province news notes feb/march 2014

News NotesNews NotesPROVINCE

SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH OF CARONDELET AND ASSOCIATES • ST. LOUIS PROVINCE • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014

Loving God,by your grace,Catholic Sisters throughout the world continue to respond to your Baptismal invitation to live lives dedicated to prayer and loving service.

February/March 2014 PNN

On the Cover: National Catholic Sisters Week

Province News Notes is a publication of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province. Its purpose is to promote dialogue and unity within the St. Louis province and to keep members informed on those subjects that promote community and ministry.

We welcome your submissions! Submit articles and photos to Sarah Baker (e-mail preferred to [email protected]).

**Materials are subject to editing and will be published at the discretion of the editor.

• STAFF •

Jenny BeatriceEditor

Sarah BakerGraphic Design

Susan Narrow &Print Shop Volunteers

Production, printing and mailing

S. Jane Behlmann, CSJS. Audrey Olson, CSJ

S. Charline Sullivan, CSJMadeleine Reilly

Proofreading

Inside this Issue

ContentsProvince Leadership Message .........................................................................................3CLG .................................................................................................................................. 4-5Liturgy ..................................................................................................................................6Together in Faith Series ...................................................................................................7Senior Ministry ..................................................................................................................8Vocation/Formation ..........................................................................................................9Spirituality Committee ............................................................................................ 10-11Justice .................................................................................................................................12Ecological Spirituality Committee ...............................................................................13Sharing of the Heart ................................................................................................ 14-18CSJ Data ............................................................................................................................19Archives .............................................................................................................................20Necrology: Associate Ruth Shy Wilson ......................................................................21Necrology: Sister Linda Marie Lully ............................................................................22Bulletin Board ..................................................................................................................23Calendars ..........................................................................................................................24

Visit with Herbert SmullsPages 14-15Sister Pat Murphy shares about her fi rst meeting with inmate Herbert Smulls, the day before his execution.

Celtic Soul Experience: Meet Owen & MoleyPage 7Read a personally written note to the CSJ community from the Irish singers, songwriters and brothers who express what their journey to St. Louis means to them.

As part of Women’s History Month, St. Catherine’s University will kick off the fi rst National Catholic Sisters Week March 8-14. Check out page 9 as the Vocations Offi ce tells more about this new project.

Also, on page 16, read a prayer written by Mary Rose Romeo, SSJ (Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania) written in honor of NCSW.

ATTN: Change of April PNN Dates: Due to the Communications Offi ce staff attending a congregational meeting in April, deadline dates for the April PNN have been moved up. News items must be submitted by Friday, March 21 to Sarah Baker at [email protected]. Because of the time constraint, late submissions will not be accepted.

The issue will be published Friday, April 4. Please let us know if you have any questions. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you. —Jenny and Sarah

www.csjsl.org

Province Leadership Refl ectionsNew Beginnings

by S. Pat Giljum

Back: Sisters Liz Brown, Jean Meier, Patty Clune and Suzanne Wesley. Front: Srs. Helen

Flemington, Nancy Corcoran and Pat Giljum.

Editor’s NotesBy Jenny Beatrice

Create in me a clean heart: freed and accepting of all you give me.Create in me a clean heart: freed of old disagreements and arguments.Create in me a clean heart: freed from clutter so I can enjoy the beauty of life’s simple things and relish the gifts I take for granted.Create in me a clean heart: freed of my frantic busyness so that I can experience quiet and solitude.Create in me a clean heart: freed from my wanting to be in control so that God can control.Create in me a clean heart: freed of racism and prejudice, drawing me toward all as my sisters and brothers.

Merciful God, help us to keep our vision focused on life and growth.

Lent speaks of new hopes, preparing for new beginnings as surely as the spring will soon emerge with its greening energy around us. We have together discerned new leaders, an event that also speaks of new hopes and new beginnings.

As we observe Lent and prepare for new leadership, may we open ourselves to grow and change in ways we may never dream likely. May we become renewed through the message of becoming more compassionate and loving toward God, the church, the earth, the dear neighbor, each other and ourselves.

When we choose to open the door of our hearts and step across the threshold of possibility, we become more conscious of who we are as women and men with unlimited potential for goodness and ever fuller unity with God.

Create a clean heart in me, God. Dust off my unmindful activity that constantly collects there. De-clutter my heart from harsh judgments and negativity. Wash away my resistance to working through diffi cult relationships. Rinse off my un-loving so the beauty of my generous and kind heart can shine forth. ( Joyce Rupp)

Last week, all of my consumer transactions had a glitch, from online banking to prescription coverage, from my cable bill to online shopping. Th e calls to remedy these situations had me on the phone at full boil for hours, time I did not have to spare.

In an eff ort to be civil, I always preface my complaint calls by telling the reps, “I know this is not your fault but…” and proceed to rant about the injustices that have been perpetrated on us, the abused consumers. I know these operators are only a cog on the wheel, but I have to vent to someone, don't I?

After spending the week on fi re, I spent Sunday with Anger by Th ich Nhat Hanh, meditating on how we can transform our anger into love with good practice. He says that venting is not, as once thought, the healthy release of anger, but is, in fact, the practice of it. In that case, I've had a lot of practice.

Hanh says, “If the practice is correct, if the practice is good, you don’t need fi ve or ten years, just a few hours may be enough to produce transformation and healing.” Now that sounds like time well spent.


CLG

When we gathered in Los Angeles as the Congregational Leadership Group, we were conscious of both “beginnings” as we welcomed the new Congregational Leadership Team to their fi rst meeting, and “endings” as we acknowledged that this would be the last meeting for the Province Leadership Teams from St. Louis and Los Angeles.

It was clear to us that both the warm hospitality of the sisters of the Los Angeles province, and the spirit of the Congregational Chapter were immediately renewed! Debbie Asberry, who facilitated chapter, was with us to facilitate our meeting, and once again, she truly led us gracefully through our agenda. Th e Calls to Action of Congregational Chapter formed the framework of our agenda, and while we realize that we are in the initial stages of implementation, in our conversations we felt ourselves going deeper in our understanding of all to which the chapter calls us.

Our gathering was immersed in prayer as each unit planned and facilitated prayer at some point during our time together. We participated in a sharing of the heart and an order of the house. We prayed that our work might be infused with passion, creativity and wisdom that we would be attentive to the “something new pulling at our heart-strings.” We prayed that our Creator God would bless the Los Angeles area with the gift of rain. We asked the question, “Dare we reenergize our faithfulness, dust off our hope, question our routines and honor the original blessings of our CSJ charism and our founding mothers?” We prayed for “gumption and grace to continue incarnating your word.”

In our conversations about the Calls to Action, we...• Explored our assumptions about claiming our oneness

• Identifi ed the question “What does it mean to live the CSJ charism specifi cally as vowed religious women

CLG Meeting SummaryFebruary 2014

www.csjsl.org

Congratulations to our newly-elected Province Leadership Team (2014-2019):(l-r) Sisters Rita Marie Schmitz, Maureen Freeman, Marilyn Lott, Linda Straub and Mary Margaret Lazio.

in our time?” and considered possibilities for intra-congregational conversation around that question.

• We discussed how to form an ad hoc group to facilitate our response to the call to deepen our communion within the Earth Community by considering what attitudes, skills and competencies might be needed within that group.

• Acknowledged with gratitude that because of the witness of Pope Francis, we may be at a “new moment” in our relationship with the institutional Church.

• Received an update on the planning for the “collaborative meeting” of Vocation/Formation, Communication, Justice, Development and ACOF personnel to be held in Albany in April 2014 and spent time discussing our hopes for this meeting.

Sister Helene Wilson provided us with a comprehensive overview of the budget for the Congregational Center.

We received updates on issues that had been discussed at the September 2013 meeting: copyright law, the Monsanto Corporation and collaboration among CSJ sponsored high schools.

We responded to a request from the Province Justice Coordinators to sign a letter to Pope Francis regarding the repeal of Papal Bulls from the fi fteenth century that have continued to negatively impact indigenous peoples.

On Sunday afternoon, we gathered with the sisters and associates of the Los Angeles province for conversation. Each member of the Congregational Leadership Team spoke about their transition to their new ministry. We asked the sisters how they have experienced these fi rst weeks and months of responding to the Calls to Action, invited them to speak to us about what they need from us, and explored together what is needed for us to continue to be and act as one.

We discussed the section entitled “additional Chapter decisions,” especially those related to evaluation of the selections review committee and the planning for the next selection process.

On Monday afternoon, we “gathered the graces,” as each participant spoke of how she had experienced our time together, and we concluded with a prayer of gratitude and blessing for the members of the St. Louis and Los Angeles Province Leadership Teams as they complete their service on CLG.

Th roughout these full, rich days, there were light moments and more serious moments; in all, we experienced anew what it means to be sister to one another and what it means to be the Congregation of the Great Love of God!


Source and SummitBy Associate Mary Kay Christian, liturgist

Liturgy

March5 Ash Wednesday Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m. 7 Celtic Soul Concert8 Celtic Soul Retreat12 Lenten Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.15 50th Jubilee Mass19 Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.19 Feast of St. Joseph Mass26 Lenten Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.

April2 Lenten Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m. 9 Lenten Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.16 Holy Week Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.23 Easter Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.30 Easter Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.

Liturgy Calendar

January was very busy for the Motherhouse Chapel with the Chapter of Elections meetings creating a spirit of energy, wisdom and grace. On February 12 we hosted Megan McKenna, the author, storyteller and prophet to share her wisdom with us. In March, the associates will welcome their newest members with a Mardi Gras Mass. Don’t miss our Celtic Soul Concert featuring Irish musicians, Owen and Moley O’Súilleabháin performing with local musicians Stickley and Canan for an evening of Celtic music on Friday, March 7. Another great opportunity to enrich your own Celtic Soul will be on Saturday, March 8 the next day when Owen and Moley will be joined by Kimberly Schneider for a Celtic Soul Retreat. We are happy to be able to provide hospitality, prayer, learning and entertainment in our chapel for close to a thousand people in these fi rst few months of 2014! And if you are looking for inspiration on your Lenten journey, be sure to look at our prayer blog, Together We Pray, at togetherwepray.com.

Peace!Mary Kay Christian

www.togetherinfaithseries.com

FEB 12: Who Do You Say I Am?An Evening with Megan McKenna

MAY 17-18: Luke Live!: Scripture and SongConcert, Retreat & Mass with Father James Diluzio

MARCH 7-8: Celtic Soul ExperienceConcert & Retreat with Owen & Moley O Súilleabháin and Friends

DEC. 15: Go to JosephPresentation by artist Brother

Michael “Mickey” McGrath

NOV. 15-16: Healing HarpRetreat & Concert with spiritual

healing harpist Amy Camie

OCT. 22: A Tale of Two Histories

An STL 250th Event with Sister Joan Whittemore, CSJ

www.csjsl.org

Together in Faith Series

Celtic Soul ExperienceMeet Owen & Moley

Owen & Moley O Súilleabháin are singers, speakers, composers and brothers from Ireland. They write their own songs as well as sing sacred song from many traditions.

Owen (33) & Moley (29) learned a store of sacred song from their mother, Dr. Nóirín Ni Riain. They began performing with her in an a capella vocal trio in 2004. The brothers learned Gregorian chant, Irish sean nos (ancient traditional) song, and hymns.

The brothers also write songs together. Their only goal was to write songs that lift and apprentice the human heart to generosity and gratitude, and the songs must also be “groovy!” Owen is a world class guitar player and Moley is one of Irelands greatest rappers and human beatboxers. Owen and Moley are now living in New York City. They have just released a third album of a capella sacred songs from many traditions.

Meet Owen and Moley in their own words...

February 11th, 2014New York

Dear Sisters and the Community of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St Louis,

On Friday and Saturday, the 7th and 8th of March, my brother and I will be visiting you in the great gateway city of St. Louis. For us, this is a real return to the journey that our mother Nóirín Ní Riain, and our father Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin started 30 years ago.

Along with the great poet, philosopher and mystic John O’Donaghue, our parents were part of a great rediscovery and redemption of the Irish Celtic tradition. Many times in Ireland’s history has this lineage been called upon, but during the time of John, this ancient Celtic wisdom met with that contemporary energy of Globalization, and something very special happened.

Th is was the time of the New-Age, the fi rst time we spoke of World Music or the Global Village, and within this dizzying context perhaps the intimacy of local wisdom was amplifi ed in a very curious way.

Th e work of the poet David Whyte has also been pivotal, especially within the context of the United States, and how the culture of the corporation is having to sit down and have a real adult conversation with itself, and with the globe it fi nds itself Globalizing.

Now, for the past two years, my brother and I have been retracing the steps of our parents, of John O’Donaghue, and of David Whyte, and we have been singing the songs of our heritage, telling the stories that have been passed down to us, but also, just as importantly, reimagining and reinventing our self-expression in a way that is totally authentic for us and for the audience.

We know that there is a story greater than ourselves at play here; a story that we all share together that will only really become apparent in clear light of hindsight.

Till then, let’s share together in the moment and celebrate and rejoice together on these very special days in beautiful St Louis.


Senior Ministry

GleaningsFinding Your Worth in Your Wisdom Years

by Sister Bonnie Murray

On February 12 more than 50 of our sisters gathered at Carondelet to refl ect upon the meaning of their lives in these elder years.

Sister Mary Hopkins, OP told them that this is a blessed time, a time for healing

of any anger or grief that may have been suppressed within them over the years, a time for forgiveness (toward themselves and others), and a great time to tell their stories (passing their legacy on to those coming behind them).

In regards to anger, S. Mary said that persons can be angry for a long time about something they have not understood correctly. A painful memory needs to be gotten outside of oneself, shared with someone. She suggested writing a letter to the person (living or dead), don’t send the letter but read it and then tear it up. It may off er an insight into how to proceed in letting go of the anger.

When people are grieving a loss, they do not want to hear the following myths: don’t feel bad; grieve alone; time heals all; be strong for others; keep busy. Instead, they need to give themselves all the time and space for mourning their loss; otherwise, grief gets buried deep inside, festers, leading to an illness (often serious) as a consequence.

Th e elder years are a time of “being,” more so than “doing.” For this reason, it is critical that we grow in contemplation. As the years pass, we are to age faithfully, knowing that every stage of our lives is pure gift from our loving God. We may note that we are experiencing longer life spans. Could it be because our “wisdom” is greatly needed in our world?

S. Mary presented several questions for refl ection:

• Who are we when we pass from doing to being?

• Who are we when we’re nothing other than who we are?

• How do we let go of the feelings of not being useful, of wasting time, by simply being?

• What are the graces of living into a ministry of being?

Th roughout the day, S. Mary stressed the importance of telling our stories, passing on the wisdom of our years. Th ere is an African proverb that says: “when a person dies, a whole library is burned to the ground.” She asked, “What do we need to do so that our libraries don’t burn to the ground when we die?” She then strongly urged us to write our life stories, to give our oral histories.

S. Jane Behlmann has made this project much easier for us by giving us suggested outlines for written and oral histories. Log in to Members Only at www.csjsl.org and click on Senior Ministry/Wisdom of Elderhood to fi nd the outlines to get you started with passing on the legacy of your life. Don’t let your archive fi le be empty! Your life is precious, a gift from God to be shared.

Are you wondering about the owl graphic at the beginning of this article? Th is group of sisters decided that since they didn’t belong to the “swarm of bees” (women in religious community since 1968) or to the “WOW” group (Women of Wisdom 65-75 years), they would be known as the “OWL” group—older, wiser lovers. I believe that all of us aged 65+ are “WOWs” and “OWLs!”

When forg iveness i s needed, remember that forg iveness i s a choice

between stay ing b i t ter or gett ing better. Mar y Hopk ins

www.csjsl.org

Vocation/Formation

“Wherever good things are happening, there are likely to be Sisters involved,” states the proposal from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, calling for a national campaign to boost awareness of women religious. Rosemarie Nassif, SSND, director of Th e Catholic Sisters Initiative, launched in February 2013 by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, was inspired by her experience as a university president to fold that campaign into the well-established Women’s History Month. Sister Rosemarie fashioned a three-year grant to propose a specifi c plan to raise the visibility of women religious.

Th is resulted in a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to St. Catherine University, St. Paul, Minn., which plans to bring national visibility to the contributions of women religious, whose far-reaching work on the frontlines of social change, women’s leadership, healthcare, education and the Church remains relatively unknown. A key initiative of the three-year project will be the launch of National Catholic Sisters Week, March 8-14, 2014, as part of Women’s History Month.

Th e ultimate goal is to create “fertile ground” to help more young women consider a call to religious life. “Will this mean that thousands of women will enter religious life? No, probably not,” Sister Rosemarie says. “But we’ve got to off er a chance. Even if women are inspired to live their lives diff erently outside the convent, the eff ort will be worthwhile.”

Th e intent is to ignite a movement around the lives and the contributions of sisters in ways that inspire girls and women to picture themselves among the ranks of these women religious. Molly Dever Hazelton and Mary Soher, OP, were named co-executive directors. Hazelton is a professor of library and information science at St. Catherine’s University; Soher, of Henderson, Nev., has been a member of the Adrian Dominicans since 1996.

During its inaugural year, all are encouraged to be part of igniting this movement by announcing National Catholic Sisters Week in schools, parishes, hospitals, local civic arenas and more. Please think of ways to promote National Catholic Sisters Week in your particular area. You are invited to share your ideas with either Molly Hazelton at [email protected] or Mary Soher, OP, at [email protected].

National Catholic Sisters Week: March 8-14To ignite a movement around the lives and the contributions of Catholic sisters.

by Sister Linda Markway

In honor of National Catholic Sisters Week, you are invited to the viewing

of Band of Sisters documentary.

Thursday, March 136:00-7:30 p.m.

OR Sunday, March 16

2:00-3:30 p.m.

Carondelet Ministry Building

Bring a friend who wants to know more about Catholic sisters.

Snacks and drinks will be provided.

Please RSVP to Sister Linda Markway at 314-678-0315 or [email protected].

Band of Sisters is a documentary about the remarkable transformation of Catholic nuns in the United States and how they embraced Vatican II’s call to serve where there was the greatest need. The fi lm focuses on the life experiences and current-day stories of more than a dozen nuns. Many of them have been central agents in the great social movements of our time. The sisters belong to different congregations from across the United States.


BackgroundTh e weekend retreat entitled “Conversations on Our Early Foundings: Our Inclusive Roots from Medaille to Mother St. John” was held on June 14-16, 2013 at St. Norbert Abbey in DePere, WI, led by Consuela DeBiase, CSJ (Brentwood). Connie is the only living member of all the Federation Research Teams who conducted research on our early foundings in France. Th e U. S. Federation sponsored two projects. Connie was part of both projects; the second which was completed only after the deaths of both Father Marius Nepper, SJ and Julie Harkins, CSJ (Boston). Alexandra Guliano, Shawn Madigan, and Judy Miller organized the retreat which included prayer, rituals, social time, and refl ection. Th irty-six participants included sisters, associates, and ministry partners. Ages ranged from 24 to 86 years, female and male from the St. Louis and St. Paul provinces. Participants submitted questions on our early foundings, spirituality, “primitive documents,” maxims, and more. While Connie recounted the “story” of the research, she opened the world of 16th century France and clues that were uncovered regarding the origins of the Sisters of St. Joseph. She explained that the second project of the U.S. Federation resulted in the Research Team visiting over sixty (60) locations of early foundings and combed through archives and attics to search for any documents related to our history. Th is team returned with sixty-seven folders of documents (in French) from sixty-two (62) locations, and an amazing amount of insight was gleaned on how the institute started. Th ese 67 folders were submitted to the Federation Archives and are now in the Avila University Library in Kansas City, Mo., and are in the process of being digitized. Unfortunately, these documents were never translated in their entirety. Additionally, due to several factors, the Research Team was disbanded before any of the material could be interpreted and distributed more widely throughout the Federation. Th e research teams began in 1969 and continued through the 1980s.

While Connie was working on her M.A. in Ignatian Spirituality from Creighton University, she took the opportunity to interpret the research she did for the second project and compiled a 200+ page document as an independent study. In the early 1980s, she gave several talks on our spirituality—charism, mission, mystic apostle, and others. Not wanting Connie’s research to “get lost,” Judy, Shawn, and Alexandra made a request to Betty Leiwe, CSJ to request of the St. Louis Province Leadership approval of an “Archives Project” for our St. Louis Province Archives that would consist of obtaining Connie’s research and writing on that research, audios of her talks, and any other pertinent and precious archival material on our early foundings. Th ese would be preserved in the St. Louis Province Archives. Approval was given, and funding was approved for Alexandra, Shawn, and Judy to travel to Madison, Conn., to meet with Connie to gather these materials and learn more about the background of each. Th ey completed this mission October 27 through November 1, 2013.

Follow-UpNext steps include editing of the main document interpreting the early foundings and making it more widely available through an e-book or hard copy, reviewing the audios and also making these available, and continuing the “Conversations” retreat where there is interest. Currently, the St. Paul province is interested in hosting the retreat for July 18-19, 2014 in St. Paul.

Materials Currently Available1. Audio of the entire “Conversations” retreat is available by

request (see CSJ messages e-mail).

2. Video of entire “Conversations” retreat is also available (see CSJ Messages).

Submissions to St. Louis Province Archives as of 11/11/2013A. Audio CDs by Consuela DeBiase, CSJ

1. Living the Paschal Mystery

Spirituality Archives ProjectFrom the Spirituality Committee

Spirituality Committee

www.csjsl.org

2. Prayer CSJ Style

3. Feminine in the Charism

4. Prophetic Call to Our Charism

5. Body Without a Body

6. Joy and Prayer

7. Contemplation in Action (2 disks)

8. Th e Mystical and Contemplative Dimension to Our Charism (4 disks)

B. Audio of “Conversations on Our Early Foundings: Our Inclusive Roots from Medaille to Mother St. John”

C. Video of “Conversations on Our Early Foundings: Our Inclusive Roots from Medaille to Mother St. John

D. Writings1. Summary paper on Early Foundings and Spirituality

2. Picture of the remains of library archives from a small village in southern France

3. 1983 Progress Report of the Federation Team on the Origins (summarizes the 67 folders)

4. “Dictionnaire de l’Academie” in French

5. “A Promised Wedding” by Connie DeBiase, CSJ

6. Document written by Marius Nepper, SJ on the 300th Anniversary of Jean-Pierre Medaille’s death (in French)

7. “Charism of the Congregation of St. Joseph” by Bette Moslander, CSJ

8. “Christian Life Communities for Jesuit University Students” by Th omas Rausch, SJ (which provides a context for “our founding”)

9. Chronology of the Province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyon (copy of original)

10. Listing of resources research in Avila University Archives

E. Th e “Real Treasure”—“Monastic and Apostolic Infl uences in the Origins of the Sisters of St. Joseph 1650-1792”—Consuela DeBiase, CSJ

(Th is is the work that is currently being edited for wider distribution.)

Members of the Spirituality Committe include Sisters Pat Giljum (PL Liaison), Betty Leiwe, chair, Lisa Lazio, Shawn Madigan, Marilyn Peot and Kathleen Regan, and Associates Alexandra Guliano, Michelle Piranio and Mary Kay Christian

Golden Jubilee Celebration

Reception of

Saturday, March 1511:00 a.m. Mass, followed by lunch

RSVP by March 6 [email protected] or

314-481-8800

St. Joseph Day CelebrationWednesday, March

Mass at 5:00 p.m., followed by dinnerCarondelet Motherhouse

RSVP by Wednesday, March 12 to 314-481-8800 or [email protected].

h D C l b


Justice

A Place for Usby Anna Sandidge, justice coordinator

Anna Sandidge

2014

If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14:3

We have a new family member due to arrive any day now. And there has been a lot of chaotic preparation for her arrival. At this time in our lives my husband and I never expected to ready a nursery. We’ve had the joy of caring for our six-year-old grandson two to three nights a week and in a few days his newborn sister may be joining him. It’s a challenge to prepare for new life, especially as our role and expected availability are unknown. Will we still be needed two or three overnights each week, more, less? And for someone like myself who needs to be prepared and have a couple of contingency plans waiting for this unknown to be revealed, this is more than a little unsettling.

I can’t help but marvel at the joys and courage it takes to welcome new life. Especially when we thought we were in a diff erent season of “being.” When I look at what is ahead of us in the coming year for the justice ministry and the community, what new life must we prepare for? We are talking about partnering with “new eyes” and stepping into the unknown as we look at the role of the community and the world around us. We are testing new ways, discerning next steps and waiting to see what is needed and expected of us. And we are preparing our hearts to say “yes,” even as we don’t know what we are saying “yes” to.

During her visit with us, Megan McKenna invited us to ask of ourselves, “Do you know who you are?” She shared that when we know who we are in the community of Christ, we know what is being asked of us. But it requires we do this

together, in community, in conversation, in prayer. We are not individuals on a private journey but on a shared journey with others and with God. And in that we fi nd revealed to us how we are to live and serve the kindom, here and now.

We have been blessed this past year to be steeped in the revelations and wisdom we gathered from chapter. As a community, we are preparing for “new life,” saying “yes” but not sure what the yes will become or what specifi cally is being committed to in that “yes.” Who will be living into this “yes” with us? And how do we remain open to the call of the Holy Spirit even as we try to prepare for the unknown? Will our time be spent meeting immediate needs of others or just being a loving presence that models gospel living? Are they one in the same and how will we know? And are we willing to be prepared to live with the unknown?

Th e community has challenged one another to engage in courageous conversations worthy of giving our lives, and what can be more courageous or worthy than welcoming, nurturing and supporting new life? I’m looking forward to seeing where our justice ministry takes us together and welcome hearing your revelations as we prepare for this new life, together.

April 5, 2014St. Louis

Doing Ordinary Things with Extraordinary Lovewith Becky Holley, CSJ & Mary Jo Logan, CSJ

Kansas CityGetting Older, Getting Better

with Donna Gunn, CSJFor more information and to register, visit www.csjsl.org.

www.csjsl.org

Ecological Spirituality Committee

Climate Change Footprint of January ChapterFrom Associate Diana Oleskevich

Did You Know? 28% of 2011 greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation! Primarily it comes from burning fossil fuel for our cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes. Over 90% of the fuel used for transportation is petroleum based, which includes gasoline and diesel.

Travel mileage and mode of transportation was collected and totaled so that we can all understand what impact our chapter gathering has on Earth. Th is is one action coming out of our Congregational Calls to Action: Communion Within the Earth Community. Th erefore we commit ourselves to ask in each deliberation “How does this decision/action impact the Earth Community?”

What is a climate footprint? It’s the measure of the full set of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) emissions caused by a defi ned event (such as Province Chapter). GHG emitted aff ects global warming. Sometimes it is referred to as a ecological footprint. Th e larger the ‘footprint’, the greater potential damage/impact to Earth.

What is a Carbon Offset? Carbon off setting is used to compensate for your emissions by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving elsewhere. Off setting our carbon footprint funds wind power projects, or reforestation projects that produce measurable benefi ts to the atmosphere.

Th e projects in off set programs (with international standards) help reduce or slow the worst consequences of climate change and protect habitats and the natural services they provide to clean our air.

Our province’s carbon off set donation would support VCS verifi ed carbon reduction projects around the world to reduce carbon emissions from displacement of fossil fuels used in travel to this session of Chapter, through clean / renewable energy generation (wind/solar power).

Each of us contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. Yet, there are many things each of us, as individuals, and together as a community, can do to reduce our carbon emissions. Th e choices we make in our homes, our travel, the food we eat, and what we buy and throw away all infl uence our carbon footprint and can help ensure a stable climate for future generations.

For more information visit www.carbonfootprint.com or www.nature.org/greeenliving/carboncalculator.

Th is Carbon Footprint Assessment of the January session of Province Chapter was sponsored by the Ecological Spirituality Committee.

12 walked or had no distance travelled (live in Motherhouse!) HOORAY!!

2 train trips = 2,300 miles, only 0.05 metric tons of CO2 – offset cost $4.30

27 carpools = 3,240 miles (for all 5 days of travel to Chapter) – 0.9 metric tons of CO2,

And 40 drove singly, all alone for 7,175 miles – 2.01 metric tons of CO2,

Carbon offset to wind power for all car travel = $37.45

14 plane trips = 4.64 metric tons CO2 – offset cost to wind power: $57.00

This chapter used @ 7.6 Metric Tons of CO2 – TOTAL OFFSET COST: $137.45.

(Multiply by 4 = 34.4 TONS of CO2 for total for all sessions of Chapter)


Sharing of the Heart

Visit with Herbert Smullsby Sister Pat Murphy

“I am peaceful.”

Th ese words were spoken to me by Herbert Smulls while he waited for the verdict regarding a “stay” of execution.

Arriving early at the Regional site in Bonne Terre, Mo., I signed in and was asked my business. A phone communication alerted someone in another building that Herbert Smulls had a friend visiting him.

I was to keep my coat since it was so cold and I needed to walk to another building. My coat and cane were x-rayed, but keys and other objects were stored in a locker. With my driver’s license and locker key in hand, I walked through the security door, and was given directions as to which other doors would take me where I needed to be. I continued unescorted! Each door was electronically opened and locked behind me and a warden of some rank checked my ID (driver license) at various places. I was directed to Room 2 where I waited for Herbert Smulls to be brought. Th is was a small cubicle with a wall containing a thick glass window separating me from the other side. Communication was to be done via phone.

After about a 10-minute delay, a warden and two other guards brought Herbert to the opened door on his side. Th ey gently unbuttoned his coat and removed it before allowing him into his side of the cubicle. His hands were manacled together and connected with a chain around his waist. His feet were also chained, allowing enough linkage for walking. Every time he needed a hand (to reach for the phone, or to wipe his tears and nose) both hands had to move together, often disturbing his glasses which then needed to be righted. I desperately wanted to unlock his chains and clean those glasses!

As you may know, he and I have corresponded for nearly eight years, but we had never met. Today [ January 28, the morning prior to his scheduled execution date] we met for the fi rst time and I became privy to parts of his life that I had not yet heard. I knew he was adopted because I had met his birth-mother at a court hearing several years ago. He says his adoptive home was a good one, although it was still in the ghetto. He was quite gifted athletically, and I have found him very good intellectually, also. Th e family and he had high hopes that he could get a scholarship and end up playing with the NBA.

www.csjsl.org

However, about the time he was 19 years old, he had a shotgun pointed at him. He raised his hand and knocked the gun down as the gun went off . Th e result, a badly disfi gured and functionally disabled hand ended his hopes athletically. He felt he had failed himself and his family. He had no chance of success in his own mind. Th ere was no one in his life who could point him in a new positive direction, either.

In our conversation Herbert pointed out that choices open to a person in the ghetto are quite diff erent from what a middle-class person could choose. What you have neither seen nor been exposed to certainly wouldn’t cross your mind as an option at a time like this. He was so discouraged that he “joined” the violence in his neighborhood; in his words, he “went down the wrong path.”

I’m not clear about the next part. He admits being at the jewelry store to steal; however, he claims that he and his younger friend “left” and he does not know how the murder “went down.” In retrospect, I wonder if he was not physically present or if it was his mind that “left the premises.” What if he was on drugs or got too frightened to think straight? If that is true, Herbert feels that it clearly was not premeditated on his part and should not have been judged worthy of the death-penalty.

We talked about many things while we were together. When I asked him where his heart and mind were regarding the expected execution at midnight, he seemed to be at peace. He talked about his Bible and the phone connections he has with several prayer groups. I asked him about his feelings regarding the possibility of the 60-day stay. He stated that he did not want to “go through this again” referring to the move to this facility. He would rather have stayed at Potosi where the guards knew him and he was comfortable with them. Here in Bonne Terre they are all strangers to each other. He feels violated over the fact that his “space” has a full glass side with two guards observing him at every second. He can’t even go to the toilet without being watched. (Is the goal to keep him from committing suicide which would prevent the state from executing him?)

However, in the next string of conversation following his claim that he doesn’t want to go through this again, Herbert talked of the hope that, given 60 days, there is the possibility that the death penalty will be dropped in Missouri. At this time I felt that he was thinking he had 60 days rather than 24 hours.

Some of the more personal moments involved our sharing feelings for one another. He was happy that I had declined the invitation to witness the actual execution. Th en he got “ecstatic” knowing I planned to come and visit with him. He was aware of my discomfort after sitting for so long, knowing from my letters that I had had recent back surgery. It was he who terminated our visit because he did not want me to be so uncomfortable. Th at, coming from a man facing imminent death!

Once he stood up and nodded to the warden standing just outside the door, I also stood. He was agitated over the fact that it was taking them so long (maybe 10 minutes) to bring the guards who would take him back to his holding cell. I made gestures to let him know I was okay with this, and he gave me a broad smile. As he was readied to leave his side of the cubicle, phones having been hung up, his coat on and buttoned, he mouthed “I love you” to me through the glass. I was able to say “I love you” back at him. Leaving the visiting area seemed so fi nal to me. I also shed tears.

Instead of being executed at 12:01 am as originally scheduled, the “stay” request wasn’t settled until much later. Th is gave me the opportunity to call him on the phone around 11:30 the following morning. He claimed to still be peaceful, not agitated. He was trusting God to be with him. His actual execution took place at 10:20 pm. For sure, Herbert Smulls is now at peace with our God of Peace.

Th e following is from our own PNN ( January 2014). Jean Iadevito quoted it from Judy Cannato’s book, Field of Compassion. I found it to be my own prayer as well…

Incomprehensible Holy Mystery in and through your grace I can hold the gift of this moment in time. Help me embrace each and every resurrection, every experience of self-transcendence and self-dissolution that invites me to enfl esh compassion and love in the world. May I continue to grow in my capacity to witness so that I may form intentions that are life-giving for all. May I engage the new story of connectedness in a way that facilitates my own evolution and calls others to evolve as well. May we together manifest a Field of Compassion, a place where the holy and human converge in grace. Amen.


Sharing of the Heart

I shared this prayer anthem with my local community and off er it now for your use. Th e fi rst verse emerged intact many months ago. It felt like direct inspiration, with no eff ort on my part, becoming my fi rst thought of each day’s waking. Th e second verse came more recently and expresses some of the realities I have been praying with since chapter, such as:

• Change is inevitable; transformation involves choice.

• Th e ways of growth take time to unfold; outcomes are uncertain.

• Desire to grow alternates with fear of the unknown.

• Transformation births new relationships.

• Our trust is in the One who wants our best humanity to reach its fullness.

In our Calls to Action set forth by the General Chapter we promise and profess that we deeply want to be in communion with Earth and with the People of God as we claim our CSJ charism and to partner with New Eyes. May we be a community of grace who daily discern a new vision evolving, transforming, and shaping our way.

So what is YOUR sharing-of-the-heart song? You might give it expression by adding another verse to the one below, or by setting your words to that melody that hums in your head. (If you want others to chime in, be sure your music is in the Public Domain and not copyrighted.)

CSJ Prayer AnthemLoving God, I thank you for the light of day.

Rising up to greet the morn, how am I to pray?

Will I lin-ger, think of You, will I see your face

In the ones who walk with me, and their needs embrace?

Holy One, companion us as we walk new ways.

Let us “see with new eyes,” seeking common gaze.

Help us wel-come deeper change in our lives, our souls

Risking “now” for what might be, if our hearts are bold.

Music: Chant, mode V, Adoro te devoteText © 2014.Carol Brouillette, CSJ

What is Your ‘Sharing-of-the-Heart’ Song?by S. Carol Brouillette

Loving God,by your grace,Catholic Sisters throughout the worldcontinue to respond to your Baptismal invitationto live lives dedicated to prayer and loving service.

Enkindle in their heartsa renewed desire to be zealous servants of the Gospeland continuing signs of your presence in our world.

Preserve and strengthen in themthe passion and the visionto welcome and to serve all your people without hesitation or pause.

As they strive to live the missionof their respective congregations,

empower them to do so withcourageous simplicity,consecrated celibacy,

and committed obedience to your will.

We ask this in union with Jesus the Christ,

who showed these dedicated women the way to living in union with you.

Amen.

Mary Rose Romeo, SSJ

National Catholic Sisters Week is possible because of a generous,

three-year grant provided by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

National Catholic Sisters WeekMarch 8-14

www.csjsl.org

“Let us place our bodies, hearts and minds in God’s presence, fi nding a comfortable position, relaxing our bodies and closing our eyes. Let us center ourselves in God.”

With this prayer our Kansas City Day of Refl ection began. On January 11 about 25 sisters and associates took part in what seems to have been a preparation for our Province Chapter. Th ose of us gathered for our chapter called ourselves “to engage in some form of daily contemplation” and “to continue to respond to the needs of the world in varied ways” and “to be accountable to the Calls to Action of the Congregational Chapter.” Our day of refl ection touched on “Our Contemplative Core and Gospel Living.”

S. Rose McLarney invited Anna Sandidge, our justice ministry coordinator, to be our retreat director. A. Mary Kay Christian, province liturgist, and S. Marilyn Peot also shared in the preparation. Each member of the team shared how important one’s personal spiritual growth impacts a fruitful gospel life. For this reason the day of refl ection focused on our commitment to our daily contemplation.

“It is now evident to all women and men of spiritual discernment that healing of the world’s woes will not come through this or that social or political theory; not through violent changes in government, but in the still small voice that speaks to the conscience and the heart.” (Arthur J. Moore)

Th e above quote was one of many that were suggested for our refl ection. During the day we addressed four questions. We had an extended period of silent refl ection with each of the following:

1. How do I experience my contemplative core?

2. When do I feel disconnected from that contemplative core?

3. What draws me back to my contemplative core?

4. When I listen to the still small voice at the core, what does it call me to?

After each time of refl ection, participants shared with others (one on one, a group of three or four, etc.) Th is sacred time of deep sharing and reverent listening became a signifi cant mode of bonding—and put us in touch with our congregation’s original inspiration. Our fi rst sisters’ communal bonding, through sharing the way God was touching their hearts, empowered them and sustained them in their ministries.

From the response of the participants, the extended quiet times for refl ection were most welcome. Such a day for many was truly a retreat—a time to come back to the basics; a time to address their own personal attention to stillness and contemplation.

• “I got so much out of this day.”

• “I am so glad I came.”

• “Hearing others share their personal feelings and experiences both inspired and challenged me.”

Th e day modeled for all of us a way to come together—to create times to be in retreat with each other. Some participants made a new commitment to continue to grow in their spiritual practices.

“Contemplation is one of the indications of spiritual maturity…You cannot save the world merely with a system. You cannot have peace without charity. You cannot have a social order without saints, mystics and prophets.” (Th omas Merton)

KC Day of Refl ectionby Sister Marilyn Peot


Open the eyes of my heart. Purify and bless my heart.

Open my heart that I might see, that I might be, something new!

Behold! Behold! I'm making something new!

Behold! Behold! I'm making something new!

~Jan Novotka~

Listen carefully. If this birth has truly taken place within you,

then no creature can any longer hinder you.

To grasp God in all things—Th at is the song of your new birth.

~Meister Eckhart~

I celebrated my 74th birthday during the last session of chapter. It was such a gift to celebrate my life with the larger CSJ Community—to know that we are all journeying toward Transformation and trusting in the Spirit at work within the Community of the Great Love of God. And in the words of Judy Cannato, “manifest a Field of Compassion, a place where the holy and human converge in grace.”

I also witnessed an entrance into a new consciousness, a willingness to enter the space of “letting come.” Carol Zinn, SSJ believes that “we are living in a time of unprecedented evolution of consciousness and conscious evolution--that is, we are living in a time of signifi cant choice—making in every aspect of our lives. We are living in a time when humans are capable of choosing to engage in their own evolution.” (LCWR Occasional Papers—Summer 2012)

S. Carol believes that we have entered a graced time when we need to “keep our eyes fi xed on the Gospel and the needs of the people of God and all creation, and place our ears on the heart of God to discern together the ‘something new’ that God is doing in and through us.”

As the chapter sessions progressed, we seemed to be more comfortable with engaging in higher levels of consciousness. Prayer, contemplation and ritual invited us to new levels of intimacy and vulnerability leading to unity. S. Carol writes that prayer and ritual “get to a deeper (higher) level of ‘knowing THAT we know’ we are all in this together, we have given our life to an eff ort/purpose way beyond literal explanation.”

Finally, we were able to come to the conclusion that we could:

Lay claim to it

Lay claim to ALL of it

All of it

All of It

ALL OF IT!

We Had Made Something New!

~S. Jean Iadevito~

Th e hour is striking so close above me,

so clear and sharp,

that all my senses ring with it.

I feel it now: there's a power in me

to grasp and give shape to my world.

I know that nothing has ever been real

without my beholding it.

All becoming has needed me.

My looking ripens things

and they come toward me, to meet and be met.

~Rainer Maria Rilke~Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God

Chapter Reflections

Behold! Behold! I’m Making Something New!by Sister Jean Iadevito

www.csjsl.org

CSJ Data

Since I began my look at the achievements of the Sisters of St. Joseph, I have marveled by the way in which symbolism and reality are intertwined. On the cusp at their very inception in LePuy, these women were serving the dear neighbor in the community, dressing as widows and making bobbin lace to serve the dear neighbor in the community. Th e threads were gathered.

Th e advent of Vatican II called for women religious to more active involvement in the social arena and to adapt outmoded customs in order to meet the needs of the contemporary Church and world. For the Sisters of St. Joseph, they needed only to return to their core of formation, how to serve the dear neighbor in the modern world. And in the 1960s and 70s, the modern world was tumultuous with issues such as the Vietnam War, civil rights, equality for women, labor/management issues and anti-nuclear convictions, escalating sensitivities to issues of social responsibility and accountability. And the sisters responded.

On the cusp was Sister Mary Anselm (Kitty) O’Brien. She led the Head Start program in St. Louis. In the article “Nun Travels As Head Start Consultant” in the Times Record, of Troy N.Y. in 1967, it states that she was the only Roman Catholic nun among 200 consultants in the federal government’s Head Start program and had traveled from the backwoods of Alabama to the Dakotas “waging a personal battle against poverty.” And due in part to her education in economics, she became a trouble shooter for the program in much of the Midwest.

We turn to Sister Barbara Jennings, who made her fi nal vows in 1974, who followed the thread from teaching at St. Teresa’s Academy to serving as a program coordinator/director at the Holy Family House and St. Agnes Home and working in program development at Wayne Miner Housing, a notorious high-rise housing project in Kansas City. She helped the dear neighbor in pastoral work, as chairperson for a task force on Catholics for Justice, as director of mission eff ectiveness for St. Joseph Hospital, and in diocesan work in the Peace and Justice Offi ce.

Today, as executive director of the Midwest Coalition for Responsible Investment, a coalition of women’s and men’s Catholic religious orders, investment advisors, and individuals working within the investment system to achieve socially conscious investing, S. Barbara continues to shape what it looks like to help the dear neighbor of the 21st century.

Th e Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet were again on the cusp of expanding the defi nition of community with the establishment of the U.S. Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph in 1966, led today by Executive Director S. Patty Johnson. Th e Federation is committed to expanding the vision to embrace the global neighborhood while reaching out to local needs. As the concept of “dear neighbor” has expanded to a “global” neighbor, it has allowed us to see the plight of all people.

In particular, the Federation’s work on preventing sex traffi cking has been a model and an inspiration for greater movements. Th e sisters have employed innovative measures to fi ght human traffi cking. Due to their persistence, a partnership was formed with Millennium hotels. Th is partnership brought the issue of human traffi cking publicly and close to home. Th e innovative partnership challenged other hotels to join in serving the “dear neighbor “globally to stop human traffi cking.

What we see upon looking back at the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet is that they have woven a beautiful pattern that is continuing into the future with serving the dear neighbor always at the core. And by looking back, we can look forward knowing that the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet will always answer God’s call, ahead of the times and on the cusp.

On the Cusp...of Justiceby Madeleine Reilly, data coordinator


Meeting Our AncestorsProfi le of an Early Sister Who Died

in the Month of MarchSister Mary Sophia Leingang

Archives

Sister Mary Sophia Leingang died at the Mother House, St. Louis, Mo. on the twenty-eighth day of March, nineteen hundred nineteen in the sixty-eighth year of her age and the fi fty-fi rst of her religious life.

For more than half a century Sister Sophia led a life hidden in God. Her daily occupation brought her not out where attention might be called to her work. Imbued with a truly religious spirit, her infl uence quietly made itself felt. To minister to the Sister’s needs was always a pleasure to Sister Sophia. For years she had the happiness of directly serving the Sanctuary by making the altar breads. She was a true Sister of St. Joseph, prayerful and recollected, yet always kind and courteous in manner. Th ere was nothing harsh or discordant in the piety of Sister Sophia; but truly genuine it clothed all her daily life with an amiability that was Christ-like.

Physical ills were not unknown to her, but they were borne uncomplainingly so that one would never guess the pain or discomfort she suff ered. Her last sickness was not of long duration, but from the fi rst, the sisters felt her end was near. She spoke little during these last days of her earthly pilgrimage, but her life had been one of recollection always. May she rest in peace! [From the Necrology Book]

Sister Mary Sophia (Rosanna) was the daughter of Magdalen Walters and Valentine Leingang. She was born in 1851 in Centreville, Illinois. She entered at Carondelet in 1868, received the habit of the lay sister on December 8, 1868, and made her vows December 8, 1870.

Sister Sophia worked her entire life at the Motherhouse performing domestic duties, as was the custom of lay sisters. Th e lay sister class in our community was abolished at the 1908 General Chapter. Sister Sophia’s younger sister, Sister Mary Aurelius Leingang, entered the community in 1877 and died at the age of 27 in 1884.

Sister Mary Sophia Leingang Sister Mary Aurelius Leingang

www.csjsl.org

Ruth Shy Wilson, CSJAOctober 3, 1929 - January 8, 2014

Whenever you give—you get back

Th e Hand of God Shall Hold You

We, associates and sisters, have been blessed to have Ruth as part of our Denver community and we wish to share part of her life’s journey.

Ruth Shy Wilson was born in southeast Iowa to a Quaker family. She was one of 10 children, one of whom is her twin brother, Roy. When Ruth was 11 years old, she contracted rheumatic fever. Her older sister, Edie, brought her to Denver to see a doctor. Th e doctor told Edie that Ruth was so sick that she could have died en route. Fortunately, Ruth recovered and was ever grateful to Edie and to God for saving her life. In gratitude, she lived her life trying to give back.

It was during her time living with her sister that Ruth learned about Catholicism from Edie’s husband, Ralph Archer, who was taught at St. Catherine’s by Sister Agnes Talbot, CSJ. After graduating from high school in Iowa, Ruth decided to return to Denver and it is there she took instruction from the Jesuits at Regis University, where she received her bachelor’s degree (one of the fi rst females to do so).

Later, Ruth made the decision to become a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet and taught as a CSJ for the next 15 years. She was known as S. Mary Raphaline and then S. Mary Ruth. It was during the early 70s that Ruth decided to leave the community and start a new chapter in her life. She settled in California where she received her master’s of arts at the University of San Diego and where she met Retired Commander Clarence Wilson in 1978.

Clarence was an aerospace engineer who worked on the early Apollo missions. A widower, he had just returned from the Peace Corps in Africa when they met in California. Th ey fell in love and married and enjoyed life together for 29 years until his death in 2007. Although Clarence was not Catholic, he enjoyed the CSJs very much and felt a close philosophical bond with them in their care of humankind. After her husband died, Ruth decided to move back to Colorado where three of her sisters lived. She said she traded the ocean for the Rockies and had not regretted it.

A few years later Ruth, who was always connected to the Sisters of St. Joseph, made her initial commitment as an associate. “Th e charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet will not go away—it will always be a process of evolving and will live on in all those whose lives the sisters have touched and molded.”

Before her death, Ruth decided to remember the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in her estate plans saying, “I love the sisters and whatever has been given, one should give back. Th ey are ingrained in my spirit and mine in them.”

And from all the members of our Denver community, we, too, say Ruth is ingrained in us.

By Sister Jean Vianney Mindak, with information previously published in Connections Spring 2011.


Sister Linda Marie Lully, CSJSeptember 27, 1938 - February 4, 2014

Humble, prayerful friend to many

Th e Hand of God Shall Hold You

Linda Marie Lully was born September 27, 1938 in New York, N.Y., the fi rst child of Edmund and Grace Uhrhane Lully. Philip, Elizabeth, Grace and Edward soon joined the family. Most of Linda’s early years were spent in a small village in New York near Long Island Sound. Due to her Dad’s work, they moved to Kentucky for fi ve years, then briefl y to Augusta, Georgia, and fi nally settled in Clarks Hill, South Carolina where her Dad was chief electrician at Clarks Hill Dam. A neighbor who worked in Augusta drove the children the twenty or so miles to and from school each day so they could attend Catholic schools.

Linda entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in September 1956. When she received the habit in 1957, she was given the name S. Grace Edmund. Her bachelor’s degree in English (minor in French), was from Fontbonne College (1962). Her 1971 master’s in English was from St. Louis University.

S. Linda’s 35 years ministering in high school began in 1961 at St. Joseph High School in Atlanta, Ga. St. Th omas Aquinas in Florissant, Mo in 1963 was next, then Valle High, Ste. Genevieve, Mo in 1968. She returned to St. Th omas Aquinas in Florissant from 1973 to 1982. Th en she went to Aquinas High School in Augusta, Ga.

S. Linda mentioned that it was there at Aquinas in Georgia where she fi nally was able to teach only math, something she loved.

S. Linda was described as fun to be with; someone who really liked her students, and a math teacher par excellence. Multi-talented, she enjoyed many activities: yearbook, helping with drama club scenery, coaching girls’ track and tennis, assisting with cheerleaders, keeping score for volleyball, and cheering on football and basketball teams wherever they played.

Many remember S. Linda’s great sense of humor. She was a good story teller and could laugh at herself. One example is the day she was making small-talk with a guest speaker who happened to be British. Suddenly, in the midst of the conversation she realized she was responding with a British accent! (She didn’t know whether to continue or to return to her normal speech.)

Whether she was with her students, or laughing at Inspector Clouseau in a Pink Panther movie, or meticulously preparing school work, or reading mystery stories, she enjoyed life. Her kindness and thoughtfulness inspired others. She accepted how God took care of the world and took life as it came.

In 1983 S. Linda was diagnosed with primary liver sclerosis. It was 1987 while she was in her classroom teaching that word came: there was a liver available. Everything was in readiness. She got her suitcase and went across the street to Daniel Field, a private airport. When she arrived in Pittsburgh, an ambulance was waiting. She had surgery that evening. Th irty days later she was ready to go home when she became very ill, near death. Recovery took another thirty days. S. Linda returned to Augusta to teach eight more years.

S. Linda began a new ministry in 1996 as a medical assistant at St. Joseph Family Care Center in Augusta, Ga. Th is was the fi rst of several medical related ministries in Augusta. In 2002 she became the Offi ce Coordinator at Summerville Professional Center and in 2003, Offi ce Coordinator at St. Joseph Hospital Medical Village. She served at Augusta Physician Services as the receptionist in 2008. From 2009 until she retired in 2013, S. Linda was a sleep studies assistant at the Pulmonary and Sleep Center of Augusta.

S. Linda was a humble, prayerful woman, a friend to many.

S. Helen Oates

www.csjsl.org

Rest in PeaceCorporation & CouncilJanuary Meeting

CORPORATION

Accepted• Minutes of Board of Directors of the

Corporation meetings held November 22, 2013

• November 2013 Financial Statements

Approved• English Tutoring Project—$10,000

• Friends of the Children of Haiti—$1,000

• YMCA Strong Community Campaign—$2,000

• Micro-fi nancing Partners Gala—$1,250

• SJA Gala—$1,400

• CSSJEA becomes division of CSJ Ministries

• Main Street Resolution

• CSJ Ballot Vote Provision

• Personnel Handbook

COUNCIL

Accepted• Minutes of the Province Council Meetings

held November 21, 2013

Approved• Travel Requests (4)

• Patrimony Request (1)

Discussed• 2014 Assembly

• Avila Board Recommendations

• End-of-Term Liturgy Program

Updated• Formation

• Mortuary/Burial Procedures

• WOW Weekend

• NLC Spring Party

Bulletin Board

19212526

S. Joyce Hampel (LA)Jean Mooren, sister of S. Jean Paul SelissenS. Edith Joseph Runck (SP)Jack Strizek, brother of S. Ann Strizek

January

39

1623

Kenneth Quin, brother of S. Marjorie QuinAnna Ade, mother of Associate Toni O’ConnellS. St. George Skurla (LA)Aliceann Gruber, mother of S. Laura Ann GruberS. Mary Jane Ruoff

February

Associate Sue Allender Celebrates 30 Years Working at the Motherhouse

“Wow...30 years...I can’t believe it!”

On Jan. 9, Associate Sue Allender celebrated her 30th year as a member of the motherhouse’s housekeeping staff .

“I have seen a lot of changes throughout the years,” says Sue. “I have met and become friends with a lot of sisters; and I have learned a lot from them.”

Sue was hired by the late Sister Clara Francis Mongin on Jan. 9, 1984.

“She was my boss, but she became a best friend to me and my family after working at the motherhouse.”

On her special day, Sue was treated to a morning out for breakfast by Motherhouse Administrator Marion Renkens, along with her coworkers, friends and a few CSJs. She was also surprised with a bouquet of fl owers and a gift from the CSJs.

“Th ank you to all of the CSJ community for your generous support during my 30 years at the motherhouse!”

PROVINCE CalendarLEADERSHIP Calendar


NEXT ISSUE: April PNN & Directory ChangesSubmission Deadline: March 21 • Publication Date: April 4

For a complete PNN schedule, visit Members Only at www.csjsl.org.

March4-5 STA Accreditation (PC)7 Celtic Concert (PG, SW)8 KC Sectional (HF)8 St. Louis Sectional (PG, JM)8 Atlanta Sectional (LB, PC)12 STA Board Mtg. (PC)13 LCWR Breakfast (PC, HF, PG)15 50th Jubilee Celebration (LB, PC, HF, PG, JM, SW)16 Jubilees, NLC (PC, HF, PG, JM, SW)19 Feast of St. Joseph Mass & Dinner (HF, PG, JM, SW)20 CWIT Board Mtg. (SW)20 Vocation/Formation Staff Mtg. (JM)21-23 Leadership Mtgs. (PL)24 St. Joseph Academy Board Mtg. (PG)25-27 LCWR Region X, Dubuque (PC, HF, PG)

April2 Department Head Mtg. (PC, PG)1-3 Chicago Bishop’s Mtg. (HF)4-5 Tabitha Grant Selection Committee (PC)9 PCRI Mtg. (HF)9 CWIT Executive Committee Mtg. (SW)10 LCWR Breakfast (HF, PG)11 Marian Middle School Dinner (PC, JM)14 Development Advisory Committee Mtg. (HF)17 CWIT Board Mtg. (SW)23 Nazareth Ministry Committee Mtg. (JM, SW)25 Generosity of Joseph Gala (LB, PC, PG, SW)25-26 Leadership Mtgs. (PL)27 PL Mtg. w/New Leadership Team (PL)29 NLC Spring Party (PL)29-30 LCWR Region I Mtg. (NC)30 PCRI Mtg. (HF)

May2-3 Fontbonne Committee Mtgs. (HF, SW)3 60th Jubilee Celebration (PC, HF, PG, JM, SW)5 STA Golf Tournament (PC)7-8 Investment Managers Mtgs. (PC, HF, PG, SW)8 LCWR Breakfast (HF)8 Dr. Golden Retirement Dinner (HF, SW)9 Avila Board Mtg. (PC)10 Avila Graduation (PC)10 Government Committee Mtg. (NC)

The PL calendar is also available in Members Only at csjsl.org.

March4 Dining to Donate KC, Garozzo’s Ristorante7 Celtic Soul Concert (Together in Faith Event Series)8 Celtic Soul Retreat (Together in Faith Event Series)8-9 Spring Sectionals15 50th Jubilee Celebration19 St. Joseph Day Celebration26 Dining to Donate STL, Favazza’s on the Hill

April5 Linger Over Breakfast with Becky Holley, CSJ & Mary Jo Logan, CSJ5 Linger Over Breakfast KC with Donna Gunn, CSJ6 Mark Twain Chorale International Concert25 Generosity of Joseph Gala

*All events at Carondelet Motherhouse unless otherwise noted.

For more event listings and details, visit our Members Only Calendar of Events at csjsl.org.

Celtic Soul ExperienceMarch 7-8

Get your tickets today!Join us for this amazing musical performance—

you won’t want to miss it!

Discounted tickets for CSJ sisters only are still available. Contact Sarah Baker at 678-0378 or [email protected].

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.togetherinfaithseries.com.

ATTN: APRIL

PNN DATE

CHANGES!!

SEE NOTE

ON PAGE 2!!

province news notes feb/march 2014

Documents

louis province februarymarch

joseph of carondelet

loving service

loving god

herbert smullspages

spirituality committee

inmate herbert smulls

sister pat murphy shares