"Here I AM Lord" Conference

Every year St. Patrick's parish in St. Charles, Illinois has a huge vocation awareness conference for the young people. Many religious orders come to get the word out about vocations and their particular community. There was a lot of awesome talks about topics that young people need to hear about. Each day was targeting a different but similar audience. They spoke about the dignity and worth of each person despite of life's circumstances. Rebecca K.... she was born 3 years before Roe. vs Wade so she was saved from being aborted. She was conceived in rape and her mother put her up for adoption. She was adopted by a Jewish couple and raised in their faith. When she found out how she was conceived she sought to find her mother. They were reunited and her mother told her that she tried to abort her and if it was legal she would have. After years of struggling she found her identity is Christ as an adopted daughter of Christ and became Catholic. Her biological mother eventually changed her mind and was glad to have the opportunity to be hr mother. She is now the face of all those children conceived in rape and are killed. The statistics say that the trauma of abortion is harder for the woman than the trauma of the rape. 100% pro-life!

There was a lot of good music and awesome skits that the youth did as well. On Friday morning, I spoke with 8ish 7th and 8th graders about vocations and answered their questions.
1. Yes we wear PJs.
2. Yes, we occasionally eat fast food
3. Yes, we sleep in beds.
4. NO, religious life is never boring.

Oh, and the questions they ask.... on Saturday morning Sr. Mary Michael and I taught a portion of a First Communion retreat to a bunch of cute 2nd graders.

That evening we heard a great homily by the Bishop of Rockford, on being open to a vocation and how all vocations are a gift. We then retreated to a delicious supper where the Sisters, brothers, priests, and seminarians surprised the guests with a flash mob of the "Salva Regina" based on Sister Act. All the finally professed Sisters got up and did the slow part and where it speeds up the young ones (ie sisters and brothers in formation and seminarians) stood up and liven it up. :) Also, it always amazes me how quick-like phones, cameras, etc come out to film it.

After supper, the Bishop gave a talk about the importance of and beauty of all the vocations. It was a beautiful talk. It also urged the young people to ask the question "Lord, what are you calling me to?" After his talk we did an encore of the flash mob only this time in the Church and all ended up on the altar/steps. It was being filmed, this time, by the "Imagine Sisters" crew and a few others. Look for it on youtube soon. :) And while you are at it, check out Imagine Sisters.

Our host family was awesome! They spoiled us and I got to read to a 2 year old and an almost 5 year old and was told I was the best reader. :) 4 years of college and an education degree taught me something. The 2 year old called me "Lady" and St. Mary Michael was simply "Michael." 2 year olds are great.

I am now safely home and looking forward to a little down time. Next week is Spring Break so all the Sisters will be home which is always a blessing. We will be attending a retreat done by Immaculate is a couple of weekends. It should be good!

I promise I will write Lori more often!

Oh the Busy Month of February

February started off with my 25th birthday... a quarter of a century! Now that just makes me sound old! My birthday was full of surprises as I thought and know that birthdays are not celebrated as much as feast days. But the day before I went to Amarillo for class with Sr. Mary Ana and she had me go there a little earlier. She then tricked me into going to the school with her and she brought me into the Montessori (3-5 year olds) where they surprised me with the Birthday Walk which is a Montessori tradition. We then went back to Sr. Mary Ana; classroom and I helped her with coaching music memory for PSIA (an academic contest.) We then went back to the convent, had a special supper and she surprised me with cupcakes! Yummy! It was great being with the St. Joseph Sisters. We usually only see them when they come home every other weekend. The next day was my birthday and Sr. Jean Marie made it very special as well. It was really a great day!

All through February I was helping Sr. Mary Ana with PSIA and spending time in the Montessori classroom. It was great being "in a classroom" again. In between that, I went to the Dalhurt mission and helped Sr. Mary Katherine get ready for a presentation and she let me teach her 3rd graders the metric system. How nice it was to teach again. I feel right back into it. :)

All while this is going on PSIA coaching continues as we battle weather issues- little snowfalls (3-5in) and freezing road conditions. The Thursday before PSIA I started getting sick and it was snowishy so no going to Amarillo so I rested and began updating the Community Scrapbook with Sr. Mary Michael. I felt better, or so I thought, on Friday, and was sent on errands and a mission to find religious scrapbook stickers- uff da! Very hard task! Saturday was PSIAwas a blast and the kids did well! Sunday was a normal day, I began to pack for my next trip with Sr. Mary Michael to Chicago. I was a little more tired but I figured it was because of the busy day the day before with PSIA and then Pampa's Fundraiser. But low and behold that nasty sickness came back full force on Monday about 2am. For 8 hours there was no movement that didn't make me feel icky. Sr. Mary Michael came and checked on me when I did not show up for morning prayer and said that if I get to feeling better to make sure I have my snow boots on... I thought I was better by 10am so I get ready and got my snow boots on with snow pants and my coat. Holy Cow! Major blizzard outside. Snow drifts 5ft high. At that point I should have turned around and just got back into bed and stayed put but I made my way through. When one is sick, you suddenly have like 5 mothers in the convent. Needless to say, I was well taken care of because it came back at 3ish... see I should have just stayed in bed.

Overall we got 19in of snow with 50mph winds which created 6ft tall snowdrifts. Thank goodness our community friends who dug us out with their tractors! Schools were closed both Monday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Sr. Mary Michael and I were once again on an airplane to Chicago where the same snow storm that hit just hit them the day before but with a lot less snow. We headed to the "Here I am Lord" Conference in St. Charles, Illinois but that is for another blog post.

Focus Conference- SEEK 2013

Not if Christmas and New
Years were not busy enough but throw in a trip to Orlando... yes you read that right Orlando, FL. Sr. Mary Michael and I went on a trip (for vocation stuff) to Orlando. The Conference was for College students all around the country. They had wonderful talks, activities, and a Matt Maher concert (not we did not go... it was too late... Sisters need sleep.)

6,000 college students were at an OPTIONAL Daily Mass every morning where thy used traditional Mass music- including some Latin. All of the talks were wonderful. Most of the focused on topics concerning Theology of the Body (T.O.B.) Jason Everett spoke and did a wonderful presentation on "How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing your Soul." All the talks can be found online at their website (FOCUS.) Sister Mary Michael and I met lots of wonderful young women who are  beginning to ask the questions "What does God want me to do?" This is such an amazing thing.

God had a few surprises up his sleeve- but doesn't he always. I ran into some of my friends. Our table was set up right next to the Archdiocese of Atlanta Vocation Table. I get to talk and catch up with my favorite 6"5'  seminarian, Brian. We wer eboth part of Campus Catholics and graduated together. We entered our formation processes the same year so hopefully, he will be getting ordained around the same time I will be making final vows. How cool! I also briefly ran into Maylisa, another friend from Campus Catholics. I also got to catch up with one of my favorite college core Team Leaders, Mary! It was so great to see a familiar face! I also got to see Dyna who is "Pre-Candidate" with Mary, Mother of the Church, located in Spokane Washington. All of these wonderful surprises made me increasingly happy.

But the highlight of our trip was getting to see some of my family. As most people know, I mostly grew up in the suburbs of Orlando and some of my family still lives there. I got to spend Sunday afternoon with my mom who drove 8 hours to see me, and my grandmother who lives there. They got to meet Sr. Mary Michael and got the opportunity to get to know her some. They loved her! I think it calmed some fears and realized that Sisters are just normal folks! ;) I wish I could have had more time with them and the rest of my family, but time was limited because the next morning we were off to Fort Lauderdale to visit a community friend.

But before we go there I just want to mention the amazing couple we stayed with- Lance and Nicole. They are such a beautiful Catholic couple who have 20+ "spiritual children" whom they love and pray for daily. Please pray for them.

Now off we go to South Florida! We stayed with another couple who are also very sweet and completely spoiled up. We traveled to Ave Maria University which was beautiful and VERY Catholic! If you are looking for a good Catholic School then check out Ave. After a day at Ave we were off again but this time back home. Whew... what a week!

Christmas at the Convent

My first Christmas at the Convent was wonderful! It was definitely a very busy and fun time. A few days before (Lori: I'm assuming Christmas) we were putting up trees and other decorations. The chapel was getting decorated beautifully. Things were being prepared in the kitchen and many wonderful goodies were being dropped off by people who have so generously thought of the Sisters. Some of the other Sisters thought it would be a great idea to keep a few things hidden from me... this is not a good thing for someone like me. :)

On Christmas Eve we said Vespers (Evening Prayer) in our beautifully decorated Chapel but Baby Jesus was not yet there- in our chapel. We prossessed out of the Chapel into the dining room when an array of snacks, goodies, and drinks were had. We heard the Christmas letter from our Superior General in Austria. We then opened our presents. Anyone who had received anything from their families were opened then too!

Then according to the tradition of the community the youngest (yup, that's me!) carries the Baby Jesis to his crib in the Chapel. That was such a special moment. Over the last few months I have been developing a deep devotion to the Child (Baby) Jesus. We then did a little prayer service and prepared ourselves to go to Mass.

After Mass, we regrouped and those who wanted to stay up and watch Christmas movies could (we had not been watching them until that point). This is one of the few nights we do not have grand silence. Most of us were in bed by midnight; 7am still comes early.

When we awoke, there was snow on the ground! Christmas Morning Prayer was said and we had a very yummy breakfast. Then Mass which is always beautiful! The rest of the day was spent inside because of the blowing snow! It was a great day having all the Sisters home. The last activity of the day is the game "Dirty (Naughty) Santa" where gifts are given and you can "steal" from another person or get a new gift. The favorite item was a saint calendar. Then 18 very tired Sisters said Night Prayer (Compline) and went to sleep.

 

All pictures are from the blog http://panhandlefranciscans.blogspot.com/