The Face of Angela Among Us

Seventh grade girls of Ursuline Academy/New Orleans were blessed with a whole day of retreat last week at their Archdiocesan Retreat Center. Directed and accompanied by several of their teachers, they tuned in to the Holy Spirit, listened and learned, prayed and sang.  The beautiful grounds on a nice day added much.  I loved helping them discover what “face of St. Angela” they want to bring to their school community at this time in their lives.  They are true witnesses of Angela’s joy, concern for others, and desire to use their gifts in a spirit of “Serviam”.

Angela Today

After countless beautiful celebrations for the feast of St. Angela Merici, today came news of a church named for her in Guyana.  The town where the church is located is “La Parfaite Harmonie,” meaning “Perfect Harmony.”  Would not our beloved Angela be delighted?  And can we not see her rejoicing over this vibrant little community and the three Ursuline Sisters pictured with them?

 

Catholic Media Guyana said this:  “The community at La Parfaite Harmonie is now St. Angela Merici Roman Catholic church. They celebrated their 7th anniversary as a community last Sunday. Please keep our Brothers and Sisters in your prayers,as they continue to build their community and spread the Good News of the Lord.”

 

Ursuline 2020

The Ursuline family around the world celebrates the feast of our foundress, St. Angela Merici, on Monday, January 27.  We thank God for the gift she is to our church and world and for the blessings of belonging to this 2020 global community!

Not Pawns, But Persons of Human Dignity

In less than 2 weeks, 8 Ursuline Summer Volunteers will gather for a week of service at the Humanitarian Respite Center sponsored by Catholic Charities in McAllen, Texas.  The group includes students and alums of Ursuline schools in St. Louis and New York who know well the meaning of SERVIAM–I will serve.

The byline for our place of service is: Restoring Human Dignity on the Border.  We will share in this mission as we help create hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable among us.  We expect to sort donated clothing, clean, sweep, mop, make sandwiches, clean showers and bathrooms, make soup and prepare for the afternoon rush—that rush being when the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement brings guests by bus from their holding center.  Recently, 500 to 900 people a day have arrived.  We’ll be on call to assist families, children, and regular staff in whatever ways possible.

How will we restore human dignity?  Well, stay tuned, because we’ll be blogging right here during the week.  I imagine our efforts will include Spanish greetings and smiles of welcome; provision of a change of clothing, toothbrushes, chapstick, food; babysitting and playing games with children; and a loving sendoff to the bus station for the next leg of the journey.

It’s hard to imagine doing all this without also experiencing heartbreak.  Our service group will take time each evening to reflect, pray together, and draw strength from words of Jesus and of St. Angela.  We’ll be support for one another.  We’ve chosen to be together for this week because we share values that are rooted in our Ursuline spirit of service and our deep desire for human dignity for all persons. We’ll keep before us the wisdom of Pope Francis:

Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women, and men who leave or are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more.

Joy and Responsibility

Yesterday, the graduating seniors of Ursuline Academy, St. Louis, were inducted into the school’s Alumnae Association.  It was my privilege to give a little reflection for that ceremony, so I used the opportunity to remind them of the worldwide Ursuline family they belong to. I emphasized both the joy and responsibility of this. It’s a joy because the Ursuline Cross, Serviam shield, and name “Ursuline” can be discovered all over the world and remind us of this international sisterhood.

It’s also a responsibility, because it means we live in solidarity with one another. When there is a tragedy, natural disaster, war or struggle elsewhere in our world, we have family in those places, and we must pray for them, care about them, find out what can be done to help them.

We Ursuline Sisters are preparing for a General Chapter in September in Rome.  Each geographical province of the Roman Union Ursulines has chosen sisters to attend that meeting, where the vision for our life and mission will be discussed.  Before they go, those who will participate have been invited to visit and get to know better another region where our Sisters are.  This, also, is an experience of the joy and responsibility of belonging to our world-wide Ursuline family.

Sr. Ita of Indonesia visiting St. Louis and our Central USA province

Pray for us, and pray for our students, that while we delight in the vastness of the Ursuline outreach, we may also really take to heart St. Angela’s words: “Be bound to one another by the bonds of charity, esteeming each other and helping each other.”

Sr. Jean visiting France