Steeped in the Spirit

“Above all, obey the counsels and inspirations which the Holy Spirit unceasingly sends into our hearts.”  (St. Angela Merici)

How do we know the Holy Spirit is counseling and inspiring us?  By listening to the still, small voice of God. Perhaps it will bring us a word to say to ease a difficult relationship.  Maybe it will fill us with a feeling of Peace as we consider taking a certain action.  It might be a gentle push to reach out to someone in need.

Angela encourages us to act, move, believe, hope, make efforts, and cry out to God with all our heart.  She assures us we will see marvelous things.  The Holy Spirit really does renew the face of our earth, moment by moment.

Take a few moments to look at the beauty of the windows in St. Thomas More Newman Center at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.  What counsels is the Holy Spirit sending into your heart today?

Meet an Ursuline

This month we’d like to introduce you to Sr. Anne Dorothy Schober, O.S.U. Sr. Anne Dorothy lives in Winnetka, California (a suburb of Los Angeles) and teaches fifth grade at Our Lady of Grace School in Encino, CA.  As a child, Sr. Anne Dorothy lived on Long Island, New York and later, near Galveston, Texas. She began thinking about being a Sister when she was 6 or 7 years old.

As the years went by, she found herself increasingly attracted to the Ursulines. The qualities that drew her most strongly were the joy and prayerfulness of the Sisters she knew. She also observed how they enjoyed being with one another. Eventually Sr. Anne Dorothy entered the Ursuline community and began her formation in Missouri. When asked what she loves most about her years of ministry, she says, “I’ve been an elementary school teacher, and have mostly taught 10-11 year olds. I have loved touching young and impressionable lives. I love the students’ openness, spontaneity, creativity and humor.”

For someone thinking about a religious vocation today, Sr. Anne Dorothy offers this advice: “Ask the Holy Spirit to help you with your discernment. Then, find a spiritual director who can guide you. Finally, be open to any surprises that God might send.”

Preparing for Pentecost

Discernment is a skill. As with any skill, the more we practice the better we get. This coming Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost. Pentecost is a feast for discerners. Whether you are discerning your vocation in life, entering a religious community, wondering about accepting a new job offer, or contemplating a move across country – entering into a period of discernment will assist you in making the decision that’s right for you.

The Holy Spirit helps us to discern and gives us the courage and confidence to boldly take the next step. I came across this prayer to the Holy Spirit. Join me in praying it each day between now and Pentecost Sunday. Pray it for yourself, your family, community, Church, nation, world. Open yourself to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You won’t be disappointed!

Come, Holy Spirit, come! Come as holy fire and burn in us, come as holy wind and cleanse us, come as holy light and lead us, come as holy truth and teach us, come as holy forgiveness and free us, come as holy love and enfold us, come as holy power and enable us, come as holy life and dwell in us, convict us, convert us, consecrate us, until we are wholly yours for your using, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

New Orleans and New Life

Today I am driving to New Orleans.  I love New Orleans, and I’m especially pleased to be going there for a Called Deeper or Come and See weekend for young women considering a possible call to religious life.

New Orleans is where Ursuline life began in this country. Twelve of our sisters came from France in 1727, the first Roman Catholic nuns in what is now the United States.  They began a school and convent, worked in healthcare and established an orphanage.  The Ursulines were also the first to offer classes for female slaves, for free women of color, and for Native Americans.  The school they began is the oldest continuously operating Catholic school in the United States.

That history always fills me with awe, and it’s a joy to introduce new generations to Ursuline life.  We’ll spend Saturday reflecting on the charism of our foundress, St. Angela Merici, deepening skills of discernment of a vocation, and sharing about the mission of the Ursulines in today’s world.  For those women who can come before or stay after Saturday, we will go together to see the old Ursuline convent in the French Quarter and visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor on the grounds of Ursuline Academy. We’ll also take time for café au lait and beignets, and maybe listen to some jazz down by the Mississippi.  I’m sure we will be grateful for the courage and faith of the Ursulines who began it all more than 285 years ago.  And we’ll pray with hope for those who might be called to bring Ursuline life into the future.  Say a prayer for our weekend, please.

Angela Alive in Dedham

This past weekend I was in Massachusetts and had the pleasure of leading a group of women on a retreat on Saint Angela. Each of the women had a connection to Ursuline Academy in Dedham, Massachusetts either as alums or teachers. Lots of reminiscing went on and plenty of stories were told. The bond between the women and the Ursuline Sisters at the Academy– past and present – is palpable. It was special to have the retreat at the Ursuline convent there.

We began the retreat “together at the feet of Jesus.” You can see in the photo all of the symbols each one placed there, representing our hopes for the weekend as well as different aspects of the life and spirit of St. Angela. Over the weekend we looked at St. Angela and the ways God intervened in her life. Then we spent time in silent prayer reflecting on the ways that God has intervened in our own lives, and how that has changed not only ourselves, but those around us. Then we looked at Angela as a woman of vision who balanced a life of contemplation and action while living among the people. Our silent prayer time was spent getting in touch with the vision in our own hearts. Finally, we looked at Angela’s relationships and how she taught her daughters so much about relating – with God, with oneself, and with the world. We focused on Angela’s plea to “Be bound one to another by the bond of charity, esteeming each other, helping each other, bearing with each other in Jesus Christ . . . ” and what that might look like in our daily lives.

I could not help but sense how Angela Merici –who founded the Ursulines 478 years ago — was so alive in our midst! The experience of Ursuline education was recognized as a seed planted in the soil of our hearts which continues to grow and develop over a lifetime. Angela’s charism, lived out in so many different places and ways, continues to touch and move women today in their own search to integrate a life of contemplation and action lived among the people. These words of St. Angela came alive for me, “Also, tell them that now I am more alive than I was when on earth . . . ”