Sisters Celebrate Black History Month at St. Francis of Assisi School

Greenwood, Mississippi—As families and friends of St. Francis of Assisi School gathered for the Black History Month Program Fr. Greg led the assembly in prayer. Sister Mary Ann Tuby offered announcements and thanked the teach-ers and staff for all their hard work. She specially acknowledged Mr. Travis Walls, the Music Director.

The entire student body joined togeth-er to open the program with the Gos-pel song, I’m So Glad.

The pre-kindergarten class focused on Black Figures in Literature. They recited the poem by Carol Oaks, Ruby Bridges Shows the Way followed by sing-ing; Every Move I Make. Their move-ments showed great enthusiasm

After a grand march entrance from the back of the church the kindergarteners presented Black Catholic Leaders in the Church. They sang a Swahili song, We are Marching and shared the lives of Father Augustine Tolton and Sister Thea Bowman. As the boys spoke the girls had motions and then the girls spoke with the boys gesturing.

This was followed by Black Inventors given by the first grade. Their recita-tion was What Would the World Be Like If There Were No Black People? We learned of all the inventions given us by Black people. They also sang a song, Eye on the Prize with a guest performer, BB King! This brought many laughs from the audience.

The second graders had prepared; Black History and St. Francis of As-sisi Mission, Greenwood. Sister Elena interviewed one of our parish-ioners, Mrs. Edith Spells. Sister got information about her life growing up in the Delta at the time of the Civil Rights Movement. Mrs. Spells shared the ways St. Francis of Assisi Mission had shaped and blessed her life. The information was turned into a script featuring visits from Father Nathaniel and two Franciscan Sisters of St. Jo-seph who served here in the days of segregation.

Black Athletes were presented by the third grade. They recalled for us the lives of Lusia Harris Stewart, Jackie Robinson, and Jackie Joyner Kersee. The song which the class sang beauti-fully was I Believe I Can Fly.

The “Sisters and Father Nathaniel” led the second graders in singing; Sanctuary, a song dear to the members of St. Francis of Assisi Parish.

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Volume 50 Issue 3

March 2016

Looking at each of their faces you could see how glad and eager they were!

Continued on page 4.

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Mass with Pope Francis in Juarez, Mexico

To have the opportunity to be at Mass with Pope Francis is a tremendous gift! To have had the oppor-tunity to be there with some of my students and staff of San Miguel makes it an even greater gift! To have been at the Mass in the Mexican city of Juarez, on the border with El Paso, TX along with immigrants and refugees on both sides of the border; after spending time ministering with so many coming from terrible situations in search of a peaceful place to live and raise their children was beyond words.

Pope Francis gave words to the world in his homily.

In this Year of Mercy, with you here, I beg for God’s mercy; with you I wish to plead for the gift of tears, the gift of conversion.

Here in Ciudad Juárez, as in other border areas, there are thousands of immigrants from Central America and other countries, not forgetting the many Mexicans who also seek to pass over “to the other side.” Each step, a journey laden with grave injustices: the enslaved, the imprisoned and extorted; so many of these brothers and sisters of ours are the consequence of a trade in human beings…

…Let us together ask our God for the gift of conver-sion, the gift of tears, let us ask him to give us open hearts like the Ninevites, open to his call heard in the suffering faces of countless men and women. No more death! No more exploitation! There is still time to change, there is still a way out and a chance, time to implore the mercy of God.

The words at the end of the Mass by Bishop Jose Rene Planco, bishop of Juarez, gave voice for all who were present when he thanked Pope Francis for his pastoral care, solidarity and presence. He emphasized that the Pope’s visit gave hope, consolation and direction for all.

Being able to attend this Papal Mass was a truly part of the Lenten journey. Our San Miguel School is part of a large Lasallian network with representative students from schools in Mexico and the U.S. that attended the Mass. There were about 130 of us. We spent Tuesday night at a center in Mexico sleeping on the floor with sleeping bags. The day of the Mass began with wake up at 4:30a.m., prayer, breakfast burritos and on the bus to arrive at the site by 7:00a.m. which began the longtime of standing in line with hundreds of thou-sands of people waiting to get into the site of the Mass.

We finally got into the site around 1:30p.m. Next be-gan the longtime of standing, waiting for the Pope’s arrival. The site was a dusty dirt sort of field (no grass), although some did sit in the dirt, most of the hundreds of thousands of us simply stood and visited and sang with the beautiful choirs and bands. We were in the yellow section which was the second of four huge fenced off sections of people. At 2 p.m. the gates were closed and no one was allowed in or out (including to use the porta-potty) which motivated me to limit my water intake. It was very hot and sunny, 80 degrees.

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"The Lord will work out His plans for my life" Sister Carla Riach shared this at the Alive in the Savior Award where she was honored from The Diocese of Tucson Jordan Ministry for her years of ministry with the Tohono O' odham people!

It was a joy filled afternoon, joining the Sisters from San Xavier were the Sisters from Casa Grande and Sierra Vista. Sister Natalie Binversie wrote a special tribute which was read during the ceremony, in part, "Sister Car-la is a living example of what the Year of Mercy pro-claims. One needs only read the Scriptures especially the Gospel of Matthew 25, to know who Sister Carla is and what she does. Sister Carla is a blessing to everyone who meets her...she does live the qualities of the Salvatorian charism within her Franciscan calling!"

An Elder, Joseph Enos, a longtime friend of Sister Carla, spoke and sang a special blessing song of the light of God, of hope! Fr. Jeff Wocken, SDS, director of Jordan Ministry spoke of Sister Carla 's presence and ministry,

echoing Sister Natalie's message, "Sister Carla is a person of mercy and kindness, this is a deep abiding love of giv-ing the gift of who we are to one another."

Among the many friends, parishioners and Native People who attended were all of the Franciscan Friars serving at San Xavier, Fr. Robert Rodriguez, pastor of St Rose of Lima in Safford, Arizona and many of the Tohono O'o-dham Elders!

Sister Carla closed her remarks saying, "God, my Sisters, and the People— you have formed me and continue to form me!"

Sister Carla Presented Alive in the Savior Award

Sisters Colleen Sweeting, Ludmilla Gramann, Mar-celyn Gervais, and Margey Schmelzle accepted the plaque “In Appreciation and Recognition of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity for their generous support of Room at the Inn’s Homeless Shelter and Warming Center.”

By Sister Mary Ann Spanjers

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Black History continued from page 1

St Rita’s House Meeting – Baptismal Celebration

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Manitowoc, Wisconsin—Sisters from St. Rita’s Health Center signed themselves with blessed water from the River Jordan as they en-tered the cafeteria to revisit the power of their Baptism.

The Sisters were invited by desig-nated Godparents who led them to the space where they joined others having been baptized in the same month. They renewed their Faith in the truths of the Catholic Church and were signed with oil recalling they were forever a member of Christ who is Prophet, Priest, and King. Baptism opened the doors to the other sacraments.

White napkins were given as a sign that they had put on Christ and had risen with Him. Later in their lives,

the pall over the casket would sig-nify this. Radiant smiles were ex-changed to indicate each Sister’s willingness to live, grow and share the “Light of Christ.” Special cer-tificates with the date of the Sis-ter’s Baptism were printed by the Communication Staff.

Sisters sharing the same Baptismal month chorally read jingles fitting

the theme of each month while all joined in the prayer of the closing line: “To grow and love in His sight.”

Ice cream shakes prepared by the kitchen staff were served with a cherry on top to signify the Spirit they had received at Baptism.

Submitted by: Sister Karen Suhr

Black History and Powerful People of the Missis-sippi Delta was the narrative the fourth graders pre-sented in, Who am I? Several students each gave a de-scription of famous Delta figures including; Dr. Amanda Elzy, Fannie Lou Hammer, Mulgrew Miller, Judge Betty Sanders, Mr. L.H. Threadgill, Attorney Alix Sanders Sr., and Jerry Rice. They then paused giving the audience a chance to answer. The audience involvement was enthu-siastic and a spirit of pride in these local celebrities was evident. The class then added a little rap to the song, Walk in Authority.

Fifth and sixth graders focus was on Black Figures in

Music and Entertainment. Phenomenal Women by Maya Angelou was the poetic narrative to which they added dance and gesture. They also sang the song, Glory, the theme song from the movie Selma.

The closing song was again sung by the entire student body, Lift Every Voice, which is the National Black An-them. The entire audience stood and sang with the stu-dents. It was a perfect ending to program.

By Sister Annette Kurey

Fireside Chat Newman Center

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity were guests at a recent fireside chat at St. Albert’s N e w m a n C e n t e r , Houghton, Michigan. Postulant Mary Bettag and Sister Regina Rose Pearson led by sharing their own personal call stories. All were encouraged to pay attention to that which you love and enjoy. God uses even our smallest desires and our own dreams for ourselves to build on a future even more awesome than we can imagine. Sister Anne Turba and Sister Julie Ann Sheahan also joined the conversation.

Weekend action also included checking out melting winter carnival snow sculptures i.e. ice chapel, Women’s night, participation at St. Anne Parish Mass, Chassell, MI, hanging out for a bit at the Valentine dance at St. Albert’s and stopping at the Cathedral of St. Peter to pray at the tomb of Bishop Baraga.

By Sister Julie Ann Sheahan

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Pope Francis in Juarez continued from page 2

What so impressed me was the kindness, patience and generosity of the people. There was no pushing, peo-ple were not irritated even though we were almost shoulder to shoulder; no one seemed to mind all the time waiting. Some estimates say there were 1 million people present. It certainly seemed so!

Pope Francis arrived promptly at 4:00p.m. The crowd went wild with cheering and singing and waving as he rode by! We were quite silent as he made his way to the large cross right next to the border to pray for so many immigrants. He blessed immigrants on both sides of the wall! Again I was very moved by the rever-ence, participation, singing, and praying of those all around me during the Mass.

After the Mass we again cheered and waved as he drove past! It was 7:00 p.m. when the gates were open and all of us began the slow process of leaving the field. We were bussed back to the center to pick up our stuff; then bussed to the border. We all walked a distance to the border to be processed by the U.S. to re-enter the country. At 10:00p.m. we arrived at the Lasallian high school in El Paso tired beyond words but also filled with peace at having had such an incred-ible experience of the mystery of God’s love in so many faith-filled people! “in this people there are many lights who proclaim hope” Pope Francis said at the end of Mass.

Turning to the final chapter of Lauda-

to Si′, Mi Signore entitled Ecological Education and Spirituality, we read, “Many things have to change course, but it is we human beings above all who need to change. A great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of renewal.” So let us explore what is in the Holy Father’s “big picture” for us.

Pope Francis first paints a picture of a worldwide ailment. “The current global situation engenders a feeling of instability and uncertainty, which in turn becomes “a seedbed for collec-tive selfishness”. When people be-come self-centered and self-enclosed, their greed increases. The emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume. In this hori-zon, a genuine sense of the common good also dis-appears. Social norms are respected only to the ex-tent that they do not clash with personal needs. So our concern cannot be limited merely to the threat

of extreme weather events, but must also extend to the catastrophic obses-sion with a consumerist lifestyle. When few people are capable of maintaining it, such a lifestyle can on-ly lead to violence and mutual de-struction. Yet all is not lost. Human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above them-selves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start. We are able to take an honest look at ourselves, to acknowledge our deep dissatisfaction, and to embark on new paths to au-thentic freedom.”

The Holy Father addresses the im-proved understanding of environmen-tal education saying, “It seeks also to restore the various levels of ecological equilibrium, establishing harmony within ourselves, with others, with

nature and other living creatures, and with God.”

In our prayer and in our everyday choices, what can we do to be less obsessed with a consumerist life-style and more centered on an ecological equilibri-um?

By Sister Kathleen Murphy Social Justice Commission

Mercy is

the experience of Rising

From Chaos

To Relationships

With Gratitude

and Reverence

Submitted by Sister Mary Ann Spanjers

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Sisters Host Sheboygan Vocation Pilgrimage

A Visit to Local Parishes

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Newton, Wisconsin—When Sister Marlita Henseler and I had our meeting to plan for the year, we decided to visit the parishes we were praying for during the Year of Consecrated Life.. All six parishes are within 30 miles of Newton. First we visited St. Mary in Stock-bridge where a lady who had cleaned the parish prop-erty was coming out. She kindly opened the church door for us. We were surprised to see how big the Church is and the beauty of the stain glass windows. After saying a prayer for the parishioners; we drove to St. John. This is where Sister Marlita's grandparents are buried so we found their grave site and said a prayer for them.

Our next stop was Sacred Heart, Sherwood. We could not get into the church; but, again prayed for the mem-bers who attend there. Then we traveled on to St. Mary, Hilbert. The principal of the school was delight-ed to give us a tour of the remodeled school building. Sister Marlita was thrilled to see the school where she was a student from first to fifth grade. The church is quite new and modern. After having lunch at a little Mexican restaurant in Hilbert we were ready to contin-ue our visits. All Saints in Denmark was our next stop.

After visiting the beautiful, ornate church, the principal of the school graciously gave us a tour of the school. The Curran Spirituality Center was six miles from

Denmark; so we decided to stop there on our way home. Father Bill O'Brien was there with Robert Mar-tens who made the cross and hand carved the corpus. The chapel is on Father Bill's property and is open for private prayer from seven to seven daily. It was won-derful way to end our pilgrimage that day.

About a month later we set out again to visit two more parishes. Our first venture took us to Two Rivers, St Peter the Fisherman Parish. The parish was having a social after an anointing Mass. We had an opportunity to visit with Father Tom Reynebeau and many of the senior parishioners. As we prayed in the church we noticed the colorful stain glass windows.

Our final destination was to Oneida. We stopped at Immaculate Conception Church first. By chance Fa-ther John Katamba, the pastor, was home. He gave us a complete tour of the church. He was excited to show us the remodeling project in progress to add a gather-ing space. By this time it was getting late so our visit to St. Joseph Church was cut short. We drove around the outside of St. Joseph church and said, “We'll visit here when we have another Community outing.” We ended our day by having dinner at Tony Romo's Restaurant in Green Bay. Our pilgrimage is complete for now!

Submitted by Sister Patricia Touhey

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Chari-ty were delighted to be the recent destination of the first ever vocation pilgrimage for the 6-8 girls of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School, Sheboygan, WI. Teresa Bet-tag, mother of Postulant Mary Bet-tag, initiated the day trip. Visitors were welcomed at Silver Lake Col-lege of the Holy Family Music Per-formance and Education Building. Guests participated in Eucharistic Liturgy in the school chapel, enjoyed refreshments, and walked to the Motherhouse exiting near the residence wing. More touring followed at Ho-ly Family Convent.

Postulant Mary shared her own call to be a Franciscan Sister, and re-sponded to any student questions. After lunch, a scavenger hunt in-troduced visitors to important landmarks outside our home with-in walking distance. S’mores in the green hut near the lake and brows-ing time in the convent craft room, were other afternoon activities.

The visit ended with finding ‘St. Francis’ in each of our St. Mary Chapel Stations of the Cross designed by our own Sister Victoria Masil.

By Sister Julie Ann Sheahan

The annual Initial For-mation Weekend Feb-ruary 12-14 was a silent retreat on St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Rules for the Discernment of Spirits, which culminated with an evening of recreation in the gym. Aside from being spiritually fruitful, it also strengthened the spirit of community among those of us in formation – and was an opportunity to have fun together!

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News Bits and Pieces

Mound Bayou, Mississippi—St. Gabriel Administrative Team left to right: Ms. Mavis Honorable, Chief Operating Of-ficer and Assistant Director; Sister Mon-ica Mary DeQuardo, OSF, Executive Director; Ms. Tiffany Mitchell, Adminis-trative Assistant; Ms. Trena Robinson, Director of Advancement and Commu-nications / Public Relations.

University of Wisconsin Stevens Point Newman Center can boast of its’ 17th Busy Student Retreat. (It was also the first for Holy Spir-it Parish!) Sister Julie Ann Sheahan

was blessed to participate in this spiritual experience with a nine member team who met one on one with students! Wendy Mitch and Father Tom Lindner plan the days to include conversations, in-dividual prayer time, dinner, praise, preaching and daily Mass.

Students were encouraged to pour themselves into their personal journeys, to embrace adverse cir-cumstances with trust, knowing nothing can separate us from the peace that God offers.

Billboard campaign Silver Lake College is unveiled a new billboard campaign to promote public awareness of its new four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, which is actively recruiting stu-dents fort the fall of 2016. The regular and digital billboards will appear in a variety of de-signs in Manitowoc, Reedsville, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and Plymouth.

Sister Lorita Gaffney, a member of the Silver Lake College Scholarship Gala host committee, helps bottle the College's private-label wine at Blind Horse Winery in Kohler, Wiscon-sin. (Photo courtesy Eric Volcheff)

Exclusive wine created for SLC Gala

In celebration of its 80th anni-versary, Silver Lake College has created a private-label wine. This Tuscan red blend was cre-ated and bottled at the Blind Horse Winery in Kohler, Wis., where members of the Gala host committee recently helped with the bottling process. This commemorative signature wine will be available for $35 to take home after the 10th Annual Silver Lake College Scholarship Gala on Saturday, April 9.

Mass at Conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life West Point, Nebraska—On February 6, five of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity—Sisters Joy Rose, Sarah Bertler, Elizabeth Ann Miller, Renee Mirkes and Elizabeth Benvie—were among the men and women religious from across the diocese who attended Mass at St.

Robert Bellarmine Church, Omaha, Nebraska with Archbishop George Lucas for the conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life. Follow-ing the Mass, Sister Renee invited us for lunch and a tour of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction.

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Cambridge, Ohio—The Sisters at St. Benedict’s Convent, had three days off of school and one two hour delay the week of Feb. 8-12 due to weather. This provided for some hobby time. What did the Sisters enjoy doing?