Posts by Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider

Throughout his journeys Jesus freed people of their sin, shame, or illness. He freed the lame, the blind, the adulteress, the miserly to start a new future. Perhaps in that momentary encounter these persons let go of the past, not letting anything hinder their new future, their new perspective, the new hope and dreams Jesus…

Whenever our community of three sits down to watch news, we choose a channel that nightly ends with a heart-warming story of altruism. It’s those last two minutes of good deeds, those selfless acts, the events that uplift others that offsets a bit the tragedies of the previous 25 minutes. Ilia Delio writes: “The more…

Our Immaculate Conception Province (AKA SNDUSA) is blessed with a marvelous leader. Sister Margaret Mary Gorman has spent the past week in the Toledo area. Our little community of three in Waterville, Ohio, was pleased to have dinner with her one evening. Conversation was relaxed, nothing forced or artificial, yet appropriately deep and light in…

Ours in an “incarnational” spirituality-A way of prayer and living like that of the Word incarnate,Like that of God being everything human (except sin, of course).We are called to incarnate the love of our good God who sees everything as good.We see God in all things. We see good in all things. We see the…

It matters how near we are—But then again it doesn’t.Relationships are.Bonds are circles—just circles—Not Venn diagrams of who loves whomOr squares where some can be pushed into a corner.Bonds are circles forged by sharing sorrow, bearing another’s pain,Bonds of need and longing,Bonds of laughter, bonds of tears when words fail,Bonds of conversation deep into the…

There are two ways of looking at humility –|Maybe more than two.One is to consider others our superior—We the inferior.Another way is to see ourselves as part of God.Yes, God. God, who is gentle, kind, forgiving, cheerful, loyal, everything good in human nature.And that is who we are—human.There is more to us than we think,…

Today’s gospel story is well known. Martha welcomes Jesus to her home. At the time of Jesus, men welcomed men into their home. I wonder where Lazarus was, that the honor fell to Martha. Yet the story of these two sisters gives evidence that the early Christians had much higher regard for women than others…

I could hardly believe my ears when I heard the new Holy Father take the name of “Pope Francis.” The name announced something new in our Church—something to create “our common home” and leading to the document Laudato Si. We’ve read numerous times in recent weeks and heard speeches at the UN that this decade…

There’s an aura of unreality about today’s celebration of 50 or 60 years of religious profession. Actually, some Sisters are celebrating 51 and 61 years, because the jubilarians of 2020 needed to postpone their celebration 16 months due to the pandemic. In my mind, there’s a juxtaposition of “It’s finally here” and “Is this a…

When Jesus was born, the angels brought the news of great joy! When Jesus rose from the tomb, the angels attested to the resurrection: “Surprise!  He’s not here! Why even look for him among the dead?” Have you experienced the angels as messengers of joy and surprise bringers? When I drive, I often ask the…