Winter 2007

From the Prioress
Sister Anne Shepard, OSB

It has occurred to me in my life that the times I let go,
the Lord does just fine.
Mary Ann Fessler, OSB

In the late fall, the season of turning color, of letting go of the leaves, the shorter days and the darkened afternoons, I am always struck with the shortness of life and gratitude for the Giver. Sister Mary Ann Fessler, one of our sisters who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, wrote to a friend of hers that “it has occurred to me in my life that the times I let go, the Lord does just fine.” When we really decide to let God be in command, everything is indeed fine. Often this letting go for individual sisters here at Mount St. Scholastica has meant relinquishing old ministries and launching out into new ones.

Thirty or forty years ago, if we had an issue of one of our publications dedicated to the topic of ministry, we would be highlighting the various works of the sisters in our internal ministries and mention a few who were in health care, but most of all we would have concentrated on those in formal Catholic education. We Catholic sisters in the United States have European immigrant roots for the most part. Our foremothers were called here to teach immigrant children. In the late 1960s, we were obedient to the request of Pope John XXIII to reclaim our charism, our raison d’etre, the authentic spirit of our founders. In doing so, when we went back to the spirit of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, we began to broaden our ministries to serve where we believed we were being led by the Spirit.

Let us recall the familiar words of St. Paul when he wrote to the people of Corinth:
There is a variety of gifts, but always the same spirit. There is a variety of ministries, but we serve the same One. There is a variety of outcomes, but the same God is working in all of them. To each person is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

The next section of the passage acknowledges that it is one and the same Spirit who produces all these gifts and decides how to distribute them. God is the initiator. God is the distributor. This is an interesting reminder of how the Word of God adds a communal spin to our choice of ministries, specific ways we are called to serve for the common good.

In this issue of Threshold, you will read about some of the less “traditional” ministries of our sisters. First you will meet some of our sisters engaged in counseling ministries. St. Paul reminds us that we are the body of Christ. When one part hurts, we hurt all over. This is so very true when it comes to the heart.
Some of our sisters have direct ministries with those who are facing death. These sisters have been called to be present at the final moments of life, to prepare the dying for their return to God, and to minister to the bereaved family members and friends.

Our health care ministries have broadened. Some sisters visit homes while others work in facilities. One sister is a medical doctor serving patients in rural areas of Kansas that cannot afford to keep permanent doctors. Another is a physician assistant known throughout the area for attending to the medical care of Effingham, Nortonville and Atchison residents.

We have sisters who visit the incarcerated, bringing hope to those who may otherwise feel hopeless. Many others write to prisoners regularly.
We have been so very conscious of gifts during the traditional seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Abraham Lincoln decided that, as a nation, we ought to pause once a year in late fall to thank God for the gifts bestowed upon us. In the Christmas season, we pause to celebrate God’s greatest gift to humankind, God’s son Jesus.

In our gift exchange, in our celebrations, may we all stay focused on the gift we are to each other and the gifts that we have been given to promote the common good. You, readers, may count on our prayers for your gifts to us: your financial assistance, your volunteer time, your presence at our functions, your notes and visits.

In the new year, throughout the days of 2008, may each of us have the freedom that Sister Mary Ann has. May we let go of all that worries us or that hinders the building up of the common good, and may we be happily surprised to find how God acts on our behalf and does just fine.

Happy New Year.
S. Anne Shepard, OSB