Reflection for the Silver Jubilee of Sisters Patricia Seipel, Mary Rardin and Kathleen Flanagan
October 2, 2011
by Prioress Anne Shepard, OSB

Today we celebrate the twenty-five-year commitment of three Benedictines who have heeded the words found in the second reading that we just heard: “keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

The three sisters who celebrate their jubilee today made monastic profession in an eventful year. In 1986 we had the introduction of email and the first laptop computer.

We witnessed the explosion of the space capsule, the Challenger. As the Cold War came to an end, over seven million people, including some of us, joined the effort of Hands across America, from New York to California, to raise money to fight poverty and hunger. As a result of that effort, the government released eight hundred million dollars for aid to cities. That year the engineering feat, the “Chunnel,” was built. And so for us, the good news of that year was that these three decided to commit themselves to a life that was not marked by high technology, a life that has Pax as its motto and a life of a monastic that accepts the rhythm of life and death as part of the paschal mystery.

St. Paul asked the Philippians to “keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen. ” These words mark the lives of Sisters Patricia Seipel, Mary Rardin and Kathleen Flanagan. As teacher, doctor and librarian, they have taken what they learned first at home and then in schools, universities and the monastery to relate to the people of God in their unique ministries. More importantly, they have been students in the school of the Lord’s service, as St. Benedict says in his Rule. They have contributed to the life of community in their living groups as well as service on numerous committees for the larger Benedictine community.

Living monastic life is hard work, work that Benedict describes as the stability of the workshop. He lists the tools of good work wherein truthfulness and respect for self and others is enshrined. Together we go toward Christ. In a spirit of obedience to one another, we acknowledge different temperaments. We know that each person contributes to our own sanctification. It is demanding work, but we recognize the value and concreteness of the other. We promise each other that on the road to God, the spiritual growth of the other is a priority, a mutual priority. It involves being vulnerable and transparent with those with whom we live and with whom we minister. A monastic strives for a life of holiness, a set of habits. Disciplined and healthy monastics are not simply the ones who keep the commandments with which the catalogue of tools for good works begins, but those who struggle to live without deceit, who make peace by addressing the roots of conflict in herself and, under the direction of a skilled superior, attempt to contribute their distinctive gifts in such a way as to sustain a healthy community.

Our three jubilarians have heard God calling in their prayer and in the voices of the young, sick, uneducated and illiterate. They have responded to those voices with care, compassion and integrity. These three know what is true and honorable. They have served the people of God by their generous attentiveness at the Divine Office and their presence in community. They have all reached out to the underprivileged and poor in multiple ways. Sister Patricia spent a summer volunteering in Tanzania. Sister Kathleen has chosen to minister to the teachers and students in some of the poorest schools in Kansas City, Kansas. Sister Mary Rardin has worked in the Duchesne Clinic in Kansas City, a medical facility serving immigrants and the uninsured. She will soon be a full-time doctor in small underserved areas in rural Kansas. They all three advocate for justice in their workplaces, in the church, in community.

Here at the Mount, we never tire of jubilee celebrations. Each occasion beckons us to be grateful to God for all of our blessings, particularly the unique gifts of each jubilarian. The year ought to be a special year of prayer for the honorees and for the rest of us as we ask God to continue to keep them steadfast in the Benedictine way of life and to bless us with new members.

Thank you, Sisters Patricia, Mary and Kathleen, for the courage and faith that you demonstrated publicly twenty-five years ago. May God strengthen you in hope and love as you face the future bravely and faithfully.