At Every Moment, God Awaits

Two years ago I was drawn to an excerpt from Pierre Teilhard’s Hymn of the Universe and used it on bookmarks for my writing center colleagues.

                        . . . at every moment
                        God awaits us in the activity,
                        the work to be done,
                       which every moment brings.
                      God is, in a sense,
                      at the point of my pen, my pick,
                     my paint brush, my needle . . . .

God awaits us. . . at the point of my pen. . . .

Although I believe that I am always in the presence of God, there are times when I have a deep experience of God’s presence in “the work to be done.”

Some of that work is with student writers who come to discuss their personal narrative essays, an assignment that includes elements of conflict, tension and resolution. Students—some whom I have never met before—share a story in a conference that invites their active participation. Our goal is that the students will improve a specific piece of writing and, in the process, learn or practice skills that they can apply to their next writing project. At its best, this process is highly interactive and usually offers more than I anticipate.

What some may see as dry details of essay structure, paragraph unity, coherence and sentence variety, actually yield treasures hidden in folds of a narrative piece—expressions of gratitude, worry, compassion, regret, friendship, humor, optimism, challenge, success or failure. In a diverse student body, these stories flow through a rich spectrum of cultures.

Unlike the objective style of a research paper, the narrative is self-revelatory. It’s a way of saying “this is a snapshot of who I was at a particular moment in my life when I was challenged, and this is what I learned about myself.” Even in an atmosphere of welcome and appreciation, this type of writing is so personal that it takes a certain level of openness and trust to share a story face to face with a tutor. In the season of the narrative assignment, these interactions have offered me unexpected glimpses of God, our gracious Mystery. What gifts!

They prompt me to ask myself how I can share more openly and be more trusting. Both qualities are central to a practice that we Sisters of Saint Joseph call Sharing the State of the Heart. Simply, this is a prayerful gathering to share how we have experienced a deeper awareness of God’s action in our everyday lives. It is an opportunity to honor grace among us and to notice our response so that we might be able live our mission more authentically. This SSJ prayer, that I value deeply, is a communal process that builds on awareness, trust, and simplicity.

Student writers may be surprised to learn that they have had an influence on my relationship with God and others. But maybe not. In an environment that honors each person as “dear neighbor,” some may recognize that every interaction holds the potential for a sacred encounter.

Yes, God awaits at the point of my pen, at the click of my keystroke, and in every story.

Sister Roberta Archibald, SSJ

Sister Roberta Archibald SSJ works with an amazing team of student-faculty writing tutors at Chestnut Hill College. She also serves as Archival Associate for the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia. If you are interested in the founding stories of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Sister Roberta will be happy to arrange a tour of the SSJ Heritage Area for you and your friends. Check your calendar and call for a visit @ 215-248-7270.

 

Captivated by Autumn Leaves

One way I experience God each day is in the beauty of the autumn leaves. Growing up in a town called Maple Shade, I have been literally surrounded by leaves my entire life. I grew up on a street that was lined with maple trees, and from a very young age I was captivated by their leaves. Autumn leaves have always been a reminder to me of God’s creative love and abounding goodness. To this day, autumn leaves bring back memories of the joy of childhood…collecting leaves on the way to school - a sign of cooler weather with the promise of Halloween and Thanksgiving, and the thrill of jumping into a huge pile at the end of an afternoon of raking. Realizing that each colorful leaf is different and beautiful in its own way serves as a concrete reminder to me that each of us is also incredibly unique and beautiful in God’s eyes. It’s a gentle challenge for me to recognize God’s love in each person I encounter.

Another lesson I seem to learn anew every year from the leaves that decorate the trees and gracefully fall to the ground is that if I am open to it, I can see Divine Providence in the so called autumns of my own life…times that bore great fruit. I can accept the invitation to reminisce about the faithfulness of God and the graces and blessings which have been bestowed upon me by a loving God who cannot be outdone in generosity.

Without fail, every autumn fills my soul with a joy and an energy that can come only from a creative God abounding in kindness.  I still find myself picking up a maple leaf that has caught my eye and admiring its vibrant colors and original design.  I think about the countless times I have done that since I was a little girl in Maple Shade and am reminded anew of the God with whom I walk this journey and who delights in my humble efforts to live the Gospel message each day, even when I am happily jumping in a big pile of leaves. :-)

Sister Marie Leahy, SSJ is an Assistant Professor of Education at Chestnut Hill College.  In her free time, she likes to read, go to the gym, and travel.

It's the Simple Things...

My days are filled with privileged visits with patients and families.  And often, as I head out the door of a hospital room I hear myself say, “Now where did that come from?” or “Did you hear what you just said?”   One of my favorites has to do with a woman patient whom the nurses and doctors described as depressed.  I had had at least three visits with this woman before she went home. All three visits did not seem to go anywhere.  Two weeks went by and a nurse on oncology sent for me to visit “Helen” who was back for treatment and was despondent.  I went to Helen’s room, introduced myself, indicated that we had met before and offered a time and space for identifying and responding to her needs.  Again I got no response, no eye contact, and no seeming acknowledgement of engagement.  The next thing I hear coming out of my mouth is, “Helen, I don’t know what would be a comfort to you at this time, but I could talk with you, be silent with you, I could even just curl up like a cat and be at your side so you are not alone.”  With that there was a giggle and a turning to meet my eyes.  Then, Helen resumed her previous shut down. 

The next morning the same nurse sent for me again to go to Helen’s room.  She did not give me any new information.  Helen had the shade up, her hair fixed, she greeted me coming into the room and we had a “regular” pastoral visit.  The nurse later told me she had sent for me just because she wanted me to see the difference which had unfolded after I had visited the previous day.  Helen had two more hospitalizations before she died.  I found out she had three cats at home. 

God is so simple with each of us.   God says, “Can I just curl up at your side and be with you through this time of grief, of emptiness, of insecurity, of loneliness, of confusion?”  “Can I just be with you?”

Simply,

Peg Conboy

At Any Given Moment

Finding God in my life is very simple and rarely complicated. God thoroughly knows me, and therefore, has little trouble catching my attention at any given moment. God’s awareness of my radar-like detection of all things tiny, ordinary, and often unnoticed by others makes me fair game for the gentle personal nudges God slips into my daily life. I am the one who sees a gorgeous monarch butterfly soaring around the bushes outside the church after a funeral and recognizes the message of peace and hope its presence wishes to extend. The miniature violet poking its way through a crack in the sidewalk can draw me into its awesome strength and resilience. Clever and mischievous squirrels scampering up and down the towering oak tree outside my bedroom window transport me from Morning Prayer into the experience of God’s flourishing creation bursting forth into a new day. All of these otherwise hidden messages would go unreceived if it weren’t for my desire and ability to find God in the whisper of the world around me. For this I am grateful.

However, one of my most powerful experiences of God each day is in, of course, a most unlikely place: the girls’ restroom at an inner-city elementary school where I am the First Grade teacher. Twice a day, my Aide and I take the boys and girls for their restroom break. It is during these trips that I have the privilege of seeing one or more of my 13 girls stoop down to tie a classmate’s shoe lace, straighten another’s collar and snap on her tie, or simply step aside to make room at the sink as they wash their hands together. All this goes on silently in a matter of 10 minutes as we wait alongside the wall for each to have her turn. These multiple forms of charity and kindness began one day a few weeks ago when I simply said, “Let me see whom I can recognize as a good friend of another classmate or a friend of God.” With that invitation came these simple, yet sincere, acts of love and service.

Our Sisters of Saint Joseph Constitutions states: “Our spirituality is a basic gospel call to love of God and our neighbor.” The 24 six and seven-year-olds I’m with each day remind me of this. Certainly some of us will do absolutely phenomenal things within our lifetime. However, the majority of us are ordinary children of God who live extraordinary lives of Christ-centered witness due to the fact that we remember from whom we have come!

Before my class dismisses each afternoon, I lead them in this two-part mantra. The first part is an adapted quote from the movie “The Help” and the second is a quote that one of the Novice Directors sent us out with on our ministry day. I say, “Now girls and boys remember: ‘You are kind. You are smart. You are important.’ Therefore, ‘Go out into the world and make God look good today!’”

Sister Ann Marie Gass, SSJ

We Are All Related

Each year since 2007, the approach of early October
brings my spirit back to that year when I lived and ministered
among the Lakota Indians on the Rosebud Reservation in
South Dakota.

Thanks to the time I was welcomed among these
beautiful people, my spirituality continues to deepen in so many ways.
One of the greatest gifts my Lakota friends gave to me is the phrase they
use as a common greeting.

Mitakuye Oyasin, translated “We are
all related,” serves as an ongoing reminder to me of the interconnectedness
of all “nations” (things and people, to the Lakota) in the great Circle of Life.

In addition, each October, I am reminded to stand in solidarity with my “relatives”
in the state of South Dakota where “Columbus Day” has been renamed “Native American Day.”

Someday, may all of Creation truly live as One..and may I do my part to help that happen.

Mitakuye Oyasin!!

Sister Peg Oravez, SSJ

Sister Peg has served in elementary, high school and college education, as well as adult faith formation and vocation ministries over her years since entrance into the Congregation. Central to all of these ministries has been her passion for spiritual companioning in both formal and informal ways.

Walk the Way of My Poor

The summer I made my Final Vows as a Sister of Saint Joseph, I felt a very strong call to be with people who are marginalized. What an awesome gift God gave me in July a few years ago.

“Gently, quietly,

and quite undramatically

a voice whispered, ‘Follow.’ All around me a presence persisted.

Amidst crowds, chimes, songs, and words of final consecration

a Love unwarranted - embraced me.”

“My anointing stirred flames of fervor in my heart,

and with wild surprise my life’s journey changed course forever.

In a gentle rush, the Spirit’s breath swept over my being.

God unveiled a new vision for me,

crystal clear and powerfully direct,

‘Walk the way of my poor.’”

The way of a Sister of Saint Joseph is about relationships. In my life God has given me many opportunities to meet all kinds of people and experience a vast number of cultures. All I can do is give thanks to God for allowing my path to cross with so many remarkable and courageous human beings.

Most of my religious life I have lived in a city setting. The landscape of the city is unique. It has small corner grocery stores, food trucks, vendors and traffic. The landscape is also filled with all kinds of people. The people make a drab barren cityscape a colorful canvas. It is in the faces of the people where I come face to face with God.

·      A vet who sweeps the pavement for a sandwich

·      An immigrant who longs to be with family

·      A homeless man who asks for a drink

·      A woman who is looking for work

·      Neighbors who help each other during bad weather

·      Volunteers who are generous and faithful

Walking the city-way for many years now, I know God is right at my side. As a Sister of Saint Joseph, God is asking me to be a “welcoming presence” to all who come and knock at our door. Each new face is God’s invitation to love all people “without distinction.” When I made my final commitment, I was so unaware of the abundance that would fill my heart. Religious life has granted me an opportunity to walk an amazing journey with God and others. My gratitude is tangible and my trust solid.

Many years ago a sacred voice penetrated my soul.

Today, stronger still, I listen to familiar, gentle urgings,

“Continue to walk the way of my poor.”

Sister Pat Madden, SSJ

On Looking More Deeply

“Technologically savvy” is not a phrase that I have ever used to describe myself.  Before this summer, I had never snap chatted, instagrammed, or tweeted and my relationship with Facebook was a totally casual one. I knew that moving into Vocation Ministry would demand that I embrace the online world - that social media would be a milieu in which I would need to feel at home, but I needed to start small.  First, I had to master the art of using the camera on my brand new smart phone – should be easy, right? I think not. 

Picture it, retreat August 2014 a sunset as beautiful as any I had ever seen. The colors turned the sky into an artist’s canvas and I felt compelled to immortalize it.  Instead, what I got was shot after shot of a blurry hazy ball of orange nothing.  Frustrated, I held the camera face down in front of me trying to figure out how in the world to “zoom in” so that I could see something, anything with a little more clarity.  I accidentally pushed the shutter button and this is what I saw:

This was most definitely not the lovely sunset still happening in front of me! In fact, it took me a few moments to realize what I was seeing - the sand magnified so many times that each individual sparkling grain can be seen in all of its glory! It caught my attention and touched my heart immediately. This brown, ugly, grainy dirt below my feet held such boundless beauty – talk about holy ground!

So, I “zoomed out” and took the same picture again and realized of course that this is what my own limited eyes always see whenever I look at the sand.  Not quite so wondrous.

Seeing this, I began to wonder what else I miss when I don’t look deeply enough - when I don’t take the time to reflect on the experiences that I have each day – to pray for wisdom and grace with regard to each interaction, relationship, phone call, task, etc.  What deeper meaning is right there just below the surface if only I take the time with God to look more deeply?

After all, isn’t this what our life as Sisters of Saint Joseph is all about – being contemplatives in action? Doesn’t it ask that we not only take the time to reflect on our experiences but that we become so in tune with God that every action is, in and of itself, a moment of contemplation? If, with the help of God’s grace, I live in such a way to cultivate that kind of contemplative heart and spirit, I have a feeling that more of my days would match the beauty, insight, wisdom, clarity and depth of the first picture. May it be so!

Sister Michelle Lesher, SSJ

Sister Michelle is a Sister of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia currently serving as Co-Director of Vocation Ministry with Sister Celeste Mokryzcki. She is passionate about Faith Formation, especially for Youth and Young Adults.