Posts by Sr. Mary Valerie Schneider

We rarely, if ever, picture Jesus as ranting and raving. But that’s the picture today’s Gospel presents. Jesus is outraged that anyone who has experienced God’s abundant blessings would dare to limit what God could do with those blessings. His language is graphic, and the message is clear: Whoever does even tiny deeds for others…

Last week we heard this paradox: Lose your life to save it. This week we have another paradox: to be first, be last. Jesus gives the example of bending down to a child. Bending down is one way to care for creation. We bend down to weed, to plant seeds, to capture caterpillars, to pick…

Today’s readings are quite insistent and very direct. We must give necessities like food, clothes, and shelter to those in need. In addition, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross; that is, we must lose our life if we want to be faithful disciples. Another way to say this is: Get behind our…

Jesus had unusual healing methods; namely, fingers in ears and saliva on tongues. Such methods show how very involved Jesus gets with us in his and our humanity. We may not cure those who cannot hear or speak, but we have a responsibility to improve people’s lives. How? First, we must be open to the…

Today’s gospel focuses on the Pharisees who kept every detail of their traditions, such as washing cups and jugs. Meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples aren’t even washing their hands before eating. What’s the point? While the first group does good things, they disregard God’s commandments in more important things. The Pharisees choose their own interpretation of the…

The foundresses and their early companions had been trained in Munster by the immediate successors of Bernard Overberg, “master of the schoolmasters.” In contrast to public school teaching in America, the sisters’ teaching was oriented to the development of the human person founded in the Gospel. Children learned that God was a loving Father, and…

When a man brought his two daughters to Mother Chrysostoma, it became clear that a house for neglected children was needed. This was the first move toward building Mount St. Mary’s. Although collections were taken to build the building, the efforts had little success. Consequently, Mother Chrysostoma began the construction, “trusting solely in the Providence…

This blog continues the history of the Sisters of Notre Dame in the United States a few years after their arrival on July 4, 1874. Sister Mary Modesta became the provincial superior in 1875. She was asked by Mother M. Chrysostoma to erect a larger house in Cleveland. She purchased property containing woods and stone…

Some of the new foundations in Covington corresponded to the beginnings of the congregation in Coesfeld. Besides teaching, sisters took over orphanages in Cold Spring, Kentucky and in Bond Hill, Ohio. In 1877 the sisters were introduced to St. Aloysius Orphanage. The speaker on this occasion “thanked” his Excellency Count Bismarck whose expulsion of the…

Just two years after the arrival of the first sisters from Germany, the first postulant from America, Katherine Franzioni, asked to enter the congregation and did so on November 15, 1876. In April, 1877, she and two other postulants received the religious habit from the hands of Bishop August Többe. As part of the investment…