Posts tagged ‘sisters’
Joining Worthy Women – Reaching out their Hands to the Hungry
The first reading today, on the Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time talks about a worthy wife. Obviously sisters and nuns are not wives. And in the days that the Book of Proverbs there weren’t nuns or sisters, so our lives could not be imagined. So I’ve taken a little liberty here and changed a few of the words so that it relates to women, whether married or not.
Proverbs 31: 10-13, 19-20, 30-31
When one finds a worthy [woman], her value is far beyond pearls.
[Those who] entrust their heart to her, have an unfailing prize.
She brings good, and not evil, all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting; the woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates.
- While this is a Christmas setting, Sister Anne Bertain, definitely a “Worthy Woman” reaches out her hand to the hungry every day at St. Dominic’s.
And if you happen to be a single woman, maybe you might think about joining us as we “reach out our hands to the poor, and extend our arms to the needy. Sister Anne Bertain, a Dominican Sister of San Rafael, does this every day in San Francisco at St. Dominic Catholic Church. To learn more about us, please go to our website. If you would like to pray with us, we invite you to San Rafael for an Advent Vespers service on December 1st. Please feel free to contact me to find out more.
All Souls Day
Is there not a beautiful thought connected with prayer for the dead? Were it not sad to feel that when our loved ones pass away, they are wholly separated from us? Through prayer we may still hold communion with them; by the spirit of prayer we may gather the inspiration and clothe ourselves with the mantle they were clothed with. In blessing them we receive their blessing….
- Andrew Barrett, The Shakers
Mother Justin Barry visits the grave of Sister Dominica Arguello, remembered in California history as Dominica Arguello, who is often mentioned in the early history of California. Photo taken, circa 1955.
Mother Justin was the Prioress General of the Dominican Sisters of Sister of San Rafael from 1953 to 1965. Sister Dominica was the first woman to enter a convent in California.
Walk this Way
Today is the Feast of Saint Luke; the Gospel of Luke is attributed to him. We read today from that Gospel:
St. Dominic may have walked this way through the streets of Toulouse
Jesus said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the mast of the harvest to send out laborers for the harvest.”
So today we pray for vocations to the service of God’s people. We Dominican Sisters pray especially for vocations to Dominican Life. We invite you to Walk this Way.
Sometimes Photography is Preaching
Dominicans have a long history of understanding preaching as being more than standing in a pulpit and delivering a homily or a sermon. The early Dominicans saw their lives – as a community focused on the mission of sharing Christ’s message with the world – as the Holy Preaching. The nuns who prayed in the monastery for the safety and success of their brothers, shared with them equally in the charism of preaching. St. Catherine of Siena traveled, prayed, exhorted, visited the sick and those in prison, wrote letters, dictated The Dialogue. Her life was the holy preaching.
We have a history, from Fra Angelico in the 15th century, to the present time of recognizing that our artists preach through their art. Our sisters have taught in schools and ministered in hospitals. Their lives are the Holy Preaching. Our sisters are involved in parish ministry and serve the poor. Their lives are the Holy Preaching. Many work at effecting changes in systems that are unjust and create poverty. This is the Holy Preaching.
I begin with “Sometimes Photography is Preaching.” Sister Adele Rowland was the first in our community to use that medium in the Holy Preaching, and you can view a few of her photo montages on our congregational website.
This photo, Morning Glimpse, reflects a passage from today’s Psalm 43 is:
“Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on and bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling-place.”
Faith Bringing Forgiveness
It is our custom, as Dominican Sisters, to gather each day for morning prayer. After the reading of the day’s Gospel, we often share our reflections – a kind of preaching, in the tradition of the Order of Preachers. On hearing today’s Gospel read (Mark 2:1-12) it occurred to me that:
- Jesus commented, not on the faith of the paralytic, but on those carrying him,
- presumably they brought him to be healed, not forgiven,
- the paralytic was forgiven, not healed, because of the faith of his friends, and
- no one said they were sorry, nor asked for forgiveness.
We say we trust in a forgiving, loving, and merciful God. Yet it seems that we operate out of a belief that one has to be sorry for one’s sins and ask for forgiveness before the “sinner” can receive forgiveness. This story in Mark’s Gospel refutes this notion.
The title, “The Son of Man,” is said to refer to Jesus’ humanity. Could it be that Jesus is calling all of his disciples to forgive the sins of others? Could it be that our faith could result in mercy and forgiveness, not only for ourselves, but for the broken world we live in?
Clearly, in a lawful society there must consequences and restitution for actions such as those we have witnessed in Tucson. Naturally we pray for the victims of this unimaginable and horribly violent act. Can we also de
sire, like Jesus, for Jared Loughner’s healing? Can our faith bring him forgiveness, whether he’s asked for it or not.
And perhaps more to the point, can my prayers and faith bring healing and forgiveness to those who have hurt or betrayed me personally.
Imagine how different the world might be if we disciples of Jesus could truly be ministers of Christ’s healing, mercy, and forgiveness. We don’t need a lot of faith to do this, I understand it only needs to be the size of a mustard seed.
5th Graders Visiting the Convent
Teachers always love field trips! Especially field trips when the children and parents (chaperones) enjoy what they learn. Every year the Diocese of Oakland invites schools of the diocese to send their 5th grade students on a special field trip. The boys go to St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park and the girls go to a sisters’ motherhouse in the diocese.
Today students came from two diocesan schools to the motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of San Jose. Three of us sisters, Sister Liz Schille, RGS (a Good Shepherd Sister), Sister
Sister Beth talking to the 5th graders
Beth Quire, OP (a Dominican Sister of Mission San Jose), and I (a Dominican Sister of San Rafael), taught them a little bit about what it’s like to be a sister, and the importance of answering God’s call in their life. It was a fun day, and the girls and their parents really enjoyed themselves.
Truly, all of us are called . . . from the time we are baptized, or even from the time we are born. God calls us to, as the apostle Luke wrote: “. . . to preach good news to the poor. . . to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19) God calls us to do this whether we marry or not, whether we become a nun or a sister or not.
Today we talked about our way, as sisters, of living out this call. I always like talking about that, because I love being a sister!
Attending Religious Education Congress
I always enjoy attending the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress! And fortunately the calendar smiled at me again this year and I was able to attend.
To be sure this is the largest annual gathering of Roman Catholics in the U.S. There are workshops for catechists, teachers, musicians, liturgists, lectors, and anyone looking for spiritual growth. Sessions are available in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
This year I didn’t attend any of the workshops; I was busy distributing materials at the Dominican Family Booth. The Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, Mission San Jose, and Adrian, Michigan, have been staffing this booth for many years. And it is a wonderful experience!
As I handed luggage tags with our logo and website (www.sanrafaelop.org), I said, “We’re Dominican Sisters.” The responses were great! Were we the sisters that taught them at such and so school, or from Dominican University? Maybe they had a question about religious life. Sometimes they wrote a note to a sister that they remembered from childhood. Even if we weren’t the Dominican Sisters that had educated them in Chicago or New York, the wonderful memories from their school years was attached to us.
I loved the liturgies, and always wish our regular liturgies in our home parishes were more like these. But I remind myself that this is special, and there is a lot of work and preparation put into these liturgical events. I also remind myself that it is our response to the daily, lack-luster parts of our lives that makes us. And that’s what makes the special and celebratory . . . well, exactly that. Special and celebratory!
This year’s theme was “Love Unfolding…Igniting Our Yes! Our “yes” lived out may feel daily and lack-luster. The sessions and liturgies delivered what we hoped for. They ignited our yes and revitalized us.
The Gift of Community Prayer
The time we have to pray together in the morning as sisters truly is a gift. It’s one of those regular things about religious life that is there for us day in and day out. (Though we do take a break from it on the weekends here at St. Rose Convent.) Its consistency is a gift. Knowing that my sisters are praying for me when I am not there (out of town, at a meeting, etc.) is a gift. And sometimes the sisters’ reflections on the day’s Scripture reading is also a gift.
Take today for example. Today’s reading was from Mark 7:24-30, and it’s about the Greek (Syrophoenician) woman who came to Jesus looking for healing for her daughter. Jesus was rather gruff with her. Since she was not Hebrew, and Jesus saw his mission as being to his people, the Hebrews, he said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” Sounds a little off-putting, doesn’t it?
Because this Syrophoenician woman persisted and said, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps,” Jesus healed her daughter, and told the woman that when she went home she would find that her daughter would be just fine, and that the demon that tormented her would be gone.
Talk about good news for that family!
I wonder if over these 2000 plus years that Christians have been reading this passage, we’ve tried to sanitize it, by saying that Jesus was only trying to test her faith, and prove a point about faith to his disciples. Otherwise, how could Jesus possibly have acted so abruptly? Some might even suggest that he sounded rude. To top it off, the version of the Gospel that was read from the missal this morning said that Jesus dismissed her with the words, “Be off!”
Sister Cathryn’s brief reflection and prayer grasped all of the incongruity of the situation. Noting that Jesus sometimes got frustrated with his disciples and their obtuseness, she wondered whether or not he might be having an off day. Yet, in the midst of his frustration, and in spite of his sharp words to a woman desperate for her daughter’s well-being, Jesus mission of release to the captives and healing to the broken-hearted still was fulfilled. The demons were cast out of the woman’s daughter.
That can give all of us hope, can’t it? Even when we’re not having the best day . . . . even if we don’t choose the best words . . . . even when someone is standing on our last nerve . . . . God’s liberating and healing power can work through us. It never has been and never will be about us. It’s about GOD working through us, just the way we are.
Now that’s Good News!
Committing to More than a Tattoo
I had to laugh this morning when I looked at the paper. Every morning I look for this little box inside the Datebook section, entitled: “Public Eavesdropping.” Readers send amusing remarks to Leah Garchik, who makes them part of her daily column.
Today it reads: One woman was heard saying to another,
“I can’t commit to anything except tattoos.”
We live in a society where the “C” word is frightening to many. We live in a culture where there are so many choices . . . and sometimes making a choice shuts out other ones, and that’s . . .that’s . . . that’s . . . a commitment. It feels safer to keep one’s options open.
Strangely enough, I live in a culture – the convent – where we have uttered the “C” word, and have made vows that will hold us, and that we will hold, for the rest of our lives. That final commitment – perpetual or solemn vows – keeps us from making other choices. But it also frees us to give ourselves in ways we couldn’t otherwise. It also means I have sisters that I share this commitment with. I’m not going it alone!
The gift of this life is that one can try it for a time and see if it fits. Sometimes it’s not clear how God is calling us. And our answers are often found in our living of our lives. So before sisters, brothers, and priests say the “C” word, we get to try the life on for size – for five to nine years.
Most of the nuns I know are okay with the concept of 
commitment of their lives. But they are a bit squeamish about the commitment of a tattoo! (except for the really brave ones, of course!)
Going to Jail
This evening I am preparing a prayer service for the women’s pod at the Marin County Jail. I will be joined by another one of our sisters there, Sister Billie. I have included the readings for Sunday in the prayer; tomorrow we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. We will share our reflections with one another. We don’t have answers, but we listen. I think you could call listening preaching at times like this.
Baptism signifies a new beginning. Whenever we think of January and a New Year, we think of new beginnings. My experience of listening to the stories of the women in jail is that on the inside they are not so different from me. But for some different circumstances or different choices that were made by my parents or by me, they are there, and I am not. And that, like me, they long for new beginnings.
My hope is that our hour with them will give them some hope that there is the possibility of new beginnings. We will bring these women back with us in our hearts, and our sisters at home will pray for them too.
