Eucharist and the Dear Neighbor

"See what you believe... become what you see."  Saint Augustine

As I sat at Eucharist in my parish church, Saint Timothy’s in Philadelphia, I reflected on the meaning of being ONE WITH and the gift of the dear neighbor. Our charism as Sisters of Saint Joseph calls us to be ONE WITH. The inscription in our final vow profession ring reminds us to be “One in Love.”

As I was preparing to celebrate Eucharist, my mind flashed to the row home, a house of welcome and hospitality where I live. It is a sacred space for me because it holds treasured memories of people, events and gatherings both indoors and outdoors. The summer is a special time of gathering with my community of the “dear neighbor.” The garden on my front lawn is one of many opportunities for us to come together and share words, concerns, prayers, time, talent and opportunities for a healthy meal. We care for one another and I feel deep love. 

 For many years in the early spring, John has tilled the soil on the front lawn. PJ tunes up the weed trimmer. Juaquim creates and maintains the fence to protect the garden from the rabbits and squirrels. Christina has a good eye for finding that hidden pepper or squash. Rich fixes the faucet so the hose works properly. I share my lawn mower with the newlywed neighbors who help shovel the snow in the winter. I deliver vegetables to a woman, Cass, who calls to thank me and asks for prayers for her son-in-law who is very sick. I celebrate the noise of little children soaking in the sun in their little pool on the next lawn. I share my umbrella to protect them from the hot rays on a 100° day. Edith and Derek hold a large squash they will take when they visit their family in New Orleans. The phone rings. A neighbor calls to say that two large tomatoes in my garden have ripened and are ready to be picked.  

I am blessed as a Sister of Saint Joseph in many ways. For me the grace of extending my call to be ONE WITH others, the Body of Christ, in a neighborhood with persons who live a very simple life style, who exchange time and talent, people of many ages and cultures is tangible grace at the heart of living Eucharist.

 “If you, therefore, are Christ’s body and members, it is your own mystery that is placed on the Lord’s table! It is your own mystery that you are receiving! You are saying ‘Amen’ to what you are: your response is a personal signature, affirming your faith. When you hear ‘The body of Christ’, you reply ‘Amen.’ Be a member of Christ’s body, then, so that your ‘Amen’ may ring true!”    Saint Augustine Sermon 272

Sister Sharon White SSJ

www.peacefulpartners.com

Sister Sharon is a Doctor of Ministry, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Couple and Family Therapist. Sharon maintains a private practice in Gibbsboro, NJ and travels on a regular basis to minister to those in crisis. Sharon is also a volunteer for the Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania. In this role, she recently accompanied family members who lost a love one at the Amtrak derailment.

My Sister of Saint Joseph Journey

I believe that life is a journey and that in moments of prayer we become aware of how God keeps sending people into our lives to support us on that journey.  

From an early age, I learned to value those moments of silent prayer. Although I felt drawn to the religious life, I didn’t want to answer God’s calling to “Come, follow Me.” Finally, when nearly 21, I prayed, “Lord, I’ll try it.”

In our quiet chapel at Chestnut Hill during my novitiate God won me over. There we had private hours of adoration regularly, and I felt so closely drawn to the One from whom I had been running. Our Directress and other novices supported me in this part of my journey.

For the next 25 years I served as teacher and principal. During daily periods of quiet prayer, I felt so refreshed. Living with many other women with different personalities, I understood more of what being a Sister of Saint Joseph meant. With them I lived our mission of unity as best I could.

When I found that I no longer related to the young, my regional superior invited me to spend a few days with a team of ministry counselors in a Lutheran seminary. Then, our God of surprises led me to respond to a request from one of our Sisters to minister with her in prison for a part of the summer.

 This was not what I had planned! Within minutes of being with my assigned group of prisoners though, I KNEW that I belonged in prison ministry.   Then, and for these many years since, I have had the privilege of sharing God’s love with so many prisoners.  I have experienced some of Jesus’ pain through men and women locked in cages, rejected by society, separated from their loved ones, and struggling to cope in a harsh, inhumane system.  Their prayer and their efforts to live with hope have deepened my own relationship with our loving God.  I am truly blessed and honored to have traveled most of my life’s journey with them.

Sister Dolores Chepiga SSJ

Sister Dolores ministered in education, served as jail minister, prison chaplain, and a pastoral associate who recruited volunteers for nearby correctional facilities. She was also coordinator of prison outreach for the archdiocese of Baltimore and is now a volunteer in parish and prison ministry. She is an advocate for abolition of the death penalty and author of unpublished mini-book on Restorative Justice.

All for God's Glory

One lovely summer evening I was walking alone along a quiet street in Sea Isle when I heard a bird “speaking” to me. The sounds were loud and clear, almost melodious. When I looked around I saw a beautiful red bird sitting on a wire above me continuously repeating its song. As I stood there looking up, the red bird flew to a higher level and continued with the performance.  After a few minutes the bird left me but I continued to wonder what the message could be now. 

Usually when I notice the flowers or when birds get my attention, they remind me to contemplate the lilies of the field and the birds of the air and to recognize once again how God cares for them even when they do nothing. This has happened frequently in unusual ways through the years. Did you ever have a bird peck on your window when you were trying to write a eulogy for someone very close to you?  Do you ever notice a bird touching down on your windshield, ever so lightly, as you drive to ministry or home again? In these moments God’s message to me is usually the same—do not worry, do all for God’s glory and God will take care of the rest. 

When we pray together in community, we often use the Canticle of Daniel, which invites not only the birds but all of creation, including ourselves, to give praise and glory to God. A few verses get my special attention:

            Let the birds of the air,
            animals wild and tame,
            together with all living creatures
            praise and exalt God above all forever.    

When I was in Africa a few years ago, I enjoyed an exciting adventure to Mikumi National Park in Tanzania where a multitude of varied species roamed in their natural habitats. Giraffes welcomed us along the road as we approached the park, and lions lay quietly under a tree while we took their pictures. On another occasion, I visited the elephant orphanage and fed a giraffe in the Giraffe Park in Kenya. These experiences broadened my perspective on “animals wild and tame” praising God.

After more reflection on my experience with the red bird singing on the wires, I believe God is inviting me to notice more readily how the birds, animals and all living creatures give praise and glory to God. I am invited anew to join in the celebration!

At the conclusion of his recent Encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis proposes two prayers that invite us to commit ourselves to all of creation. I feel genuine resonance with the line from the Christian prayer: “Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined to everything that is.” It echoes the melody in my heart.

Sister Kathryn Miller SSJ

Sister Kathryn is Assistant to the President for Administration and Special Projects at Chestnut Hill College as well as Secretary to the Board of Directors.  She also serves on the Board of the African Sisters Education Collaborative. 

Brailling

Anyone who really knows me, will tell you I am a creature of habit. The pattern of my days, at least the parts I can usually control, provides a rhythm and dependability that steady and often heal me. The routines of my morning, from how I get my coffee to where I fetch my bag, are burrowed in my brain’s deepest folds. And in the midst of those patterns God finds and follows me. Somehow, the habits free me to be attentive to the UN-expected sighting of the Holy: the refrain of a song, or the poignancy of a photo, the line from a story… or the little old lady in the grocery aisle who starts chatting as I get the can down from the top shelf for her, or the conversation with a treatment-center client on the elevator in my Camden office building.

My glasses (and contact lenses) have been part of me – almost forever. How often I feel like the blind man, not literally, but figuratively. Help me to see…over and over… everyday. Not the externals, but what’s underneath… the seeing that comes from understanding … the seeing that comes from getting past, and getting through and getting underneath. I read somewhere the word “brailling” and it caught my heart because I found myself in it. Touching God – using touch to see God. Is it YOU? Are YOU God?

Despite rather cerebral ministries, I have always loved to use my hands to create – to build – from my crayon-coloring days to my crafting of bigger stuff like playhouses and furniture and… especially, I am drawn to the wood – the scent, the beautiful grain – how what is rough can be made smooth. One of the most sacred experiences for me is sanding the to-be-finished piece. In the silence of a garage, with the object visioned in my head (and drawn on a napkin), fit and fastened, it is time to smooth the edges/splinters/expose the beauty of the grain. Not surprisingly, I love the repetitive rhythm that makes the wood smooth as silk. And as I sand, I pray. I ask my God to do that for me – smooth my rough edges.  Round-over my sharpness. Remove my splinters. Reveal the Karen-grain and help me honor the patina of age and wear and GRACE.

I know that deep within the ordinariness of my everydays lies meaning that is blessed by the depth of God-ness within my life. For me, the steady, repetitive rhythms let me return again and again until I see and touch the prayer – the sweet whisper and soft touch that brush against my soul – me to God and God to me.

Sister Karen Dietrich SSJ 

Sister Karen has passionately spent her ministerial life in education – as a teacher, administrator and now as Executive Director of Catholic Partnership Schools, an organization that oversees five inner-city, Catholic elementary schools in Camden. Having served as principal of Mount Saint Joseph Academy for 15 years, she is now immersed in the non-profit world of mission, development, marketing and finance.