Links

Here are links that ya'll may be interested in.


http://panhandlefranciscans.blogspot.com/
Blog kept about the sisters.

http://www.panhandlefranciscans.org/index.cfm
Their webpage.

October Update (10-24)

(Lori note- I totally forgot about these 3 posts so I just piled them all up today! Sorry bout that! I tried to time stamp them to help you out)

This last month has flown by. We have been super budy with the general everyday happenings of community life but also many special things going on.

This month started off with a "come and see" retreat. We had 7 girls who came and stayed with us for 3 days. All of them were wonderful and so full of life!

During the retreat we took them to St. Joseph's, a school which a few of the sisters work, carnival. That was a blast. who knew Sister Mary Anne and Sr. Mary Pia could do such wonderful face painting! It was wonderful seeing all the Sisters interact with the kids.

Right after the retreat, Sr. Mary Michael and I went to Franciscan University.  (see previous blog posting!)

We are getting ready for our fundraiser- Harvest of Blessings Gala. It looks like it is going to be amazing! So, that is all for now!




Lori note- sorry again for taking a while to post! I talked to Ari Thursday after election day- she was in good spirits- she sounded so happy and peaceful! She's also a good of listener as ever. ;-)

Franciscan University (10-15-12)

I have just returned from an amazing adventure to Steubenville, OH! Sr. Mary Michael and I went to a vocation's fair and Franciscan University. This University bleeds Catholicism. They have daily Mass 3X a day for the students, they have a perpetual Adoration chapel... that was always full.... statues of St. Francis and other Catholic Saints. As you walked around the campus you saw college kids praying the Liturgy of the Hours, reading "True Devotions" and talking about Augustine or some other Catholic Superstar. It was very inspirational. The Masses were phenomenal. The reverence each student had... a good number of girls even were wearing the veil. The music was awesome, the preaching exceptional, and there were friars in habits and Sisters of various orders in habit that went to school there. How awesome is that!!??

We stayed with an awesome family. They had 8 children raning from 2 1/2 years old up to 18-19. They were a good homeschooling family. I was impressed at how well they all started on school work after morning chores.

This was the first time I really experienced a large Catholic family like this. Even though I love my family, I feel like I missed out on something growing up as an only child but granted- I did get a little spoiled being an only child... :) A funny story- while we were eating supper and St. Mary Michael was at a meeting, they were asking me about names and I explained that Mary was a part and that I wanted a female name. So after some sainly brain storming one of the older girls suggested Juan Diego and I should be Sister Mary Juana- needless to say the whole table started laughing and then she realized what she said and joined with us. Right around that time, Sr. Mary Margaret returned from her meeting and was looking at us like we were nuts but once we told her what happened she joined us in laughing. :) Needless to say, that name won't be making the top 3 list! Sorry Folks!

They also run and operate and produce Catholic to the Max items- go check out their website.  I got to see how they made all their awesome stuff. Perfect for Christmas and you would be helping a small business. It is all produced in an old school. It was so cool to see how mugs, shirts, plaques, etc were made. It was one of the highlights of our trip.

At the vocation's fair I met a lot of great religious brothers, Sisters, and priest. The Martyrs of St. George, the T.O.R.s, and the salesians (Lori note- not sure what this is) to name a few. We also met an awesome German priest- Fr. Ludwig. He was Super Awesome! So even though it was an amazing trip, I was so glad to be home with my sisters to pray together, eat together, and laugh together. I really did miss my community.

Lemurs, Tigers, and Monkeys Oh My! (9-16)

The past Saturday we had a community day where we went to a wildlife refuge in Amarillo. The people who own the refuge are friends of the Community.

They are currently raising a 2 month old white tiger. There are only 23 of these tigers in the word. The great thing is, she lives in their house... she is still too small to go outside. She is the size of a fat house cat with HUGE paws. She liked to play with the habits, shoe laces, and our ankles. She is so sweet and cute.

They also had lemurs- very docile, and I got to feed them. Two of the other sisters fed them as well. Their tongues are strong and long. The lemurs were super cute...

Now the Chimps, they are interesting. One chimp, who was the"King of the Chimps" (aka dominate male) would go get water and spit it at people through the cage. He got one of our poor Sisters. Then, another monkey just learned to throw dirt... for just learning he had super good aim and nailed a sister who was trying to take a picture of him. He must not like photos! Then in another enclosure, a monkey that resembled the monkey on Pirates of the Caribbean, was a very greedy monkey. The owner was feeding him a treat and the monkey would put his whole hand in the bag instead of waiting. He then took the bad, and unhappy with the fact he could not get any out, he tore a hole at the bottom and the treats fell. He promptly shoved the bag out through the enclosure. Silly monkey!

While we were there, we also saw kangaroos, rabbits, lots of birds, roosters, peacocks, and other types of adult tigers, and lots of cute little animals. We are such Fanciscans!

It was a wonderful day, we finished up with Mass and Chic-Fil-A supper... Have I mentioned I love my community?!

9-3-12

Praise be to Jesus Christ!

These last few weeks have flown by! Time here at the convent seems to go by so quickly. Over the past few weeks a lot has happened. The mission sisters went off to school for their first day. It was weird to suddenly have 6 less sisters. But it is all part of being at the regional house.

I have finally learned ALL the daily prayers of our community with some confidence. Now, if I am not fully paying attention  I can get lost and stumble on my words. I have also got the office book with the Franciscan Supplements down... I think... another small achievement but trust me, there is still lots and lots for me to learn.

Also, this past weekend a benefactor paid for us to see "2016- Obama's America" in the theater. Wow! That was very interesting. It was neither bashing nor promoting Obama. He was just telling why Obama is the way he is and what that means for America. Everybody should see it before they vote in the next election... we all should be fully informed.

I have also reread the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. Oh my goodness it is better the second time around. Here are just a few points that really stuck out at me this time... there are many more.
1- "Jesus my love, I have found my vocation, and my vocation is love."- so even though I miss being in the schools or getting ready for LifeTeen and Edge to start, I m at this very moment supposed to be here in formation and I am called to love regardless of what I am doing.

2- "I care for nothing, I want nothing, expect to do what Jesus wants."
3- Even St. Therese had trouble meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary... I thought I was alone :)

I have also finished ready St. Faustina's Diary. It was very interesting. I did not fully understand all that was going on and all that she was saying and what Jesus was telling her... but definitely a good read.

All the Sisters came home for Labor Day! And for the first time since I entered all 19 of us were home and accounted for! It was so awesome to hear all of our voices praying with each other. There is such a beauty of living in community. We had a "picnic" on the sun porch... a/c and a fan... we are not silly enough to go outside with the Texas heat and the pesty flies. That was so much fun.

So... new things I have experiences.
1- Picking okra- wear gloves and long sleeves. :)
2- Picking/cutting grapes off a vine- be weary of the snakes chillin' on the vine... ewwww
3- Making ice cream balls- totally like making snow balls just without the gloves. And oh so tasty!
4- Burnish a floor- that was not too bad.
5- make crab cakes- yes very tasty!!
6- Almost stepped on Brother Snake at night... totally during Grand SIlence... I did  a hop, jump, skip over him, and a silent scream and ran offto my room. :) Uff-da!!!
7- Went to a "cowboy church" for an ecumenical prayer service that was started by our brave bishop to promote religious freedom. Good talks and good music. The Disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ were there too. It was some awesome to see so many religious there- Did you know that by executive order (meaning Obama said so) active military members cannot present the flags in a church or religious ceremony?

So with that... who says religious life is boring and all we do all day is pray... but before you get the wrong idea prayer is central to our vocation. :)

I have been assigned to teach kingergarten CCD at a neighboring parish. I will get to tell them about God's love and stories in the Bible and even sing with them. But I also get to teach them to pray! Yes, kindergarteners are capable of prayer.

Then on Sundays I will be teaching 6 wonderful high schoolers. :D Theology of the Body for teens, T-3 Bible Study, and some info from the YouCat :D I am super excited!

Well that IS about it from the Panhandle, Texas! Please continue to pray for me, the other candidate, our formators, or Sisters, and for a successful school year!

God Bless,
 Ari

"The only thing I want badly now is to go on loving till I die of love." St Therese of Ligieux.

Freedom (8/26/12)

  During formation, we have been discussing what is true freedom. Society would tell us that freedom is the right to be able to do whatever we want, whenever we want- regardless of the consequences. However, the very wise Bl. John Paul II said it very well when he said "Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."

Freedom consists in doing what is morally good and following the only person who is fully good, God. This may seem paradoxical but we are most free when we are following God’s law and his will for our lives. When we are not following His will we are sinning and we become slaves to sin as St. Paul describes in his letter to the Romans.

Think about it… let’s say someone is addicted to pornography, that person has to get "his fix."Money, time, loss of relationships, etc, are ensnaring this person. He can no longer function without porn. Is that freedom? How about always striving after the best car, house, technology- you name it- Is that really freedom? Or how about the desire to always fit in? You would do anything to be part of the "in crowd"- are you really free to live as God made you? In all these circumstances the answer is no! But these are the things that the world tells us will make us free.
So... what does the Church say about being free? In the beginning, Adam and Eve were created free. They were free from sin, death, corruption, etc. Their only limit was not to eat from the tree of good and evil, but they freely sinned by refusing God's plan of love and became a slave to sin. (C.C.C. 1730)
So when we deviate from moral law, we violate our own freedom because we become imprisoned within our own selves. (C.C.C. 1740) In other words, we become slaves to our own desires instead of being charitable to our neighbors. But we have hope. Our hope is in Christ (Gal 5:1). Christ desires to set us free from the enslavement of sin and death. All we have to do is run to Him and admit that we need his help. Us Catholics have a great way of doing this and that is by the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we approach the Sacrament with a contrite heart and repentant soul Christ will set you free.
Now even through Christ has freed up by the Sacrament we must remember that we have an enemy who likes to ensnare us and will tempt us and sometime we will fall- but that is when we run back to confession. Christ's Mercy is unending. He loves us that much... here are some ways to fight against these temptations. 
1. The Eucharist- Daily Mass and Adoration.
2. St. Michael Prayer (see below)
3. Ask Momma Mary
4. Look up the saint who might assist you in this and ask for their intersession... there is a saint for EVERYTHING!
5. The Sacrament of reconciliation.

Remember to be patient with yourself as you try to grow in Christ's freedom. We are imperfect but our Lord is stronger than anything we could imagine and his love is infinite. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13. and "For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37.



Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

The Secret Life of the Franciscan Candidate 8-12-12

This past month has been amazing!! I have been learning many new things including how to use a grill, thanks to Sr. Mary Michael. I do still need a few more lessons though... I have almost learned all of the community prayers! Woohoo! That means one less book I have to try and juggle during prayer and we all know how uncoordinated I am! Jussayin'

I have also been told I will be working as a high school faith formation teacher/volunteer on Sunday mornings and a middle school teacher at a neighboring parish on Wednesday nights. I just can't seem to get away from that age group, but we all know I love them all! I am looking forward to this!

One of our dear Sisters renewed her vows yesterday on her feast day. It was such a beautiful ceremony- and yes, I cried. I am a sap. The vows are so beautiful!

So a list of things I wonder about.
1- Why do things get so dusty in TX? I could dust my room on Saturday and it's dusty by Tuesday.
2- Why can't I keep white shirts white? Something always manages to get on them.
3- How does one keep nylon black knee high socks up?! Mine are ALWAYS falling down! ALWAYS!!!! The only ones that stay up are the cotton ones from Target but I only have 3 pairs of those. (insert note from Lori- I think I'm about to go do a Ari shopping trip, hehe!)
4- Why does God love us so much???
5- Where are all my letters from home.... ie, Fergus Falls? Haha... I love mail!


Well... it is time for bed (9:10pm) Know that many of you... at least all the one's I know, are in my prayers!

Prayer Requests:
1- Continued discernment.
2- The health of my soon to be Uncle, Shawn, and all my family.
3- For the other candidate and all the Sisters on the Formation Team.
4- All the Sisters who are about to get back to school.

God bless you!


Your Sister in Christ,

Ari

Feast Days and the Like- 8-7-12

The last few weeks have been a flurry of feast days. A feast day is when we, as a community, celebrate the saint that a Sister is named after. For example, if a Sister's name is Sr. Mary Claire, her feast day would be August 11th which is the day the Church celebrates St. Claire.

As a community, the Sister whose feast day it is, gets to pick/suggest her meal, a paticular recreational activity, and a mass said for her and her intentions. It is such a fun day! This day is celebrated more than her birthday.

On August 5th we celebrated our superior's feast day... a day late though. Now her feast day is a bigger deal- she gets all the normal things but..... she also get's entertainment provided by the other sisters. This time was a flash mob/games hour at lunch time. *Cue corny "The Dating Game Show" theme song* A bunch of the junior (in temporary vows) and us two candidates get up and start dancing and set up for a silly game show. It was a blast.

So yes, Sisters like to celebrate and have a little fun too!!!

God Bless,

Ari :)

7/20/2012

Ariel and Dawn with one of the Sisters.

Praise be Jesus Christ!

       I have officially entered, and oh, what a joy it is! God is so good and faithful for calling me here, to my new home!
       The last few days have seemed unreal. It has not completely sunk in that I have entered a convent and am starting the process of becoming a religious sister.
       This evening at recreation I was talking to Sr. Mary Ana and I was using the pronouns "us" and "we" and "our" and it seemed to natural to be using them. Speaking of Sisters,all the Sisters are so patient with the other candidate and me as we struggle to remember where everything goes or where something is located, or how to do something. There is so much to learn and I do enjoy learning it.
       This week has been more relaxed schedule wise because it is our first week and we both are still adjusting to all the changes that have just happened. Many of you all know that I am not a morning person! Not at all! This has definitely been an adjustment but tomorrow I will be trying something one of the formators suggested... the "Heroic Minute"... Get up within the first moment and "offer it up"- aka pray for someone or something at that very moment. Makes that minute worth something! So we will see how that goes!
       On a spiritual side... my soul is at peace here and that I am doing God's will at this moment in my life. During adoration of the Blessed Sacrament or Meditation, the reoccurring thought that keeps coming back to me is "You are Mine!" as if Jesus is claiming me for Himself and no other! Wow!!! That just blows me away! The God of the Universe who created everything, who died for my sins and the one who is my love (1 John 4:8) is claiming me in my weakness, sinfulness, and all my imperfections.

Please pray for:
1- The Community for patience
2- Myself and the other candidate for perseverance
3- Our formators, especially Sr. Mary Michael
4- For all the souls in purgatory!

God Bless!!

Ariel

PS: St. Therese of the Little Flower is still stalking me!!! It is a good thing!

Tomorrow is the day!

Hello Folks,

As I write this I am preparing to enter the School Sisters of St. Francis in Panhandle tomorrow.  I will be leaving the blogging world but do not fear Lori, my faithful and patient friend will be updating you on my progress as I am not allowed to use social networking sites for the next few years....yes I said years!  Bye bye Facebook. :(  But it is a small sacrifice to make compared to what our Lord has done for us.

Please pray for me as I continue to pray for you all!  I will have another note with my thoughts during this time and the next week to Lori ASAP or she will get angry with me! :) Just kidding! 

Love you all!!!!

Bittersweet

That is the word that I would use to describe the last couple of weeks...bittersweet.  The time is here that everything is coming to a close.  A few weeks ago we finished EDGE and Life Teen for the year and we had our last night. It was so hard to say good bye to all the kids that I have seen grow closer to the Lord and the Church  I have seen these youth through highs and lows of their lives these past two years. The teens have taught me a lot about myself.  I have learned that I am stronger than I thought and that I really do love youth ministry despite all the craziness that consumes youth ministry. I have grown close to my Core as we went through together, the beautiful moments of the ministry when the youth had their "aha" moments and the light bulb finally went off and the lows in ministry when you hear and see the things that these youth are up against each and everyday. Thank you all of you for all of your support these past two years! I could not have done it without all of the Core Team leaders! One of the most important things I have learned by working in youth ministry is that one must completely trust in the Lord and His plan.  Things always seemed to work out for the best when I got out of the way and allowed the Lord to do what He does best. 

I am sad to be leaving but I am so excited to be entering.  I know that it is a life of sacrifice but I am ready for that sacrifice.  I love being with the Sisters because of their prayer life and the joy of Christ that radiates off of them. I look forward to living a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience. 

I end with this post with a quote from St. Therese of Lisieux "Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors."  That sums up I feel right now...peace!

My high school youth at our first ever Life Teen Retreat. 

Countdown:69 days until entrance.

St. Therese is a Heavenly Stalker

St. Therese of Lisieux has captured my heart by her simplicity and desire to be like a child. She might be taking over my favorite saint spot... One of my friends, Samantha, said that St. Therese does not like to share and is a "heavenly stalker".  She is still like a child even in Heaven.  St. Therese really is a heavenly stalker and this is how it all began...

I was at Mass last week listening to the homily and a thought popped into my head.  "I desire to be little as Jesus is little in the Eucharistic Host."  When the bread and wine are consecrated and becomes the the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ He humbles Himself and makes Himself vulnerable. It sounds something that St. Therese of Lisieux would have said but I cannot find it on Google at all or any other place that I have looked.  My curiosity has driven me to read her autobiography to see if I could find it some where in there.  I have loved reading it because it is written simply, like a child, but so theologically deep.  The more I have read the more I feel connected with her in a spiritual manner. She has simply captured my heart.

St. Therese talks about "the Little Way" of living.  I desire to be like a little child in the arms of Christ and His blessed mother.  When one is a child there is a complete trust and a simple understanding of things around them but with a curiosity that knows no end. When I was first learning about the Catholic Church and Her beautiful teachings I was given an extraordinary grace of not questioning the teachings of the Church and just knowing that they are Truth given to us by Christ.  There was a complete trust in the Church.  I did not recognize this grace until I was older and have had time to reflect upon it.  

Another beautiful truth that St. Therese talked about was her desire to be a saint.  I desire to be a saint as well.  I feel awkward saying that because when most people think of saints they think of our most famous saints, St. Francis, St. Clare, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Moore, etc. and I would never desire the popularity that comes with being a canonized saint but the real definition of being a saint is to forever be with Christ in Heaven. I want to be with Christ in Heaven forever!  I want to be a saint!  I know that I could never become a saint without the extraordinary graces that the Lord continues to bestow upon me each and every day.  His mercy endures forever!  (Psalm 136) I am so thankful that it does!

Over the past few months, my heart has been sorrowful because as I see how society is changing and how they no longer care what God wants and what His teachings are.  They no longer care for each other unless it has something that goes against the Church's teachings.  They care not for the homeless, the poor, the downtrodden, the widow, and the orphan.  My heart feels this immense sorrow for our world.  I am not perfect and in the past I have been one of them and turned my face from the poor and the homeless.  I acknowledged my sin and recognized that when I turned my face from the poor I turned my face from Christ.  I now make sure I pray for them and give them a smile to know that they still have dignity and that someone still cares.  Therese had a love for the poor.  When she was little and would go on walks with her father she would give alms to the poor that she would meet along the road.  She recognized Christ in the poor just as Francis and Clare did.  Lord forgive me for not recognizing You in the poor.  My heart is sorrowful because of all of the sins against the unborn and women around the world, for the lack of understanding of the definition and importance of marriage, the priesthood, and religious life, and for many of the things that are happening around the world.  I know I am called to pray for all of these things and to continue to educate the young people of the Church and everyone else.  

St. Therese of the Child Jesus please help us to desire to be little as you were little. Please intercede for us at the Father's feet that we may someday obtain the reward of everlasting life.  St. Therese you said that "I want to spend my Heaven doing good on earth" please pray that the world will see the truth.  Amen

P.S. 70 more days until entrance! :)

Two Months and Fifteen Days

Wow!  Time sure has flown by and I cannot believe that I will be entering with the School Sisters of St. Francis in Panhandle, Texas in two and a half months.  The Lord has been so gracious and patient with me as these months have gone by.  I am so excited to be entering but nervous at the same time.  This will be a huge change and now it is suddenly upon me.  Lately, a lot of the older folks in the parish have been asking if I was still sure that I wanted to enter and the answer is already yes.  People are so astounded that I continue to want to pursue the Lord's calling to this very different life than I already have.  I am happy and I am excited!  I am looking forward to entrance.  :)  

So what has been up these last few months...EDGE and Life Teen are officially over.  The last day was quite bittersweet.  I love my teens and my middle school youth, yes even the one's who drive me insane.  They are a wonderful bunch of youth who are so full of God and are so beautiful. They have taught me so much about the Lord and how to trust in Him.  They have also taught me about being spontaneous and that it is ok.  I know that I must leave them now and let someone else bring them closer to Christ!  We are in the process of hiring someone now.  God is so faithful!  

So my mood now is sad but with a joyful heart!  I will miss them dearly but the Lord is in control! The Lord of Love is calling me to Himself how can I not be joyful!