Volume 1, Issue 3 December 2011 Stream ~ Lines E-News from CSA Office of Vocation Discernment The Road Less Traveled (Part I) Submitted By Sister Jean Hinderer, CSA Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Robert Frost Let me introduce to you Arrianne W. who is from Germantown, Wisconsin, and will be entering the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the- Woods in Indiana. http:// www.spsmw.org/ The poem selection above from The Road Not Taken reminds me of Arrianne s journey to the Woods of the Sisters of Providence. She has been discerning her road for a number of years and has now applied, been accepted, and will enter their formation program beginning in January 2012. While she was visiting our CSA motherhouse, I asked if I could interview her so that she could give words of encouragement, clarity, or even a spiritual nudge to those women like herself who are sitting on the fence and hesitant to make a move to act on the CALL within that may be an invitation to join a religious community. Below are Arrianne s responses, in shortened form. If anyone who is reading these responses is feeling like Arrianne, please give our CSA Office of Vocation Discernment a call (920.923.2310) or email us at vocations@csasisters.org and we ll be glad to help you sort out the blurry from the clear! 1. How did you know that you had a call to religious life? I think that I first recognized I had a call in high school. I was a sophomore and I had a dream one night and I just had this feeling waking up the next day that I was supposed to consider being a sister. The next day I talked to my best friend about it, and I tried to run away as far as I could from this idea. I tried to ignore it. There were so many things popping up in my life that made me think about being a sister and I thought okay God, I know, but at this time I really wanted to be a mother and have a family. It was when I started working at the TYME OUT Youth Center in Nashotah, WI http:// www.tymeout.org/ when I felt I needed to keep my foot in the door of ministry in the Church and the Center helped me open up some of those doors while meeting the sisters that worked there. But it was in my freshman year at college during finals week, I went to mass that Monday night and I had this intense spiritual experience where I thought, okay, I m really supposed to pay attention to continued on page 2... Our times are calling us forward, the mission of Jesus burns in our hearts, and our current reality as women religious offers so many new possibilities for the future if we but take the risk to open our lives and fully welcome what is unfolding within us and before us. (Sister Joann Sambs, CSA General Superior on Installation Day, Sept 12, 2009)
Stream ~ Lines this. The next day, after talking to my hall minister who was a Jesuit, I was encouraged to investigate the call. However, I didn t push it away, but it was in my senior year and I was supposed to go to medical school but I couldn t make that choice. For some reason there was something that was holding me back. All my friends were being accepted into programs and schools but I kinda freaked out because I didn t have a plan. A friend of mine thought I should do a year of service. So Marquette http://www.marquette.edu/ had a volunteer fair where I gathered up the booklets and circled all the booths that had medical programs. I methodically went to each table, picked up information, and put my name on the list. I then narrowed my choices to three programs. I applied to two and got accepted to one the Providence Volunteer Ministers. I then went to the Woods (Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods) and worked in the free clinic. I remember when I got there I kept thinking I m not going to be a sister, I m going to get married. It didn t take much time for me to figure out when I was down there that it was something I really needed to face. At first, I wasn t willing to confront that fact that I had this call or that I had these feelings and that I needed to be honest about them. Obviously no matter where I turned at the Woods there was no place for me to run. Seems that there was always a sister on the path. And after awhile of being at the Woods and living with the sisters and seeing their witness to the life and why they chose it, and hearing their stories, I began to realize that their stories were my stories. I could hear my story when they were talking. I then began to feel like I was home. 2. How did you go about discerning your call? For me it was first of all being open just letting myself feel what I was feeling, allowing myself to recognize when I was being pulled one way and then another. Since I m a talker, I have a lot of friends, and some family members that I went to to talk about this and tried to discern what was real, what was something I needed to listen to, and what did things mean. I find that when I am talking with someone and something clicks then I know I should pay attention to that insight. Also a lot of personal prayer is helpful along with talking to others and seeking their advice. Page 2
Volume 1, Issue 3 January 2012 Volume 1, Issue 4 The Road Less Traveled Part 2 of Interview with Arrianne Submitted By Sister Jean Hinderer, CSA 3. As you enter into a community that doesn t wear a formal habit, what does that mean for you? In my community I don t have the choice to wear a habit and I went through a phase to think of what I would look like if I did wear a habit, but it was more a curiosity. There are sisters who don t wear a full habit, but wear a veil with a nice suit, and others who wear lay clothing and their white cross, which is a symbol of their community and habit. I would see how people treated the sisters who wore veils vs. the sisters who didn t and how there was a disconnect in society. I think the sisters with veils or a habit are kind of put on a pedestal and, for me personally, I am very prone to think of myself and I would get a big head. I knew that if I wore a habit I probably, on more than one occasion, would fall into the trap of thinking I was better than others because of how I was dressed. So, for me, I have a very strong call to be a servant to others and I felt that I could do that better if I wasn t in a habit. It was a personal choice that I made because I just thought I d be better at being focused on my mission and focused on why I really wanted to be a sister and the clothes I wear don t define that. 4. Why do you want to be a sister? What do you think are the gifts that you bring? I ve come to realize that vocation is not just about religious life. We are all called to be God s children and to serve God s mission in the world. It s not that I m called to be a sister because sisters do this, this, and this. I m called to be a sister because I feel very much that community life is a part of me and I feel very comfortable with that and I identify with Page 3 that. When I talk to sisters about their lives and their views of God, I can very clearly hear my words in their story and I identify with that. I recognize that I just fit in religious life and it will help me to be free to do a lot of the mission work that I would like to do. It helps me to be free to love a large number of people and serve a large number of people. Some of the gifts I bring are that I am there for people and that people feel comfortable in coming to me and talking through things. I think people see me as a good friend, and somebody who has integrity. I do care genuinely about those I meet and work with. I m not perfect and I have my weaknesses. But at the end of the day, if I have helped others, then I ve done what I m supposed to do. So that s why I feel that my core is a call to religious life because I think that this is the life to live out that call. 5. What would you want to say to religious communities today? I would like to see that there is a voice for the younger members and that they are listened to. Just to know that our voice matters and that we are going to be taken seriously, for we are the future. Just getting out there and working with the youth and believing that God is going to bring those to the community that need to come to the community.
Stream Volume ~ 1, Lines Issue 3 Discernment Weekend Learn to find ease in risk. By Sister Jean Hinderer, CSA On the weekend of December 2-4, 2011, approximately 21 candidates from a variety of religious communities gathered at Siena Retreat Center, Racine, WI http://www.racinedominicans.org/ retreats.cfm for their monthly inter-community weekend. The group was represented by female candidates from the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) in La Crosse, WI, School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) from Chicago, IL, Sisters of Divine Savior (SDS), from Milwaukee, WI, Sisters of the Living Word (SLW) from Chicago, IL, Sisters of Providence (SP) Mary-of-the-Woods, IN, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis (SSJ-TOSF) from Stevens Point, WI. Three male candidates represented the Society of the Divine Savior from Milwaukee, WI. All were accompanied by their directors. Candidates Arrianne and Brigid The weekend presentations involved input with assumptions, preconditions for discernment, and influences on discernment. Methods and practices were experienced as well. There was a variety of opportunities for participation through large group sessions, small group work, and private reflection. Saturday evening was a gathering time to decorate Christmas cookies. Each group provided homemade cookies which, when decorated with sprinkles, icing, and candies, would be packaged to be delivered to the Bethany Apartments in Racine, WI http:// bethanyapartments.org. These apartments are transitional housing for women and children who have experienced domestic abuse. Steve, one of the candidates, informed me that he was from Phoenix, AZ, and had Sister Christi Ann as a teacher at Bourgade Catholic High School. Such a small world! Sister Jean in discussion session with candidates. Also, Arrianne will be entering the Sisters of Providence in January and graciously consented to my interview with her (see the previous article). Enjoy! Page 4
Volume January 1, Issue 2012 3 Volume 1, Issue 4 I would like to conclude this article with the prayer we used for the weekend. It is a blessing prayer by John O Donohue. For A New Beginning In out of the way places of the heart Where your thoughts never think to wander This beginning has been quietly forming Waiting until you were ready to emerge. Sister Jean with candidate Steve For a long time it has watched your desire Feeling the emptiness grow inside you Noticing how you willed yourself on Still unable to leave what you had outgrown. It watched you play with the seduction of safety And the grey promises that sameness whispered Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent Wondered would you always live like this. Then the delight, when your courage kindled, And out you stepped onto new ground, Your eyes young again with energy and dream A path of plenitude opening before you. Though your destination is not clear You can trust the promise of this opening; Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning That is one with your life s desire. Sister Marsha and Arrianne decorating Christmas cookies. Awaken your spirit to adventure Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk Soon you will be home in a new rhythm For your soul senses the world that awaits you. ~John O Donohue~ Page 5