SISTERS of ST. JOSEPH of ST. AUGUSTINE, FL Next Step News January, 2016 But when the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit! Titus 3:4-5 Welcoming a Jubilee Year of Mercy! Sisters Jane, Carol, Bernard Joseph On December 5th, shortly after the First Sunday of Advent and three days before the Jubilee Year of Mercy was to begin, the laity was invited to a morning of prayer at the Motherhouse. Sisters Bernard Joseph Palmer, Jane Stoecker and Carol Wells prepared the morning of prayer entitled Welcoming Mercy through Advent. The morning provided time for a presentation on Mercy, reflection and sharing, and closed with a holy hour of prayer. Sister Carol Wells was invited to make the plaques for the Door of Mercy of the Cathedral in St. Augustine. Eric Brock prepared the wood that would be used for the Mercy symbol. The door was blessed and opened by Bishop Estévez on December 13th. Finishing touches S. Carol at Cathedral Door S. Margaret Jeanne and Fr. Rene Robert The Sisters at the Motherhouse and Our Lady of Lourdes Convent designated a door of mercy in their convents. Passing through the doors not only invites us to contemplate the mystery of mercy but also to challenge us to become a more effective sign of the Father s action in our lives.
2015 Christmas Musings... At L Arche Jacksonville, the annual Living Nativity was a high point of the Christmas season. This year Sister Rita Baum, along with one of the core members, narrated the pageant and, with a deaf couple in attendance, she interpreted in sign language. Several Sisters from Jacksonville were in attendance. On the front lawn of Sisters of St. Joseph Convent, Jacksonville, one of the Sisters reflects: When I gaze upon the manger scene, I am reminded of the beginnings of our salvation. Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father, who was sent by the Father to be our Savior. Jesus does this by example, even as a tiny baby. He is totally trusting and dependent for all of His needs: food, clothing, shelter and protection. I am called to respond in the same manner of trust and dependence throughout my life. Simple but precious: Morning Star School, Jacksonville, performed in the Christmas Pageant just before the Christmas break. Every child, grades kindergarten through 8th, participated. Nova, the service dog, played the part of a sheep. Sister Elise assisted with the little ones before the pageant began. Come, little Savior, be born in our hearts! Bishop John Noonan, Orlando Diocese, and the Vocation Office with Sister Kathleen Power, Vocation Directress, hosted the annual Christmas Mass and luncheon for the seminarians and their families. Women and men in discernment were also invited. It presented one more opportunity to build relationships with families and those discerning God s call in their lives. Christmas decorating brings much joy to Sisters Joyce and Loyce as the manger, Holy Family, shepherds and kings all focus on the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus. Special ornaments gathered throughout the years from dear persons remind them, in turn, to give of themselves to others in honor of the Christ Child.
Works of Mercy at Christmas Ss. Nicole, Jane, Elizabeth Ann, St. Margaret, Mary Christine, Margaret Jeanne, Lyn and Ms Deborah Bowles In preparation for serving the homeless on December 16th, the Sisters at Our Lady of Lourdes Convent made peppermint chocolate bars and Christmas cards to give to the homeless. Sister Mary Christine Zimorski and Deborah Bowles served a delicious pot of chili made by Sister Carol Stovall and Deborah. S. Mary Christine & Deborah Bowles Comforting and Feeding the Sorrowful Sister Charlotte Tremoulet ministers at Big Bend Hospice in Tallahassee as chaplain for spiritual care to the patients and their families. A holiday custom at Big Bend Hospice is to offer a food box. Publix boxes of a complete family sized cooked meal are offered at Thanksgiving and Christmas not only to families in financial need but also to those under stress of coping with the care Deacon Pat and Jane Dallet with S. Charlotte of a loved one and challenged to cook a holiday meal in difficult times. The meals are made possible through Big Bend Hospice Foundation and the generosity of donors. Sister Charlotte is fortunate to participate in the two days before Christmas deliveries. Sister shares the obvious awareness: It makes my day, and affirms the saying that it is more blessed to give than to receive. St. Ambrose Parish God s Mercy; God s Love Anticipating parish involvement in the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Father Kiran Medipalli, pastor of St. Ambrose Church, Elkton, held a meeting on December 30, 2015, in the parish hall. He brought together the Parish Council and representatives of major parish ministries to formulate a plan for the celebration of this Jubilee. The meeting began with a pizza supper as about 35 adults and young people exchanged greetings. Following supper, Father Kiran gave a short power-point presentation which gave background information about the Jubilee year. He then introduced Brandon Allen who is a minor seminarian and former member of the parish. Brandon spoke about the Jubilee as it is being lived out at the Minor Seminary in Miami and the importance of Scripture in one s spiritual life. This was followed by a presentation (God s Mercy; God s Love) by guest speaker Sister Ann Raymond Wood. Using five Scripture stories as well as personal reflections, Sister enabled the listeners to formulate suggestions for parish activities during the Jubilee Year. St. Ambrose is a welcoming and affirming parish. Their plans will reflect God s abundant mercy and love!
Is This Minorcan Snow?! What does a Minorcan snowball look like? Sister Suzan Foster, native of St. Augustine, shows you during her visit with her family in El Paso, Texas, during her Christmas break as teacher and assistant principal at St. Joseph Academy, St. Augustine. St. Joseph Academy Students On Saturday, December 12th, a group of 15 international students from St. Joseph Academy, St. Augustine, accompanied by three adult chaperones, came to the Motherhouse to learn a little about the Sisters of St. Joseph and to volunteer several hours of yard work on the Motherhouse grounds. Sister Carol Stovall met with them in the chapel and shared information about the history of the Sisters and the Motherhouse as well as what it means to live as a Sister of St. Joseph. The students were from China, Germany and Spain. The group generously purchased several flats of petunias. After her talk with the students, Sister Carol helped direct their planting, raking, weeding and mulching over an expansive yard! The World Would Be a Better Place if. St. James student proudly shows his Step Up for Students Scholar of Excellence medal. Sisters Stephanie Flynn and Kathleen Carr, along with the whole school community, have finished their months of preparation. During the first week of December, St. James School, Miami, was visited by the Florida Catholic Conference Accreditation Team. One Haitian parent commented, If all the children of the world could receive a Catholic education like my son gets at St. James, the world would be a better place. Committees within the school spend many months preparing their Accreditation Report wherein they evaluate many aspects of the school s life. A rating of 1-4 is given, with 4 being the highest. Unless there is a strong degree of evidence, it is rare that many 4 s are given, so the committees mostly gave the school 3 s. The visiting Accreditation Team witnessed such strong evidence of many of the areas being evaluated; the Team chose to move several evaluations to the highest degree of 4! School Mass was celebrated that morning followed by early dismissal and a formal reading of the report. Thank God for all the good that has been accomplished by so many!
A Christmas Day Remembered and Cherished. Shared on the SSJ Facebook page by Robert Brookens One memory has stuck in my cranial skull cap all these years, being it turned out to be a very special Christmas for my brother Jimmy, my sister Elizabeth and me, as well as all of the other boys and girls at St. Mary s Home for boys and girls in Jacksonville, Florida. While at the Catholic orphanage, the nuns didn t celebrate Christmas with gifts and Santa Clause; we woke up, said our prayers at breakfast and completed our chores before we were allowed to go out to play. Just a couple of days prior to Christmas day, I had overheard the Sisters in a heated discussion about it s Christmas and they are children. That s about all of what I heard, but it gave me a feeling that we may actually get to celebrate Christmas morning opening gifts. So this one year, my last Christmas at the home, Sister Rose William, our caretaker, surprised us with a Christmas tree and a few gifts for each of us boys. Now mind you, there were over 20 of us! Some local businesses had made a huge donation of two Christmas trees and gifts. So the nuns had stayed up late working together feverishly in each of the cottages. We had two cottages as we called them. They were more like dormitories. So the nuns, Sister Rose William and Sister Frances Denise decorated two huge Christmas trees overnight for us to wake up to. Well, when we woke up and meandered out into our living room, there was the tree and underneath were all of these wrapped presents. They were all labeled with each of our names, and it was a Christmas miracle to see, especially on the younger kids faces and my brother s face when he looked up at me s So we each got new slippers and pajamas with a robe. My pajamas were striped and my robe was god with a navy blue trim. We also each got a 1969 Dodge Charger R/ T replica metal car. They had working doors, hoods, and trunk lids that opened and a 440ci engine under the hood. As an 11 year old boy, I wasn t much of a believer in Santa Clause, but this was an awesome Christmas morning. Liz, I believe, got a baby doll that made a crying noise as well as new pajamas and a robe. Even though we were in an orphanage, away from what we knew with our brothers, sisters, mom and dad, we were well taken care of. We went to private Catholic Church and School. I believe to this day the nuns made a very large impact in my life learning what is right and what is wrong. We weren t beaten, like some of the stories you may hear about these kinds of homes for kids. But they taught us more than we would ever realize until we grew up. This Christmas remember this: you may not have gotten what you wanted as a gift, but there are many boys and girls out there that wake up on this day wishing and praying that Santa Claus stops at their foster home or orphanage to find out he didn t stop, let along there isn t even a tree, a turkey roasting in the oven, or someone there to give you a hug and a caress and say it s going to be all right, just like Sister Rose William did for me, my brother and the rest of the boys and girls at St. Mary s. There are even boys and girls waking up homeless, in shelters or cars, being mom and/or dad have had a hard time in life trying to provide. I am thankful for what I have; I do miss my brothers and sisters so much. So, be happy and my God bless you all, and especially say a prayer for those less fortunate than many of us on this Christmas Day! This is a Christmas Day remembered, and I will always cherish it. S. Rose William, S. Louis Gonzaga, friend, S. Frances Denise
Come Spend a Morning With Us! The SSJ Associates will be gathering on Saturday, January 9th from 9:00 noon at the Motherhouse in St. Augustine. There will be refreshments, and a short time for information sharing. At 9:30 Sister Barbara Cekosh will be presenting a reflection on Mercy As Seen Through the Writings of Father Pierre Medaille. There will be time for reflection and sharing on several maxims that our founder has given to the Sisters of St. Joseph. ALL ARE WELCOME! If you are not an Associate and wish to attend, please call Mary Adams at 904-824-1752 by January 8th. FIVE LESSONS OF THE MAGI The unforgettable story of the journey of the Magi, as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, is an artful summary of the principal dynamics of the spiritual life. Watching the night sky with scrupulous attention for signs of God s purpose, the Magi evoke the importance of alertness in the spiritual order. We must keep our eyes open to see what God is up to. For far too many people, the spiritual life never gets underway precisely because they don t pay attention. Once they saw the star, they moved, despite the length of the journey and the dangers of the road. Sometimes people know what God wants them to do, but they don t act, either out of fear or laziness or the influence of bad habits. In their confident journeying forth, the Magi teach us not to miss the propitious moment. They teach us to move. When they entered into Herod s territory, the Magi caught the attention of the king. And when they spoke to him of the birth of a new King of the Jews, Herod became frantic and tried to use them in order to destroy the baby. A third lesson: when you walk the path that God has laid out for you, expect opposition. We live in a sinful, fallen world, and there will always be forces at cross purposes to God. Refusing to cooperate with Herod s game, the wise men came to Bethlehem, found the child, and gave him their precious gifts. When you come to Christ, don t give him your second best; break open the very best of yourself and make it a gift for him. Finally, they were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod and so they returned to their home country by another route. As Fulton Sheen commented so magnificently: of course they did; for no one comes to Christ and goes back the same way they came! Very Rev. Robert Barron