The Music in My Heart

The words to Desiderata were on my half of the bedroom wall and the Beach Boys music blared from the car radio. Three thousand girls and I roamed the halls of Prendie. And, my favorite classes were math and science. I went on to college and graduate school as a chemistry major. But, there was this other “thing” that kept poking at my heart.

So, I finished my degrees and I kept listening for God. How did that happen? I know it sounds a little crazy, but the best I can determine is that there were four things:

1.     A good friend who had entered earlier

2.     Mark 10: the Rich Young Man parable (how could he walk away?)

3.     The book, The Great Lion of God (about St. Paul), and

4.     Music from Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar.

And that’s how God speaks to me… even still, even today, through those I encounter, books and most often music. I know now that God drew me to and keeps me with the SSJs because of our charism and mission. But why one enters and why one stays are different and yet similar. I have always been in education and I have always loved it. I wanted others to know the passion I had for chemistry and how it makes the world go round but my first love was classroom teaching.  To show how God works from atom… to Eve… is mind-blowing and to care for the earth and all of creation is awesome!

Thirty-eight of my 40 years of education, have been in SSJ affiliated or sponsored schools. Each is filled with the charism and mission of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. But, what I have loved most over the years was the interaction I was able to have with the students, teachers, parents, and the dear neighbor I met as teacher and administrator. There were the great times, and the times I felt I needed to be Solomon-the-Wise. I often think back to decisions which may have changed a young person’s life and how I tried my very best to listen with my head and my heart and my God. I did see the face of God in so many eyes and, so often after the encounter, I would hear God’s voice in a special way.

I hear a singing voice in my prayer.  A minstrel follows me, whispers sweet music in the ears of this one who never took a music lesson in her life. I know I am with God who is always there when I hear the song, whatever it may be. It becomes the mantra of my day and my night. It wakes me and puts me to sleep; best of all, it calls me deeper and deeper to a place where I know my God.

            With His melody He NAMES me   

            The WORDS that form my life
            He has called me to be 

I know, “My song will be for you forever, you the music in my heart!”

Sister Kathleen Letts SSJ

Sister Kathleen Letts has spent her ministerial life in education —  as teacher and administrator.  Currently she ministers at Chestnut Hill College.

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.

Our Ministry of Prayer and Presence

The Haitian proverb “We see from where we stand” invites us to expand our perspectives and to grasp the interconnectedness existing throughout the world.  Developing this understanding has the potential to promote solidarity among us.

For me, this proverb is applicable to the work of Saint Joseph Guild which serves as a link between our Saint Joseph Villa Sisters’ Ministry of Prayer and the needs of our wounded world. Intentions come daily beseeching our Sisters’ intercession: from a heartbroken parent on behalf of a wayward child, a spouse for the recovery of a loved one, the safety of a son/ daughter in the military, for forgiveness and harmony within a family, the return of children to their Faith, and so many heartaches borne by others.

In response, all these burdens are lifted up during daily Mass and the personal devotions of our elder/infirm Villa Sisters. Additionally, these Sisters embody our Founder’s advice:  “If your state of life does not allow you to work openly for the advancement of God’s glory and the salvation of the neighbor, offer for both of these aims your holy desires, your prayers, your tears and your sufferings; in a word, every work of your life and the agony of your death, uniting them with the holy intentions of the Savior Jesus.”  (Maxims of Perfection XI, 3)

 Privileged to serve in the Guild, I witness this deepening of our interconnectedness with others wrought by our beloved Villa Sisters’ daily fidelity to their Ministry of Prayer and Presence. When you meet them, please express your gratitude to them for their outreach on behalf of our wounded world! 

Sister Fran DeLisle SSJ

Sister Fran is a native of Philadelphia. Her first 30 years as a Sister of Saint Joseph she ministered in elementary and secondary schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Fran began ministry among “Seniors” in 1991 spending one year at Bethlehem Retirement Village before coming to Saint Joseph Villa in 1992 where she currently serves as the coordinator of the Guild.

Cradled Closer to the Heart of Jesus

September 2015 marks my 40^th year as a Sister of Saint Joseph. In these years, the gift of prayer, being sensitive to God’s continued calling and grace have been what I have found to be most fulfilling. God places enticements before me to deepen our relationship while living out my call as a Sister of Saint Joseph. Recently, a question from Father Gustavo Gutierrez increased my desire to be joined with God, “So you say you love the poor? Name them.” This quote has encouraged me to be mindful of naming in prayer the poor person I encounter. I am challenged by a similar admonition from Dorothy Day, “The Gospel takes away our right forever, to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.”

In my ministry as a therapist, I meet individuals who feel undeserving of God’s love. They are emotionally and spiritually poor from having made the decision to have an abortion. The ministry of Project Rachel saturates these wounded souls with the message, “There is no sin greater than God’s mercy.”  Their poor troubled hearts carry a very unique sorrow that causes them a great deal of suffering. They believe that they have committed the unforgivable sin which makes them feel unholy. I more recently came upon a saying by Matthew Fox that read “God’s first outburst is always compassion.” I found this a remarkable notion and portrait of our great God and God’s reactions to us, and certainly a reminder for me to have that same emotional response with others. The post-abortive clients I meet are so ready to be condemned, punished and shamed for what they have done. To be part of a ministry that hands them only an awareness of God’s mercy and healing is a wonderful gift.  It is just the opposite of what they think they deserve. The SSJ vocation of reconciliation and healing allows me to introduce them to Jesus who knows their pain as well as their child. I share with them this beautiful statue that is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It lets them know that “nothing can separate us from the love of God,” not even an abortion.  They experience their child as cradled in the arms of the Lord. (http://lancastergardenofhope.com/)

 To conclude, I would like to borrow a signature saying of Oprah Winfrey:  “What I know for sure…” While interviewing others she asks them to complete that sentence. “What do you know for sure…?” What I know for sure is that God is faithful; we are never alone. My vocation, my relationship with God is deepened by a song with that sentiment and assurance.  “I Am Not Alone”- Kari Jobe is a reminder to me; it encourages me and gives me faith, hope and love each day as I continue to live the treasure of vocation that is being a Sister of Saint. Joseph. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow4OfW4DP9s) May your listening bring you a sense of being cradled closer to the Heart of Jesus.

Sister Meg Cole SSJ

Sister Meg is a licensed  Marriage and Family therapist at Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Allentown, PA.