Look For a Red Rose

The following is a true story:

Several years ago there was a young man, John Blandford, who was very serious about his Faith, the meaning of life, and his studies.  John loved to read and spent many hours in the library. One day he took out a philosophy book, and in it were penciled notes which interested him more than the book. The notes reflected his own thoughts about life. There was also an address in a woman’s handwriting.John wrote to the woman, Holly Maris, and she wrote back. They exchanged letters frequently and John came to like her very much. They shared the same philosophy of life, the same interests, and seemed to be kindred souls.

In one letter John asked, “Will you tell me your age?” “No,” Holly wrote back, “love me for” what I am not my age.” In another letter he asked if she would send a picture of herself. “No,” Holly responded, ‘love me for” what I am, not for” my looks.”

John went off to military service and they continued to correspond through these years. John fell deeply in love with Holly. When the time came that John had finished his military duty and was coming home – a young man in his 20′s – he asked Holly to meet him at the train station.

John wrote that he would stand under the clock in the station at 6:00 in his army uniform. Holly replied that she would come wearing a red rose on her lapel, and told John to “Look for a red rose.”

At 5:59 he’s there. A tall, beautiful blonde in a kelly-green suit walks toward him and smiles. She is the paragon of beauty and just what John expected. He steps toward her irresistibly. She says provocatively, “Going my way, soldier?” With that he sees behind her a short woman, well over 40 – wearing a red rose. She is quite plump, gray, straggly hair, and her heavy ankles are swollen over her low shoes.

He is torn…follow the blonde or go for Holly. He is very disappointed, but goes over to the plump lady in the brown coat with the red rose. “Can I take you to dinner?” he asks trying to hide his disappointment. “Mister, I don’t know what this is all about, but that lady you just passed asked me to stand here wearing this red rose. She said if you want to meet her, she’ll be in the restaurant.”

And so in our lives Christ comes to us in many guises. We must look for the red rose, the sign of inner beauty and character in each person we meet. We must look deeper into each person – we must look for the red rose.

Sister Mary Babik, C.D.S.

UNDER THE MERCY

Sister Marilee

A group of young converts to Christianity, friends of C.S. Lewis, felt their redemption so keenly that they would send each other off, not with the usual “Goodbyes” but with the words: “Go, under the Mercy.”

I have come to believe that all of us travel under the Mercy.

Our journey begins only because God calls us to come. We shoulder our burden of sin. We start up the mountainside of holiness only to have to admit that we simply cannot make it. That is all God needs to hear. He lifts our burden, pulls us from the front and pushes us from behind and “Under the Mercy” we move slowly forward.

But then we begin to think we are doing well and that we have overcome our sinfulness when in truth we have been freed from it. We think we have done the climbing, when, in reality, we have only answered yes to the call and have been carried upward.

Sometimes we even think we have gone far enough and can say no to the upward journey and stop the climb. But, it is impossible for us to ignore His voice and His prodding which come to us in many forms: consequences of our choices, failure, change, personal disaster or the demands of obedience.

Perhaps, I can best show how I feel in the following poem:

COME FOLLOW ME.

How can such urgency
Be felt
Milleniums hence
Call erupting
In center-soul.

First small bubble rising
To consciousness,
Sign of volcanic voice
Not to be ignored
Lest suppressed
It explodes
Casting devastation
Everywhere?

Yet, one yes
Is not enough.
Again, again
All sides and
Even silence shouts:
Follow Me!

One call upon the next
Leads to steeper climb
And farther rocky crag
While sky and sun
Grow dark.

Until upon the apex
Of the world
The final thunderous:

COME!

As if by magnet drawn
The outward step to
Nothingness is done.

And Eagle’s wings
Bear answerer aloft.

Indeed, it is “Under His Mercy” that we are saved and delivered.

Sister Marilee Heuer, C.D.S.

POWER OF GRACE

Sister Clara and her Mother

The particular afternoon I am describing was like most weekday afternoons in the third grade classroom in Lanai City, on the tiny island of Lanai, in the Territory of Hawaii. The 30 students I taught had finished their lunch and were sleeping or pretending to be asleep in their sleeping bags for their 30 minute siesta.  I was seated at the teacher’s desk pondering my life story. That fall many of us first year teachers had decided to write our life history–all 21 years of it. In the section on high school and college days, I had listed some scholarships and -awards received. This particular afternoon the thought struck me like a bolt of lightning–these do not bring happiness. Why waste your life striving for such?

Centuries before Saint Paul wrote it so eloquently, “I count all as loss compared to the knowledge and joy of being with Christ.” Lanai City was an ideal setting for the Lord’s grace to touch me. The entire population of the island numbered about 3,000 people; almost all lived in Lanai City and worked on or for Dole pineapple plantation, supposedly the world’s largest. There were very few distractions and a very slow pace of life. Natives would often repeat to us mainland teachers, “Why hurry? You cannot get off this rock.” There was plenty of silence and much time to search for God and His will.

I had been attending daily Mass. After this experience I would walk to the little wooden church each day after school and spend much time in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. I prayed the rosary, read pamphlets from the church pamphlet rack to gain a better knowledge of God and His Church, and begged the Lord to guide me.

Occasionally the thought would flash across my mind to enter the religious life. And I would plead and bargain with God to ask me anything but that. I asked God if I could volunteer to go to Alaska and teach and be a missionary. Another time I asked the Lord if He would want me to go to Ceylon and teach. Even Africa was more inviting than the religious life. But God was patient.

Years later I look back at that year in Hawaii and see how powerful was God’s grace, how He had touched me there. God had led me to the islands as a first step on the journey to the Congregation of the Divine Spirit.

Sister Clara Baudison, C.D.S.

SHE TEACHES WELL THAT LIVES WELL…

This touches upon the question of our influence on others, what people see in us and feel from us, when the stage is formally set, and when informally it isn’t
set. Teaching isn’t just saying something. It isn’t just the words we speak in the classroom or the pulpit, or on occasions when we are just laying down the law.

Teaching isn’t anything we can turn off and on any given hour. It is what we do, what we think, what we condone, what we condemn. It is both the subtle and obvious things that make up what we are. Sometimes we speak as if just setting an example is sufficient, but it isn’t so much something we set as it is everything we are. When the stage is set for school the teacher teaches a subject but more important she teaches what she is herself. A school that would limit its ambition to mere scholastic success would betray its mission and would cease to be truly Catholic. The students are crying out – show me encouragement, show me forgiveness, show me appreciation, show me understanding, show me fairness, listen to me, I need to see those things in you wise teacher. Where are the young going if they go where we’re going, if they do what we’re doing, if they think what we’re thinking? We in CDS are all teachers because we are all an example no matter what we do or don’t do. Whether we are honest or dishonest, concerned or indifferent, fair or unfair, obedient or disobedient, cheerful or dreary, burdensome or helpful, we are teaching. There is no way for anyone to separate herself into segments, to say at this hour I will teach this, in another hour I will teach something else. Each CDS member, too, is crying out to each other, teach me, show me obedience, show me care and concern, show me honesty and on and on. A CDS member performing any task with joy, even if they seem insignificant, is teaching. The world will not be changed by merely scholarly teachers, but by individuals, each of us, who realizes our awesome responsibility. She teaches well that lives well.

Sister Colette Hilow, C.D.S.

COMPASSION

Compassion may have many meanings to us as Christians: fellow suffering, pity, sympathy, or mercy. But I feel real compassion is vulnerability. Compassion does not require of us heroic gestures or sensationalism. In fact, real compassion is hidden in the ordinary giving of self to others in our daily lives. Each time we turn to a person in pain, we get a glimpse of the joy that is not of this world. Are we open to the many forms of suffering of those who cross our paths each day: – the lonely teenager, unable to bear separation of mom and dad – the aged, desperately in need of a listening ear or kind word – the handicapped, whether physical, social, or spiritual, whose needs do not immediately attract us – the cancer victim, needing reassurance that his or her ~ pain is being shared by us and has meaning. Compassion brings about a solidarity with others; it is a willingness to share our own pain. In reaching out in compassion, we realize and acknowledge our own brokenness and thus become “gift” to another. It is caring! When we are compassionate, we create a bond with others. We say to them: “I cannot know or remove your pain, but I will stay with you and be there as long as you want me to.” God’s Word beckons us to: “Be compassionate as our Heavenly Father is compassionate.” Am I a willing participant in His compassion?

Sr. Edith Lange, C.D.S.

CALLED BY NAME

In the Old Testament, Abraham was called by name to take a long journey. The Lord said to Abraham, “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your Father’s house, to a land I will show you.” Abraham’s call seems so clear to us but it involved much sacrifice on his part. There were no trucks to haul his animals; no trains, planes or cars to take his family. There were no Wendy’s or McDonalds, or fast food restaurants along the way. Abraham obeyed and lived day by day trusting in the goodness of God. Like Abraham, my call took me to what seemed a far away land from a farm in northeast Iowa to the Congregation of the Divine Spirit in Erie, PA. I didn’t even know Erie existed but God did. Before I was formed in my mother’s womb He knew me; before I was born He had called me. I never once doubted God’s plan for me even though my family and friends wondered why I had to go 900 miles to become a Sister. Scripture says, “He who leaves father, mother brother and sister for my sake receives a hundred fold in return.” My hundred fold has been a thousandfold. In my teaching experience, my vocation has allowed me to be a doctor, nurse, teacher, lawyer, and friend for hundreds of God’s children. One day we had a short faculty meeting before school. Standing outside the office with his nose pressed against the window was Timothy waiting to carry my bag. When I left the office I said, “Oh, Timothy, I didn’t expect you to wait this long.” With a smile on his chubby little face he said, “Sister, for you I’d wait forever.” The joys of my religious life have been many. I may have left father and mother but I was blessed with a wonderful Mother as leader guide and friend, Mother. My Community has been my support system: sharing in my joys and sorrows, so patiently listening to all of my farm stories that if you were given a few acres of land, you could start a farming career. In this advanced age of technology, much has changed; however, some things remain unchanged. Before we were born, God knew us. God has a plan for us and he has called us by name. We have been called to HOLINESS. Like Abraham and Jeremiah, stay open to God, and remember, for us, GOD WILL WAIT FOREVER.

Sister Mary Ellen Martin, C.D.S.

GRATITUDE – “The Spice of Life”

When we think of famous new beginnings, perhaps the first one that comes to mind is the venture begun by Christopher Columbus. Amid much adversity, Columbus and his comrades finally sighted land and the frustration and discouragement they felt during the journey turned into heroic accomplishment. Never any cowardice among this pioneering crew – only a strong belief and trust that they had reached a destination – a new homeland. Truly a voyage like this one took the courage and strength ~ of each member – encouraging one another, praying with each other and supporting one’s fellow travelers when the days were dark. We can be sure there were times at sea when their sight of land was in doubt, but by banding together their goal was finally reached. I am sure gratitude was on the lips of each of these crewmen. We, too, are on a journey – sometimes our sights and goals are not clear but by clinging to our fellow travelers we will reach our destination – remembering God is the giver of all these gifts – that God’s generosity never ceases to help us – that His goodness never turns away from us and that God’s love is with us each moment of our life. Our gratitude is imperfect in words alone but our thanks to God is proven in all our daily actions. Just as Columbus was in reality searching – seeking for spices – we too can seek, search for that “Spice” of Life – gratitude – gratitude for life – gratitude for each other – gratitude to God. If we but stop and consider the wondrous things God has given us, our entire life would be spent in an eternal “Thank You” to God for being our “Spice in Life.”

Sr. Ann Collins, C.D.S.

A WINDING PATH

The path I traveled to become a member of CDS had many detours and obstacles, but God’s guiding hand left no question in my mind where He wanted me to be. My early life, before I started working, did not include much religious education. When I started working, God and His Blessed Mother showed me which path was the right one. I was working, in a city, where there were two Catholic Churches. I lived near one of the churches where they had a Mother of Perpetual Help Novena which I started attending. I had a desire to know more about my faith. There was an inquiry class held at this church but it was for people desiring to become a Catholic. A priest gave me instructions to better understand my faith and the teachings of the Church. This same priest, one day, asked if I had ever thought of entering religious life. I told him “No I had not.” He kept encouraging me to think about it. He had three sisters who were in the same order so he suggested I go visit their Motherhouse to see if I might like to enter this same order. I did go to the Motherhouse but I knew this was not the place for me. Because my work was on the other side of town, I moved closer to where I worked. I became acquainted with some Sisters who had a school nearby. When they knew I was thinking of entering religious life they invited me to visit their Motherhouse which I did. I again felt this was not where God wanted me to be. There was a small order of Sisters in northern Michigan which I had heard about. I decided to visit them. For the third time, I knew God had other plans for me so I had to wait until He showed me the right path to take. I heard about a new order in Pennsylvania and prayed about it. The result was that I found the path that God had been leading me to. I was accepted as a member of CDS.

I quit my job and made arrangements to follow God’s Will in the religious life. I was advised not to let my parents know what I was going to do to prevent any further problems or attempts to stop me. About three months after I entered, I wrote a letter to my parents telling them what I had done and where I was. My mother received the letter and was very upset by it, but my father reacted differently. He said to my mother, “If that ;is what she wants, let her do it.” My parents visited me in Canton, Geneva, and at the Motherhouse but I knew my mother never accepted my decision. About six months after my mother came to live at the House of Loreto, while talking to her one day, she said to me, “You made the right choice.” This was what I had been waiting to hear her say for thirty four years. Even though, in our lives, God leads us down many paths and has obstacles and detours for us along the way, He will always get us on the right path if we trust in Him. The years I have been a member of CDS have been the best years of my life. I am grateful that God chose this path for me.

Sister Jean Bowman, C.D.S.

Seeds of a Vocation

Sister Margaret

“A sower went out to sow some seed. In sowing, some seed fell ”
As a child I lived in southwestern South Dakota, in mission territory on the edge of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  Our Church, Sacred Heart Church, was the only Catholic Church in the area. I believe our priests were Jesuits. We went to Catechism classes on Saturday afternoon in the church. Our pastor usually taught us.

When I was six or seven I was to make my First Communion, as was my brother, Leo, a year older. He was also to be confirmed. The Bishop was coming from Rapid City. When the Bishop talked to us he asked us to say three Hail Mary’s each day for vocations. Never having seen Sisters, I’m sure I prayed for vocations to the priesthood. I was very proud to receive my First Communion from a bishop, and it was a serious obligation to do as he asked. Some time later I increased the Hail Marys from once to twice a day and never through all the years of saying them which I did until after I came to the Community did it occur to me that I might be praying for a vocation for myself.

Seed of a vocation?

After listening to our Sisters talk about their vocations, I began to question even more if such a seed had been sown so many years ago. But God’s ways are not those of men. As Jesus, in the parable of the owner of the vineyard, has the owner say, “I am free to do as I please with my money, am I not?  I substituted “grace” for money. He goes on to say, “Thus the last shall be first and the first shall be last.”

My goal is to do my best, even though I came late in the day, to be one of the first.

I put all my trust in St. Paul’s beautiful words in Romans 11:33-36 – “How deep are the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable his judgments, how unsearchable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Who has given him anything so as to deserve return? For from him and through him and for all things are.  To him be glory forever. Amen

Sister Margaret McCarville, CDS