SpiritCitings: Seeing the Spirit at work in the world

2007-08-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

The SpiritCitings blog has moved to the website of the VISION Vocation Network, www.vocation-network.org. Visit that site and click on the blog items at the bottom of the page. Thank you.

2007-07-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Talk about an active retirement

After 21 years as president of Maryland’s College of Notre Dame, School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Feeley, 78, “felt the call to go to Africa, because of all Africa has suffered and all the needs it has, especially in education,” she tells the Baltimore Sun. Following Fulbright fellowship trips to China and India, she heard—at a birthday party of all places—of the new Catholic University of Ghana. She contacted the president, and “he almost jumped out of the computer,” Feeley says. His message: “Come immediately.”

The university area, with its power outages, bad roads, and unairconditioned convent, is a far cry from Baltimore, where, Feeley told The Catholic Review, “I had an overdose of comfort and security.”

Most of the university’s 500 students are committed Christians and bring a faith perspective to their studies. “I love the sense they have of living in a spiritual world,” says Feeley. “It’s a quality I hope they keep.” In her teaching of English and religion, Feeley says her “goal is for them to read. Their lives will be much richer.” She also tries to expose her students to new ways of interpreting the Bible, with which they are very familiar. “There is a tendency toward literalism,” Feeley says. Besides teaching, Feeley also works with School Sisters of Notre Dame novices from all of Africa.

Her work in Ghana, she reports, has enlarged her view of Catholicism, led her to rely more on the Holy Spirit, and increased her appreciation of her community’s idea of transformation. “Being transformed is more than being your best self,” she says. “It’s being the self you never knew you could be.”

2007-07-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

A wing and a prayer

When he was in high school Father Michael Zaniolo wanted to get married and have a family and career. His life started going in that direction when an interest in building and designing led him to becoming an electric engineer. But “I felt a spiritual emptiness,” he tells the Chicago Sun-Times. “The more I prayed, the more I kept sensing and hearing, ‘I want you to be priest.’ And I kept telling God, you’ve got the wrong guy. Finally, I said to the Lord, OK, if this is what you want me to do, I will explore it.” Ordained a priest in 1988, Zaniolo has been the chaplain of Chicago’s Interfaith Airport Chapels since 2001.

“With 50,000 airport employees and tens of thousands of travelers passing through daily, the airport is fertile ground for ministry to anyone who needs to talk about what is going on in their lives,” he says.

Zaniolo is the city’s one full-time chaplain who with several other priests is available to hear confessions and celebrate the Eucharist. Three deacons and several lay volunteers also assist at ten weekend Masses. In addition, his work involves being visible and available to workers, travelers, and even homeless people at the airport. “Once people find out I’m a priest, they’ll say, ‘Father, can you pray for so and so?’” Zaniolo’s “parish” also includes three fire stations that serve the airport, a police station, and nearby hotels, restaurants, and parking facilities.

“I hear confessions every day,” says Zaniolo. “It’s something that people usually don’t do every day, but for some reason, here at the airport . . . I hear them regularly. For the travelers, I’m sort of like an anonymous priest, so they can really unburden themselves.”

A tough part of his job is being one of the go-to people at the airport for emergencies. “I remember once a teenager committed suicide and her parents were on their way to Hawaii. I had to deliver the bad news and comfort them until they could find a flight back home,” he tells the Sun-Times. “Once a flight attendant’s eighth grader got hit by a train while the flight attendant was on the plane. They always call me for those things.

“The nice thing about being an airport chaplain is that it really allows me to be a priest. I do have a lot of administrative things to do . . . but I also have more opportunities to hear confessions and to give some advice and counsel to people.

“The reward is I get to really see the movement of God within someone’s life,” he says. “I could not have designed a life better than I have now.”

2007-06-27T16:16:00.001-07:00

VISION gets busted

Tuesdays are Vocation Night on "The Busted Halo Show" with host Paulist Father Dave Dwyer. Last night Father Dave interviewed VISION Executive Editor Patrice Tuohy (hey, that's me!) about VISION and its highly successful new online feature VocationMatch.com. I was impressed with how well Father Dave prepared for our interview. He was up on all the trends in religious vocations and how young adults and vocation directors are using new technology and media to find each other.

Understanding the power of media is nothing new for Dwyer, who produced and directed television for MTV and Comedy Central before entering the priesthood. He now serves as the publisher of BustedHalo.com, the Paulist website for young adult seekers, and hosts his weekday call-in radio show, which began last December. "The move to satellite radio is a natural progression of sorts," says Dwyer in an interview by Bill McGarvey posted on BustedHalo.com. "I feel proud to stand on the shoulders of Paulists of years past who were pioneers in Catholic book publishing, radio, film and television." Dwyer is confident that if "St. Paul were alive today, trying to get the message of the Gospel out, he’d have a website, a blog, a podcast, and a channel on satellite radio." Not to mention, a webcast, vodcast, and vlog. Thanks, Father Dave, for your help in promoting vocations and creating a culture of discerment.

“The Busted Halo Show” airs live every weekday between 7-9 pm EST on Sirius channel 159.

2007-06-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

Monks continue ministry of forgiveness

Forgiveness was central to Jesus’ ministry and mission. And the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey in Conception, Missouri have made it central to their own mission in the five years since gun violence tore their peaceful world apart.

Lloyd Robert Jeffress, a 71-year-old retiree, walked into the abbey 90 miles north of Kansas City on the morning of June 10, 2002 and opened fire with an AK-47 assault rife, killing two monks and leaving two others seriously injured. Jeffress later killed himself.

The doors at Conception Abbey are still unlocked and open and forgiveness continues to be the reigning theme as the members of the rural monastery quietly marked the fifth anniversary of the tragedy this week.

Since the shootings, little has changed in terms of how the monks go about their daily routines and interact with visitors. Father Gregory Polan, the monastery's abbot, said ending the monastery's practice of openly welcoming strangers would defeat their purpose of living Christ's teachings.

If anything, said Polan, the shootings helped reinforce the teachings of Saint Benedict, the founder of the abbey's religious order, who instructed monks to keep death always before their eyes as a way to gain perspective on how to live their lives.

Local law enforcement has also kept a close relationship with the monastery, a bond that began on the day of the shooting. “The unbelievable strength and faith . . . have overwhelmed us,” said Nodaway County Sheriff Ben Espey. “We're always welcome. . . . It brought a lot of people closer together.”

*
Source: An article for the Associated Press

2007-06-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Mary Annette Gailey had worked at a day-care center, in retail food management, customer service, and with computers. Then, drawing inspiration from her father, who had worked in a Mack Truck engine plant, she became an over-the-road tractor-trailer driver. It was here she also received a call to become a religious sister. After several years of discernment, Gailey, 38, recently made her final vows with Pennsylvania’s Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Gailey frequently drove in silence to take better advantage of the contemplative side of her solitary hours on the road, which lent themselves to listening to God and sorting out the direction her life was taking. Driving a truck “allowed me to listen to the Holy Spirit,” she told the Associated Press. “It was a metaphoric journey being played out.”

“I was spending time in solitude, with just the Holy Spirit, and God spoke to me,” she said. “It’s definitely not like people picking up the phone and someone calls you . . . . There’s no lightning bolt. It’s much like a quiet whisper and listening to your own heart.

Her discernment process included attending come-and-see events, keeping a journal, meeting regularly with a vocation director, and living as an affiliated member of the Holy Family Sisters. For a while she spent one week living as a layperson, and another as if she were to be part of religious life. Her experience living as a religious gave her greater peace. “Someone said to me, ‘Go where the peace is,’ ” she said. “When you find the deepest peace, you know it’s true.”

“God never stops calling,” she says “When do we finally listen?”

2007-05-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

After leading a team of 20 Catholic men and women religious to a United Nations conference on climate change last November in Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. Maryknoll Father John Brinkman said that "global climate change is not about economic theory or political platforms, nor about partisan advantage or interest group pressures . . . but protecting both the human environment and the natural environment," following God's command to "take care of other created beings with love and compassion.”

Mentioning the words of the late Pope John Paul II, Father Brinkman, a member of Maryknoll's commission on ecology and religion, said, "God has endowed humanity with reason and ingenuity that distinguish us from other creatures," and "ingenuity and creativity have African churches urge industrialized nations to remedy emissions debt enabled us to make remarkable advances and can help us address the problem of global climate change. It is very unfortunate that we have not always used these endowments wisely," he said.

2007-04-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

The San Damiano Foundation, www.sandamianofoundation.org/, produces films highlighting the spirituality of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi and the Franciscan concerns for social justice, peace, and nonviolence. Under the guidance of author, photographer, and filmmaker Gerard T. Straub, who is a Secular Franciscan, and his staff, the foundation produces fundraising films for Christian charities which aid the world’s poor. It also screens films at churches, high schools, and universities across the United States.

The foundation gets its name from the church outside Assisi, Italy where in the year 1205 Saint Francis, not long after his decision to commit himself to God, went to pray and seek guidance about whether he should lead a life of solitude and contemplation or service to the poor and spreading the gospel. While praying in San Damiano, which was deteriorating, he heard the voice of Christ say, “Francis, go repair my house which, as you see, is falling completely to ruin."

He understood this command literally, and so he begged supplies and rebuilt the church a brick at a time. After completing the restoration a year later, it then dawned on Francis that Jesus also meant the whole church, and so Francis set upon the tasking of rebuilding and renewing the universal church, as well as himself.

San Damiano Foundation's productions include films on poverty—both material and spiritual—soup kitchens, migrants, contemplation, and people heroically making a difference by working among the poor and the sick.

2007-04-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

The next time you receive communion, there’s a chance the original wafer came from the hands of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Maintaining a tradition of making altar bread the sisters have passed down through generations, these Benedictines produce 2 million breads each week in their Clyde, Missouri monastery.

The sisters began baking altar bread in 1910, using an open fire and cast-iron baker. Now they distribute wafers to churches in the United States, several other countries, and, they say, “on the high seas.”

By baking breads, the community supports its contemplative lifestyle and also participates in the liturgical and spiritual life of the church. They have been featured on television program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.

Not long ago, the sisters addressed a pressing need that seemed to have no satisfactory solution. In keeping with the belief that Jesus used a wheat bread at the Last Supper, Catholic teaching has required that communion bread be made with wheat and contain gluten, a protein found in wheat. At the same time, as many as one in 133 people suffer from celiac disease, which prevents them from consuming gluten.

In an attempt to create a gluten-free bread, the sisters found a company that produced wheat starch, which is wheat with the most of the gluten removed. After much trial and error, they finally produced usable altar bread that held together, was edible—and contained only 0.01 percent gluten, or 1/270 of the maximum amount of gluten a celiac can consume each day. Problem solved!

2007-04-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt doesn’t let age—or height, for that matter—get between her and her work as chaplain to the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team.

Seventeen years ago, Sister Jean, a member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, planned to retire. But Loyola’s then-president convinced her to take a job counseling basketball players about dealing with the demands of sports and academics.

Her role evolved into team chaplain, and these days she leads the team in prayer before tip-off, cheers them on during the game, and makes herself available as a friend and someone to talk to.

Soon after the university hired coach Jim Whitesell, Sister Jean walked into his office and told him, “It’s great to have you.” Then, Whitesell says, “she gives me a five-minute lecture on what I need to do with the program. She said, ‘You need to work on team spirit,’ and this and that. I was taken aback, but she was right on point.’ ”

“Sister Jean is our biggest supporter,” says junior forward Tom Levin. “She always has faith and confidence in us, and she can always put a smile on our faces. Sister Jean has taught me to believe in myself and the team, and has shown us that hard work will pay off in the long run.”

During her tenure as chaplain, Sister Jean says has “learned what it really means to work hard and give up your entire self. Sometimes we don’t think that young people do that, but these young men do, and it shows.”

2007-03-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

Art, music, athletics, writing, web design—whatever your talents, there’s a good chance you can make them part of a religious vocation, not leave them behind. Take the case of Paulist Father James DiLuzio. In the days before he became a priest you may have seen him on TV in a soap opera supporting role or as an extra, putting his UCLA masters of arts degree in drama to work. After becoming a lector and a member of the evangelization team at New York’s St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York, DiLuzio encountered the stories of scripture in a new way and asked himself, “What stories are we telling? How do these stories impact human life?”

His priesthood—he was ordained in 1993—and his interest in storytelling have led him to become part of a unique parish mission experience: Luke Live. Over three days he proclaims the first 15 chapters of Luke’s gospel by heart. Between his proclamations there is preaching, meditations, and music. Recently he introduced Luke Live 2, which includes proclamation of the last 9 chapters of the gospel, stories of saints, meditations, and music.

With Luke, DiLuzio says, “I find myself happily integrating my pre-ordination work as an actor, singer, English and drama teacher with my priesthood and Paulist ministry, engaging the faithful in encounter with the gospel in ways that are culturally relevant and illuminating.”

—Source: Paulist Today

2007-02-28T15:15:00.000-08:00

Vision Vocation Guide just sent out a press release on Trends in Catholic Vocations based on the very encouraging statistics we've gathered from Vision Vocation Match and two recent vocation surveys we conducted among discerners and vocation directors. All of the statistics are fascinating, be sure to check them out.

Here's one stat I 'm betting will change in the coming year:
In answer to the question: What resources have you found most helpful in gathering vocation information?, 42 percent of respondents rated Discerners' blogs "Not Important at All." My prediction: That percentage will completely flip within a year, with at least 40 percent rating discerners' blogs as an essential resource.

Please pass on links to discerners' blogs you already know to be helpful to those exploring a religious vocation.

2007-02-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

“Ever since I was a kid, I devoured books on history,” says historian Father Cyprian Davis, O.S.B. of his journey to the Catholic Church. “I would never describe my odyssey as being an intellectual journey,” he said. “It was more or less a falling in love with history. It made me fall in love with one of the things history talks about and that would be the Catholic Church.”

On Feb. 1 Davis received the University of Dayton’s Marianist Award in recognition of his contributions to intellectual life, including his groundbreaking book, The History of Black Catholics in the United States.

A Benedictine monk for more than 50 years, Davis is professor of church history at Saint Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana and also the archivist for the Benedictine abbey there and other organizations. In addition he has advised the U.S. Catholic bishops on the pastoral letters having to do with the African American Catholic experience, Brothers and Sisters to Us (1979) What We Have Seen and Heard (1984).

Davis himself, said Father Paul Marshall, S.M., rector of the University of Dayton, has a “presence. He carries the sacred with him. You can see God within him.”

2007-02-13T11:50:00.001-08:00

Looking for sweet treats on Valentine's Day

Franciscan Sister Evelyn Brokish has a scrumptious supply of divine creations at her candy store, Poverello Delights, in Highland, Indiana.

Opened since October of last year, Poverello Delights is the realization of a dream, says Brokish, recently interviewd by Debbie Bosak for Catholic News Service.

Her signature candy is ChocoNutty Trio, consisting of three layers of dark chocolate, peanut butter, and white chocolate. But she continues to receive inspiration for different types of candies from her customers, including her sweet chocolate Cashew Wheel, created to please a customer who said he was planning on stopping by the shop and hoped to find soemthing with cashews.

"Everything is homemade and from the heart," says Brokish. "I think customers appreciate that this store is different form any other candy store."

Proceeds support the ministries of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. A slip of paper accompanying each purchase explains the origins of the name Poverello, an Italian word meaning "little poor person," once used to describe St. Francis of Assisi.

"People are usually surprised that I'm a nun," says Brokish, "but it leads to all kinds of questions and discussions about God, vocations, morals, and even politics."

http://www.poverellodelights.com/

2007-02-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

Newsweek magazine recently name Jesuit Father John P. Foley as one of the people to watch in 2007. Foley presides over the national Cristo Rey (“Christ the King”) network of Catholic high schools.

In 1996, Father Foley, who has been a Jesuit for 53 years and previously had been an educator in Peru, went to the Chicago’s largely Hispanic Pilsen/Little Village neighborhood to open Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in one of the city least-educated areas.

Working with over 100 corporations, the school runs a work-study program in which every four weeks students work five days and attend classes for 15 days. Groups of four students share a full-time job. The companies pay a salary for each full-time job which accounts for about 70 percent of tuition, to which families also contribute.

In a city where some high schools see 50 percent of their students drop out, Cristo Rey’s four-year dropout rate was 6 percent, and 96 percent of the students went on to college programs.

Since the Chicago school opened, 11 more schools have opened in Cristo Rey’s network, and seven more are scheduled to open this summer in urban neighborhoods where poverty is high.

It seems at least these schools have returned to the mission Catholic high schools used to have in this country: serving immigrants communities and giving their young people an affordable and faith-centered way to move ahead in the world.

2007-01-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

Is it okay to pray for a sports victory--such as a Super Bowl championship? Nuns at the Carmel of the Resurrection Monastery
in Indianapolis, whose vocation is private prayer (www.praythenews.com), say yes. Sister Terese Boersig, an apparent Indianapolis Colts fan, said in an Associated Press interview, that it was okay for Colts Quaterback Peyton Manning to pray for a victory in last Sunday's game against the New Enlgland Patriots.

After the game, Manning expressed conscerned about his spiritual etiquette: "I said a little prayer on that last drive. I don't know if you're supposed to pray for stuff like that, but I said a little prayer."

Boersig said it was "abolutely" appropriate to pray for success, but she added, ''Now, what would not be appropriate is if you prayed that Tom Brady broke his leg.''

Hmmm... who and what will you be praying for come Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 4)?

2007-01-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

For 12 years Sister of Mercy Natalie Rossi has been a full-time chaplain at the State Correctional Institution for Women outside Erie, Pa., a minimum-security facility primarily for women nearing release. With chaplains from other faiths she coordinates programs, supervises volunteers and spiritual activities, and handles paperwork. She also makes daily visits to women in the prison infirmary and conducts pastoral counseling sessions in her office.

“My life is energized by my ministry to women in prison, a ministry of spirituality and creativity,” Sister Rossi says. “I see the women thirsting for the truth and unfolding their inner goodness. I see their eyes wanting to believe, to hope that they can make better choices; that they can begin to live out the truth of who they are: daughters of a loving God created in God’s image.

“I believe religious life is a ‘call’ as is every walk of life. One needs to search one’s inner being to listen to one’s gut. One needs to pray for guidance and wisdom for where God is leading—to listen to the promptings of the Spirit within. God does not care what we do or where we are, but wants us to begin to live out the truth of who we are.”

2007-01-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

Though monasteries accept donations to support their life and work, many people don’t realize they have to be self-supporting, so they need to find steady ways to earn money. When the Cistercian abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank in Sparta, Wisconsin wanted to increase their income, they thought about starting a Christmas tree farm, building a golf course and conference center, and even growing shitake mushrooms.

One day it dawned on Father Bernard McCoy, O.Cist., the monk responsible for the “temporal” needs of the community, how high the mark-up is on the price of name-brand toner and ink supplies. He then found that many companies make compatible or remanufactured cartridges for far less. Here, he thought, the monastery might be able to sell these products and also pass along considerable savings to customers.

Their business, known as LaserMonks.com, began to grow. Then, two Colorado women who were looking to sell their online ink cartridge business contacted the monks. One thing led to another, and these two offered to help the monks with business development; eventually they moved permanently onto the monastery property to manage the business under the name MonkHelper Marketing, Inc.

LaserMonks have expanded to selling a full range of office supplies to businesses, educational and medical institutions, religious organizations, and individuals. They describe their enterprise as a win-win situation: The community has a reliable and growing source of income to support themselves and their charitable works around the world, and their customers save money. Through their focus on “people benefits,” the Spring Bank Cistercians seeks to integrate entrepreneurship with their 900-year-old monastic tradition of hospitality.
The LaserMonks have received national press coverage, and in 2003 their sales increased 700 percent; this year they anticipate 200 or 300 percent growth. They estimate that last year they saved their customers $200,000.

2007-01-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

It is "an apostolate we didn't expect," says Sister Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, vocation director at the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, refering to the the internet and electronic communication in a Jan. 3, 2007 article by Michael Hodges of the Detroit News.

"It's become so all-encompassing," she said "If I'm not traveling or giving a talk, I'm e-mailing."

For young discerners, email and the internet are indispensable. Many have blogs where they post their thoughts on religious life and web rings where they discuss religious issues with others.

What blogs would you recommend Vision Vocation Guide be linked with?

2007-01-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

Why do 1,000 Catholic sisters from four Midwestern states descend for two nights on a Chicago-area dinner theater for a meal and to watch a performance of The King and I?

What one sister calls “Nuns Night Out” is the brainchild of the theater’s 93-year-old owner, Anthony DeSantis. For 50 years he has been showing his appreciation for sisters’ contributions to society by treating them to dinner and a show. “I just always thought that the nuns do so much in this country of ours, teaching our children in grade schools and high schools,” said DeSantis, who did not attend Catholic school himself but sent his daughters to a Catholic high school.

Besides the entertainment, what the sisters seem to treasure the most is seeing one another. “It’s fabulous,” Franciscan Sister Marjorie Westendorf told the Chicago Sun-Times. “The conversation and just the being with. I think we all know sisters from other communities that we look forward to seeing.”

2006-12-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

Father Stan Fortuna found a way to put together his life’s two callings, music and the priesthood, in ways that help him reach out to young people. Fortuna, an accomplished bassist who plays and records with a professional jazz trio called Scola Tristano, also pursues a solo career—as a rap artist.

He first heard rap when he was a seminarian working in Spanish Harlem. He told National Catholic Reporter, “I thought, ‘Holy smokes, these guys are phenomenal.’ I was deeply moved by the spontaneity of it.” Father Stan calls his rap and other compositions “the message of the Gospel wrapped up in music.” In 1987 he established a company, Francesco Productions, the profits of which support his ministry, including the South Bronx Youth Cultural Centre. Through concerts, CDs, DVDs, talks, books, and sermons, he gets a message of faith out to young people.

His community, New York City’s Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, have given him their support. “Thank God for my community,” Fortuna says. “They said, ‘God gave you this gift. Use it.’ I thought I was done playing music when I became a priest.” Fortuna also traces his inspiration to Pope John Paul II and the late pontiff’s concern for youth and culture.

Visit Francesco Productions at www.francescoproductions.com and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal at www.franciscanfriars.com.

2006-12-11T11:58:00.000-08:00

After the death from cancer at age 57 of their beloved abbot Francis Kline last August, the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina looked to a member of their community who had been with them since 1959 but ordained a priest for only three years.

Father Stanley Gumula, originally from Philadelphia, had been in charge of the monastery’s provisions—a position known as the cellarer—since 1984. A few years ago his brothers at Mepkin called on him to pursue the priesthood, and he was ordained in June of 2003.

Speaking of the death of Father Kline and the community’s reaction, Father Stan said, “As in times past, the brothers have responded, regrouped and are ready and eager to move forward together. Our desire and hope is to continue to show the compassionate face of Christ in the Lowcountry and that reconciliation between divergent voices and groups and between human communities and our natural surroundings and ecosystems is always possible. Mepkin is above all a place of prayer where God and his people can become one.”

Visit Mepkin Abbey at www.mepkinabbey.org.

2006-11-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

Since 1727, when nine Ursuline sisters arrived from France to minister in New Orleans, women religious have played a vital role in shaping American life. Through work in education—including the parochial school system, academies, colleges, and universities—establishment of hospitals and work in health care, and social service, over 220,000 sisters have joined in unique forms of community life dedicated to prayer and service.

To recognize these women, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), in conjunction with its 50th anniversary, is organizing an exhibit called “Pioneers, Poets, and Prophets: Catholic Sisters in America.” The LCWR represents 400 congregations of Catholic sisters in the United States.

According to the LCWR, the contributions of religious sisters in the history of the U.S. “are unfamiliar to the general public, even to people whose lives have been touched directly by their service. . . . Catholic sisters have often been unrecognized for their remarkable accomplishments.” The exhibit will seek to “educate and celebrate” the influence of women religious. “Fewer and fewer persons have direct experiences with religious,” said Sister Carole Shinnick, a School Sister of Notre Dame and executive director of the LCWR. She also said the exhibit will highlight “vocation as a call, not just a career.”

Visit the Leadership Conference of Women Religious at www.lcwr.org.

2006-11-21T13:20:00.000-08:00

Sister Judith Zoebelein, developer of the highly successful Vatican website, has begun work on what she calls a “Myspace.com for Catholics.” Set to begin service soon, the new site is designed to “[bring] together the faithful so they can interact.” Notable features will include personal news updates and specific areas set up for “families, young people, and parishes.”

“People will be able to find each other and work together online, and then go back and use what they have learned or done in their own communities," says Sister Judith.

The 57-year-old Franciscan nun, originally from Long Island, has used her technical skills to become the editorial director of the Internet Office of the Holy See. Sister Judith was first called to the Vatican in 1991 in order to help the Holy See enter the then-burgeoning internet. When she arrived, she quickly formulated and pitched the idea of a Vatican website to Pope John Paul II. The pope approved of her idea, and over the years the site has grown so considerably that it now attracts nearly one million visitors per year.

Visit the Vatican website at www.vatican.va.

2006-11-15T16:18:00.000-08:00

Last June Father Peter Newberry received the prestigious Worker for Peace (Servitor Pacis) award for his efforts with a project called Youth Outreach, which works with street children in Hong Kong. As a Salesian priest, he is following in the footsteps of other members of his order, who throughout their history have devoted themselves to working with young people.

Father Newberry, a renowned teacher, formed an educational association to work with “at risk” young people. In remarks after receiving the award in New York, he said, “I do very little. I consider the award for all the association members. . . . Education is done not only in the classroom . . . there are other forms of education for young people. The association offers an alternative to the classroom and textbooks.”

The Italian Saint John Bosco founded the Salesian Society for men in 1854 and the Salesian Sisters in 1872. He began his ministry by helping urban youth. According to the Salesians, “The educational philosophy of John Bosco can be condensed in three words: reason, religion, and kindness. The basic principle of his system was a deep understanding and love for young people and their problems.” Today the Salesian family numbers 40,000 members working in over 100 countries.

Father Newberry shares the award, which is given to one person each year, with political and social leaders like Cory Aquino and Lech Walesa.

Visit the worldwide Salesian website and click on the English version of the site: www.sdb.org.

2006-11-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

In 1973 a young man came to the German town of Werningshausen with the desire to restore the local church, which, like other churches in the area, was about to be torn down. He formed a community of helpers that eventually became the monastery of St. Wigbert.

The community is made up of both Lutheran and Catholic members who live according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, the father of monasticism in the Western world. Monks are rare in the Lutheran church, and it took some time before church authorities approved the guidelines for the monastery, which had received encouragement from the local Lutheran bishop. Though small, the community is making a contribution to the ecumenical movement of closer ties between Christians.

The community welcomes villagers to Mass and parish activities, and it receives the support of an association of friends as well as a group of young people who stay in close contact with the brothers. Besides regular prayer, the monks of St. Wigbert also make communion wafers, host guests, and, true to its founding spirit, restore ruined and abandoned churches in the area.

2006-11-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

My friend Terry recently moved to Manila and has befriended several Jesuits working in the poorest areas of the city. She sends well-wishers back home regular posts of what she's observing as she acclimates herself to this fascinating city of extremes. The Jesuits fund an infant feeding program in an area called Payatas, also known as Smokey Mountain. A recent Terry installment:

Smokey Mountain is a community of 300,000 literally living and scavenging atop a garbage dump. In 1996 a part of the "mountain" collapsed during a typhoon and 200 people were buried and died under the garbage. The Jesuits do "street" Masses in little clearings that some women prepare with tent-like roofs (it's always the women who manage things here--the women who are the centers of the communities). At a recent Mass one of the priests realized that he forgot the little traveling sound system he usually brings, and suddenly out of one these shanties someone pulls out a karaoke machine and in no time the priest has a microphone and speakers hooked up to some sort of illegal looking electrical line. Amid the cacophonous noise--there were roosters crowing and dogs and chickens and children--lots and lots and LOTS of children running around--the services took place.

2006-10-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

Wildred Sumani lives in the southeastern African country of Malawi and is preparing to become a Jesuit priest. Lydia Birongo Ogware works for the Medical Mission Sisters in Kibera, an area of Nairobi, Kenya and one of the largest slums in Africa. Both are trying to change cultural attitudes that contribute to the spread of HIV and AIDS. Sumani, with help from an African Jesuit AIDS Network grant, has drawn on his skills as a musician to release two CDs of songs that encourage people to make choices about their lives when it comes to HIV. “This HIV is killing us not because we love too much,” Sumani says, "but because we don’t love enough.”

2006-09-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

Sister Mary Kay Kinberger, MSC, whose community suffered severely in the wake of Katrina and Rita, wrote a beautiful hope-filled letter to members and friends of the Marianites of the Holy Cross, at the beginning of the year, which included these spiritual questions worth pondering during pensive fall days:

What does it mean to allow Jesus to bring about spirituality in our hearts, a veritable incarnation similar to what was effected physically in Mary? If we say yes to his growth within us, we have to free our hearts and spirits to offer him our sacred space. If we say yes to his reign, our plans and agenda must decrease to allow his to increase. If we say yes to his revelation through us, we walk more with mystery and ambiguity and less with certainty.

http://www.marianites.org/new/marianitespostkatrina.htm

2006-09-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

A red letter day in blog history
Boston's Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, O.F.M. Cap., a Capuchin Franciscan Friar, recently launched a blog to record his travels to Rome--the first blog among U.S. cardinals. His inaugural post on Sept. 19, 2006 coincides with VISION's first post on this newly launched publisher's blog. But the Cardinal beat us by several hours. Not that we were in a race!

2006-09-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

I forgive
Consolata Missionary Sister Leonella Sgorbati, who was murdered last week in Somalia, used her last breaths to say “I forgive; I forgive” in her native Italian. Forgiveness is an almost incomprehensible act. It goes against all that is seemingly right and just. Yet every spiritual path leads to forgiveness. What does it take to unleash the power of forgiveness? Check out the stories at www.theforgivenessproject.com for inspiration and enlightenment, and, of course, read the gospel of Jesus Christ.

2006-09-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

God ways are mysterious and ironic
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago recently approved the closing of Quigley Preparatory Seminary. Although he claims no hard feelings against the seminary, George arrived there as a freshman in 1951on crutches--the result of his bout with polio the year before--and was told that "chances are you will never be accepted for ordination." George withdrew from Quigley and ended up joining the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. George told the Sun Times in a 2003 interview (http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-quig20.html):

"I deal with Quigley without resentment. Had I gone to Quigley Seminary, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be the cardinal archbishop of Chicago," George said in 2003. "They say God has a sense of humor. Here I am."

2006-09-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

Pasta waits for no one
Father Dominic Grassi is pastor of St. Gertrude's Parish in Chicago. He recounted in his homily last Sunday that at his first parish assignment, he gave a real fire-and-brimstone sermon telling people how they ought to act more like people of faith. He admitted using the expression, "You people" a lot. After the service he was hurrying home to his parents' house for Sunday night pasta. "Because pasta waits for no one," said Grassi, he was zipping through traffic until he got stuck behind some slow poke. After several minutes, Grassi honked at the guy to get the lead out. Then he tried to pass him. As the priest's car got in position along side the slow driver, Grassi did something he confessed he is not proud of: "I flipped him the international sign for displeasure." And worse yet, as he caught a glimpse of the driver, he realized it was one of his parishioners who he had just spent the last hour haranguing about needing to being more Christlike!

Grassi was featured recently in the Chicago Sun Times series on men who like to cook by Maureen Jenkins (http://suntimes.com/outpu t/lifestyles/cst-ftr-kitman10.html). Grassi didn't start cooking until he was well into his 30s, but he says the art of cooking and eating well are in his blood.

"With Italians, that's how we share our love," says Grassi, who recently took an all-day Tuscan cooking class in a 700-year-old Italian villa."It's much more fun to do cooking for others," says Grassi, a new arrival at St. Gertrude who has planned intimate, once-a-month "Sunday Evening Pastas With the Pastor" as a way to get acquainted with his new parishioners. "When you're a priest, you don't see a lot of outcome of what you do. When you cook a meal, they either eat it or they don't, they like it or they don't."