Today on Thanksgiving Eve
many people are traveling, others are at home preparing for tomorrow’s dinner,
others are shopping and some are even having a quite evening at home. Whatever you may be doing take time today to
be grateful for the countless blessings you hold in your heart. Thanksgiving is
a time to remember and celebrate. Each year
we have the opportunity to celebrate with family and friends this special day. In
St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians we read, “Let your lives overflow with
thanksgiving for all He has done.” (2: 7)
We have so much to be thankful for and today is a good time to take
stock of our blessings. As we prepare to
watch parades, enjoy being with family and friends, or thoroughly enjoy a
festive meal let us always remember that God’s love with be surrounding us long
after the meal is ended and the dishes are cleaned.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Monday, November 25, 2019
Foundation of the Ursuline Order
Happy Foundation Day of the Company
of St. Ursula!
484 years ago today,
November 25th, 1535, St. Angela Merici founded the Ursuline sisters.
On this feast day of St.
Catherine of Alexandria, Angela Merici gathered with the first 28 members of
the Company of St. Ursula and after celebrating Mass together signed the book
of the Company, thereby making their commitment to a life of virginity, service
and love for all people. They lived in the midst of family, workplace and local
community. The group would meet regularly for prayer and would be visited by
the local leaders in the Company.
At that time, to freely
choose this state of life was to engage oneself in a novel and unique
enterprise in the Church. These women courageously contributed to the
advancement of women in the society of the day, since they were not cloistered.
St. Angela Merici left her wishes and
educational approach in documents she dictated to her male secretary: her Rule,
Counsels, and Testament. As a person of rich and practical experience, her
principles were full of wisdom and common sense. These documents formed the
first Ursulines and continue to guide the Ursulines throughout the century in
their education mission.
Thank you, St. Angela
Merici, for following God’s call and founding a company of women dedicated to
service and love for all people.
We wish the Ursuline
Sisters, associates, alumnae, benefactors, friends, collaborators, companions
and members of the company all over the world a blessed Foundation Day!
Saturday, November 16, 2019
The Martyrs of El Salvador
Today we commemorate the
thirtieth anniversary of the brutal murder of six Jesuits and their housekeeper
and her daughter in San Salvador. A
group of highly trained soldiers entered the campus of the University of
Central America in San Salvador shortly past midnight on Nov. 16, 1989. Their target was the president of the university,
Ignacio Ellacuría Beas Coechea, S.J., the rector of the university. Killed along side of him were: Ignacio Martín-Baró, S.J., vice-rector of the
university, a leading expert on Salvadoran public opinion; Segundo Montes,
S.J., dean of the department of social sciences; Juan Ramón Moreno, S.J.; Joaquín
López y López, S.J.; Amando López, S.J.; Elba Ramos, their housekeeper; and Celina
Ramos, her sixteen-year-old daughter.
These brutal murders shocked
the world and called people called for immediate retribution. Those charged were tried and only two were
found guilty of the major charges the others were given lesser charges. They were
murdered because they were labeled communists and were reported to be in
solidarity with the poor. The civil war
in El Salvador lasted 12 years and claimed some 75, 000 lives.
These eight people joined Sisters
Dorothy Kazel, OSU; Maura Clarke, MM, Ita Ford, MM and Jean Donovan (an
Ursuline volunteer), as well as Archbishop Oscar Romero who were killed in the
civil war also.
These senseless murders call
for us to reflect on the value of every human being and challenge us to be
persons of peace and justice. May the
cry for justice for all people be heard and respected for all.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
The Story of Zacchaeus
At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass
through the town. Now a man there named
Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to
see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was
short in stature. So he ran ahead and
climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up
and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your
house." And he came down quickly
and received him with joy. When they all
saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house
of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood
there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall
give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it
four times over." And Jesus said to
him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a
descendant of Abraham. For the Son of
Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19: 1-10
Zacchaeus is saved us, because he descends from Abraham. He
is saved, too, though, because he descends from the tree! I have always loved the story of
Zacchaeus. Perhaps it is because I can
easily related to his height issue.
Zacchaeus was a wealthy man and had a need to see who Jesus was. He had heard of Him but desired to see Him so
he climbed the sycamore tree. Jesus
calls Zacchaeus down, just as He calls each of us.
Jesus calls Zacchaeus down from the tree, to a direct
encounter with Him. Jesus does not condemn him.
He calls him to dwell with him. The
same message is there for us. Jesus calls
each one of us to follow Him and be saved.
Like Zacchaeus we too need to have the desire to see Jesus and
follow. We are called to have open and
listening hearts. Jesus takes us as we
are and invites us to grow and develop into who we are called to be. May we live each day with that certitude of
heart.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Natural Disasters
Seven years ago
today the east coast was rocked by Hurricane Sandy. I remember that day so clearly. We had gone over to Mass at the Ursuline
Provincialate to be greeted by our Provincial who asked us if we could move in
for a few days to help out in case the employees could not get in. After the initial shock passed we immediately
said we just needed to go home and get our things for work. As soon as Mass ended we headed home and packed
up for what we thought would be a few days.
We began our tour of duty by making sure all the beds were made and that
there were names on the doors so the sisters would know what room they would
use. Several sisters came from our
convent across New Rochelle and those who lived near water also moved in. We wound up staying for a week, school was
closed so we really just remained safe with the sisters. About three days after the storm hit we went
home to check on our apartment since we were not there for the storm. Once we got to our apartment we were greeted
by the fact that there was no electricity or heat so we emptied the refrigerator,
put away our work clothes and headed back to the convent where we stayed until
the electricity was restored.
Watching the news
was nonstop and when I spoke to my sister I realized that the storm had taken
her house. She told me that, “Barnegat
Bay met in my living room.” As she said
this she described the point at which they decided to abandon their house and
seek higher ground—it was when a piece of siding landed in their front
lawn. A week later I visited her home to
help with the gutting of it. The water was
just less than four feet high which meant that insurance would only pay for
half of the walls to be replaced. We
ripped out carpets, took out furniture and cleaned out the refrigerators which
still had water and minnows in the draws.
For the past seven years she has fought with FEMA, contractors, been
robbed and after finally finishing her house she has sold it and moved to a
smaller home away from the water. Her story
is very much like so many others, many of whom have still not completed
repairs.
Today we are
praying for the people of California who are battling fires once again. Two years ago we lost our Retreat Center in
Santa Rosa, one of the sisters lost her home and her dog and many lives were
turned upside down due to fires. Let us
continue to pray for all those who are in the path of natural disasters -- that
all will be safe.
Sunday, October 27, 2019
Tree of Life
One year ago
today a lone gunman opened fire with an AR- 15 rifle at the Tree of Life
Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA. Eleven
people were killed that day and six others were injured. The victims ranged in age from 54 to 97 years
of age. Two were brothers and greeted
people as they came to the synagogue and one had survived the Holocaust. The conservative Jewish synagogue has
remained closed since that fateful day but many people visited the site to mark
the one year anniversary. There is a
fence that surrounds the synagogue which has been decorated with messages from
around the country and artwork sent by the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High School in Parkland, Florida.
The outpouring of
love and support does not lessen the pain of the senseless violence that had occurred. There have been random acts of violence
since that fateful day, as well as, threats of violence. Our world is in such pain and everyone needs
to come together and work for justice for all.
We need to remember the two great commandments, love of God and love of
neighbor. Each one of us has been
created in the image and likeness of God and that is both a call and a
challenge to act out of that reality. May
those who have succumbed to senseless violence rest in peace and may we always
seek to foster peace in all we do.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Light the Night
Tonight I
participated in the Light night walk at Rye Playland. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the
Night Walk funds treatments that are saving the lives of patients today. LLS is
making cures happen by providing patient support services, advocating for
lifesaving treatments and pioneering the most promising cancer research
anywhere. And it's all happening now. Not someday, but today. Each year
friends, families and coworkers form teams to raise money in support of our
mission.
For the past 12
years I have walked in honor of a dear friend of mine Bob who lost a valiant
battle with Leukemia. I had the pleasure
of knowing Bob and his family for well over 40 years. I am still friends with his wife and
children and now grandchildren. Bob had
an incredible outlook on life. When he
became ill he fought with all his will and never gave up hope. Tonight in his honor we donned our “Big Bobby”
shirts and gathered for our team photo with great pride. One of the most special parts of the time is
having the opportunity to go into the remembrance tent. In the tent family and friends are invited to
write a message to their loved one. Each
year the messages get more personal and there are often many tears shed.
The opening
ceremony has changed over the years and tonight’s begun with the sharing of a
survivor’s story. A woman who told her
story shared how “faith, hope and humor” sustained her on the journey. She also shared that in January she had her
blood test and her oncologist called her to congratulate her that she was in
remission and was also pregnant. The one
thing she wanted was a child, her son, Tyler is now two months old. This story like so many give tremendous hope. Let us pray for all those who have succumbed
to cancer, are fighting cancer, or are in remission from cancer. May a cure be found very soon.
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