December 2010, Vol. XXX, No. 10

Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters

Convent of the Holy Spirit – Techny, Illinois

“Christ is born to us today,“Christ is born to us today,“Christ is born to us today,“Christ is born to us today, in order that he may appear to in order that he may appear to in order that he may appear to in order that he may appear to the whole world through us.”the whole world through us.”the whole world through us.”the whole world through us.”

~Thomas Merton

IIII n a Dominican Retreat Center in South

Carolina is a picture of the pregnant

Madonna tacked on the wall with these

words: “This image represents each

person who is trying to birth the Real Self, the

Imago Dei that is taking shape within.”

Meister Eckhart, the fourteenth-century theologian

and mystic, used imagery which highlighted the

truth that divine life, like human life, is implanted

internally and comes about through a process of

gestation and birth. “We are each meant to be

mothers of God,” he wrote.

For Eckhart, birthing God essentially meant birthing

compassion. He believed compassion to be the

ultimate fruit of our birthing, a slow breaking out of

divinity from within us. God is compassion, he

insisted; therefore, as God is born more deeply in

the soul, so too is the compassionate life.

Sue Monk Kidd writes beautifully about compassion

and she once told this story about herself. She was

going through a difficult time and cried as she

talked with her husband. He touched his fingers to

the tears rolling down her face, then touched his wet

finger to his own cheek. His gesture spoke

volumes. It said, “Your tears run down my face,

too. Your suffering aches inside my heart as well. I

share your wounded place.” “Be compassionate as

your heavenly Father is compassionate,” Jesus tells

us (Luke 6:36). We need to take these words very

seriously and lift our finger to the world’s teary

face.

(continued on page 2)

2

(continued from page 1)

There is too much suffering in our world. Too many homeless, hungry, abused and

oppressed people who are your and my brothers and sisters. There are too many bombs, too

many wars, too many murders in our cities. The world is deep in tears and to birth God in

our world we wipe these tears on our own cheeks and respond with caring, compassionate

love. How much room do we have in our hearts for the needy and pain filled hearts around

us? Whatsoever you do for the least………you do for me.

I, in my essence, and you in your essence, are love. We are created in God’s image and

God’s own love is poured into our hearts by the Spirit who is given to us. Let us use our

lives to birth God in our world. May God be born deeply in our souls and consciousness and

may we show our God to the world by living a compassionate life, a God-like life.

Sr. Carol Welp, SSpS

Our community in Techny gave a retirement

party for Sr. Catherine Mueller, SSpS, on November 18. She worked for 26 years in the

business office in Techny after retiring from

the medical profession. The same week she

received a certificate from the American

Society for Clinical Pathology in recognition

of 50 years of Board Certification.

On December 10, Rebecca David will be officially received into the pre-

novitiate and on January 7, Sr. Stela

Maris Martins will renew her vows for two years.

Celebration News Notes

Srs. Carol Welp and Margaret Hansen express

gratitude from the community for Sr. Catherine’s

many years of service. Sr. Stela Maris Martins

Ms. Rebecca David

3

religious life and priesthood and our week-

end was full of sharing and fun! It was

good to be there and also to meet one

young lady who would like to be a mission-

ary in the future. Over Thanksgiving week-

end we welcomed another young lady from

San Francisco, CA, at Techny who is in the

process of discerning her vocation. Please

pray for those young women who are

interested and those who contact us to learn

more about our community.

Sr. Elwira Dziuk

Members of VIVAT are celebrating their

ten-year anniversary. It is for both the SVD

and the SSpS around the world to celebrate,

for we are all members of VIVAT and are

happy to have Felix Jones, SVD, and

Zelia Cordeiro, SSpS, speak on our behalf for the voiceless at the United Nations.

We also express our gratitude to all their

predecessors.

The SSpS and SVD Memphis Communi-

ties, including Bishop Terry Steib, who made it in time for dessert, along with three Indone-

sian missionary Sisters of St. Charles

Boromeo, Sr. Ancilla, Sr. Josepha and Sr.

Edna and two Indian missionary priests of the

Blessed Sacrament, Fr. Saji, and Fr. Mathew, were united on Thanksgiving evening with

grateful hearts and a delicious meal hosted at

the SVD House on Lauderdale. It included all

the trimmings and was prepared mainly by Fr.

Tony Clark, SVD. Dessert (rum cake),

cornbread and lamb were prepared by Sr.

Monica Darrichon and Sr. Rose Martin

Glenn. We were thirteen in number, but we could only count our "good luck" in bless-

ings, as we began the meal with a prayer

service prepared by Fr. Simon Thoi Hoang,

SVD.

On November 27, a well-attended day of

recollection on the Spirituality of St. Fr.

Arnold Janssen was given by Sr. Monica

Darrichon and Fr. Carlos Monroy-Paniagua to the Eucharistic ministers, choir directors and

lectors from two of the SVD parishes, St.

Joseph and Sacred Heart. The day was

hosted by St. Joseph Parish with Fr. Tony

Clark celebrating the Eucharist.

News from Memphis

VIVAT

Vocations

During the month of November there were a

few happenings in the vocation office. At the

beginning of the month there was the National

Religious Vocation Conference Convocation in

Cleveland, OH, which I attended with about

400 other vocation ministers in the country. I

was also invited to be a part of the vocation

discernment weekend at St. Leo University

near Tampa, FL. There were about 11 young

people altogether who are seriously discerning

4

Sr. Angelinda Stoeztel, who fell and broke three of her ribs. She is sometimes

in great pain.

Sr. Marie Louise Jilk, who is still suffering from a pinched nerve.

Sr. Lucille Hackenmueller, who is feeling miserable because of water

retention due to her heart condition.

Our elderly are all appreciative of your

prayerful support as they support all of

us in our mission and Province ministry.

Sr. Miryan Inés Céspedes Cañete will be leaving our province on December

22. Thanks, Miryan, and we wish you

every blessing as you continue your

missionary service in your home

province of Paraguay.

Sr. Rosalia Service Galmin arrived from Indonesia on December 5. She

comes from Flores West and will be

with us for three years to study English

and have some mission experience.

For Your Prayerful

Remembrance

Please pray for our deceased:

Jerome M. Miller, brother of our Sr. Mary

Miller, who died in Florida on November 9 and was buried on November 13. Officiating at

the funeral Mass was Fr. Joe Miller, SVD.

Helen Mallery, sister of Sr. Jean Blie, who died on the morning of November 27 and was

buried on November 30.

Florence Tranel, sister-in-law of Sr. Betty

Tranel, who died during the night of Monday, November 29.

Christopher, son of Dr. Arnie Bacigalupo. Dr. Bacigalupo did some workshops and

consulting for us in the past few years.

Roger F. Gelderman, who worked in the Mission Department for many years. He died

on November 3 and in lieu of flowers asked

that donations be sent to us.

The Honorable Robert Joseph Downing of Glenview, who died in October. He was chief

Justice in the Appellate Court for some years in

the Northern District and also served us well in

his law practice.

Please pray for our sick:

Rose Kunkel, the grand niece of Sr. Francetta

Kunkel, who is suffering from leukemia. There are four small children in the family; the

youngest is just three years old.

Sr. Mary Winkler, who was hospitalized for several weeks and is now home with us.

Comings and Goings

Over the next few months, the bulletin will highlight the mission of

individual houses in the U.S. Province.

This month, we feature the community in St. Kitts.

At present in St. Kitts, there are three sisters. We

are all new. Sr. Graciela Castro has lived here

the longest, for 18 months, Sr. Margaret

Kissani, eight months and Sr. Uloma Akpa, two months. Because we are new there are more

discoveries and journeys we have to make

together.

The reality of St. Kitts calls us to try to live the

Gospel of Christ in our own lives. It gives us the

opportunity to experience and share the love of

the Triune God through and with the women,

students, poor, prisoners, marginalized, sick,

street people, elderly and our parishioners. As

individuals we bring our different gifts. Sr.

Graciela is teaching in the Immaculate Concep-

tion Catholic School in St. John Basseterre and

coordinates the Catechism classes in the parish

in Molineux. Below is Sr. Graciela’s reflection

of her ministry in the school.

“In September 2010, the two centennial schools, St. Theresa, the Convent School, and St. Joseph,

the Roman School, were combined into one

under the name of Immaculate Conception

Catholic School. The new ICCS brought hope

and challenges. Most of the staff members were

used to the past system established by local

people and find it hard to accept a new system

which is being formed by an American point of

view. There is hope for a good and competent

formation for the students, but there is still

resistance among some of the members of the

staff. I strongly believe that changes are

necessary for learning, growing and transforming

realities where new life and hope may flourish.”

Sr. Uloma is actively involved in the soup

kitchen in Basseterre serving the poor, street

people and the marginalized. She has also

teamed up with some Catholic women who go to

the prison for visits once every month. Here Sr.

Uloma shares her experience: “At the soup

kitchen God calls each person in a specific way.

According to my capabilities, talents and gifts,

He has placed me where I will be able to be

fulfilled as a person and reach out to the most in

need. St. Kitts is the place where in my heart I

feel at one with the people, especially in the

soup kitchen. I serve them all according to their

individual needs. Some need food, others need

clothing. Some need a bath, while others just

need me to be there to listen to their stories. I

share their joy and pain and also encourage

them. There are times we pray together. I experi-

ence the good relationship of trust. It is this

kinship and relationship-building that lead me to

treasure and value each new day as I wake up.

Also, I visit prisoners once a month. There we

read the word of God in the Scriptures and

share. They have beautiful insights. Each day

my heart begins to grow heavy with the

desire to serve more. What I have learned is to

be in solidarity with the people in St. Kitts. I

learned that social justice encompasses more

than just creating more meetings and confer-

ences. It means to be among the people, aiding

them, giving them your time, sharing your

talents, your friendship, etc. I would like to

quote from Blessed Mother Teresa, “One can

help the world by helping one person at a time.”

So my dear sisters, I do not just like what I do, I

love what I am doing.”

Sr. Uloma

with

students in

the after-

school art

class.

Sr. Margaret

leads the

choir during

practice.

Students

enjoy having

their pictures

taken with

Sr. Graciela.

5

6

There is increasing focus in our Congrega-

tion throughout the world and in our

Province on the importance of our commit-

ment for women that they may grow in

awareness of their personal dignity, and

their role in the family, the church and the

society. And to be able to meet this

challenge, I answered the call to minister

and journey together with people of diverse

cultures and traditions, promoting dignity

of all people, especially the homeless

women and men in Chicago. After several

weeks of orientation, I joined the Francis-

can Outreach Association (FOA) which

offers opportunities in this area of ministry

in Mary and Joseph House Shelter.

The Mary and Joseph House Shelter houses

200 men and 40 women in separate parts of

the building. Ninety-five percent of the

homeless persons “guests” and staff are

African-American. Presently, there are no

Franciscan Friars on the staff. The Mission

of FOA is to provide basic human needs of

the guests – food and shelter- while offer-

ing them assistance and encouragement as

they build a better life. Mary and Joseph

House Shelter is an emergency overnight

shelter. Every night of the year we are able

to accommodate 209 men and about 40

women. We provide all of our guests with a

bed, pillow, sheets and a blanket; supper of

soup and a sandwich, a warm shower and

towels, coffee and breakfast; visits by

health-care personnel and the opportunity

to build a better life for themselves and the

opportunity to meet with the mental health

outreach workers.

We operate on a first-come, first-served

basis. However, we allow a limited

number of our regular guests a reserved

bed. Even though we provided over

86,500 shelter nights last year, we had to

turn away over 1,504 persons because we

were filled to capacity. Turning away

anyone especially women, is very difficult

for me, personally. I view myself as

meeting the emergency needs of the

homeless as well as being a point of entry

for them into a wide variety of services

available that can help them change their

lives for the better. I started out as a case

worker but I soon found out that my life

experiences and the gifts God has blessed

me with can be used in many more areas

in the shelter. Presently I am implement-

ing a day program where the homeless

men and women can learn meaningful life

and job skills which hopefully will lead

them to better jobs, money, and affordable

housing facilities and of course, better life.

We are assisted by many dedicated, full-

time and part-time volunteers. We are

always looking for volunteers who can

spend at least one year working directly

with the homeless and helping us do this

good work. As Program Assistant, I have

the opportunity and joy to work directly

with the homeless, the different agencies

helping us, and our wonderful staff. I am

happy and blessed to be part of Franciscan

Outreach House Shelter where we offer

the homeless of Chicago a healthy dose of

respect and dignity, along with our

emergency services and one-on one

practical assistance.

Sr. Leonette Kaluzny, S.Sp.S

My Mission and Ministry

in Chicago

JPIC

SSpS

USA

7

Mexico 2010 -- Migration by Sr. Salud Osornio

“Mexico 2010” commemorates two fundamental events in its

history: The Bicentenary of its accession to Independence and

the Centenary of its Revolution. The anniversaries of these two

events provide an excellent opportunity to explore the dynamic

interaction between past and present with particular attention to

contemporary issues of migration, children and human rights.

Loyola University, Chicago, joined with the consulate of Mexico

and with the local Mexican community to host a number of

presentations and discussions to commemorate ''Mexico 2010.''

On Wednesday, November 17, 2010, two panels were presented at

Loyola University. One panel dealt with “Migration: Political, Economic, Community and Fa-

milial Perspectives from Mexico and the United States” while the second panel looked at

“Child Rights and Contemporary Immigration Issues.”

I was invited by Sr. Rose Therese to attend these two panels at Loyola University on November

17. It was very interesting for me to listen to the panels as an immigrant. Three panelists were

on the first panel, two of them originally from Mexico and one from Guatemala. The first

panelist, Amalia Molina, an activist, talked about her own struggles and the heartbreaking experiences of immigrant families when they were separated as a result of the immigration

laws. For me, it was very difficult to hear her story because I put myself in her shoes. I thought

at that moment, if it were me, it would be very hard to leave my family. I can’t imagine how

difficult it was for her to be separated from her children by force, as it was done to her. While in

prison, she met people from all over the world. Immigration is a global problem, not only a

problem for Mexicans.

The second speaker was Dr. Maria del Carmen

Perez who has been engaged in research in fam-ily well-being and dynamics and mental health

prevention for 20 years. She talked about the

problems of Mexico and the Central America

countries and stressed how everything is

December 2010

8

connected. She shared how families disintegrate because one member or a couple immigrates to the

United States to find a better life for their family. They leave their children with their grandmother

or other relatives to care for them. The problems start when the parents stay away for a very long

time. She said, “The kids start feeling lonely and feel abandoned by their parents. As teenagers,

they start looking for someone who can understand and love them, and then in their despair, they

lose hope. This is the reason why many of them find refuge in drugs, alcohol, prostitution and

violence.”

Oscar Chacon, the Executive Director of the National Alliance of Latinos & Caribbean Communi-ties, was the third speaker. He explained how this organization works to improve the quality of life

for Latinos and Latino immigrants in their communities both in the Unites States and in the

countries of their origin. The National Alliance develops transnational leadership capacity and

increases immigrant civic participation, so that the immigrants can advocate effectively for public

policies that address the root causes of migration, as well as address the challenges faced by

immigrants in the United States.

International Migrants Day -- Global Forum on Migration and Development

Ten years ago, on December 4th, 2000, the United Nations

proclaimed December 18 International Migrants Day. 2010 is

also special because it's the 20th Anniversary of the Interna-

tional Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All

Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Let us recognize and respect migrants, celebrate who they are to

this country and support their fight for justice. This is one way

we can fight the anti-immigrant hate that dominates the

headlines. Learn more about the migrants and immigrants: Why did they come to the US? Act for

them and pray for them.

Migration is a global reality. The Fourth Conference of the Global Forum on Migration and

Development was held in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from November 8-11, 2010. The central theme

of these days was “Partnerships for migration and human development: shared prosperity – shared

responsibility”. A number of roundtable discussions were held to address the causes, challenges and

effects of migration for development and of development for migration.

A Prayer for Immigrants:

God of the journey, God of the traveler, we pray for those who leave their homes in search of new beginnings

and possibilities, may they know your presence with them. We pray that those who seek to make a home in

this country may find us welcoming and willing to help them find a path toward citizenship. We pray that

our legislators, as they craft new immigration legislation may find the wisdom and courage to enact new poli-

cies that do justice for our country and for those who would immigrate here. We pray that those who fan the

flames of fear and discrimination against the undocumented may be touched with your divine compassion.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen

Adapted from the Archdiocese of Chicago