 |
| Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Motherhouse on Silver Lake, Manitowoc WI |
Showing posts with label Year of Consecrated Life - 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Year of Consecrated Life - 2015. Show all posts
J-O-Y at Camp Franciscan - Manitowoc
"Recipe" For Religious Life
A sister in our community who comes from the island of Saint Lucia in the Lesser Antilles devised this meditation on what it takes to live a happy religious life. She wrote it in the form of a recipe. Her time in the kitchen, chapel and classroom come together in this culinary poem.go read, it is fantastic!
Sr. Patricia Erickson professing first vows in Hudson Carmelite monestary
more at Superior Catholic Herald“Do nuns really go to the bathroom?” Sr. Patricia Erickson wondered in her Catholic school-going days. “They’re just hands, feet and face.”
Now preparing to take her first vows in the cloistered Carmelites of the Ancient Observance order, Sr. Trish, 54, can see past “the mystique of nuns.”
“None of us are perfect,” she said. “I can’t speak for the rest of them, but I’m not perfect.”
A native of Albert Lea, Minnesota, Sr. Trish knew decades ago she was being called to the religious life, but life got in the way. She dated in high school and college, studied psychology and fine arts and grew dependent on alcohol in her twenties.
HTR Manitowoc: Ugandan Sister excited to take classes at Silver Lake College
So I go on a bit of a rant, but then find another fine piece in a secular paper on a Catholic topic.
MANITOWOC – The first thing Sister Maddy Takyala of Uganda wanted to do when her plane landed in Milwaukee earlier this winter was to touch the snow.
With daytime temperatures in her native country reaching the 80s and 90s all year long, she had never seen — except in the movies — the fluffy white stuff that now surrounded her.
“It was too cold,” Takyala said, shaking her head as she recalled her first real-life contact.
She was on her way to Manitowoc to study at Silver Lake College, with plans to earn her education degree so she could return home to teach.
After an arduous journey that included delays, canceled flights and lost luggage, she finally arrived at what would become her second home for the next several years.
Sister Maddy, 25, is among eight international Sister students being sponsored this year by the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, founders of the college.
The youngest of 11 children, she was the first in her family to leave her country.
HT Mark
Franciscan Sisters Self-Help Discernment Questions
Hello Matt. As I conduct research for religious orders, it’s apparent to me many young adults don’t all have a clear understanding of religious and consecrated life. I mean some of those who have attended Catholic Grade School, High School and are involved with Newman Centers. But yet, in some cases, they have very little direct interaction with any religious. So, some of those who be beginning to to discern their vocation don’t know where to start. A good and simple resource for beginning to discern, developed by two sensitive and insightful Franciscan Sisters.Very true, when I taught Confirmation prep, kids literally had a hard time comprehending the concept.
Here are some questions Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sister Anne Marie Lom and Sister Carmen Marie Diaz prepared as a self-help jump start to personal discernment before their recent presentation at Roncalli High School, Manitowoc, WI. They may prove to also be a helpful to you.continue at FSCC
Questions to ask yourself if you think you might have a religious vocation
- Have you found yourself thinking a lot about religious life lately?
- Do you have a caring heart, compassion for helping those in need?
- Is your relationship with God just as important as your relationship with your friends?
- Are you level-headed, a critical thinker, adventurous, flexible, and willing to learn from failures as well as successes?
- Are you attracted to spiritual things (service to others, spending time in prayer, reading about the Saints or reading the Bible, talking to others about God, etc.)
- Level of commitment-one year; two year or a lifetime?
- Serving God necessitates a joyful and humble spirit. Are you both?
- Over 18, healthy spiritually, physically and psychologically?
The Catholic Times profiles Brother Joseph Schmitzer, FFI
Year of Consecrated Life Q & A:
Brother Joseph Schmitzer, Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Serving at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse.
Sister Donna: Tell us a little about your background.
Brother Joseph: I am 36 years old and grew up with my eight brothers and sisters in a small town called Logan in Southeastern Ohio. After graduating from high school I spent a number of years working with my father installing and sanding hardwood floors and I did this more or less until the age of 22 when I entered religious life. SD: How did you discover your vocation to be a brother?
BJ: During my time working after high school I read a book called “True Devotion to Mary” by St. Louis de Montfort. It inspired me to consecrate myself to Mary as a way of offering my work to Jesus in the most pleasing way through her hands as His sinless mother.
As I began to live this out I started to notice a conviction growing in my heart that a life of service to God was something that I should look into. The priesthood, however, was not something that I was particularly drawn to as I enjoyed very much working with my hands and had no real desire to go to college. So when I visited some religious communities and discovered that through the brotherhood there was the possibility of committing myself to God in a way that more suited me. I was very happy to follow that path.
SD: What role did your parents and other family members play in your vocation?
BJ: My mom was the spiritual “backbone” of our family and she made sure we all made it to church each Sunday and were involved at our parish. While I have to confess that I didn’t always appreciate her efforts growing up nor did I always hold the Faith as a top priority in my life, her perseverance and good examples planted many seeds which most certainly had their effect in my eventual decision to put Christ at the center of my life and follow Him as a religious.
SD: What drew you to the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, and how long have you been a brother?
BJ: I was drawn, in particular, to the FFI because of their fourth vow of Consecration to Our Lady. By this vow we give ourselves as a community to Mary as her possession and property, asking her to use us in whatever way she wants for the Kingdom of her Son and to transform us into His image. This vow is the base on which our other vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience are observed–all with, in, and through the Immaculate for the greatest possible glory of God. As I was looking into religious life I was already trying to live out this kind of Marian Spirituality from the influence of “True Devotion to Mary” so the ideal of the FFI made me feel right at home. I have been a brother now for 13 years and my final vows were made in 2007. While the life of a brother in our order is in many ways similar to the priests because we all observe the same schedule and community life, most of our work involves the practical needs of the Friary and of the apostolates while theirs is more generally occupied with administering the sacraments, studying, giving spiritual direction, etc.
During my time as a brother I have been a cook (It must not have been too bad as they kept me on for five years), worked maintenance, coordinated Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, taught Catechism and Apologetic classes, and performed sacristy work as I am now at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I have also been involved in some internet and computer projects.
Review of new Lifetime series: The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns, Epsiode 1
Judging by the first two installments of “The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns,” none of the young women seems particularly well-suited for religious life (although Claire evidently thinks she is) or is necessarily anywhere near the point of making an actual decision.Sister Monica Martin, FSCC has a review on her blog.
I first would like to say how grateful I am to be watching this from Hawai'i where TV timing isn't always accurate! I wasn't looking forward to watching this show at 10/9c, especially when it gets closer to Christmas and we'll be getting up early for Misa de Gallo. I happened to turn on the TV at 8pm, and there it was!continue at Habitually Speaking
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the young women on the show were not actually in an initial formation program. That laid to rest a whole slew of fears I had had. It is more of a "come and see" program, or an extra long "nun run." Granted, discernment can feel intense during pre-convent days, as this episode illustrated well, but things get a bit more personal during pre-postulancy/postulancy.
On that note, there was a lot going on in this episode. My heart went out to Eseni as she described her family situation and how she feels that Sisters are peaceful and free of drama. I have met young women who are looking at religious life for that reason and it is always so sad, because what they really want is to be happy. They will find happiness if they keep working on it and perhaps find a good therapist to talk with, but it won't magically appear within the walls of a convent. Maybe they have a calling, maybe they don't, but now is not the right timing for them. As Sisters, we all are broken and we all have a past, but we didn't run away from anything. It's not a running from; it's a running to.
Image
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)