Today’s Scripture reading from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans is a powerful reminder that each and every one of us has a calling.

All of us, in union with Christ, form one body, and as parts of it we belong to each other. Our gifts differ according to the grace given us. If your gift is prophecy, then use it as your faith suggests; if administration, then use it for administration; if teaching, then use it for teaching. Let the preachers deliver sermons, the almsgivers give freely, the officials be diligent, and those who do works of mercy do them cheerfully.

Do not let your love be a pretense, but sincerely prefer good to evil. Love each other as much as sisters and brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other. Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of spirit. If you have hope, this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trials come; and keep on praying. If any of the saints are in need you must share with them; and you should make hospitality your special care.

Bless those who persecute you: never curse them, bless them. Rejoice with those who rejoice and be sad with those in sorrow. Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor. Do not allow yourself to become self-satisfied. (Romans 12:5-16)

A vocation is not just a calling to consecrated life (such as becoming a sister or monk or deacon); a vocation is a calling to each and everyone of us to live our life fully using the gifts that God has given to us and the grace that God continually gives us. Saint Paul gives us some examples (first paragraph) and he also gives us a kind of road map to living fully (second two paragraphs). Listen to some of the key words of this road map:

prefer good to evil … love … have profound respect for people
minister with earnestness of spirit … hope … do not give up
keep praying … share … give hospitality … bless and never curse people
be in solidarity with those who rejoice or are in sorrow
treat everyone with equal kindness … make real friends with the poor

These are some of the dispositions that we can take to heart and in doing so live more fully the life God has blessed us with.

Pick one, just one, of these “landmarks” on the road map and consider how you can take it to heart each moment of this day and into the week.

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Join us for prayer using this readin today at noon Central Time at http://anunslife.org/live. Prayer is still at noon, but because of Daylight Savings Time, it may have changed for you.
Here’s the time in your neck of the woods.

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?

Happy Easter! This Easter Monday we celebrate Easter and Nunday with a beautiful photo and story of Sister Mary Ruth Dittman, SDS. Sister Mary Ruth is a Sister of the Divine Savior. The Salvatorians, as the Sisters of the Divine Savior are known, minister throughout the US and world.

The photo and story below were sent in by Miss Dina.

I am part of Saint Catherine Church congregation in Phoenix, AZ, and we had went on a 12 day pilgrimage three years ago to Italy. That was when I met a Nun for the very first time, her name was Sister Mary Ruth. Sister Mary Ruth sat next to me through out our pilgrimage, and we ventured through to the many sites and beautiful churches of Italy. Even though my time with Sister Mary Ruth was for a short period of time, we had many talks about the pleasantries and harshness of our world. As each day went by and I watched her, I saw a servant of the Lord deal with these everyday obstacles with dignity, diplomacy and with such grace. I realized that I too should not have to compromise my dignity, my kindness and my love for the Lord in order to live in this sometimes harsh world. I believe God puts people in our paths for a reason and I’m glad God put Sister Mary Ruth in my path.

Oh yes!! As we finally reached our destination to our visit to the Vatican and to see Pope Benedict, you could see Sister Mary Ruth glow with excitement.

The photo is of Sister Mary Ruth and Miss Dina at the Vatican waiting to see Pope Benedict.

To see all the photos of Catholic sisters and nuns and links to their stories, visit the A Nun’s Life Facebook photo album. If you’ve got a photo of a real Catholic sister or nun, check out the details on submitting your photo for consideration.

Yesterday I had a bunch of errands to run, one of which included a trip to Evanston to the bank to get some Canadian currency. I’ve only been to Evanston a handful of times but managed to find my way. While in Evanston, I stopped by the post office to mail some stuff. Ordinary stuff, but this particular trip was a comedy of errors. From going the wrong way on a one-way street, to parking my own car in a valet parking lot, to standing in line at the wrong end, it was just a joke — but I wasn’t laughing.

But everything changed when I ran into (not literally) the valet parking man. He had chased me through the parking structure to see where I ended up and to inform me that this was valet parking (free for bank customers)! Initially I was a bit unnerved to find a man standing outside my car window in the belly of the parking structure, but his whole presence was disarming and gentle. He wore what looked like a mechanic’s outfit, with a little grease around the edges, and he had an accent of sorts that made his sketchy English sound poetic. With great kindness he told me the proper parking procedure and when he heard I was there just for a simple banking transaction he shooshed me toward the stairway and said he would take care of my car and have it on the main parking floor (which was full) for me. He could tell I had been flustered from my morning already, and it was as if this was his way of saying “It’s going to be okay.” I felt it in his voice and in his eyes … not something I normally am open to finding in a parking garage with a strange man outside my window!

So after the “simple” banking transaction that ended up taking 45+ minutes because they couldn’t figure out my nun bank account, I headed back to the parking garage and sure enough, there was my chariot right in front. I went to the payment station, something I normally do with ease, but for some reason I couldn’t get to work. A woman at the garage office, came right over and not only explained what to do but showered me with “Baby girl” and “Sweet child” and “Love” as she led me through the steps. It was like balm on a weary soul!

I emerged from that underground parking garage cleansed and refreshed, from the dark and greasy depths to the fresh light of day. But it was in the darkness — with these two unassuming, parking garage attendees — that I experienced such kindness and a bit of healing for my soul.

In the last post Make My Heart Simple, a conversation started around the verse, “I will give glory to your name for ever, for your great kindness is upon me: you have rescued me from the deepest depths.” (Psalm 86).

Many of us have been or currently are in those “deepest depths” … that place where life takes a different, often tragic, turn that we did not expect or particularly want. A sudden major illness or disability ranks right up there in this regard. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I know this all too well having had breast cancer almost 7 years ago and having a tough recovery for that first year or so.

After the shock of finding out about having cancer or going deaf or whatever it may be, it can be difficult (understatement!) to get a handle on one’s thoughts and feelings. Fear, anger, guilt, grief, bitterness, vulnerability, sadness and questions like “why me?”, “what do I do?”, “why if …”, “how can I live like this?” …. all these things can all come rushing in on us and can feel like they are crushing us.

Then there’s the question of God. Where does God fit into this? Did God “will” me to get sick? Is God responsible for this? Can I get angry with God or  yell at God for this thing that has happened? Do my feelings of fear, anger, or bitterness mean that I don’t trust God? Will God be with me through this?

It is totally okay to have these feelings and questions. Life just took an unexpected turn and even if things turn out okay and are “back to normal”, what you have gone through does change you irrevocably. Even though it’s been 7 years since I had my first surgery and then got the “all clear”, I am still dealing with how my life has changed — having breast cancer made me rethink everything — my perspective on life, God, myself, relationships and the whole world. And yes, I was bitter about the whole affair. I was young, I had fallen in love with the IHM life and mission, I was active in ministry, and then SMACK! Cancer. After the shock and just getting through the things that needed to be done, I was able to feel more — to feel scared, bitter, and heart-broken. I never blamed God, as I don’t believe God gives us things that hurt us, but I did wonder if any good could come of this. How could I live with something that God didn’t want for me and I certainly didn’t want for me either? Was it possible — really and truly possible — for me to not only cope but to fully embrace this?

There is a great quote from one of our IHM founders, Louis Florent Gillet, CSsR, that is a guiding lights in my life, and it has come to embody how I see God at work even in the midst of my struggles:

“I began without thinking of the future of the work, leaving it to God alone to bless and make it prosper, if it were pleasing to God and useful for the good of others.”

The message of this quote helps me to move through the anger and the grief to a place where I can truly embrace the thing before me (in this case, cancer) and trust that God will make good come of it. Doesn’t mean that God willed the tragedy or that God or I condone it. It just means that even in the darkest, deepest depths, God is there and finds a way bring good to me and to others.

As I write this, I am very much mindful of the tragic death of Natasha Richardson, of the sudden death of one of my friends’ religious sister, and of my own nuns who are living through cancer. Please keep these women and their loved ones in your prayers.

From what or whom do you draw strength when you are in the deepest depths?

O Lord, teach me your paths,
and I will come to your truth.
Make my heart simple and guileless,
so that it honours your name.
I will proclaim you, Lord my God,
and give you praise with all my heart.
I will give glory to your name for ever,
for your great kindness is upon me:
you have rescued me from the deepest depths.
~ from Psalm 86 (85)

This morning’s prayer (from the Liturgy of the Hours) gave me pause today because it kind of summed up how I feel this Lenten season.

For me, this Lent is a time to pull up a stool and sit at the feet of the Lord, to be mentored in God’s ways. This is something we must do regularly throughout life. It’s like going back to the basics, but learning and re-learning them at deeper and deeper levels.

Simplicity is also something I strive for, especially at this point in my life. There’s a couple levels to this. First is an “outward” simplicity. I am trying to get rid of the clutter that surrounds me. Oh, it’s not like there’s a ton of stuff, but there is more than what I need to live on. I was cleaning my porch last night and found 6 bike pumps. Seriously more than I need or can even use at one time! “But what if … ” is the phrase that runs through my head. “But what if one breaks, or someone needs to borrow one, or you lose one …” I am commiting myself to stopping the “But what if’s” and passing along this stuff to others who actually need a bike pump or whatever.

There’s also the “inward” simplicity. “Make my heart simple.” For me this speaks to living out of my heart’s desire — not getting distracted by “lesser” desires or attractions. I have to think more on what this means. I know there is a message in there for me, but not sure what yet.

How does this psalm speak to you?

Now we get into the hopes people have regarding The Pope’s Visit. These responses come from my survey on The Pope’s visit (See all results posted thus far at “The Pope’s Visit Survey“.

In the survey, I asked the following:

How do you hope the Pope’s visit will affect the Catholic and/or US community?

Here are the results. Many responses hit on these significant themes: unity, hope, reconciliation and healing, encouragement, connection to the American context, justice and care for God’s creation, renewal, and faithfulness.

The results are unedited and in no particular order. Anything you’d like to add in response to this survey question?

• revive faith and belief/acceptance of ALL doctrine.
• I hope his love for God and people remind us of what is important in life. I also hope people see the profound simplicity of this man (he did not attend the State dinner at the White House, he was so joyful at seeing people in Washington.) He exudes kindness and compassion, and I think he is a wonderful example.
• It’s already made my coworkers ask about my faith and the Catholic church. Discussion.
• more unity and enthusiasm
• I think it will be needed attention to those who have been abused. It will inspire some to convert. It encourage those who identify, but may not embrace the religion completely.
• He really has very little effect on the US community or the ordinary catholic.
• I would hope that the unfairly blown-out-of-proportion, media-manufactured ‘sex scandal’ would be set aside finally; and that the Papal visit could unify American Catholics into a force for true social justice, one which loudly and publicly disclaims the scornful and shameful acts of nominally-Christian hyper-conservative extremists such as Fred Phelps, and seeks to bring the love, respect, and tolerance that Catholicism stands for back into the forefront of our faith’s public image.
• I wish he’d give the bishops a back bone to take a stand on politicians who receive communion but vote for abortions
• To give inspiration and hope in faith to an increasingly secular society.
• I hope that his visit continues to open the renewed spiritual awareness/revitalization that is happening in the US.
• I think that Trad’s will be happy.
• bring about a revival of faith
• I hoped that he would meet with victims of pedophile priests as they have been trying to meet with him for years. I would hope that he follows his words of being ashamed by actions – actually seeing that abusers are kicked out of the priesthood. On another note, I would hope that his message of peace would get through to Pres. Bush so that this war can finally end.
• Catholic Identity
• More unity.
• hope he can help the churchs image after the child abuse scandals
• Greater unity of spirit.
• I hope it will encourage American Catholics to a greater dedication to their faith and that it will help foster more vocations.
• I don’t think it will. I think it is too little too late. The church appears to have shut herself off from the people.
• I hope that Catholics will become very spirited and active in this world!
• Both. The Catholic Church is in need of healing, and Benedict may be the instrument. The US community needs the moral compass and integrity the Pope is.
• I would like to hear him speak to the public about how important it is that we do not lose our faith, especially in these times.
• I don’t think it will have any affect
• I would like to see a return to high liturgical practice (not the saying in Latin, but the reverence of high church for Eucharist and the traditional practice of liturgy. I would like to see Bishops brought to task for breaking cannon law in their practice of the liturgy.
• I’m hoping it’ll draw together the polarization we’ve had since 2000.
• Hope, healing and belief for the US Catholic Church
• Renewal and reconciliation.
• Unify!
• I hope we as the Catholic community will form a more personal connection with him.
• Healing. Inspire non-practicing Catholics to return to the faith and non-Catholics to see the richness of the Catholic faith.
• I hope the by his visit, he will be a sign of witness to the American Catholic community of Christ’s love and unity.
• I hope the Pope will be open enough to actually listen to the views of American Catholics, instead of ignoring them or trying to shut them down, but I have no great expectations.
• It would be nice to have him put the Church’s teachings in context for Americans.
• Strengthen and encourage Catholic community, esp. in the matter of vocations; help turn the mind of the country at large from conservatism towards morality, from moral relativism towards justice.
• For once the US Church will get to show its beautiful face during the coverage of the Papal liturgies instead of the media’s focus on the negative. And the Pope’s address to the UN will show how the Church can and does call all of us to peace and global responsibility. We are relevant in modern society!
• Healing
• I hope that it shows Catholics and non-Catholics that the Pope hears, listens and understands the US citizens’ anger, distrust, fear and hope ( a genuine hope on the part of believers of all faiths and at a minimum even a cynical hope from all others).
• Give us a greater sense of hope in efforts to be creation-centered and sensitive to ecological issues of Mother Earth.
• If he could teach us to look to the poor & vulnerable in our society…
• That Catholics here will be on fire for God and correct our sinful ways and be true to the gospel
• My hope is that it will renew the American Church, awake many of us from our apathy towards faith, renew in us an obedience to orthodox Church teaching, and I hope it will affect the entire American community in our recognition of human rights and the unreasonableness of war.
• I hope the visit will have everyone, and the Church, examine the many “big world” moral issues of the day (war, starvation, poverty)and be candid about the differences in thought and action on those issues between the US government, the Church, and the world’s peoples.
• Excite people about the possibility for imporvement. Truth is universal – discouraging people from discovering/learning/interpreting scripture is a fear mechanism – Truth should never have to operate in fear.
• I would hope for his visit to help reunite the community and remind the leaders of the true/real reason for the being of the Catholic church.
• I hope that Americans will be open to his message of love and hope and respect. I hope his visit will have a positive and maybe healing effect on people who have been wounded by the recent scandals or any kind of feelings of non-acceptance.
• Honestly, I really loved JPII & am still partial to him, but I guess I hope Benedict just gives the US Church some love & listening. There is enough moralizing out of Rome – just visit us as a “papa”. Oh & I hope he gives Bush an earful about the war!
• Bring the Church closer together.
• I hope that people are able to hear his strong positions on the need for peace in Iraq, the need to alleviate global poverty, the need for humanitarian solutions to the US immigration challenge, and the need to protect Earth from environmental destruction. Unfortunately, the only position that is ever picked up on in the media is the anti-abortion one.
• Hopefully cause the Catholic church in America to get its act together. We’re a lazy bunch.
• Renew a sense of hope for the institution and quicken a sense of spirituality among the faithful and a stimulate wonder within the non-faithful.

Thanks to the kindness of a friend, I was able to attend the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with a fellow IHM Sister last night. The program was called “Russian Masters” and was conducted by Antonio Pappano.

The highlight of the night was the appearance of cellist Han-Na Chang. Wow! She rocked the place. The piece she played with the orchestra was Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2, Op. 126. Miss Chang played amazingly — an example of an artist who truly becomes one with her instrument. At one point she even busted a string! She just stopped playing, told the conductor she broke a string, then walked off stage to get a new one! The orchestra immediately stopped playing and everyone waited, tuned their instruments a bit, and then when Miss Chang restrung her cello and tuned in, they started the piece again. Quite fantastic. I told my nun that it reminded me of the song “Devil Went Down to Georgia” (I grew up listening to this on a 45) in which the devil challenges a young fiddler to a duel — his soul being in the balance. Now Miss Chang’s performance was way, way better, but she played that cello as if her life depended on it. It was beautiful to watch and to hear her.

In addition to international recognition as a cellist, Miss Chang (24 years old) is known for her compassion for others. She ”frequently gives free concerts inviting underprivileged children who would otherwise have no opportunity of attending concerts. She also regularly organizes and performs Concerts for Children both in concert halls and on TV in South Korea, her native country. She currently serves as the Roving Goodwill Ambassador for the Korean Red Cross.” (source)

You rock, Han-Na Chang! Thanks for making this world a better, more beautiful place.

This past weekend as I relaxed and recovered from what seems like weeks of traveling, I popped in the DVD “Pay It Forward” (2000).

Young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) responds to an assignment from his teacher (Kevin Spacey) with a plan to help three people … who will help three more, and so on, in an ever-widening circle. Trevor touches more people than he expected in director Mimi Leder’s gentle drama: his abused mother Arlene (Helen Hunt), his physically and emotionally scarred teacher and a journalist who hears of the plan and starts investigating.

Although little Haley Joel Osment of “I see dead people” fame got on my nerves after awhile, he did a great job as a truly soul-filled kid who honestly believes he can change the world. His character Trevor is blown away by a teacher’s bonus assignment to think about a way to change the world and then put it into action. How his consciousness begins to change as well as the consciousness of people around him is truly amazing and the heart of the story. The rest of the drama swirling around this key message gets a bit weepy and exaggerated at times, but the message is compelling enough that the excess drama is tolerable.

The character Trevor is told the seemingly impossible: that he can change the world. As he’s riding his bicycle home after school, he passes an area where people who are very poor live. Trevor realizes that he can do something about it by bringing one person home, feeding him, and letting him sleep in the garage. When asked by the man how he can repay him, Trevor tells him to pay it forward: help three other people and tell them to do the same when they ask how they can repay the kindness.

In the novel Pay It Forward which inspired the film, Trevor explains:

“You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward. To three more people. Each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven.” He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. “Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three. Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?” (source)

Catherine Ryan Hyde, the author of the novel Pay It Forward, created quite a book in that she embedded within fiction a plan of action to help others out of kindness and without expectation of reimbursement. Since writing the book, Hyde and others have started the Pay It Forward Foundation “to educate and inspire students to realize that they can change the world, and provide them with opportunities to do so.”

I am pleased to know that the “pay it forward” concept is not just fiction, but that there are people out there who are trying to put this into practice. I think we all struggle with the knowledge that things in the world and in our own neighborhood are not as they should be. Yet we feel powerless to do anything about it or we feel like there is a chasm between “us” and “them”. Children are often much more adept at crossing lines because they don’t see the chasm or the boundaries. They’ve not grown old enough to construct all kinds of social/cultural/political/emotional barriers like we adults do. Jesus’ simple request that we become like little children was indeed loaded when looked at from this perspective.

Have you ever felt like you could change the world? What did you do or, what stopped you? Is there some need right in your own neighborhood that you could address, even if in a small way?

Today begins the awesome and holy season of Lent. When Ash Wednesday hits we tend to think, “O no, now I have to give something up.” But Ash Wednesday and Lent are so much more than that. It is a time of preparation, a time of freeing ourselves from the things that bind us and moving into a deeper relationship with God, our family and friends, and the Church community. It is a time to celebrate the gifts God has given us, to examine how well we live those gifts, and to clear away the things that prevent us from being the gifted person we are. What’s not to love about that?

Our wonderful Catholic tradition gives us many different ways to do some Lenten spring-cleaning in our lives. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the top three. They are things that should already be a part of our lives but during this time of Lent we pay more attention to them and give them a greater space in our lives.

Often fasting gets a bad name. We do the venerable and cool tradition of fasting a disservice when we equate it with “giving something up” which is how I approached fasting for most of my life. My “give-up” of choice was the innocent donut. It never hurt anyone, but still I spurned it throughout Lent. I don’t think that this really did any good for my spiritual life. Eventually I learned more about fasting in a variety of religious traditions as well as an overall aesthetical practice, a spiritual discipline. I realized that fasting is not about denial but about freedom … freeing ourselves from the things that bind us and keep us from right relationship with ourselves, with others, with creation and with our God. Fasting from food is one form of fasting. We eat simply (if at all) and only what is necessary. This has a profound effect on the body and frankly feels very good. It also lends itself to a clearness of mind. Just as our body and mind are affected, so also is our spirit. Our fasting from food is a way of simplifying, getting down to basics, clearing oneself to be in a place of openness, receptivity. It gives us a chance to take stock of where we are in our life and what we need to do to continue to grow in life and love.

On this Ash Wednesday, and indeed throughout the entire year, I would like to suggest something I learned from my friend Bill at Dying Man’s Daily Journal. It’s kind of a form of almgiving, one could say: practice some random act of kindness today. When driving through the toll booth, give the person a few extra bucks to pay for the guy behind you. Be creative. Be random. Be an anonymous angel. Read the many entries and comments on Bill’s blog to see what kindness really meas. Kindness is a wonderful “discipline” for Lent for both you and the people whose lives you touch.

Recently I was “tagged” by Lisa over at From Where I Write. After a few clicks I figured out what exactly that meant (it’s not a chain letter which is what I thought because normally I pitch those). I actually like this little meme — it gets me thinking … read on … the stuff in brackets is what gets passed on from person to person, and the rest after it is my personal response to it. Like Lisa, I’m going to do this in two parts so as not to O.D. on writing reflectively! When I’m done, I’m supposed to pass it on to someone else so stay tuned to Part II. (01/25/07 update — click here for Part II.)

[A is for apparitions - your favorite]: Saint Teresa of Avila‘s vision of Jesus …

I was in prayer one day,—it was the feast of the glorious St. Peter—when I saw Christ close by me, or, to speak more correctly, felt Him; for I saw nothing with the eyes of the body, nothing with the eyes of the soul. He seemed to me to be close beside me; and I saw, too, as I believe, that it was He who was speaking to me. As I was utterly ignorant that such a vision was possible, I was extremely afraid at first, and did nothing but weep; however, when He spoke to me but one word to reassure me, I recovered myself, and was, as usual, calm and comforted, without any fear whatever. Jesus Christ seemed to be by my side continually, and, as the vision was not imaginary, I saw no form; but I had a most distinct feeling that He was always on my right hand, a witness of all I did; and never at any time, if I was but slightly recollected, or not too much distracted, could I be ignorant of His near presence. (Life of Saint Teresa of Jesus, ch. 27, #3)

[B is for Bible- the one you read most often]: Hmmmm …. so many translations, so little time. Personally I am a fan of the New Revised Standard Version (Catholic edition) but I often use the New American Bible. On occasion I peruse the Vulgate to see if I remember any of my Latin.

[C is for Charism- the one you would most like to have]: Humility, simplicity, and zeal … the three virtues that we IHMs strive for … inherited from our Redemptorist beginnings.

[D is for Doctor of the Church- your favorite]: Each of the Doctors of the Church totally rocks. Who wouldn’t want to sit at any one of their feet?! That being said, I’d have to say Teresa of Avila, Alphonsus of Liguori, and Thomas Aquinas.

[E is for Essential Prayer - What’s yours?]: The Eucharist and morning prayer according to the Liturgy of the Hours.

[F is for Favorite Hymn]: My all-time favorite hymn is “For the Beauty of the Earth” … the John Rutter version. I first learned how to sing this song in full harmony when I was in college. Our music director Santo (now a Redemptorist in Canada) taught it to us and we sang it for the Easter vigil. It was one of the most moving musical experiences of my life (I’m not so much of a singer, but that night I was.). For my first profession of vows, my Dad played upright bass along with a clarinetist and pianist to this tune. Then again for my final profession our IHM music director played this for me at the Mass. It was beautiful.

[G is for Gospel - your favorite author?]: I dig them all … each speaks to me in a different way.

[H is for Holy Communion - How would you describe it, using one word?]: Intimacy

[I is for Inspiration - When do you feel most inspired by God?]: Well, most of that is up to God … but I feel most in tune with God when I am praying with my sisters and when I am surrounded by wilderness (literal and figurative).

[J is for Jesus - When did you first meet Him?]: When I was a youngster at Saint James parish, I remember waiting for my Dad to finish up with folk group practice. I was out in the pews, kind of draped over one on the left side of the altar. Behind the altar was a big banner. It read, “I asked Jesus how much he loved me. Jesus stretched out his arms … and died for me.” I was so struck by this banner because it sounded like the question kids ask adults — “how much do you love me?” — and the adult spreads out her arms and says “this much”. That’s what I thought Jesus meant, but then I realized it meant his arms were stretched out on the cross … for me! That blew me away. I was very young at the time, but I will never forget that.

[K is for Kindness- Which saint or person has most inspired you by their kindness?]: Maximilian Kolbe

[L is for liturgical year - your favorite time in the liturgical cycle?]: Again, so hard to choose …. I’d have to go with Ordinary Time. Isn’t it so cool that it is its own season? It reminds me that all time is God’s time … even mundane, ordinary time is sacred and precious.

Today we celebrate the lives of the four Churchwomen who were martyred in El Salvador. They are witnesses to all of us of the commitment to God and to love of one’s neighbor, even in the face of danger and death. The following comes from the People’s Companion to the Breviary, pages 500-501.

On the evening of December 2, 1980, two Maryknoll Sisters, Maura Clarke and Ita Ford, were returning to El Salvador from a retreat in Nicaragua. They were picked up at the airport by an Ursuline Sister, Dorothy Kazel, and a young lay woman, Jean Donovan, who worked in the refugee camps. On the road from the airport, they were stopped at a military roadblock. They were taken to a remote spot along a side road, brutally abused, and then executed. They have become part of the martyrology of the Christian communities throughout Latin America.

 In her eulogy, Sr. Melinda Roper of Maryknoll said:

…God, in His/Her loving kindness, has raised up witnesses in our midst. God is calling each of us to a more radical discipleship—one which will not be understood by the powerful of our day. We must be wise as serpents in naming and denouncing the evil which pervades our world. We must be filled with compassion for those whom suffering from lack of basic necessities has become a way of life. We must be moved to action which will clearly identify us with the poor. Above all, let us not be filled with fear. Let us be filled with courage and hope, for “in the tender compassion of our God, the dawn shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”