Sisters’ Stories
New Sisters and their stories
First Story: Seized by the Great Love of God
Second Story: My Call to Ministry
Third Story: Ignatian Spirituality
Fourth Story: A Consecrated Life
Fifth Story: A Missionary Vocation Story
Sixth Story: My Vocation Story
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Seized by the Great Love of God:
A reflection Given on the Occasion of the
Celebration of First Vows of Joan Manuel & Theresa Pitruzzello
By Sister Joan Laplace,CSJ
Love, then, consists in this - not that we have loved God but that God has loved us. Two of us, Joan Manuel and Theresa Pitruzzello, have gathered the rest of us to witness their formal response to that love of God, the response of vows in religious life. None of what they are doing and we are witnessing makes any sense on the purely rational level. We can explain their actions only in the climate of faith and love - faith in a God they cannot see and love of God in the neighbor, whom they can see and who is not always so lovable.
It would be strange if faith and love were not at the bottom of the making of vows and that Joan and Theresa are in no way in complete control of this radical personal decision. No other human person is making them do this, and their call to religious life transcends even their own initiatives. We heard that message clearly stated in St. John's epistle written two millennia ago, "not that we have loved God but that God has loved us." Then, in case we missed it the first time, St. John repeats it in his gospel where he quotes Jesus saying, "I call you friends....It was not you who chose me but I who chose you."
Where the call originated, how these women heard it, at times ignored it, but ultimately felt themselves caught in the "seizing grip of God's love," (described by St. Ignatius in his acatamiento) is the story of their journey to this day. Others mediated God's love in their lives. Part of the joy of today is to have some of the key mediators here, most notably their parents and others of their own families who have played a role in their reaching this expression of faith and love. Joan and Theresa have not received some abstract love but the love of God seeping into their lives through family and friends from their earliest years.
That they freely choose to make a response of YES to that "seizing love" is mystery, is grace. It is a YES that will translate as service in their daily lives.
In the American church, we are conscious of what appears as a scarcity of religious vocations. Today's profession of vows captures our attention and our curiosity. What makes a person take this path at a time when all institutions are being seriously challenged, whether they be religious, governmental, financial, educational, or even those of marriage and family?
In the case of religious life it is fairly obvious that the loss of religious institutions is not the same as the loss of religious life, although some may be quick to interpret it that way. The motivation or the charism that led the various founders to establish their orders in the first place was a gospel response to a need they perceived in society, a need they met as the Spirit inspired them. Institutionalizing that response came later and had always to be measured against the gospel imperative. It is the living out of that charism by each religious that keeps religious life vibrant.
Joan and Theresa are throwing in their lot not with religious institutions but with the gospel values that Sisters of St. Joseph stand for in today's world, particularly the value of all-inclusive love, the love that Christ describes when he prays, "That all may be one as you Father are in me and I in you."
Every Sister of St. Joseph strives to live in awareness of the great love of God for herself and for all people and to bring that love to all whom she meets. This love requires humility; it is modeled in St. Paul's words on the love of Christ who did not cling to his divinity but emptied himself, becoming one of us to bring us the Father's love in a way that we could clearly recognize. The Sister empties herself by her vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience so as to be free - free to accept that God's will will be done in her life as it was in the life of her brother Jesus.
Poverty will keep her in the right relationship with the many goods of this world so that she will neither covet nor depend on them for security. Celibacy will hold her accountable in and for all relationships that challenge her having chosen Jesus as the center of her life. Obedience will urge her to listen to God's call with her mind and heart in community with her sisters and to respond with generous abandon.
Each new day will prove to be an opportunity for these women to renew their vows to answer God's invitation to love and not to count the cost, to be instruments of God's love with every person they meet, to be a sign of hope in a world of fear and turmoil.
With their vows these novices will state publicly their willingness, in fact, their passion, to answer the gospel challenge of love of God and neighbor without distinction.
Admittedly this is a serious step to take. To set themselves on this path of contemporary religious life demands faith and trust in God and in the CSJ community.
All of us, your sisters and companions on this journey, welcome you, Joan and Theresa, and promise our support. Your strength comes from and depends on your realizing ever more deeply that Jesus' words are addressed to you personally, "You have not chosen me; I have chosen you . to bring my Father's love to all you meet."
My Call to Ministry
Parish ministry in rural northern Minnesota is a delight to my soul!
By Sister Janice Miller, CSJ
There are so many moments of grace and so many opportunities to behold the face of Christ, up close and personal! How do I respond to this call as a Sister of St. Joseph in today's Church? Where to begin?
Let's start with today! It is Sunday and my first responsibility is to see that proper preparations are made for the Eucharistic celebration. I unlock the doors of the church, turn up the heat and check to see that the bulletins are out for the taking. Usually I check the church both morning and evening to see that all is well-more than once all the electric breakers in the church had been mistakenly turned off so that there was no heat or electric power - dangerous in sub-zero weather!
The choir arrives an hour before Mass to practice. The sacristan also comes early to set up all that is needed for the celebration. As families begin to find their pews and spend quiet time in prayer, some seek me out to share some news or ask for help. Today one woman is especially concerned about an elderly brother and sister in the parish. I've been to their home several times. They have neither electricity nor running water. The dirt floor of the home has planks in strategic places to keep the table and chairs from sinking into the dirt in the summer and to raise the beds off the frozen ground in the winter. This past week a relative found both the man and the woman wrapped in quilts in their separate beds at 2:00 in the afternoon because they had no fire to keep them warm. There is always an abundance of firewood available -they live in the woods surrounded by all kinds of firewood-but the relative found NONE anywhere. It sounds simple-get them some firewood! But it is not so simple! The man an woman don't want to accept charity and be beholden to anyone, so they have refused help in the past even to the point of ordering people off their property at gunpoint! It is not safe to intrude upon their privacy so we need to strategize and get other agencies involved. And this sub-freezing weather makes everything urgent.
Another gentleman needs to talk AND BE LISTENED TO, he says! There is not the privacy he wants so he will come back later this week. I know from others that his son has a malignant brain tumor and the prognosis is very dismal. I don't know if that is what he wished to share with me so I must wait and be prepared to listen.
Two families have prepared the coffee and sweet rolls for the regular after-Mass-parish-fellowship. They need a few things that I have in my cupboard in the parish house so I scoot across the driveway to the large four bedroom home where I live. It's well equipped and most of the utensils belong to the parish so, of course, they can use whatever we have.
There's a good deal of commotion when Father Dennis arrives from his parish 15 miles away. Father is from Wisconsin and the Green Bay Packers lost their bid in the playoffs recently, so teasing MUST occur. One cannot tease too vehemently when the Vikings never even made it to the playoffs though!!
Then all is ready. We enter into the sacred moment of holy liturgy wholeheartedly. There's an in-breaking into eternity and most of the participants seem to know it. The gathering here is small enough to be intimate and faith calls even the children to attentive reverence. I love this experience of the power and presence of God in our midst!
This is only a few hours of the first day of the week! Someone asked me recently what hours I worked. I had to answer that I don't work a set number of hours - when the phone rings, I answer it. When someone is at the door -I open it to attend to their needs. And I'm ready to jump in the car when the request comes for help. And in addition to the spontaneous, I do the planned. Part of my ministry is leading the Scripture/Communion Services during the week. I lead wake services for the deceased and have done funeral and burial services when a priest was not available. The folks gather as I facilitate regular scripture study and spiritual input for both this and the neighboring Park Rapids parish. I also visit Nursing Homes and participate in ecumenical ministerial projects. On Thanksgiving Day, Father was on vacation so he asked me to do the Thanksgiving Communion Celebration.
The church was packed even though they knew I wasn't able to preside at Mass. The reminder that a good Jew attempted to thank God for the various gifts of life at least one hundred times a day-every day, not just on Thanksgiving Day prompted them to leave the church counting!!!
One of the most sacred and significant aspects of my ministry is being present to the sick, the suffering and the dying. Over and over, I know how privileged I am in just being still in their presence! I have a small vial of aromatic holy oil from the Poor Clares and signing the cross on a patient's forehead often produces a calm and peacefulness that signifies their faith and surrender. This is a gentle reminder that some day I will be needing this very ministry myself as I surrender all that I am to the One I call Beloved.
This little parish provides a most interesting environment. It's in a remote off-the-main-highway part of a wooded and hilly terrain dotted with numerous lakes. A "reduced speed" sign is all that signals the approach to the church and a little country store. That's all there is! One pastor made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France and returned so enraptured with his experience that he organized the parishioners and erected an exact duplicate of the Marian shrine. Later, he marked out-door Stations of the Cross using matching stones from the area to keep the mode of retreat grounds visible to passers-by. Another pastor, devoted to the rosary, proposed expanding the grotto to include a large rosary with 12 inch beads designed for a living, walk-about rosary. There's a Pieta, crucifixion scene, and shrines honoring Mary, St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart on different parts of the parish grounds. In addition to all of the religious reminders, there are slides, a merry-go-round, a volleyball court, a baseball diamond and a basketball court for recreation. Our parish is one of the good tourist attractions in the area, especially for those who have a spiritual bent.
It has been almost ten years since we've had a resident priest. In fact, it has been that long since anyone has lived in the parish house! The parishioners often express how grateful they are that I have come to live and minister among them.
You can understand now, maybe, how ideal this "out-of-the-way" spot is for ministry. This is where I am grateful to be at this time in my life! Thank you, gracious God! May we all be one in You!
Ignatian Spirituality:
Roots of the Sisters of St. Joseph
By Sister Marie Schwan,CSJ
Contrary to St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic, St. Ignatius of Loyola, in founding the Society of Jesus, never provided for the foundation of a sistercommunity of women. What has happened, historically, is that a number of women's communities have been inspired by the spirituality and writings, especially the Spiritual Exercises, of St. Ignatius.
Among those communities is the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, founded by the French Jesuit, Jean Pierre Medaille at Le Puy, France in 1650, just a hundred years after the Jesuits had their beginnings.
For those whose image of Ignatius is of a medieval soldier leading his troops in defense of Holy Mother Church against the Protestant revolution, the thought that CSJ roots are deeply embedded in Ignatian spirituality may well be not only unattractive but even distasteful. Even to this day there are those who think of his spirituality as rigid and demanding.
Ignatian spirituality may be demanding, but it is the single and wholehearted demand of the Gospel. The renewal work of the Jesuits in response to the call of Vatican II to return to the original charism of their community has revealed anything but rigidity in the man and his spirituality. Ignatius was a passionate but tender man, who not only challenged his disciples to "the more" in the service of God and neighbor, but also to a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. In the later years of his life he often invited the younger Jesuits to sing and even to dance during recreation periods, and he was known for the tears he shed during Eucharist.
At a time when the Church was much in need of reform, and religious practice was monastic in style, he proposed a spirituality that was lived in the world, a spirituality that formed men and women into "contemplatives in action". At the heart of the renewal thrust which included the establishment of universities, schools and missionary efforts, was the giving of the Spiritual Exercises, a christocentric dynamic of conversion based on the life of Jesus. The grace of the Exercises was what St. Paul prayed for: a putting on of the mind and heart of Jesus Christ. (Phil 2:5) Ignatian spirituality is a spirituality that continues to be an authentic response to the spiritual hunger of men and women in our own day.
From the beginning as a community, the Sisters of St. Joseph were nourished by the substance of Ignatian spirituality as it was embodied by Fr. Medaille in the primitive constitutions1 and other early writings, and through annual retreats preached by Jesuits. Woven through his writings are instructions, practices, recommendations, and spiritual teachings that resonate with the writings of his own spiritual father and the life that Jean Pierre lived as a Jesuit in community and as a missionary.
One of the surprising things is that in the primitive constitutions, Fr. Medaille never suggests that the Sisters of St. Joseph make the Spiritual Exercises, nor does he tell them how to pray. He assumes that they will be women of prayer.
S. Agnes Bernice Hennessey, CSJ2 suggests that the women who formed the first community of Sisters had already made the Exercises, and so would have been formed in a solid and lifegiving prayer.
What is of special interest is that Fr. Medaille spoke of the community of the Sisters of St. Joseph as the Congregation of the Great Love of God. Surely, it would seem pretentious to take on such a title!
Again, S. Hennessey suggests that even this title is rooted deeply in Ignatian spirituality. At the end of the Exercises, Ignatius proposes an exercise that has come to be known as the "Contemplation to Attain Love". In the introduction to the exercise Ignatius reminds the retreatant that love is proven not in words but in actions, and then invites the retreatant successively to contemplate various gifts of God. After each p period of contemplation, Ignatius invites the retreatant to respond to God's gift by praying the Suscipe, that is, by making an offering of oneself in return.
Over the years this exercise became part of the 30 day retreat. Several years ago, a Jesuit pointed out that, not originally a formal part of the Exercises, this was an exercise that Ignatius gave to the young men who, having come sometimes hundreds of miles as pilgrims to make the Exercises in Rome, had to make the same trip, on foot, back to their homeland at the end of the long retreat. He recognized that these young men would now be fired up with the love of God and would see with new eyes the presence of God in all things. So Ignatius invited them to enjoy the majesty of the mountains, the beauty of the forests, the freshness of the flowers, etc., and receive them as God's gift, and then to make their own the response of the Suscipe3, "Take Lord and receive all my liberty. . . ." He told them that they would recognize not only creation as a gift, but how the majesty of God is in the majesty of the mountains, how the beauty of God was in the beauty of the trees, etc. He invited them to contemplate the people in the fields. If it was spring they would see them plowing, planting; in the fall, they would observe them as they harvested. They were to be reminded that God labored for them. And finally people would invite them into the intimacy of their homes, offering them food, a place to rest, etc., and in the hospitality they would better know about the intimacy of God inviting them into communion.
The prayer of the journey back to their homelands was to shape the rest of their lives. To live like this was to enter into and ever deepen the great love of God revealed in Jesus: God's love for them and their love for God.
S. Hennessey suggests that everything Ignatius wrote after the Exercises, and all the documentation produced by the Society of Jesus since that time as guidance for their lives is an extension and development of the dream that Ignatius had for his men. They would see God in everything, and seeing God would love and embody Him in the spirit of Jesus.
No doubt this was the dream of Fr. Medaille for the first women who gathered at Le Puy, France to begin the "Little Institute" of Sisters of St. Joseph.
It is clear from his writings that he wanted us to live our spirituality in the world, to be contemplatives in action - to see God in everything, in all of creation, and especially in the face of our dear neighbor who we are called to love, i.e., to serve in the spirit of Jesus.
Indeed, the spirituality of the Sisters of St. Joseph is deeply rooted in Ignatian spirituality, called as we are to "the more", i.e., to ever and ever deepening love of God spelled out in compassionate service to those in need.
A Consecrated Life
By Sister Juli Caron,CSJ
Actually, it was at the moment that I was conceived that God placed his hand on me, and began calling me to himself. Baptism sacramentalized that call. It was at this moment that the call to live a consecrated life began. As an adult it is my responsibility to continue to say "Yes" and live out my baptism.
It was some years ago that I had a dream and in that dream I was told that the way I was to live my life was Micah 6:8, "to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with my God." The question before me was how was I to do this? I knew that for me to live out my baptismal call I needed to give my all. I had given my heart to God, as a single woman, but that did not seem to be enough. I needed more, I wanted to live my life totally for Jesus, and to live the vowed life was the only way I knew I could live out the call of Micah 6:8. On September 23, 2000, I made my final vows as a Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille.
Living a life set aside for God as a consecrated woman - what does that mean? What do I do all day? I have always enjoyed life for the most part. I am usually able to find meaning and purpose in all I do, but since making my vows as a Sister of St. Joseph, I have found a new journey that has taken me deeper into the life of Jesus. Living a vowed life is a life of freedom and growth. Obedience calls me to live a life of prayer and discernment, poverty calls me to live a life of simple dependence on God and others - a life of humility and vulnerability. Chastity calls me to a life of compassion, fulfillment and joy. I minister as a chaplain at Roger Maris Cancer Center and MeritCare Health System in Fargo, North Dakota.
Here are a couple of my stories. One day when I entered a patient's room the patient and his wife asked how they could have their marriage blessed. I guided them to their priest who gave them the information they needed but the patient's illness kept them from completing the paper work. I continued to visit this patient nearly every time he came in to the Cancer Center. One day, he told me he knew he was dying and wished to be able to receive the sacraments with his wife. I contacted a priest who was able to bless their marriage and they received the sacraments together.
One day I was called to the lobby of the Cancer Center to visit with a family. The patient, a husband and father, had been told that he had a very short time to live. He had always wanted to be baptized Catholic but had not gotten to it. He asked to be baptized with his family present but he was not able to go to the church. I looked around the lobby and asked "why not?" When gathering the things I needed I decided to bring the Eucharist as well. A short time later, there in the lobby of the Cancer Center, I baptized him and he and his family received the Eucharist together.
I could go on and on telling you story after story - stories of holding infants as they die, stories of being with families as their loved ones die. This is my journey as a consecrated woman and a Sister of St. Joseph. It's how I bring God's great love to all and live totally for God.
A Missionary Vocation Story
By Sister Dianne Fanguy,CSJ
"Dee, what do you want to do that for?" my good friend Betty asked me when I said I was going to enter the Sisters of St. Joseph. I get even more questions now as I have gone outside of the United States to minister in Guatemala, Bolivia and Nicaragua. "There are a lot of poor people here," says my Mama, "why do you have to go so far away?"
The answer that arose unplanned from my soul when Betty questioned me was,"I need for my life to make a difference." That response remains as valid for me now as it did in 1957.
What moved me? What continues to move me? Early on it was a challenge that stirred when I heard or read about Maryknoll, although I knew somehow that I was to be a Sister of St. Joseph. I needed the challenge of that deep, real humanity that's at the root of our contemplation and our mission as Sisters of St. Joseph. Early in my religious life I was haunted by some gospel passages: Jesus' proclamation as He began His own ministry in Luke 4:18 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me (S)he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to let the oppressed go free." And in Luke 7:22 - when John sends his friends to Jesus and Jesus says to them, "Go and tell John what you have experienced: the poor have good news proclaimed to them". Some instinct in me told me that staying in the U.S. was not a radical enough answer to Love, for me, Dianne, though it is for most of my companions. "Why me, Lord?" I asked. Each of us knows to what we are called if we reflect in the presence of the Spirit.
The most radical overwhelming mystical grace of my life came to me after I decided to uproot and go. The enormous peace that accompanies me to this day I would trade for nothing.
What do I do? I join my efforts with a national team in Nicaragua of Sisters and laity, men and women, Nicaraguans and non-Nicaraguans in a non-governmental organization called Cantera. We, along with many others, are working against all odds for a social and spiritual transformation within a deteriorating national context. I am a member of a team working in Cuidad Sandino where about 100 volunters provide services and programs for children, youth and their families in Nueva Vida and four of Cuidad Sandino's eleven zones.
It's been exciting. Enrichment programs, workshops, and four preschools have dramatically improved the quality of life in Cuidad Sandino. Enrichment programs provide opportunities for art, crafts, music, dance, team sports, karate, story and poetry to children, adolescents, and young women and men. Workshops facilitate spiritual, human, relational, social, juridical and organizational formation for youth. A significant goal is to train people to assume responsibility for many of their own programs and to provide workshops for other children, youth and adults.
Who wouldn't feel fulfilled, joyful and grateful having the privilege of seeing that their own glad tidings and the talents and generosity of very poor people are rebounding throughout the Kingdom.
My Vocation Story
By Sister Julie Kraemer,CSJ
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a religious Sister. I remember telling my teacher in third grade that I wanted to be a nun, a nurse, or a secretary. The feeling of wanting to become a Sister never went away, but I kept asking God, "If you want me to be a Sister, then give me a sign." The sign I was looking for never came.
I became involved in serving the church in every way possible - reader, eucharistic minister, leading the rosary, teaching CCD, and parish council. Everything I did was never enough. I wanted more. God never gave me the type of sign I expected. Instead, the sign was in the feeling, the desire, that never went away.
After graduating from high school, I worked on a shrimp boat with my father. On the shrimp boat I really developed my relationship with God. I spent a great deal of time in prayer. Every morning I would watch the sun rise and feel God's presence at the beginning of my day. Watching the sun rise out of the water I thought of God waking us up and looking over His creation and breathing new life and hope into it. The water was significant to me too. I always feel God's presence near the water. Water symbolizes life to me. To pull up the shrimp net and gaze upon the variety of life teeming in the water is something I am always awed by. I feel that God has called me from the water as he did St.Peter. I answered God's call from a shrimp boat, just as Peter answered God's call from the sea. Whenever a storm came up or we had problems with the shrimp net, I would call on God to be with us and help us. God always answered my pleas. Still the hunger to become a Sister remained.
One Good Friday, I was talking to my sister after the Passion service. I told her that sometimes I felt that God wanted me to become a Sister. She responded with, "I always thought that you had a calling." I asked her why she had never told me this before. It is so important to tell others when you can see that they have a calling. I was looking for a sign and no one ever said anything to me. Sometimes all we are looking for is to have what we feel confirmed.
I decided on that day that I would look and see if I had a calling to religious life or not. I was determined to find out one way or another. I talked to the parish priest who suggested I talk to the Sisters in the parish. I contacted Sister Diane and she put me in touch with the vocation director for the Sisters of St. Joseph. We corresponded for several months. She invited me to a vocation retreat. After the retreat, I was invited to spend a week with the Sisters of St. Joseph in New Orleans. I spent that week with them and knew that God was calling me to be with them. I felt right at home with the Sisters. They welcomed and supported me. I have continued to feel that love and support ever since. I have never regretted my decision and still feel that this is where God wants me to be.
Listen to that silent call. When a feeling, a desire doesn't go away, take a closer look at it. Maybe God is calling you too.