We're Not The Center of the Universe

Peter, Peter.  He never gets it. He asks the stupid questions, makes mistake followed by mistake.  Like in today's Gospel when he says to Jesus :  "We have given up everything and followed you." So what about us??

You can just imagine Jesus sighing, and helping his friend get it once again. It's not about what Peter and his friends gave up.  It's about the who, and the who is Jesus and those Jesus loves: people who are poor,marginalized, oppressed, forgotten or ignored. 

We are not the center of the universe. Jesus came to shift the established order. Things will never be the same. "But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first," Jesus tells his friends and us.

Good to remember. Good to know that Peter kept at it, trying to get and live what Jesus was talking about. And so today, we go about the work of Jesus and give preference to the little ones. Or at least I hope and pray we do.

In these Pentecost days, join me in prayer. For Church leaders. For religious communities and our Sisters in leadership. For all those who follow Jesus today. That we may be open to the call of the Spirit and be Gospel people for the world today. May we be grounded in our center, Jesus, and go out to love and serve our good and gracious God. Amen.

this memorial day, pray for peace in honor of the dead

Seven years ago today on Memorial Day I wrote: "This year Memorial Day seems more poignant than usual. So many lives have been lost in the Iraq war. Not to mention the 37 other armed conflicts across the globe." 


I just checked the most recent numbers, and it seems the number of armed conflicts has been decreasing.  In 2010, there were 24 armed conflicts raging across the globe. Yet there are still far too many conflicts impacting far too many people--military combatants and civilians alike.


Since my country's war with Afghanistan started, more than 3,000 coalition forces have lost their lives (source: icasualties.org). Our government does not find it necessary to track the number of civilian deaths, yet we know that civilians continue to lose their lives in the conflict.  The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan estimates that more than 6,000 civilians were killed since 2009 alone.


The impacts of war--on human lives, on the human spirit, on the human family--are so devastating.  And so on this Memorial Day, I remember not only my countrymen and women, but my Iraqi and Afghani brothers and sisters as well.  I remember those living in the midst of 24 armed conflicts, trying to live their lives, feed their families, mourn loved ones.  On this memorial day, I keep them all in my prayers and in my heart.


As I wrote seven years ago:

My life in America is so far removed from their reality, even though the mess that is the Iraq [and Afghanistan ] war was started in my/our name. To "protect" my/your freedom. ...

I agree with Pope John Paul II who said, "No to war! … It is always a defeat for humanity."
I agree with MLK who said "Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."
I agree with Master Yoda, who "said," "Wars do not make one great."

But on this memorial day I do not protest, but pray. For an end to war. For God’s peace to fill our hearts, and to comfort those who mourn and remember those they have lost. What else can I do?

It's now seven years later, and I find myself in the same space. No matter what your political affiliations, please join me in praying for peace this Memorial day to honor the memories of all those who have died. This has become my simple peace prayer mantra:

May peace fill our hearts, our homes and our world. Amen

Geek Out

Today, my friends, is apparently Geek Pride Day.  Why May 25th?  Well, since you asked ... On this day in 1977, geekdom was born with the release of the original Star Wars film. At least, that's what wikipedia tells me!

Life is so very serious, it helps at times to have something a little less so in your life.  Or at least where the seriousness is projected off into a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

So whether you are a Star Wars Geek, Social Justice Geek, or Church Geek (I proudly claim all three as part of my geekdom) ... embrace your inner geek today!

Master Yoda expects no less.

Margaret Anna Fridays

Most Fridays, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare.

It is a matter of grave temporal importance, and it has strangely come to be also a matter of momentous spiritual importance, whether certain economic theories are of benefit to the human race.

Let's Talk About Love

In today's Gospel (John 17),  lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: "I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. ... I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."

LOVE. UNITY. Seems to me the Gospel writer makes it very clear what Jesus would have us focus on. This is a big call, don't get me wrong. It's not a matter of a Barney sing along, holding hands and all getting along.  We are humans, with reason and difference of opinion. Differences give us life and energy and fuel for passionate conversation and creative work so that we can all be about the common good from our various perspectives. Yet when I look around at our world or dare I say it, our Church, I don't see a lot of conversation or collaboration grounded in love. I see a focus on that other three letter word that starts with s and ends in x. I see a lot of action motivated by fear and or control. Yet you can't control love. God is love and we can't control God either!!

This may sound a little preachy, and if so I am preaching a message I myself need to hear. It is so easy for me to ground myself in fear or my need to control. I do well to remember the wise (fictional) words of Master Yoda. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

So let's talk about love. That we all may be one.

Young Nun Connections

My experience of religious life has been vastly different in its early years than that of many of the Sisters in my religious community.  For one thing, I entered a community that had already gone through the messy bits of the renewal of Vatican II.  By the time I came around, the Sisters were firmly claiming their charism and history (one of the calls of the Church to religious communities after Vatican II).  Yes, they were in the midst of what we call "diminishment," with the majority of members in the upper age brackets, but the energy and commitment to the Gospel and a faith-fulled response through ministry with and on behalf of people who are poor and marginalized was alive and well.


My experience has been different in other ways as well.  I did not enter with a large group of young women.  I wasn't that young either, comparatively.  Whereas my novitiate classmate was in her early 20s when we started this journey together, I was in my early 30s.  Young by today's standards still, but by no means fresh out of high school or my parents' house.


My experience has also been different in that from the very beginning, I have been connected to younger Sisters across Congregations and even across Continents.  I've written before about the network of younger Sisters I am involved with called Giving Voice.  I've also made a number of bloggy religious friends over the years, both women discerning or living religious life and a few Jesuits, Paulists and assorted other men living the life as well.  While my primary commitment is to my own religious community and our charism of Peace calls me and guides me into the future as I follow Jesus, I would be lying if I didn't say that having this larger community of peers without borders gives me hope, sustains me, and helps me see that the Spirit is at work.  As my Giving Voice T-Shirt says, I heart Religious Life and believe in its future, in no small part because of these young nun connections.


Speaking of, I'd like to point you to another reflection by a younger Sister who I've gotten to know virtually through a combination of the blog, Facebook and Giving Voice.  Her name is Amanda and she is a postulant with the Dauthers of Charity.  She just posted a truth-telling and future-facing blog post about Facing the Truth of who is entering religious life today.  Well worth a read.  Here's a teaser:

Discerners - don't be afraid to just dive in. Worry more about God's calling than the average age of a community. In the end, it doesn't matter. What matters is your joy and peace with them and their spirituality. Just follow God's call, don't worry about the rest. 

Sisters - don't be ashamed of your average age. If you and your religious community are living the Gospel, young people will come. There may be less than before, but God is still calling us. And we're willing to listen to you and soak in your wisdom. Some of the best discernment advice has been from our Sisters in the retirement Villa.

Others - don't believe for a second that just because a community gets lots of young vocations, it's better. Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with those communities. You can praise those communities who get lots of young vocations...but also praise those that don't. (By the way, did you know, the retention rate of postulants/novices is the same for both?) You want to encourage vocations, but by bad-mouthing the ones getting older, you're discouraging what you would actually love to see - young women following God's call. (Read the whole post)

Great wisdom from someone just beginning her path of life, love and truth with her religious community, in the company of young Sister friends within and across congregations.


Which leaves me very grateful for our 21st Century reality.  Yes the world is in disarray and in great need of people working for the Gospel vision of justice and peace.  But people are still answering that call, and thanks to the wonders of the internet we are able to connect virtually and yet deeply across the miles.

Full Circle

Twenty Two years ago I was a rising Junior in high school looking at colleges. My Dad had a conference in a little town called Portland, so my mom and I tagged along.  While my Dad met to talk about highways and asphalt, my Mom and I explored from our base at a hotel near Lloyd Center. We went to Powells Books, rode the light rail, visited the rose garden, and experienced the beauty of the Oregon Coast. We also took a campus tour of Lewis and Clark College. The rest is history. My history.

Life has come full circle in a way. I was the one attending a conference this weekend, giving a presentation on the church's call to respond to human trafficking and immigration.  I am staying at the exact same hotel near Lloyd Center.

Life has a funny way of surprising you and reminding you of loved ones long passed, or the first time you tried marion berry ice cream, or your first steps on the path to adulthood.

A good weekend of ministry for the common good and memories of spirit filled moments in my own life.

Margaret Anna Fridays

Most Fridays, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare.

When I was in charge of the order, I tried to do all I could for those who, like ourselves, were trying to do their best in their own way, for God and the poor.

A Saint for the Rough Patch - Saint Théodore Guérin

I've often told the story of Margaret Anna Cusack, the founder of my religious community, here on the blog.  One of my favorite quotes by her is from a letter she wrote to Archbishop Corrigan of New York, who had refused to meet with her for more than three years.  She wrote, "I am no saint, but your eminence has read the lives of the saints, and you know how often and how cruelly the founders of religious orders were belied and misrepresented even by good people."


One relatively new Saint that keeps popping up in my mind (and prayers) these days is Saint Mother Théodore Guérin, the founder of the Sisters of Providence of St.-Mary-of-the Woods, canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.


I first read her story when she was still Blessed and not yet a Saint. She is one of the amazing pioneer Sisters of the 1800s who traveled West on a wing and a prayer and established ministries that continue today.  She began her religious life in France in 1825, but made the trek to the United States and eventually Indiana in 1840:

We continued to advance into the thick woods till suddenly, Father Buteux stopped the carriage and said, 'Come down, Sisters, we have arrived.' What was our astonishment to find ourselves still in the midst of the forest, no village, not even a house in sight. 

The foundation of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods had begun!  Shortly afterwards, her challenges with church hierarchy also began.  I've read this part of her story before, which is neatly summarized in this article.  It's almost too hard to believe.  


In the early years of the community, she struggled with the local bishop who had his own ideas of what the Sisters should be doing.  In 1843, she travelled to France to raise money for the new community.  When she returned, she learned that the Bishop had admitted novices, opened and closed schools, and ordered the Sisters to elect a new superior while she was away fundraising.


This is where the power of community comes into the story.  The Sisters elected a new superior ... Mother Théodore!  As you might imagine, the Bishop wasn't particularly pleased with this outcome. There were some more power struggles, resulting in his locking her inside his house until she agreed with his demands.


I guess she wasn't feeling so inclined, so he released her from her vows and told her not to write to the Sisters.  When they heard what had happened, the Sisters said they would leave with her.  Again, this did not seem to make him happy, so he threatened to excommunicate them and arrest them if they took anything with them from the convent!  Seriously, you can't make this kind of stuff up.


Happily, the Holy Spirit seems to have been on the case.  Word came from Rome.  The Bishop's resignation had been accepted.  A new Bishop was appointed.  And not only are the Sisters of Providence still alive and kicking, Mother Theodore is now Saint Mother Théodore. 


I'm reminded of another favorite quote by my friend Margaret Anna Cusack.

Act together in everything and you will be holy and happy children of peace.

Pray for us Margaret Anna and Saint Mother Théodore Guérin.

Finding our joy ... living through rough patches

Tonight I was honored to be a guest, with about 100 other Sisters from a number of religious communities, at the annual Sisters' Appreciation Dinner hosted by the local Chapter of the Serra Club.  Last summer I shared my vocation story at Viva!, a retreat for young women in the Archdiocese discerning a call to be a Sister.  This wonderful retreat was subsidized by the Serra club.  Thanks to the subsidy and the support of the women's religious communities, the cost to attend is only $10.  For any readers who may be interested, the next Viva! retreat is June 30-July1.

Back to tonight, however, it was great to see some of my favorite women gathered in one place.  It was also nice to meet some of the folks who give their time and resources to help promote religious vocations, both to the priesthood and to religious life, here in the Archdiocese of Seattle.  In fact, visiting their website just now I learned that the Seattle Serra club was the first one founded in 1935!

We all of course have a calling in life.  The Church teaches that there are vocations to marriage, the single life, and religious life.  But I also know people who are quite obviously called to be teachers.  Or parents.  Or elected officials. Or artists.  Or some mixture of a variety of things. It's always incredible when you've known someone for a while, and one day everything "clicks" and they find their calling.  Who they are called to be.  What gives them joy, energy, and purpose.

I clearly remember that day for me.  I'd been dancing around the whole Sister thing for months.  I was still working at the City, moving my way up a bureaucratic ladder that, while I was good at it, did not give me joy, energy, or purpose.  Meanwhile, I'd been getting more and more involved in peace and justice issues through the church, and I'd started to think that maybe God was calling me to religious life.  But that just seemed crazy.  Me, a Sister?

Then one day, I was in the women's restroom in City Hall, when it hit me ... the joy.  I remember looking in the mirror, washing my hands, filled with joy at the wondrous possibility that I could become a Sister.  I could use my gifts to serve God and help transform the world.  I was literally bursting with joy and wanted to tell the whole world.  Instead, I was a good bureaucrat and went back to my desk to what seemed even more like drudgery in comparison to the joyous possibilities that lay ahead for me to explore. But I never forgot that moment.

Over the next few months thought, I did explore the crazy possibility with renewed hope.  At every step, this calling has seemed to make more sense as I've become more and more me.  Yes, there have been rough patches.  Religious formation is not for the faint of heart, for one thing.  Then there are the ongoing challenges with human institutions of various shapes and sizes.  Just because you've found your calling or discovered your vocation doesn't mean that it's all roses and moonbeams from there on out.  Even roses have thorns after all.  And anything involving other human beings (including yourself) is bound to be messy from time to time.

Sometimes, when I'm in a particular thorny patch of life, I think back to the promise, wonder, and even insanity of that moment in the City Hall restroom. I also think of all the people who have affirmed me on my journey as well as those who have challenged me on the way.  Maybe this is why I'm so grateful to know that there are people like the Serra Club out there working to support women and men exploring the particular calling that is the religious vocation.

I'm also aware of all those who make up the Church, as in the body of Christ, not the institution per se.  No matter what our calling, we all play a vital role in living out the Gospel as best we can.  Sometimes, it can be discouraging when our role is not respected, appreciated, or understood.  I find it helpful to remember that we stand on the shoulders of our parents, grandparents, generations and generations of folks who have tried in their own way to love God and serve God's people.  It may not always be easy and each of us needs to follow our hearts and act with integrity.  But we are not in this alone.  Perhaps that's why the idea of the communion of saints is so important to me spiritually.

So tonight, I pray for all the people who make up our Church.  That filled with the immense love of the God who created us, drawn by the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus who became one of us, and open to the ever-present guiding of the Spirit we may grow together in love and act in justice and great love for the world, especially those that are living in poverty or oppressed in any way.  In joy, through the rough patches, together.  Amen. So be it.  Peace.

Peaceful Mother's Day

It is hard to believe but this is my 9th Mother's Day with my mother in heaven.  In addition to being an awesome Mom and a great friend, she inspired me by her love and concern for all God's creatures. In her honor, today I continue my bloggy tradition with this re-post.

How many of you know about the original pre-hallmark meaning of the day? Read Julia Ward Howe's Original Mother's Day Proclamation from 1870. Here's a teaser:

"Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of fears! ... We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says "Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."

Somehow that meaning has gotten lost over the years.  But it is so very important and needed today in a world where so many families are torn apart by violence.  Domestic Violence.  Street Violence.  Violence of war, poverty and oppression.


So, I'm spending some time in prayer this Mother's Day in thanksgiving for my own mother who rests in eternal peace, but also in solidarity and love with mothers in war torn countries and the mothers of those serving in the military. Seems an appropriate way to mark the day.

Reconnecting

I'm here at east coast groovy sister hq for a community meeting.  This is also where I spent the majority of my novitiate years.  It's been great to reconnect with the Sisters, such amazing women who have faithfully lived through the renewal of religious life and given life to our charism of peace in so very many ways.  Stories, laughter, engaging conversation.

On Thursday evening I was at a nearby parish here in New Jersey giving a presentation on human trafficking.  Afterwards, a number of folks came up to speak with me.  More than one asked if I was in the same community as Sister ____.  In each case, I was able to say yes.  When I did, the person's eyes would light up and a smile would cross their face.  It was clear that the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace have made a lasting impression on the people they taught, worked with, and served over the years here in Bergen County.

Today I also had the chance to walk the grounds of our property here on the banks of the Hudson river.  It was a glorious day, and while I spent most of the day inside it was nice to have this time to enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

As I was walking, I thought how interesting it was to come home again.  No, this is not my home now.  But it was at one point, and it has been one of the centers of CSJP life since Margaret Anna Cusack first bought this property more than 125 years ago to provide a place of rest and respite for working women from the city.  Later, this became an orphanage for boys, the novitiate for a growing community, and in time both a center of prayer and to care for our elder Sisters.

While the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace have a long standing presence here in Bergen County, NJ, we also are part of the present, history and future of Jersey City, NJ.  This week's Jersey Journal has a great story about one of our ministries there, the York Street Project, and the ministry of Sister Maureen D'Auria, CSJP in particular.  Here's a snippet, but you can read the whole article here:

“I love uniting with the women and children around natal health and health care issues,” said D’Auria, a Brooklyn native, whose high school teachers attracted her to the Peace Sisters. Back in 1891 her religious community built an orphanage, which is now St. Joseph Home, and a residence for single working women, still St. Mary’s Residence, at York and Washington Streets. Most were closed for a long time until the religious community refurbished and reopened them with a new vision and new missions reflecting reforms these Sisters embraced.
These new ventures are replicated all over the U.S. by nearly 2,000 religious communities of women. D’Auria mentioned that one of the former residents said about her stay at St. Joseph Home, “This is the holy ground where I began my life.” I think this can be said about the ministry of any of the 57,000 Sisters in this country.