Blessings on her way

After dinner this evening, we gathered for prayer here at Grace House as we always do. Tonight's prayer was a special one ... we had a special blessing for Andrea, one of the Sisters I live with who will be leaving in the morning to spend 3 weeks in Haiti to relieve one of the volunteer staff at Hospital Sacre Coeur in Milot, in the north of Haiti.

We blessed Andrea, and send our prayers, hopes and wishes with her down to Haiti. To our 3 Sisters who have been living there since October, to the doctors and nurses who have been helping the victims of the earthquake, and to the people of Haiti. We know that she will be a special blessing ... her skills, her smile, her very presence. We'll miss her, but know that she will be a presence of peace to people greatly in need.

I'm reminded of these words from our Constitutions:

Our congregational commitment
to live and proclaim Christ's gospel of peace
directs our decisions regarding ministry.
In these choices we take into account
our talents, resources and limitations,
the needs of our times,
and the pastoral concerns of our church.

Our history calls us to a special love
for those who are poor.
The weight of suffering and oppression
borne by so many people today,
especially by those who are economically poor,
cries out to us for action.
Our response demands a firm commitment
to work for justice
in solidarity with our sisters and brothers.

Please keep our 3 Sisters (Ann, Maureen and Marilee) living and ministering in Haiti, and now Andrea, in your prayers.

Margaret Anna Fridays

Every Friday, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. This week’s installment …

It is true indeed, that a priest is bound in an especial manner to the service of God, but are we not all bound to that service also?
"The Life of Father Matthew: the people's Soggarth Aroom" (1874)

on communication

I'm giving two presentations today ... one to 8th graders on human trafficking, then a theology on tap on Justice this evening with young adults. Who knew there was so much public speaking involved in being a nun? :)

Good thing I made myself go through Toastmasters all those years ago and get over my public speaking issues. Sort of, it's still not my favorite thing and makes me nervous, but I somehow save up all my stress until AFTER I've spoken. Seriously.

You Communicate Clearly

You're the type of person who thinks before you talk. You speak in an ordered, insightful, and concise way. You speak authoritatively and with conviction. If you take the time to say something, you stand behind it. You only say what you need to. You believe that your words are strongest when they're not diluted. When you have a lot to say, you map out your words ahead of time. You prefer to speak in bullet points.

What Kind of Communicator Are You?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

More patients every day

Last night at dinner one of our Sisters shared news from our Sisters in Haiti ... the 75 bed hospital where they have been living/ministering in Northern Haiti since October has become a 500+ bed hospital in the weeks after the earthquake in Port au Prince. As she was talking to Sister Marilee earlier in the day, their call was cut short by the arrival of another helicopter from Port au Prince. That gives you an idea of the reality on the ground.

Contrast this with the story I heard on NPR this morning: the US has halted medical airlifts of critical patients from Haiti. The most shocking bit of the story was this--to date hospitals in Florida had received around 500 patients from Haiti. This put into perspective for me what has been happening at Sacre Coeur Hospital in Milot, Haiti ... this one little underserved Haiti hospital has received the same number of patients as multiple well-equipped US hospitals in Florida. If the US hospitals are struggling with resources to care for these patients, imagine what it's like in Milot which has already grown 5 times it size in terms of patients. And more are coming. Now that air lifts are halted to the US, more helicopters will be coming to Milot.

The good news is the CRUDEM foundation is on the ground. They've been in Milot for 25+ years and have great relationships with the community. It's a real community effort. Volunteer doctors and nurses are coming in shifts from the US to help the Haitian medical staff. The town has converted school buildings into makeshift hospital wards.



Local families are taking in the families of the injured from Port au Prince. Everyone is pitching in ... staying with patients, cooking meals, etc.... Here's a picture from the CRUDEM blog that shows Milot residents making meals for the patients.



What they need from us is prayerful support ... and MONEY! Money to pay for expensive medical equipment and supplies. Food. Electricity. You name it.

If you have a few dollars to spare, please consider making an online donation to the CRUDEM foundation. They have been in Haiti for years, and will continue to be there. The money will be well spent.

You can follow the news from our Sisters in Haiti on the CSJP website.

Margaret Anna Fridays

Every Friday, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. This week’s installment …

Abstract theories of political economy compressed into a vaguely worded treatise in a class book are simple nonsense. They may be learned, but when learned they are forgotton, because they are not practical.
"A History of the City & County of Cork" (1875)

on poverty

I've been thinking a lot about poverty lately. No, not the vow of poverty (although I do think of course think of that too as I try to live it) but the gut wrenching, life threatening kind of poverty we're seeing played out in Haiti and in the streets of our very cities.

One of the hats that I wear at my place of ministry--the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center--is as editor of our quarterly justice journal. Our Winter Issue is on the theme of Poverty and Economic Justice. There are really some profound voices in this issue, including an article by Janice Connelly, a woman who has experienced homelessness in my own city of Seattle. She also wrote a poem which is printed in the issue which I'd like to share:

Ground Zero
I’ve learned Life is too short—
to disrespect another human’s dignity.

In recognizing this, I became able.
Able to respond to the hardships I,
and many of us face day in and day out.

I learned to utilize the many resources that
the wonderful city of Seattle has to offer.

I found strength and courage I didn’t know I possessed.
I received help and direction, and a way out of my
own way.

I want to thank all my sisters for every little thing good that is now.
— Janice L. Connelly

I thought of all this today as I was reading the paper with my morning cup of coffee and read an article about ingenuity in the midst of the destruction in Haiti - this particular article was about entrepreneurs charging cell phones. I suspect that there are many such stories, most untold, of human beings finding ways to live "for every little thing good that is now," even in the midst of poverty, pain and sorrow. We normally hear about the dramatic or devastating stories. The every day bits that really tell our stories as human beings are not usually fodder for news stories.

hello

Hi there. Sorry I've been fairly absent from the blog. Busy, wouldn't you know. Got back from DC yesterday evening. Work today, followed by community night dinner and now, after this post, my homework. Equally busy days ahead, balancing ministry and school and community things.

Balance is a tricky thing in our modern life, even (or especially?) in Religious Life. It's important to keep focused on what matters, to make time for solitude and prayer, and to remember what it's really all about ... to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with my God.

But for now ... time to close my internet browser and work on my homework!

Margaret Anna Fridays

Every Friday, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. This week’s installment …

Christianity being a religion of peace, its disciples were necessarily preachers of peace; hence the first effort in any country was to reconcile quarrels, to compose differences, and to avert wars. The peaceful arts came to be cultivated when they came to be honoured; and war, except for a just cause, to be looked upon as an evil and not as a glory.
"A History of the City & County of Cork" (1875)

dca crossing

Headed to DC for the weekend. I'm going for CSJP business, but it's also where I grew up and where my Dad lives, so I'm taking an extra day to spend with him and to visit a sick friend. Our CSJP house is located near Catholic University. It's always a surreal experience for me to go back there in my new life, since it's so close to where my life started! I was born a few miles away. My grandparents and mom are buried a few miles in the other direction. My high school is just across the DC/PG County line. And I actually graduated from high school at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, literally just down the street from the house where our Congregation Leadership live!

I'm hoping to see the exhibit Women & Spirit about the 300+ years of Catholic Sisters in America. It just happens to be at the Smithsonian while I'm there!

More from Haiti

Sister Marilee has sent these pictures from Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Northern Haiti.

They speak for themselves, along with her note, no doubt quickly written among the busyness.

here are some pictures. Can you help get the word out that we need donations to improve Haiti's conditions.

Hopital Sacre Coeur is located in the town of Milot, about 70 miles north of Port au Prince. Although the distance seems short, it is a 7 hour trip by car – even before the earthquake made so many roads impassible. The hospital is starting to receive patients who are being transported there by US Coast Guard helicopters--many very young children, along with adults. A large percentage of patients require amputations. The hospital is well equipped to handle what they will face in the near term. They have 2 operating rooms, a fully equipped lab, orthopedic/general surgery/and trauma teams from the US on site to augment 247 Haitian medical and non-medical staff. They can house 75 -100 medical personnel.

The CRUDEM Foundation (a US NGO which runs the hospital with Haitian doctors and nurses) has been in Haiti for more than 20 years and will be there long into the future. As you consider how you might help the people of Haiti, I invite you to take Sister Marilee's plea to heart.

You can learn more and donate online. I also just signed up as a fan on Facebook.

Thank you for your support and prayers.

In the mail today ....

In the mail today I received a lovely letter from a kindergartner at St. Philomena's school in PA:

Dear Sr. Susan,
Happy Vocation Awareness Week! Thank you for answering God's call to become a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace. Many blessings to you. Many blessings to you and you will be in our prayers each morning. :)
Love,
Victoria

It looks much more awesome in its handwritten form! Sweetness in an envelop. Here's a shout out to their teacher Ms. Mary Anne! Thanks for thinking of me. It means a lot.

My Desert Mother

I was lucky enough to spend this past weekend with other younger Sisters (in our 20s & 30s) for prayer, discussion and celebration. Our prayer time together was guided by one of our own, Sister Sarah, a Dubuque Franciscan who is in parish ministry in Texas.

Sarah began our time together by inviting us to reflect on this passage from Hosea:

So I will allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.

She also gifted each of us with a Desert Mother, an Amma who was herself led into the desert to listen to God in her heart. These women are such a rich part of our tradition, although I'll admit to not knowing much about them!

This is an icon of "my desert mother," Synceltica of Alexandria, Egypt. I'm planning to spend some time with her in the coming weeks, getting to know her and asking her to journey with me. Like most of the desert mothers, even though she went into the desert seeking solitude, she was soon surrounded by other women seeking to learn from her! I'm sure she won't mind being a spiritual friend to me. :)

Amma Syncletica was born in the 4th Century to a well-respected Christian family. When her parents died, she distributed her family's wealth to the poor and took her little sister (who was blind) to live with her in her family's tomb outside Alexandria. She began her life as a desert ascetic, but soon women began to gather around her. She reluctantly agreed to serve as their spiritual mentor. She died in her 80s!

Many of her sayings have survived. Here's one that I found online that is definitely worth some thought (and prayer).

There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in the town, and they are wasting their time. It is possible to be a solitary in one's mind while living in a crowd, and it is possible for one who is a solitary to live in the crowd of his own thoughts.