A Day in the Life: Crazy Normal

Last Fish Fry of the season and I've been busy all day. Much love to everyone and I will resume normal posts on April 1st, since we are in Sacred Silence during the Triduum. May the Lord bless you and keep you!

News and Events; Sister Mary Antonella

I would like to introduce you to a remarkable woman who, along with Mother Ellen and other sisters, founded our community.  Sister Mary Antonella had a great devotion to Saint Joseph.  So it was fitting that she joined Mother Ellen in founding the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker in 1974.  Her life teaches us that age can not be an excuse or a barrier for fulfilling God's will.

Sister was born on January 1, 1893 in Newport, Ky.  She was the youngest of seven children born to Joseph and Mary Staubach.  She entered religious life in 1911 and after completing her training as a Novice, she made vows on December 8, 1912.

          She taught in various schools until 1930 when she was assigned to work in Hospital administration. Sister became the Administrator of Georgetown University Hospital in Washington DC in 1943.  She had a great gift for organization and administration.  She was inducted into the America College of Hospitals Administrators in 1953 and served on the Council of Hospital Planning and Plant Operations of the American Medical Association.  She was unanimously elected the second Vice Presidents of the Board of Regents of the College of Hospital Administrators in August 1963.

She used to entertain the sisters with her stories of her time in Washington, D.C. Whenever Bishop Sheen got exhausted from his heavy schedules, the hospital had a private suite, not on the hospital listing, where he could rest without disturbance, offer his daily Mass and have meals sent to his suite. Robert Kennedy often worked late and would stop at the chapel and kneel in the back with his two large guard dogs laying down on either side of him.  

In spite of her advanced age, 80, she never wavered in her support of Mother. Ellen in the founding of the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker. When the community was founded, she could not participate in the active work of teaching, nursing or administration, but she was faithful in the most important work in religious life, prayer. In 1973, she wrote and published a Novena to Saint Joseph and did much to spread promote of her novena. 

Sister Mary Antonella praying in the Chapel at Taylor Manor

When she realized that her health and mental facilities were failing she wrote,  “This means there is no remedy for lapse of memory and when the attacks come I just try to be calm, stop trying to solve the problem at hand and ask for trust and more trust and more trust in God. I have had a long life span and God has been so very, very good to me so now I have just a little time left in which to trust and to love and to do for Him what I can.” 

This remarkable woman of faith and devotion to Saint Joseph retired to Taylor Manor Nursing Home in 1977 and remained there until her death on March 27, 1985 at 92 years of age.

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A Day in the Life: Surprises Abound

Since I'm on spring break this week, I came down to Taylor Manor on Monday to help Sr. Mary Faustina with some computer projects. It's always nice to have a change of scenery and see what our Sisters in Versailles are up to. That's one of the things that I really enjoy about being in IT; it really allows me to be mobile and I always have something to do no matter where I go.

Yesterday morning, though, I was not working on computers. Sister had a training meeting, so she corralled me and asked if I would help out with the podiatrist. So, I spent an hour and a half assisting our residents with shoe removal and replacement, and tried to keep everyone entertained and happy while they waited for their turn to see the doctor. You never know what you will find yourself doing!

Chapel at Taylor Manor

At one point, I was very much interested in going into the medical field and when I entered the community, I actually thought I might end up becoming a nurse. Then during my stint at Taylor Manor four years ago, when I was a Novice, someone almost threw up on me while I was feeding them. I didn't quite drop to my knees and beg Mother not to put me into nursing, but it was close to that. In the last couple of weeks, though, I've suddenly noticed that a lot of the things that used to bother me don't really present a problem anymore. Working with our residents yesterday proved that, because a couple of years ago I would have been very much out of my element in that situation.

As I was kneeling on the floor and removing shoes or putting them back on, I realized just what a gift it was to me, to be able to do that for someone. Such a simple thing, an easy thing that most of us probably don't even think about as we slip our feet our sneakers and walk out the front door. Yet, here is this man or this woman sitting there thanking you for helping them with such a little thing as putting on their shoes. It was a very profound experience and one that I won't forget anytime soon.

Who knows... If the IT thing ever stops working out, maybe I wouldn't run and hide if Mother decided to send me to nursing school... Maybe. ;)

News and Events: St. Joseph

March is the month the Church dedicates to St. Joseph.  I love the Litany of Humility by Cardinal Merry del Val.  Saint Joseph was a quiet, humble man who walked closely with God.  So what better way to honor him then to share this beautiful prayer.

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

A Day in the Life: The Grace of Perseverance

Last weekend, I had the privilege of  teaming up with Mother Mary Christina and Sr. Patricia Jean to give a retreat for the RCIA and Confirmation candidates at my former home parish in Campbellsville, KY. The morning conferences went very well, and we wrapped up with an anonymous Q&A session in the afternoon. Yours truly was chiefly support staff, although I did chime in on a couple of the questions. In particular, one person asked about how someone can make a permanent commitment at such a young age. I'm guessing someone probably thought I was significantly younger than I am, at the ripe old age of almost-26.

The question made me think, though. One of the things that I shared, in answering the question, is the fact that I struggled some with reconsidering marriage when I started college shortly after making my first temporary vows. Suddenly, I found myself in social situations with "normal" people living in the world, talking to people my own age who were either married or in serious relationships. I began to question whether or not I had truly given it enough thought. Ultimately, after several months of struggling with this and praying about it, I concluded that I was, in fact, already on the right track.

In the midst of the doubt and temptation, I finally had a moment of clarity where I just realized, "You know what, I have to make this decision." God wasn't going to decide for me, the Sisters were not going to decide for me, my family was not going to decide for me. Only I could make the choice to follow the vocation that I was being called to live, or not. Obviously, I made the decision to stay.

Since then, I've learned that all vocations require you to continually renew your decision to be committed. It's not a one-and-done. Certainly, there are points in any vocation where you make an official permanent commitment: a man and a woman on their wedding day, a priest at his ordination, a Sister when she makes her final vows. It's after the official ceremony is over and the honeymoon ends that the true commitment begins, however. When you're home alone again because he's working late, or sitting through yet another parish meeting, or feeling the more human side of community life, that's when you have to pray for the grace to persevere. Commitment takes a moment; perseverance takes a lifetime of faith, grace, and trust in God's providence.