From Service to Sisterhood

The Catholic Volunteer Network recently shared a video featuring three sisters from our Charity Federation: Sr. Meg Kymes - Daughters of Charity, Sr. Annie Klapheke - Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, and Sr. Mallorie Gerwitz - Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth. They each talk about how their volunteer service impacted their decision to enter religious life and Wake Up The World!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOA1k1TeSiA&list=UUkxSbczuzwLFJRmupv0jqtQ

First Vows

The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth are filled with joy as they welcome five new sisters! (L to R) Jyothsana George, Prathima Kanapala, Priyanka Murmu, Punam Saroj Kandir, and Sweta  Baskey.

What are you looking for?

By: Sr. Annie Klapheke


John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”  The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.  Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?”

John 1:35-39

I recently made a directed retreat.  Seven days of just me, God, silence, and a daily meeting with my spiritual director.  I carried this passage from John in my heart as I began my week.  I could imagine myself in the scene, and could see Jesus turning back toward me and asking, “Annie, what are you looking for?”  What was I looking for in this week of retreat?  But more importantly, what am I looking for in my choice to follow Jesus in the vocation of religious life?

My retreat setting was the in the beautiful rolling hills of Kentucky.  On the day I arrived, I took a long walk through the woods and pondered Jesus’ question to me, ‘what are you looking for?’  I placed myself in the shoes of the apostles and considered the emotional roller coaster they may have experienced as disciples of Jesus.  Jesus and his followers traveled frequently through the same areas where the apostles had once called home.  I wondered it they ever passed by the Sea of Galilee and saw their old fishing nets and boats sitting idle on the shore.  Did they ever think about their old lives and second guess their chosen path, or ask ‘Why am I here?  What am I looking for?’  On my way to retreat, I drove through Lexington, past Keeneland horse racing track (think Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs on a smaller scale).  I had made several weekend trips to Keeneland years ago with my college roommates.  I thought about how much fun those trips were.  I did not feel regret for the path I was on, nor wish to turn back time.  It just made me pause and think about the unconventional path I have chosen.  I kind of felt like I was looking at my old fishing nets that I left to follow Jesus.  

But here’s the dilemma I faced.  My friends who had accompanied me on those trips to Keeneland are following Jesus too, but they are following him in the vocations of marriage or single life.  There is nothing spiritually superior about a vocation to religious life; it is just one particular way of following Jesus.  So what is the distinction?  And why have I chosen this path?

Later in my retreat, I placed myself in another Gospel story:  John 21:1-19, sometimes referred to as ‘breakfast by the sea’.  This is one of Jesus’ initial appearances to the disciples after the resurrection.  I felt myself in the place of Peter.  How fresh the trauma of the crucifixion must have been.  Confused by the loss of who he thought was the Savior, Peter returned to the only other life he knew, fishing.  After a miraculous catch of fish, Peter recognizes Jesus and goes to him with great urgency and enthusiasm by leaping into the water and swimming to shore.  The scene on the beach unfolds.  Jesus asks Peter to profess his love three times, and then gives the instructions, “Feed my lambs.  Tend my sheep.  Feed my sheep.  Follow me.”

For me, this interaction between Peter and Jesus sheds some light on the particularity of my call to religious life.  As is heard in the story, the first order of business is to profess my love for Jesus – repeatedly, wholeheartedly, and without doubt.  In doing so, my relationship with Jesus becomes the first and primary relationship in my life.  All other relationships flow from this.  Next are Jesus’ instructions to feed his sheep.  Jesus plays the role of “Great Shepherd” of the flock (that is, humanity).  His instructions to feed his sheep could be restated as ‘Come be my assistant shepherd’.  This means having an especially close partnership with Jesus in carrying out his mission; a truly honored task.  To fulfill this role, I must be radically available to go where Jesus calls.  This is where the vow of celibacy comes into play, another distinctive characteristic of religious life.  Without the responsibility of a spouse and children, I am available to move about to serve where I am needed.  I am emotionally available to be in love with many people – my fellow sisters and those I serve.  This is not a romantic or physical love, but a deep emotional intimacy, which our broken world desperately needs.  

I think this is the distinction of religious life:  a radical love for God, which is the primary relationship in my life, and a radical willingness and availability to participate in God’s mission.

By the end of my retreat, did I find what I was looking for?  Yes and no.  Fully grasping my call to religious life will probably be a life-long process.  But I find a sense of affirmation from God saying, ‘Yes.  I have called you, and am still calling you, to this particular way of following me.  Keep coming.’  

Holy Cow - Some Good News!

By: Cecilia Harriendorf, SC
Sisters of Charity of New York
Novillero, Guatemala

The story goes like this.

Once upon a time, there was this farmer who spoke with God every morning.  He'd tell God about his cows, he called them each by name.  He also told God about his concerns, especially if Elsie or Betsy had stopped producing an appropriate amount of milk.  The farmer prayed for good health, good crops, rain, world peace, his wife and children and, of course, he prayed for his cows.

One day, while passing by, a holy man overheard the farmer talking to God.  The next morning, the holy man stopped at the farmer's house and told him that when he prayed he should stand erect, raise his arms to Heaven and say, "Lord of all, blessed are you,  etc, etc, etc."  The farmer was grateful for the suggestion on how to present himself to God.

Several days later, as the holy man passed by the farmer's field, he overheard the farmer at prayer.  Standing erect with his hands to the Heavens, the farmer said, "Lord of all, blessed are you, etc. etc, etc."

Continuing on his way, smiling, the holy man heard a voice.   A different voice.  He just knew it was the voice of God.  And God said, "Holy man, what did you do to the farmer?"  "I didn't do anything to him," the holy man said, "I taught him how to  pray."  "No," God said, "you didn't teach him how to pray."  "You taught him how you pray."

It's a simple little story with important insights.  Number one:  No one can teach you how to pray.  Two:  God very much wants to hear from you.  Yes, you.

Truly, there have been holy men and women throughout the ages who have helped us to better understand the nature of prayer, the different kinds of prayer, the various rituals of prayer ... Men and women who, by their words and actions, have nurtured our desire to pray.  But the intimacy of prayer, the act of lifting up of one's heart and mind to God, is a deeply personal and richly unique experience.  And the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that, "God tirelessly calls each person to this mysterious encounter with Himself."

When you're happy, God is at the center of your happiness.  When you are sad, God is there to embrace your pain.  When you don't care, one way or the other, God continues to care.  And there's more good news.  God knows your weaknesses, fears, frustrations, etc. etc. etc.  So don't bother fancying up your act.   With simplicity and humility, bring your day, your life, this very moment, to the God who created you and loves you - just as you are.

The extraordinary truth is that God longs to live in an intimate relationship with each one of us.  So, during this Lenten season - a time of prayer, charity and fasting, take some time to pray.  Take some time to let God love you.

Tell God about your hopes and fears, joyful moments, dreams, desires - and cows, if you have them.  Then, be sure to take some time to listen.  In the silence of your heart, God will speak to your heart.

Many blessings during this Holy Season.

Dare to hope!

By Sr. Tracy Kemme

It feels like the “One Day More” song scene in the 2013 motion picture rendition of Les Miserables.  In the movie, it’s the day before the revolution comes to a particular neighborhood of France.  The camera pans to various key players as they give voice to the mounting anticipation through song.  It seems that everyone feels varying degrees of excitement, fear, hope, resistance, expectation, longing, anxiety, joy and more.

And so it has been around the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Motherhouse.  After months of preparations of all kinds, we will gather this evening to open Chapter 2015.  People are traveling from near and far for the momentous occasion.  Last minute details are being ironed out.  We are each filled with different emotions, and I’m sure each of us is pondering, “What will happen at this much-anticipated Chapter?”

For those not familiar, the General Chapter happens every four years and is the highest legislative body of our congregation.  Over nine days, we will discern together the direction we will take for the next four years, and we will elect a new Leadership Team.  The Sisters who are able fully participate as what we call delegates to the Chapter, and many other Sisters, Associates, and friends collaborate in other ways, especially offering prayerful support.

This is my first Chapter, and my heart is filled with that mixed bag of “one day more” anticipation.  Throughout the process leading up to today, I have marveled at the way it all happens (see this article by Sr. Janet for more insights).  How do a few hundred people come together like this to hear the voice of God and respond?  It is no small task and at the same time a remarkable gift.

Each Wednesday for a few weeks, we’ve held a Congregational Holy Hour to pray together for that which begins today.  As we sat together in that wondrous pregnant silence, we felt the prayers of so many sisters who have sat in that chapel through the years.  Their witness of reliance on God points us toward surrender.  The same generously loving God who carried them calls and carries us.

My housemate, Sister Carol, invited us to that trust when she shared a beautiful fable with our house community yesterday:  The Tale of Three Trees, as retold by Angela Elwell Hunt.  The story speaks of three trees on a hill that dream of how their wood will be used.  The first tree, for example, aspires to become a chest that will hold treasure. Eventually, it is chopped down and taken to a carpentry shop where, to the tree’s dismay, it is fashioned into a feeding trough for animals.  It seems that the tree’s dreams and hopes are dashed.

Then, we turn the page of the book, and – a magnificent twist!  The parable tells us that one night, a poor, traveling couple enters the stable where the trough is housed.  There is apparently no room for them anywhere else in the town, even though this woman is pregnant and going into labor.  That very night, she gives birth to a baby boy, and she lays him in the feeding-box made of the tree’s beautiful wood.

The tree realizes that it is holding a more wonderful treasure than it could possibly have imagined as it stood on the hillside, dreaming, so long ago.

Wow!

I had never heard this story before, and I definitely did not see that coming!  A smile of delight crept across my face as I considered the infinite goodness of our God.  How often have our best laid plans crumbled only to make way for the Spirit’s best surprises?  As we move into Chapter, this story touches me deeply and calls me to something, calls me outside of myself into profound trust, radical hope, and willingness to let God be God.

Just as in Les Miserables and in the story of the three trees, we each will enter the Chapter room with our expectations and desires as well as our baggage and our blocks.  I’m not naïve to the challenge before us.  Even as we strive whole-heartedly to embody the charism of Charity, we are human.  When almost 140 people gather to consider that which is most dear to us, our very life together, of course opinions will differ and tensions will arise.  Honest, authentic, group discernment can be messy.

But I wonder if this Chapter could truly find our congregation at its best!

The other novices, Andrea, Annie, and I considered this, chatting after morning prayers yesterday.  As we shared our pondering about this Chapter to come, we expressed hope that, as a congregation, we will be who we say we are.  We owe that to our future, to the women in discernment, to the many wonderful women who are still to come.  Even in the difficult moments of this Chapter, can we demonstrate love, prayerful listening, trust, courage, openness to the spirit, and a single-hearted devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? 

With God’s grace, we can.

None of us knows exactly what is in store for our congregation over the next days, but we know Who calls us.  In this beautiful Lenten season, we can hear God’s beckoning:  “Return to me with your whole heart.”  In the words of scripture, we can sense the urgency of fidelity to the mission above all else: to release those bound unjustly, set free the oppressed, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and break every yoke (adapted from Isaiah 58).  In this springtime of the soul, we know that new life is bursting forth, nurtured by and rooted in the richness of our legacy.

I ask each of you reading this to pray for and with us over the days of our Chapter, from today until March 7^th.  Fellow members of the Federation, fellow women religious, friends, family, collaborators, those who don’t even know us, please join us in prayer!

May we know that the One who calls us together is our God of Love who can transform a simple feeding trough into the cradle of the Savior.  May we be worthy of the gift of the call we have be given.  And may we dare to hope!  Like a clear, expectant sky awaiting the glorious sunrise, may we make room for the dawn of our God of light and love who will splash us with brilliant color we never dreamed possible.

Vocation Questions

By Sr. Alice Ann O'Neill

A senior from Bishop Alter High School in Dayton, Ohio, recently emailed me several questions regarding my vocation story. I thought I would share her questions and my responses in case anyone reading our Future of Charity blog has any of these same questions knocking around inside.

1.       When did you first feel and accept your vocational call?

2.       How did you choose your religious order of Sisters of Charity?

I first felt drawn to become a sister when I was 16 or 17 years old. I attended a teen encounter retreat and fell in love with God. I wrote a letter to the Sisters of Charity in my hometown in eastern Canada. These sisters taught me the rosary and how to pray and were very kind to me. When I was 18 and graduating high school, I told my parents I wanted to join their community and my parents said I could not join the Sisters of Charity because I had to go to university. My parents told me that once I grew up, I would see that I would be happier being married and having children. I did not agree with my parents and did not feel like I wanted to get married ever, however, I do like children a great deal so I wasn’t sure if my parents were correct. So I went to university and then travelled all over the world playing the cello and became a Suzuki cello teacher too. One morning during mass, when I was 30, I was praying and asked God to help me decide what specific subject I should study in graduate school at Ohio State in Columbus. I wanted so badly to know who I really should become and so I sincerely said to God that I promised I would follow what God wanted me to be and I suddenly heard a voice behind me say, “be a sister.” I became very afraid after I heard this but I promised God so I started discerning religious life. I have since come to understand that I really need to do things that make me afraid because when good things scare you, it means you should look into this more deeply and see what this means for you. Following your heart, even if it is scary, can lead you to beautiful, wonderful things that you could never have believed possible.

I attended a discernment retreat sponsored by the Catholic diocese of Columbus, Ohio, and found out about the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. I tried to look at joining the Sisters of Charity in my hometown in Canada because I thought that would make sense but God wanted me to be with the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati and God made this very clear to me over a period of 2 years. I listened to what I felt God was saying to me even though it didn’t seem to make sense to me at the time and I have found my home and my family and so much joy with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati. 

3.       What is the best and hardest thing about being in a religious order?

The best thing about being a sister is that I am surrounded by so many sisters and people with whom I minister that share my values. In a world where Catholic Gospel values and faith are not seemingly important, I am always free to share my faith with others and live by moral values that are important to me. Help with prayer is supported by where I live and how my priorities in life are organized. Having a community of like-minded and like-hearted people makes life easier and more joyful. Jesus surrounded himself with a community of friends and I feel like that is how I live my life too.

The worst thing about being a sister is how people judge me. People think because I am a sister I am holier than they are. We are all broken and on a journey toward wholeness in many different ways. I am human on a journey towards holiness just like people with other vocations in life. Another way I feel I am wrongly judged is that people think I am going to judge them because they are not Catholic etc. I try not to judge anyone because I don’t like to be wrongly judged. Also, Pope Francis said, “who I am to judge?” It is not for me to judge others either but simply to love others as I would want to be loved too. I try to be open and kind to everyone and usually kindness is returned to me.

4.       What is the process for becoming a holy religious?

For the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, this is the process of becoming a sister…

Pre-Entrance - a period when you can come to visit with our sisters, ask lots of questions, and be with us but you are just looking into this and discerning whether our community could be your family where you belong. This section can last from 6 months to 2 years. I lived in my apartment in Columbus during this period and I visited the community often.

Affiliation or Entrance - a period when you think you belong to our family and you would like to make a commitment to praying and discerning your call to religious life and our community. This period can last 1 to 2 years. This is normally when people live in one of our houses to see how they like living our life and praying.

Novitiate - during this time, everyone studies full-time and does volunteer ministry. I studied church history, the history of religious life, prayer, Catholicism, and the history of my community. Also, a lot of time is spent studying the vows. This is what first year novices do but the second year of my novitiate, I got a full-time job teaching music at the University of Dayton. Praying is VERY important during any of these periods of formation.

Temporary Profession - I professed temporary vows in 2006 for a period of 2 years and then renewed my vows for 1 year. The final year of temporary vows, I studied the vows again and went on retreats and was discerning whether to profess my vows for life.

Final Profession - I professed my final vows in 2009. This profession is a lifetime commitment. I have never been happier than after I professed my final vows. I could only have professed my final vows knowing that I am a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati and I want to be for the rest of my life.

5.       What advice do you have for young people concerning vocational calls?

PRAY. Praying is the answer to any question about who you are and where you should go and what you should be doing. If you get in the habit of praying, then prayer can help you through anything and everything in life. Attending Mass is praying too. God is always there for us…waiting for us to turn and listen. God speaks very clearly if you listen and are sincerely open and pray. Also, I would say to young women…I wish I had become a sister even sooner. It is a wonderful life - very fulfilling and blessed. I have never been happier than my 12 years as a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati. I would say to young men, please consider becoming a priest because God and God’s people need you.

Peace and Blessings on your journey!

Alice Ann O’Neill, SC

Ash Wednesday - The Good of the Whole

By: Sr. Marie Flowers, SCN

I can’t seem to shake the tragedy of the Charlie Hebdo killings in France.  The actions leading up to and following the massacre have me questioning my values, our values and wondering how it all got so ugly.  I’m sensing a societal push toward the individual – (what I want, need, think or have to say) as more important than the good of the whole.  The message seems to be that individualism supersedes respect, tolerance and ultimately undermines the human dignity of all. 

As I reflect on God’s invitation for these 40 days of Lent, I keep coming back to the idea of looking out for the good of the whole – not just my needs, the needs of my local community and my family, but the needs of the whole church, the whole world the whole earth. Our world is crying out from every continent for peace and reconciliation, for compassion and justice, for Hope. 

Sunday’s readings were filled with wisdom for building up and protecting the whole.  “If you bear the sore of leprosy, shout unclean, unclean so as not to infect the whole of the community”  “Do everything for the glory of God…avoid giving offense whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God”

 
My prayer this Lent is for a deeper awareness of The Good of the Whole and how God’s love desires to permeate every part of the whole.