VÉÅÅâÇ|zÜtÅ Franc i s can S i s t e r s o f Chr i s t i an Char i t y

April 2013

Volume 47, Issue 4

Posted by Sister Marie Kolbe Zamora S.T.L., S.T.D. cand., Theology Program Director, Silver Lake College of the Holy Family on March 14, 2013

13 March 2013 was not a “business as usual” day in the life of the Catholic Church. The election of a Successor to St. Peter as Bishop of the Church of Rome that, by the

will of Jesus Christ, presides over the Church of Rome and the entire Church in charity, is always a mo-ment of profound grace, a moment in which the Holy Spirit is power-fully present. It is normal, then, that everything all over the Catholic world come to a screeching halt to receive the grace offered to each of us in the gift of a new Holy Father.

This Pope is different, however!

For the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, someone from the New World AND from the southern hemisphere has been elected to the Chair of St. Peter. We have a New Pope from the New World! If we remember that America includes North, Central and South America, we can

acknowledge in all truth that we now have an American Pope, an American who is son of Italian im-migrants to Argentina.

For the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, we have a Pope who has chosen to be named “Francis” after the young man from Umbria who heard the call of Christ to rebuild His Church and whose only desire was to be totally and literally conformed to Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Francis of Assisi, in imitation of Jesus Christ, was a poor man who understood poverty (of spirit and in fact) to be key to the person and identity of Jesus Christ, key to our ability to reconcile with one another, and hence key to the estab-lishment of fraternal communion. Just as Jesus was Son of the Father, so for

http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm

Easter Blessings

Not a “Business as Usual Day”

Continued on page 5.

Communigram Page 2

Sister Phyllis Schouten is cur-rently a happy resident of St. Rita’s Health Care Center at Holy Family Convent, Manitowoc, WI. She was born in Chicago on September 11, 1927 to parents John and Mary Schouten, who were members of St. Willibrord Parish, on South Ed-brooke Avenue. Interesting to note is that both Sister’s mother and father, each as three-year-olds, came to the United Sates from Holland with their families.

Sister says: “My heart is full of gratitude for our wonderful par-ents, four great brothers, and two wonderful sisters and myself. God called two boys to be priests, two boys to the vocation of marriage, and two girls to the religious life. My oldest sister, named Mary, died when she was nine years old, and another sister born later was named Mary also, as my parents wished to have one living daughter named Mary, honoring my mater-nal Grandma Mary Spruit. As our family needed to distinguish be-

tween these two daughters, we call them “Big Mary” and “Little Mary.”

“When I was discerning my voca-tion, I struggled and prayed hard to know where God was calling me. Already as a young child I wanted to be a Religious, but what kind, and where? For twelve years the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity had not only taught me, but also inspired me to grow in God’s love and life. But learning of the cloistered life as a teenager, I felt strongly drawn to that. So, the question was: ‘Lord, what do YOU want me to do?’ After much pray-er, deliberation, and asking the ad-vice of our wonderful pastor, Fa-ther Exler, and Sister Agna Beller, our principal . . . you know the an-swer! I became a Postulant at Holy Family Convent in l945. I am very happy in my vocation, and ex-tremely grateful to God for His infinite blessings day by day.”

Agnes’ (Sister Phyllis) younger sis-ter, Little Mary, was also called to religious life; at age 22, in 1954, the Year of Mary, she entered the community of Cloistered Carmel-ites in Allentown, PA. She received the name of Sister Joseph Marie of Jesus, O. Carm. Sister Phyllis and her family have made numerous visits to Allentown through the years.

Sister Phyllis related that her family prayed together, saying the rosary daily in May and October, and of-ten accompanied their parents to evening devotions at Church. Their mother had wanted to be a Sister religious herself as a little girl but the necessary dowry was too great for the family at that time. Now Sister’s parents did not push for religious vocations for their chil-dren, and neither did they put any-thing in the way of their pursuing a religious vocation. They were, however, a wonderful example to

Sr. Phyllis on her First Communion day with her dad, John Schouten

Family Photo―Standing: Joe and June Schouten; Phil and Dorothy Schouten. Seated l to r: Sister Phyllis; her mother, Mary Schouten; Sister Joseph Marie; O, Carm; Father Frank Schouten; Father David Schouten (now deceased).

gâÜÇ|Çz à{x fÑÉàÄ|z{à bÇ by Sister Kay Elmer

Page 3 Volume 47, Issue 4

their children. Joe and Phil each found a beautiful Catholic girl and have given the Lord five children each, all of whom have begun their own families.

Sister states that she and her sib-lings all attended St. Willibrord Grade School and three attended St. Willibrord High School, where our Franciscan Sisters were teach-ing. One day Sister Mary Aelred Schaefer brought in Sister’s broth-er Dave to ask him if he ever thought of becoming a priest, as she recognized his good qualities. Supported by this encouragement, and looking around for a commu-nity to join, he was attracted to the Norbertine Order, but the cost was a bit prohibitive, and he eventually chose to join the Divine Word Missionaries, SVD, in Techny, Illi-nois. And her brother Frank fol-lowed him in joining the same Or-der! They both served many years as missionaries in Ghana, West Africa, until a breakdown in health (at different times) necessitated a return to the United States. Father Dave served in Ghana for 5 years, and Father Frank served 14 years in Ghana.

Sister’s achievements in religious life are many. After studying a year at Alverno College, Milwaukee, in Music Education, she finished her Bachelor’s degree at the newly completed Music Department at Holy Family College (now Silver Lake College). She fulfilled Com-munity assignments in our aposto-late of education as teacher of classroom music, liturgy, and giv-ing private music lessons in piano, organ, wind instruments, guitar, etc., and as organist in the follow-ing places. In Michigan: St. Am-brose, Ironwood; St. Ann and Me-

nominee Catholic Central, Me-nominee; and St. Ann, Escanaba, for a total of ten years. In Ohio: St. Nicholas, Zanesville, and St. Agnes, Mingo Junction, for a total of six years. In Wisconsin: St. Philip’s (along with being Local Director), Green Bay; Holy Inno-cents, Manitowoc; and St. Aloysius Kaukauna, for a total of seven years.

Sister comments about this period of her life: “How did I stay out of mischief during my religious life? About the first thirty years I spent in the music field, either studying or teaching. Being such an intro-vert, I found being in the limelight very difficult, but God put me there, and He always saw me through. I especially loved the little children, and was thrilled when they would sing or play with lots of expression. From there I was ap-pointed the Northern Regional Coordinator of the Community for seven years, and then became Co-ordinator of the Sister patients in

St. Rita’s Health Center, taking charge of their domestic needs, for four years.” Following that, Sister was assigned as Coordinator of the House of Prayer at St. Francis Convent, Manitowoc, for six years. Her next assignment was Sponsor Presence Representative and or-ganist at Franciscan Care Services, West Point, NE, for nine years. In 2003, Sister came to reside at St. Francis Convent, Manitowoc, as a member of the Prayer Apostolate with varied tasks, and then to Holy Family Convent, Manitowoc, as Visitor in St. Rita’s Health Center.

Sister reflects: “Now I’m on the last lap of my life’s journey. On September 13, 2012, I moved to St. Rita Health Center at the Mother-house. I look on this as the front porch of heaven. I still help the Sisters on Third Floor with daily prayer, and visit in St. Rita’s when time permits, but as one ages, time is taken up with exercises, eating six times a day (!), resting in be-tween times, etc. The quiet here is conducive to extra prayer, and reading. I like biographies of saints and other inspirational people, and good clean jokes, Christian stories, and the like.”

Sisters in St. Rita’s describe Sister Phyllis as a beautiful gentle person, very prayerful and spiritual. She is always thinking of others and nev-er complaining about her own aches and pains or what she is go-ing through, always being grateful for whatever one does for her and expressing gratitude freely.

And finally to our readers, Sister Phyllis says: “You’d be most wel-come to pop into Room 205 for a visit!”

May 1949―Two musicians at Ironwood, MI―Sister Cecilia Marie Kalous and Sister Phyllis.

Communigram Page 4

Honorees not able

to attend:

5 years

Jeannine Neuenfeldt

10 years

Cathy Alfson

Mary Robison

Maureen Wiegand

25 years

Linda Brandl

Anne Busse,

Our five-year honorees l to r: Kathy Schrank – Food Service; and Cathy Schroeder – Food Service; Catherine Koch – Nursing Assistant -St. Rita’s ; and Gloria Levendoski – Nursing Assistant - St. Rita’s.

Employees Recognized

Our 20 & 30 year honorees l to r:: Bonnie Pahnke – Licensed Practical Nurse - St. Rita’s (20 years); Lori Oswald – Nursing Assitant - St. Rita’s, and Sandy Skidmore – Nursing Assistant - St. Rita’s (30 years).

Manitowoc, WI―On March 17, Holy Family Convent recognized 24 employees celebrating special anniversary years. Together, they have provided a total of 345 years of service to Holy Family Con-vent! Sister Elaine Tur-ba, Human Resource Director spoke for the Community: “Thank you for all you have done for us throughout the years. What a gift you have been and are to our Community! . . You add much to our history and our tradi-tion. It is evident you take pride in what you do and we are blessed with your presence among us. As we ex-tend our thanks to you, know that it is filled with many prayers of gratitude for each of you. Thank you for all you do and are for us at Holy Family Con-vent.”

Right, our ten-year honorees l to r: Heidi Buretta – Licensed Practical Nurse - St. Rita’s; Mary Stelzer – Nursing Assistant - St. Rita’s ; Amanda Holsch-bach – Housekeeper - St. Rita’s; Denise Donahue – Registered Nurse/ Team Leader - St. Rita’s; Sharon Danielson – Food Service; Steve Kratz – Maintenance; and Diane Loeh – Nursing Assistant - St. Rita’s

Our forty-five year honoree is: Dave Lemberger – Maintenance―pictured here with his wife Carol - a 15 year honoree.

Our fifteen-year honorees l to r: Teresa Fish – Activities - St. Rita’s; Clair Drews – Clerical Associate - Clinic; and Carol Lemberg-er - Housekeeper

Page 5 Volume 47, Issue 4

Pope Francis (Continued from p.1) Francis the constitutive relationship of his life was with God the Fa-ther. Just as Jesus was poor in emptying him-self, “taking the form of a slave and being born in human like-ness” (Phil 2. 7), so Francis embraced pov-erty, enabling him to receive everything and every moment as a gift from God his Father and making gratitude the fundamental attitude of his life. The humility of Jesus’ self-emptying moved Francis to estab-lish himself and those who fol-lowed him not only as brothers to all, but as minor brothers to all.

In his first gestures and words to the entire world, Pope Francis I revealed himself to be a man who transpires the spirit of his patron. Pope Francis’ first words were words of gratitude to the people of Rome gathered in the piazza below him for them receiving him. The first prayers he led as Bishop of Rome were common prayers that all people of faith and goodwill know; and fittingly enough, the first of these was the Our Father. Pope Francis referred to himself as Bishop of the Church of Rome “which presides over all the Churches in charity,” and called our attention to the fact that now “we begin this walk together.” While he, as Bishop of Rome, pre-sides over all the Churches, he ex-pressed his “presidency” as one that he intends to exercise by walk-ing with the Church. He character-

ized the walk of the Church, in particular his walk with the Church of Rome, as one of brotherhood, love and mutual trust.

As though all these words were not enough to establish himself as a brother to and servant of the Peo-ple of God, he bowed his head and asked the People of God to pray for God’s blessing on him before he solemnly (and simply) blessed the People of God.

These words from the Gospel of St. Luke come to mind:

A dispute also arose among them as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest. But he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must be-come like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But

I am among you as one who serves. "You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. "Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has de-manded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your broth-ers." (Luke 22. 24-32)

Let us pray in gratitude for the powerful testimony to the Gospel that Pope Francis has already of-fered the entire People of God in so brief a moment, and pray that the Holy Spirit might ever sustain him in his ministry of strengthen-ing the faith of the Church of Rome and the entire Church. Would that each of us would em-brace the Gospel, be converted, and so become “confessors” of Jesus Christ in the Spirit today!

It was not “business as usual” at the Motherhouse when the announcement was made that there was white smoke at the Vatican. Sisters headed for the nearest TV to watch and wait with the rest of the world for the announcement of who was elected our new Holy Father. They silently bowed their heads and prayed a blessing when Pope Francis asked everyone to pray for him before giving his blessing. His act of humility and simple style won our hearts. Of course, his choice of the name Francis spoke vol-umes, too! For days Sisters were telling of emails received and of meeting people on the street who were impressed with Pope Francis. A man approched a Sister and said: “I’m not a Catholic but I like the new Pope and I will pray for him every day.”

Sister Mary Ann Spanjers

Communigram Page 6

Many Things Happening at All Saints

Sierra Vista, AZ―Three teachers at All Saints Catholic School are in the RCIA Program this year. Sister Carol Seidl is directing the program along with the help of Sister Anna Maar and Agnes Pino. All attend the 7:30am Mass on Sunday and are dismissed after the homily for class.

On Sunday, February 24th they traveled, along with their sponsors, to St. Augustine's Cathedral for the Rite of Election with Bishop Ger-ald F. Kicanas. There they met Sis-ter Carla Riach, who had candi-dates from San Xavier Mission, Tucson.

The Rite of Election kicked off a very busy week at All Saints Catho-lic School. Monday-Wednesday the accreditation team was at the school from 7:15 am-7:30 pm. It was a relief to have their visit come to an end.

To celebrate a positive accredita-tion and to relax they had a Faculty versus Student Kickball game on Thursday. Father Ariel was the Captain of the students team. He had more than enough students so the three boys in 7th and 8th vol-

unteered to be on the 7 member Faculty Team. It was a beautiful day with winter finally leaving us.

To end a very busy week, it was the school's turn to serve the soup and bread after the Parish's Friday night Stations of the Cross. Sister Carol was very proud of all the stu-dents and parents who showed up. Yes, the school is a definite part of Our Lady of the Mountains Parish!

Gleaned from http://sierravistasister-franciscan.blogspot.com/

Smoke in the background is a controlled burn in the canyons.

A model for our consideration this month is Saint Julie Billiart. Her active practice of the faith began at the tender age of seven when she began teaching the catechism to other children. Not surprisingly, Julie discerned the call to religious life. Soon after taking her vows, she was struck with a mysterious mala-dy which left her paralyzed. However, her spirit was far from immobile and she boldly worked to spread the Faith and protect the weak even from her bed and wheelchair. She undertook the for-mation of a new community dedicated to teaching the Faith. After 22 years as an invalid, she was sud-denly and miraculously cured of her paralysis. Her

renewed strength was selflessly poured into the ever growing work of spreading the Faith especially through the ministry of cat-echesis. St. Julie’s life was marked by a joy found in teaching the wonders of our faith.

Consider: Did I teach the Faith today from the text of my actions, attitudes, and ac-

quaintance with the Lord Jesus? Did my face and footsteps bring joy?

Pray: Divine Teacher, enlighten us with the words and lessons that our world and its communities most need to hear?

Ad ment By Sister Kathleen Murphy

Social Justice Commission

http://www.saintjulies.org/about/about-st-julie-billiart/

St. Julie Billiart

The Queen of the Cul-de-sac

Sister Monica Martin blogs of her experi-ences during her first year on mission see: http://habituallyspeaking. blogspot.com/ 2013/03/the-queen-of-cul-de-sac.html

Kauai, HI―My first time driving in Kauai, I knew something was up. I had just climbed into the driver's seat of our van and Sister Janet Rose warned me: "Watch out for Kitty!"

Sure enough, I saw Kitty with enough time to swerve around her on the way to morning Mass. Over the past several months, I have watched other vehicles do the same. Our neighborhood has an unwritten understanding that Kitty rules our road. We all drive ever so slowly while she lays in the middle of the street, barely paying attention to the likes of us.

One morning, I woke up to a terri-ble noise. I could tell that some ani-mals were fighting outside, and it sounded scary. Sister Janet was al-ready awake and witnessed the whole thing. She told me that a

rooster tried to enter our property, and Kitty charged after her, leading to the fight. It almost goes without saying that Kitty won, and I haven't seen another rooster in our yard.

In other news: Teaching has been fun. I just finished a science unit with my students on Force and Mo-tion. It culminated in a cooperative learning activity in which they worked in teams to build carnival rides out of (cleaned) rubbish from their homes. They needed to show me which simple machines they were putting together for their rides. Everyone did well and grew in their abilities to problem solve, compro-mise and work together on a pro-ject. Today, we dismantled the carni-val, and carried out six kitchen-size garbage bags to the dumpster.

We returned from Spring break to-day. My dad and stepmom spent a week and a half with us, and we had a great time! The Sisters enjoyed having them around. Dad, Ginny

and I did touristy things around the island: snorkeling, visiting the gar-dens, and going on a whale watching tour were among our favorite things. Actually, one of my students' par-ents had given tickets to us Sisters, so Sister Janet and I were already planning to go. We ended up getting separated from Dad and Ginny, but we had fun. The boat was rocky, but we had taken Dramamine, so we were able to enjoy it.

Page 7 Volume 47, Issue 4

When I took this picture, Kitty didn't

flinch once. She pretended that I wasn't

even there.

On Schedule Manitowoc, WI―Construction continues on schedule for the new Music Educa-tion and Performance Center at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family. The exposed wooden beams that form the most recognizable portion of the build-ing’s north face have been installed (see photo). Most of the drywall is up in the academic wing and workers will begin priming and painting this week. The stone veneer on the outside walls of the multipurpose room is complete (see photo). Framing and HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] work

continues in the Performance Hall and plumbers are working in the large re-strooms. The wood deck ceiling in the atrium has been installed and all the roofs are in place.

by Carrie Kost, SLC Marketing

Marquette, MI ― Sister Ludmilla Gramann was among those recog-nized in striving to advance the eco-nomic, political, financial, and health status of women. She received a yel-low rose from the Zonta Club in grat-itude for her efforts on behalf of women and children. Reported March 21, 2013, in The Mining

Journal, Marquette, Michigan.

A Blessed Easter Season!

Successful School Auction Cambridge, OH―“Lights, Camera, Auction!” was the theme for this year’s annual auction at St. Bene-dict School, on Saturday, March 2. Attendance was super and the fund-raiser was very successful.

Sister Theresa Feldkamp was in-terviewed by an announcer from a local radio station which covered the event throughout the morning.

Sister Miriam Dosch’s brother, sister-in-law, and a friend joined her for the live auction.

Sister Mary Gabriel Van Dreel browsed through items to be sold in the silent auction.

Submitted by Sister Carolee Vanness