podcasting, what it is, how to get started, tips and secrets to a successful podcast, and growing online community.

We welcome  your questions for our guest. Please submit them using the comment box below or you can type them in the chat room during the live broadcast.

Show Notes

• what is a podcast and podcast basics
• The 11-step Checklist to Starting a Podcast in depth
• how does a podcast compare to a blog?
• what does an RSS feed have to do with a podcast
• deciding to go from podcasting as a hobby to podcasting for a living
• how do you make money as a podcaster?
• gaining financial insight from Dave Ramsey
• understanding podcasting and online community as a form of ministry
• the influence of Leo LaPorte
• the Generally Speaking Production Network – gspn.tv
• growing online community
• getting past the dreaded episode 7
• crossing multiple genres (entertainment, tech help, spiritual, etc.) in a single brand and keeping consistent
• do you need special equipment if you are starting out as an amateur?
• how do you “structure” your daily “work” day when there’s so much to be done to produce a podcast?

Digital Ministry covers a mix of things covering techniques, technology, and theology in order to enhance one’s capacity to do ministry, to witness to the Gospel in every day life on the Internet. The show airs on the second Thursday of the month (today was an exception) from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central Time. Visit the Digital Ministry web page for more information including how to download this podcast after the live broadcast and our full podcast schedule.

DM005 Digital Ministry with Father Robert Barron on the theology of ministering online, how to proclaim the Gospel in a digital age. Recorded live on January 13, 2011. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. Be inspired by technology, technique, and theology.

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Guest: Father Robert Barron

Father Robert Barron is a sought-after speaker on the spiritual life-from universities to YouTube to national conferences and private retreats. The Catholic theologian and podcasting priest is one of the world’s great and most innovative teachers of Catholicism. His global media ministry called Word On Fire has a simple but revolutionary mission – to evangelize the culture.

Topic: The sisters talk with Father Barron about WWJD? What would Jesus do given today’s digital technology and media? Does Scripture give us any clues on why or how we might use digital media for the sake of the Gospel? We discuss these topics and more on this episode of Digital Ministry.

Show Notes

• Fr. Barron’s ministry at WordOnFire.org and teaching at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake Mundelein seminary in the Archdiocese of Chicago
• the variety of media that Fr. Barron uses to minister online
• the importance of reading and studying theology and the faith before ministering online
• using other people’s language to communicate the Gospel
• talking about the Gospel to people who are unchurched, or unfamiliar with religion
• like Jesus, hanging out in the “courtyard of the Gentiles,” a place where unbelievers can engage with the Catholic faith
• YouTube and the Internet as a virtual Areopagus (cf: Saint Paul preaching in the Areopagus, Acts 17:16-34)
• how ministering online affects one’s own prayer life
• the influence of Fulton Sheen
• the “YouTube heresies”
• Father Robert’s reviews of the movies Gran Torino and True Grit
• responding to people who show anger in their comments on YouTube or other websites
• thoughts on WWJD — what would Jesus do in today’s digital world
• themes from scripture that can encourage us in our online ministry
• the spiritual needs of people online and adapting to them
• balancing multiple ministry responsibilities and interacting online
• and thoughts on what sermon Fr. Barron would ask Jesus to preach!

Digital Ministry covers a mix of things covering techniques, technology, and theology in order to enhance one’s capacity to do ministry, to witness to the Gospel in every day life on the Internet. The show airs on the second Thursday of the month (today was an exception) from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central Time. Visit the Digital Ministry web page for more information including how to download this podcast after the live broadcast and our full podcast schedule.

For more information, including upcoming guests and our full podcast schedule, visit the program page of Digital Ministry.

Continue the conversation day or night at the A Nun’s Life Community Forum and look for the topic “Digital Ministry Podcast Listeners.”

A closeup of the illuminated letter P in the 1407 Latin Bible.

This week is National Bible Week. It is has been celebrated the week of Thanksgiving every year since 1941 by the National Bible Association, an organization that works to raise awareness of the Bible’s importance and relevance to the U.S. as a nation and in the lives of individuals.

What can we do to raise our own awareness about the Bible?

Here are some suggestions:

Mary Elizabeth Sperry, associate director for Utilization of the New American Bible, points out that the Bible—actually a library of 73 “books”—includes royal history, prophecy, poetry, love songs, letters, and of course believers’ accounts of the preaching and passion of Jesus. Yet, Sperry notes, the “Bible is not a history text, a science book, or a political manifesto.” The Bible is the record of the faith of people who walked with God—and sometimes did not. We read it to deepen faith, we pray with it to express faith—but we can also study the Bible. Taking an adult-level scripture course or reading a book by someone like Father Raymond Brown will help you to discover scripture’s depths. (From Take 5 for Faith, available in bulk for parishes and by email for individuals from our friends at TrueQuest)

Studying Scripture with renown Catholic Scripture scholar Raymond Brown, SS, is a great idea. You’ll find tons of listings at the Raymond Edward Brown author page on Amazon.The New Jerome Biblical Commentary is a favorite here at the convent, and I’m also fond of An Introduction to New Testament Christology.

CatholicMom.org’s Lisa Hendey (whom we interviewed in September on our Digital Ministry program) has some great suggestions on her website for how to pray with, study, and do activities around the Sunday Scripture readings.

Join a Bible study group at your parish or online! It’s always good to pray and reflect and study with others. Good for the mind and spirit. We’ve been thinking about hosting one here at A Nun’s Life Ministry on our community forum. If interested in helping out or participating, let us know.

Praying with Scripture is essential to our life of prayer. There are a variety of ways to pray with Scripture, starting with reading it! The Canadian Jesuits have some great tips on how to pray with Scripture. This approach is one that I learned when I lived in Toronto and was part of a Jesuit prayer group.

What other thoughts do you have on how to immerse yourself in Scripture and how Scripture can be lived in every day life?

* * *

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

DM003 Digital Ministry with Sr. Christine Ereiser, OSB, on using Twitter and providing meaningful content in 140 characters or less! Recorded live on November 9, 2010. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. Be inspired by technology, technique, and theology.

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Topic: Using Twitter and providing meaningful content in 140 characters or less!

Guest: Sister Christine Ereiser, OSB

Sister Christine Ereiser is a Benedictine nun and the prioress of Saint Joseph Monastery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and an avid user of Twitter to promote Benedictine values. Sister Christine encourages the use of the Internet and social media within the Benedictine community and at Monte Cassino School, a pre-school through 8 grade school started by the Benedictine Sisters in 1926.

Listen to her story and be inspired!

Show Notes:

• ministry in 140 characters or less
• getting started with Twitter
• tweets and ministry potential
• getting retweets
• choosing topics or themes to tweet
• when not to tweet
• tweeting in support of corporate ministry
• the Benedictine values of hospitality and of stability on the Internet
• amount of time needed to tweet
• Twitter: distraction or ministry?
• advice for Twittering beginners
• a leader’s advice on getting leadership involved in today’s Internet communication
• and more!

Digital Ministry covers a mix of things covering techniques, technology, and theology in order to enhance one’s capacity to do ministry, to witness to the Gospel in every day life on the Internet. The show airs on the second Thursday of the month (today was an exception) from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central Time. Visit the Digital Ministry web page for more information including how to download this podcast after the live broadcast and our full podcast schedule.

For more information, including upcoming guests and our full podcast schedule, visit the program page of Digital Ministry.

Continue the conversation day or night at the A Nun’s Life Community Forum and look for the topic “Digital Ministry Podcast Listeners.”

DM002 Digital Ministry with guests Maureen McCann Waldron and Father Andy Alexander, SJ, of Creighton University Online Ministries recorded live on October 14, 2010. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. Be inspired by technology, technique, and theology.

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Guests: Father Andy Alexander, SJ, and Maureen McCann Waldron

Father Andy and Maureen are partners at Creighton University’s Collaborative Ministry Office and Online Ministries. Online Ministries has a 12-year history of responding to people’s needs in real language and real-life experience.

They have visitors from around the world and are conscious of tailoring their resources to fit people’s spiritual needs as well as their language, culture, and available technology. One of many current projects is to translate their resources (including their very popular online retreat) into a variety of languages, most recently Chinese!

Listen to their story and be inspired with new ideas for how you engage in  your online ministry.

Show Notes:

• starting small with online ministry
• making the online experience user-friendly, especially across languages and cultures
• getting a variety of sources of content
• promoting one’s online ministry (getting people to show up)
• how working collaboratively affects your ministry
• the inspiration behind Online Ministries
• authentic Catholic websites
• key websites for connecting with young people
• having a full-time job and ministering online as an “add-on”
• creating a website and web experience based on people’s needs
• content vs. form
• Jesus’ use of the technology of his day

Digital Ministry is a podcast on using Internet technologies and social media for ministry. The show is hosted by Sister Maxine and Sister Julie of A Nun’s Life Ministry and covers a mix of things covering techniques, technology, and theology in order to enhance one’s capacity to do ministry, to witness to the Gospel in every day life on the Internet. The show airs on the second Thursday of the month from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central Time. Tune in at www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE.

For more information, including upcoming guests and our full podcast schedule, visit the program page of Digital Ministry.

Continue the conversation day or night at the A Nun’s Life Community Forum and look for the topic “Digital Ministry Podcast Listeners.”

Sunday’s gospel reading was the story of the Samaritan who returned to Jesus reminding me of course of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). The story is well known, but the implication for our lives is sometimes forgotten.

“There was a traveler going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, who fell prey to robbers. The traveler was beaten, stripped naked, and left half-dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road; the priest saw the traveler lying beside the road, but passed by on the other side. Likewise there was a Levite who came the same way; this one, too, saw the afflicted traveler and passed by on the other side.”

“But a Samaritan, who taking the same road, also came upon the traveler and, filled with compassion, approached the traveler and dressed the wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then the Samaritan put the wounded person on a donkey, went straight to an inn and there took care of the injured one. The next day the Samaritan took out two silver pieces and gave them to the innkeeper with the request, ‘Look after this person, and if there is any further expense, I’ll repay you on the way back.’”

“Which of these three, in your opinion, was the neighbor to the traveler who fell in with the robbers?” The answer came, “The one who showed compassion.”

Jesus replied, “Then go and do the same.”

In whatever community or society we find ourselves — religious, political, cultural, national, etc. — there are some awesome benefits, but too often those spaces can be highly inhospitable and even death-dealing to it’s own people and to those it considers “outsiders.” Each one of us can consciously and unconsciously alienate, oppress, and discriminate against others at both the personal and institutional levels.

On this day and every day, we must chose love over and against fear, hatred, and complacency. On this day and every day, we must choose to be advocates at all levels of society to ensure a life of justice and compassion for all.

This does not mean just for the people we like or are comfortable with because they are like us. No. This means all people, and especially the people whom we don’t understand, who are on the edges of the mainstream (often because the dominant group has forced them there), and for whom we have deep-seated assumptions and prejudices that have been perpetuated day after day, generation after generation.

On this day, and every day, let pray not just for those who are suffering from physical blows, damning words, loss of life and home, and other violence, but let us also pray that we might search our hearts, our actions, our day to day actions and beliefs and root out all forms of fear and hatred, however small and unassuming they may seem.

* * *

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

IGF002 In Good Faith with historian Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson recorded live on October 7, 2010. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. Our hosts talk with Dr. Thompson about the history of U.S. Catholic sisters and nuns and find out some surprising things.

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Guest: Dr. Margaret Susan Thompson

Dr. Thompson is professor of history at Maxwell School of Syracuse University, where she also holds appointments in the departments of religion, political science, and women and gender studies. She is a leading expert on the history of Catholic sisters and nuns in the United States.

Topic: The History of Catholic Sisters and Nuns in the U.S.

The sisters talk with Dr. Peggy Thompson about calling and history, her experience working with women’s religious communities across the country, the significance of Catholic sisters and nuns in the context of the American experience, and what the “good old days” of religious life was actually like. We’ll also talk about how many of the stories of founders and pioneer sisters can inspire us today in our daily quest for God.

Dr. Thompson recently did 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.

Show Notes:

• from broadway aspirations to history scholar
• history, it’s not about “dead things”
• the first sister-President of the United States (and Vice President too)
• what the lives of pioneering sisters can tell us about living an active live and a life of prayer
• what we can learn from religious founders about living a faith-filled life
• sisters caring for the wounded during the Civil War
• the impact of Catholic sisters and nunson U.S. culture
• skeletons in the closet and other surprising tales from religious archives
• habits for apostolic religious — not as traditional as they seem
• revisiting their founding inspiration — lots of surprises along the way
• apostolic orders : are they morphing into Beguines?
• prayer: always central to Catholic sisters and nuns throughout the ages

In Good Faith is a conversation exploring God’s call in everyday life hosted by A Nun’s Life Sisters Maxine and Julie. Our monthly program features guests who are nationally known for their ministry in spirituality, religious life, and discernment. We’ll look at how our guests understand their own life as a calling and discuss a variety of perspectives on living faith and call in everyday life. The program is broadcast live every first Thursday of the month from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Central Time. Tune in at www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE.

For more information, including upcoming guests on In Good Faith, please visit the program page of In Good Faith.

DM001 Digital Ministry with guest Lisa Hendey of CatholicMom.com recorded live on September 9, 2010. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. Sponsored by Vision Vocation Network. Our hosts talk with Lisa about social media, faith, building community and more.

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

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Guest: Lisa Hendey of CatholicMom.com

Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com, a web site focusing on the Catholic faith, parenting and family life, and Catholic cultural topics. The site includes Lisa’s blog, articles by a variety of columnists, podcasts, videos, and many other resources. Lisa is author of the book, The Handbook for Catholic Moms.

Topic: A pioneer’s experience using digital technology & media for ministry

Show Notes:

• the meaning of “digital ministry” compared to “ordinary” ministry
• getting started with online ministry
• how being a mom helps
• a few “ah-HA” moments
• Lisa’s book The Handbook for Catholic Moms (nuns like it too!)
  
• using Facebook as part of one’s digital ministry mix
• making a website more interactive
• getting people to actually come to one’s web site or social media page
• on whether YouTube videos or podcasts should be “professional”
• advice to people starting or already involved in digital ministry
• energy for when the batteries run out

Digital Ministry is a podcast on using Internet technologies and social media for ministry. The show is hosted by Sister Maxine and Sister Julie of A Nun’s Life Ministry and covers a mix of things covering techniques, technology, and theology in order to enhance one’s capacity to do ministry, to witness to the Gospel in every day life on the Internet. The show airs on the second Thursday of the month from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Central Time. Tune in at www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE.

For more information, including upcoming guests and our full podcast schedule,  visit the program page of Digital Ministry.

Continue the conversation day or night at the A Nun’s Life Community Forum and look for the topic “Digital Ministry Podcast Listeners.”

Many thanks to our program sponsor VISION Vocation Network.

IGF001 In Good Faith with guest Sister Sandra Schneiders recorded live on September 2, 2010. Produced by aNunsLife.org ministry. Our hosts talk with Sister Sandra about vocation, discernment, the Gospel of John, biblical spirituality, and religious life.

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Guest: Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM

Sister Sandra is a leading authority on Catholic women’s religious life and a renowned author. She is professor emerita of New Testament Studies and Christian Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley. She is the author of a number of books on scripture and religious life. Among them are Written That You May Believe: Encountering Jesus in the 4^th Gospel and The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament As Sacred Scripture. She is also completing a three-volume series on religious life: the first is Finding the Treasure and the second Selling All are already published and the third book is on the way.

Topic: Exploring God’s call in everyday life.

The sisters talk with Sister Sandra about her call as a Catholic nun as well as her call as a scholar and theologian. The sisters also discuss her work with the Gospel of John and how biblical spirituality can help us in our daily quest for God.

Show Notes:

• on being a self-described “God junkie”
• putting out the last cigarette before entering the convent
• take time to discern but not too long lest you fall into “analysis paralysis”
• on whether and how we can know for sure that God is calling us
• favorite passage in the Gospel of John
• how biblical spirituality can help us in today’s quest to find and to live God’s calling in our life
• the bible as one story and many stories, like our own lives
• ecumenical and interfaith dialogue
• young women discerning religious life
• on having one’s affective needs met in religious life
• living community v. living in community
• “Staying in the Fire” Phyllis Kittel
• the Apostolic Visitation and women religious
• on being faithful to our own identity, not to give it up because it’s been called into question, but “to affirm it more strongly, to claim it more firmly, to live it more truthfully”
• on experiencing loneliness in one’s life
• does God make bad things happen to us?
• the most rewarding aspect of living as a religious

In Good Faith is a conversation exploring God’s call in everyday life hosted by A Nun’s Life Sisters Maxine and Julie. Our monthly program features guests who are nationally known for their ministry in spirituality, religious life, and discernment. We’ll look at how our guests understand their own life as a calling and discuss a variety of perspectives on living faith and call in everyday life. The program is broadcast live every first Thursday of the month from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Central Time. Tune in at www.aNunsLife.org/LIVE.

For more information, including upcoming guests on In Good Faith, please visit the program page of In Good Faith.

Today’s Gospel offers us an invitation and a challenge.

Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

The invitation is to be open to following God’s call — wherever and however it may take us.

The challenge is to be open to following God’s call — wherever and however it may take us. In many ways we welcome the invitation to follow God, we are committed to living the Gospel of Jesus. And sometimes, that call is not as pretty as the calligraphied holy card tucked in our Bible. Why it’s absurd to go traveling without money or food. Surely Jesus didn’t mean to leave my mobile phone behind or my credit card. Besides it was a different time back then. Jesus would not have asked that of us today.

Really.

When we open ourselves to God’s call, we cannot know for certain where or how it will lead. We can certainly use our gifts of common sense and reason, but openness to God also means using our gifts of passion, boldness, kindness, daring, and risk. How can we know “for sure”? That’s where having a regular habit of prayer is helpful because then we’ve already opened our line to God and have been in the habit of listening and sharing with God. Invitations to do the Gospel may still come as a surprise but with a habit of prayerfulness, we’ve already got some ballast in the boat.

How does this Scripture passage strike you this day? Please share your comments below. We’d love to hear from you.

Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer
at 6 p.m. Central Time (your time zone).

Today’s Gospel reading is from Luke 1:39-45. It is one of my favorite readings because it is the story of the Visitation, of Mary visiting Elizabeth to share the news that she is pregnant with Jesus. This story is an important one to us as IHM Sisters and it is the name of our spirituality center — “We take our inspiration from the visit between Mary and Elizabeth who spent time together sharing their joys and hopes, their confusion and their fears as they tried to be faithful to what God was asking of them.” (Visitation North Spirituality Center)

Mary set out and hurried to the hill country to a town of Judah, where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.

As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why am I so favored, that the mother of the Messiah should come to me? The moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who believed that what Our God said to her would be accomplished!”  (Luke 1:39-45)

In what way does this gospel story of the Visitation speak to you this day?

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Please join us at 6:00 p.m. CST (your time zone) for Praying with the Sisters podcast, a ministry of A Nun’s Life. Visit aNunsLife.org/LIVE. This will be our last podcast through the holidays. We’ll be back on Monday, December 28. Also, please know we are trying out new podcasting technology so last Friday we had a slightly different format but today we are using the regular one. More to come in the new year!

Today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 15:29-37) is a powerful story of Jesus healing people one after the other. Scripture tells us that Jesus simply went up a mountain and sat down. That’s all he did. No indication that he set out to change the lives of the community and individuals forever. He just went up a mountain and sat down. No doubt word of Jesus’ presence and deeds had been spreading. He had just healed a young girl because of her mother’s faith. Whether for curiosity or suspicion or desire for healing, the people of the area through which Jesus was traveling (the Sea of Galilee) went to find Jesus.

Maybe Jesus was taking a break up on that mountain. Maybe he wanted some quiet time for prayer or a chance to be with his disciples alone. Maybe he sensed the needs and desires of the people and hoped they’d come out of their familiar setting into the mountain wildness, a place known for encounters with God.

Regardless of what Jesus may have had in mind, there he sat, and the people came to him.

The more Jesus heals, the more the crowd comes. First a person who was blind, then someone who could not speak, and another who could not walk. I imagine it was an exhilarating though exhausting day for Jesus and the disciples. And not just one day — Jesus tells us that this went on for three days.

So why did Jesus do this? Why did he take three days out of his traveling, out of his retreat time, out of whatever schedule he had in order to tend to the people?

Compassion.

Jesus said, “I have compassion for the crowd.” He said this as he gathered his disciples together to figure out how to feed the crowd who was rather hungry after three days with no food.

“I have compassion,” said Jesus.

Compassion is the ability to feel deeply for another person, a consciousness of how another is feeling and a desire to reach out. For Jesus, this was not some whimsical understanding of compassion or a “touchy-feeling” kind of thing. Jesus practiced this way of being in the world, this compassion, both with people it was “easy” to give compassion to, and people who weren’t so easy, like those who persecuted him.

As the dawn of Advent continues to break upon us, may the spirit of Jesus enliven all that we do and all that we are, that we might be a people of compassion and find ways each day to live this compassion of Jesus.

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Join the A Nun’s Life community for prayer at 6 p.m. Central Time
(your time zone).

Today’s gospel reading is John 13:16-20. I was struck by the following verse because I don’t think I’d ever read or heard it in the Jerusalem Bible translation:

After he had washed the feet of his disciples, Jesus said to them:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
no servant is greater than his master,
no messenger is greater than the man who sent him.
‘Now that you know this, happiness will be yours if you behave accordingly.

What struck me is the word “happiness”. In other translations the word is “blessed.” We will be blessed if we follow Jesus’ example and that means we must imitate the spirit of Jesus’ lifework (Jerome Biblical Commentary).

Now blessed I get — we follow Jesus, we will be blessed. But being “happy” is something different altogether. I wrote about happiness a while back but this verse from John casts the meaning in a new light.

Happiness doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is going as planned or that there is not struggle or tragedy or discomfort. Sometimes (many times) our happiness seems totally dependent on our circumstances and on our relationships. But here Jesus is telling us that our happiness resides in following Jesus, in imitating the spirit with which he went about his own life — humility, simplicity, zeal, kindness, love (even fierce love), faithfulness. The washing of feet is a beautiful example of the spirit of Jesus’ lifework. And to know that Jesus didn’t just do it as an educational moment, but that he genuinely felt happy about what he was doing. That’s something that I think we all want to cultivate in ourselves, a sense of happiness about not only what we are doing but who we are.

What strikes you about this passage on happiness?

Come and see is an invitation we hear in the Gospels addressed to people who feel an attraction to, people who are drawn by the Gospel and the lifestyle of Jesus. It’s an invitation that the Catholic Church echoes as it invites people to take a personal look at a call to follow Jesus through religious life.

Until you’ve had the opportunity to experience a religious community through individual sisters or brothers, at prayer, in ministry, or by interacting with a group of sisters or brothers, it can be difficult to get a feel for what religious life is like, and also to which particular community you are called.

My IHM community is hosting a “Come and See” weekend for women who are thinking about religious life and are attracted to the IHM life and mission.

“Come and See” Weekend

Date: May 1-3, 2009
Time: Friday 7 p.m. to Sunday 12:30 p.m.
Location: IHM Motherhouse, Monroe, Michigan

There will be opportunities to pray with my IHM nuns, chat with us, learn about us and about discernment, and just hang out with us.

For more information or to register, please contact Sister Mary Bea at 734-240-9820. And as always, feel free to contact me if you have any wonderings.

Lionel, a fellow Plurker, wrote this post on his blog Acid42 about the interplay of Noise and Silence … These Last Few Days… Leave Me Alone. It’s a thoughtful piece, and I encourage you to read it and offer your reflections on it.

No matter who we are or how we live, we have this dynamic of Noise and Silence in our lives. Some of us swing more to one end than to the other.

The Gospels are a great place to look to see how this dynamic plays out in the life of Jesus. Sometimes Jesus is in the midst of the crowds, other times alone in the wilderness. In both places — the Noise and the Silence — Jesus encounters God.

In the Noise … When Jesus goes to the Jordan River with John the Baptist and a crowd of people, John baptizes Jesus. The heavens open up and the voice of God resounds, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)

In the Silence … Right after his baptism, Jesus is led by God into the wilderness where he fasted and prayed for 40 days. (Matthew 4:1-2)