Religious Life: A Life of Faithful and Faith-filled Service

 

Religious life is a life of faithful love. We have an example of this in Sister Leonilda Niberle, a Sister of the Sorrowful Mother who died this week. Sister was  one of 8 children, all girls.  Four of the 8 children answered the call to consecrate their lives to the Lord as Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother.  She came to America in 1951 and six months later, after and intensive English course, she was missioned to one of our schools.  She enumerated her  ministry experiences as follows:

·         1952—St. Francis Borgia School, Cedarburg, WI: Housekeeping, cooking & washing

·         1953--Bakerville, WI (another elementary school). People, she says, loved me at the church.

·         1953-1970—St. Clare’s Hospital, Denville, NJ. “I was in charge of the Diet Kitchen.”

·         1970-2002—In charge of food service at Our Lady of Sorrows Convent where "I prepared the meals and took care of the kitchen and dining room."

Her work as a Sister of the Sorrowful Mother was rich in that she lived an active/contemplative lifestyle. Whenever she was in the kitchen and whenever her scheduled allowed, Sister Leonilda found time to contemplative the Lord. She gazed on Him with love and He, in turn, gazed upon her. At the top of her description of her ministry in retirement, she wrote:

•  Ministry of prayer at SSM Franciscan Courts 
•    “My most important ministry” 
•    “I like to pray in chapel a lot.”
•    “Prayer is a blessing and help for others. I benefit spiritually as well.”   

Sister Leonilda speaks to us of the beauty of living an active/contemplative life as a woman religious.

Is God calling you?

Religious Life Today: A Call to Wake Up the World

Pope Francis has declared 2015 the Year of Consecrated Life. In The Associate, winter 2015, Vol. 20, No. 1, p. 1, Associate Cathi Duffy, Society of the Holy Child Jesus, writes in an article entitled “Wake Up the World: Year of Consecrated Life”:  “It would be easy to focus on the problems in religious life today, such as the diminishment of numbers and ministries. But that would be to miss a most important reason for celebration – why women and men have stayed in religious life. In her essay, “Why They Stayed,” Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Sandra Schneiders says those who stayed found “the taproot of their vocation. They don’t just belong to religious orders, they are religious.” These individuals remember the one who drew them to religious life in the first place and who alone is their ultimate reason for staying. Having studied their founding charisms, they have embraced them anew. They have grieved losses of members, ministries and customs, and have emerged with an inner freedom to face the future with joyful hope. They are grounded in God’s creative project of bringing fullness of life to all of creation. Does this sound like any of the sisters you know?”

As a member of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Assisi,  this reflection by Associate Cathi Duffy strikes a cord of gratitude to the Lord who has given me and so many others the grace to stay. That is not to say that those who left religious life following Vatican II were unfaithful. No, they, too were following the will of God—the will of God for them.  Those of us who stayed were following the will of God for us.  We are here today to witness to God’s faithfulness to us and to the call to renew our charisms in the world of the 21^st century. Though smaller in numbers than prior to the exodus from religious life back in the 60s and 70s and thus having fewer ministries than then, we are no less vibrant, no less committed, and, by far, no less needed than then!  The problems our world faces now are as urgent as the ones faced by our founding Sisters. And I am delighted to be a part of religious life today when the world is so blessed to have a Pope who understands the necessity of women in today’s Church and the essential presence of men and women religious to wake up the world of the 21^st century!

Think about it! Is God calling you to join a religious community of your choice (and God’s) to make a difference in the world of today?

VITA CONSECRATA: CONSECRATED LIFE

VITA CONSECRATA: CONSECRATED LIFE

In a few weeks we, the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, will be celebrating many of our Sisters'  jubilees, similar to anniversaries when we speak of married men and women. In religious life, we call “anniversaries” “jubilees.”  This year the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother will be celebrating the jubilees of 20 Sisters, one of whom is celebrating 75 years of religious life, ten 60 years, eight 50 years and one 25 years.  What, you may ask, is it like to have given one’s life to the Lord for 75, 60, 50, and 25 years and having no children, no grandchildren  and having given up the joys of being a devoted wife, experiencing the gift of having a devoted husband and adoring children and grandchildren?  This is a woman religious speaking, of course.  Some husbands, children and grandchildren are not adoring or devoted while others are. Married life is not a bed of roses; it too comes with thorns!

So what are we celebrating? God’s faithfulness. The many times we have come through the turbulence of life and experienced Jesus sleeping in our boats and, at our invitation, calmed the churning waters. We are celebrating the times that Jesus walked through the “wheat fields” of our lives and quenched our hunger with “grains of wheat,” that others felt we had no right to glean.  We are celebrating the many times we sat at Jesus’ feet, as did Mary Magdala, listening to His every word, enjoying an intimacy that no one can take from us, and, “yes” being at the foot of the cross of other’s people’s lives, as Mary stood beneath the cross of Jesus. We have done so when we sat at the bedside of the sick and dying, caressed the handicapped, mentally or physically challenged, or bullied child in our schools; welcomed the drug or alcohol-addicted individual in our treatment centers.  We are celebrating the times we went to "empty tombs," looking for Jesus and when "the gardeners" of life whispered our names and we recognized Jesus and "yes," were sent out by Him to proclaim the resurrection.   We are celebrating the many children God sent us as gifts of His love, examples of courage, pillars of hope. The 75, 60, 50, and 25 years of consecrated life have been an awesome experience of a faithful, loving, caring, forgiving God, to whom we have given everything of ourselves and our lives. The joy of that giving has no bounds here or in eternity. That is why "jubilee" celebrations are so, so special.

Vita Consecrata--Consecrated Life

VITA CONSECRATA: CONSECRATED LIFE

 A significant dimension of religious life is involved in apostolic activities, also referred to in religious life as our ministries.  I would like to feature another member of my religious community, Sister Mary Ellen Joyce. Sister Mary Ellen is a certified long-term care chaplain endorsed by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (N.A.C.C.). Her role as Chaplain is to be present to residents, their families and the staff at Franciscan Oaks Health Center in Denville, New Jersey.  Her ministry encompasses three levels of care: independent, assisted living and those who need around-the-clock nursing care.  She conducts weekly communion services, scripture study and prayer.  Her responsibilities also include preparing weekly faith-based reflections, holiday customs and trivia and the creation of a Christmas pageant.

Her creativity exudes all of her work. Here is a segment of one of her Scripture trivia games:

·         Who had the highest sodium level recorded in scripture?

·         What is the sign of God’s covenant?

·         What ritual meal is eaten just as it was in scripture?

·         What horse-drawn vehicle wheels clogged during the chase?

·         Who could have been on a biblical “Ricky Lake show”?

o   He was his father’s favorite.

o   His brothers hated him.

o   He was abused physically and emotionally.

o   He was seduced by his employer’s wife.

·         Whose name in scripture means “I drew you out of the water” (His mother could have been in Martha Stewarts basket class)?

·         The Queen of Sheba probably had the largest ____cabinet in the world.

·         Where in scripture do we read about a possible entry into the “Ripley’s Believe it Or Not” most incredible fish story?

·         Before Mr. Ed. We hear of a talking ______in the book of Numbers. Sorry Mr. Ed!

 If you love God above all, hunger to know, cherish and delve into the Scriptures, are creative, want to serve people where they are at, enjoy being involved in Church Ministry, in helping the poor and/or working for peace and justicve in our world,  strive to grow in intimacy with the Lord, want to dedicate your entire being to the Lord alone, hear a small inner voice inviting you to consider religious life, perhaps religious life is for you.  I invite you to browse our vocation website, www.becomingasister.org. and fill out the self-quiz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vita Consecrata: Consecrated Life: Bringing fuller life to others

VITA CONSECRATA: CONSECRATED LIFE

The tagline of my religious community is “to bring fuller life to others.” In 2012, October 7-28, a group of us Sisters met in Rome, Italy for a General Assembly to address a related theme to “bring fuller life to others.”  At that Assembly, the following Mission Statement was adopted: 

The Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother participate in the mission of Jesus to bring fuller life to others by revealing the love of God for all, especially the poor.

All of our Sisters strive to carry out that mission statement. I would like to feature the Franciscan Institute for Personal and Family Development. This ministry was developed by the Caribbean Sisters in 2001 as a corporate iteninerant ministry that serves several islands. For example, from July 2010 to February 2014 26 parishes, 40+ schools in Trinidad alone participated in Common Sense Parenting Courses  and 37 schools participating in "Parenting for Literacy" programs.  The Common Sense Parenting program along with other courses in self-esteem building, anger management and communication skills have also been taught in schools on several islands. These courses are offered to parents, students and teachers in all participating schools, not just to the students.

The director of the program is Sister Julie Marie Peters, a Family and Marriage Therapist.

  

VITA CONSECRATA--CONSECRATED LIFE

VITA CONSECRATA—CONSECRATED LIFE

Religious life is about serving the Church in a variety of ways.  The chapter on “Apostolic Service” in the Constitution of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother opens with a quote from Micah 6: 8: “…and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  That statement applies to so many of my senior sisters, women religious who did great things for the Lord without recognition of their efforts. Nor did they ever toot their own horns, so to speak.  These were and are humble women, women who gave their lives for the poor and oppressed, who did whatever was asked of them by their superiors.  One such woman was Sister Kiliana Jakubowski, a woman from Germany, an orphan, in  fact.  She was principal of the convent high school and president of the junior college in Milwaukee, WI,  when I entered the community back in the 50’s.  In the 60’s she was asked to lay the groundwork for our missions in the Caribbean and in Brazil, traveling to those countries and, for Brazil, learning Portuguese in her advanced years.  She was passionate about preserving the history of our community. That passion led her to writing the first community history book as well as translating five volumes of meditations given by the first spiritual director of our community, Msgr. George Jacquemin.  As an aspirant, postulant, novice and three years into temporary vows I was the one who typed and mimeographed those five books: the one history book and the four volumes of meditations.  Her motto that she passed on to me was: All for the glory and honor of God. Truly, that was the passion that drove her to say “yes” to all God asked of her. It is that motto that underlies the humility of so many of the Sisters that have gone before me. It is also the motivation that prompted their obedience to their superiors and ultimately to their God.

Vita Consecrata--Consecrated Life: Reflection VI

  

If religious life of women were pictured as a flower garden, I believe that we would see the likes of which never existed. The beauty of the work done by women religious, I believe has no equal. Catholic colleges, high schools and grades schools pepper the U.S. as the result of the work of the Founders and Foundresses of our religious communities and our pioneer Sisters, many of whom came to the U.S. as missionaries, not even knowing English.  The ministries they began in teaching and in healthcare took root in the soil of extreme poverty and, in some cases, the ultimate gift of giving their lives for the sake of the other. My own religious community began hospitals in abandoned saloons with little or no money and very few material possessions.  Patients paid for medical attention by sometimes giving produce or farm animals. The Sisters of my community collected $5.00 from the lumberjacks of northern Wisconsin as insurance for medical assistance for one year.

Many of the healthcare institutions begun by my community in the early 1800’s are flourishing healthcare systems to this very day. As of 2002 there are  625 catholic healthcare systems in the U.S.--all because of the sacrifices of women who would do anything for their Bridegroom. Nothing was beyond their willingness to help others in need.    The same is true women religious of other congregations. Many began educational institutions  that are thriving to this very day.  As of 2014,  there are 244 Catholic Universities; 6,594 Catholic schools: 5,399 elementary; 1,195 secondary. Hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and orphanages in the early days of our Foundations also blanketed the U.S. because of the sacrifices of women religious.  

As in the past, today the Lord continues to call young women to consecrate their lives to Him and continue the incredible work of healing, teaching and aiding the poor of this day and age in whatever way the Spirit directs.

World Consecrated Life Day

Feb. 2-3 was World Consecrated Life Day.  On Feb. 10, religious priests, brothers and sisters who are members of various religious congregations came together with the Bishop of the diocese of Paterson to celebrate this great gift to the Church.  Religious life is a “radical living” of our baptismal call, making Jesus’ way of life our way of life.  With great enthusiasm and joy, men and women who have consecrated their lives to the Lord continue to deepen their relationship with Jesus and with one another as they give credence to the faith given them in baptism and sealed in confirmation.  Bishop Serratelli, Bishop of the Paterson Diocese prayed that the “great grace of Baptism [may] work to full effect” in us so that we will be able to spread God’s Kingdom with apostolic zeal to build up the Church of Christ.  Pope Paul II, who inaugurated this Day of celebration Consecrated Life did so because of his belief that “consecrated life is at the very heart of the Church as a decisive element of her mission since it manifests the inner nature of Christian calling” (Quotes from The Beacon, The Newspaper of the diocese of Paterson, N.J., Feb. 14, 2013).