“To live is to be slowly born.”


Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Sunflower Seeds

Celebrating Everyday Spirituality

“I Didn’t See the Gift” 

Four of us Sisters of Notre Dame participated in a day for students at St. Paul Schools in Norwalk to consider priestly and religious vocations . After a panel presentation, a freshman girl talked to the Sister directing the questions to the panel. Looking as if she had made a discovery of something she should have recognized earlier, the girl said, “You Sisters have been here many years. I didn’t recognize what a gift we had. I didn’t see the gift.” Quite a deep realization for a youth!

What gifts are right in front of us, but we don’t notice? 

Expect Exact Schedules. After All, It’s the Convent!

Several of us young women (who made every effort to appear grown up and fearless) arrived at the Sisters of Notre Dame Novitiate on February 2, 1968. (Full disclosure, this blogger has been in the Sisters of Notre Dame community for over 50 years.) I was scheduled for a 3:15 appointment. Apparently it was vitally important that we came to the community according to exact chronological age. Consequently, I was behind the 3:00 appointment of the young woman who was born one day before me.

Mom, Dad, and I were met by two Sisters whom I had seen periodically over the five years since my older sister joined the community. After a few minutes of greeting and pleasantries, my parents would leave. I don’t recall being especially warm and loving to Mom and Dad. Any warm fuzzies or beginning of homesickness were swallowed up by nervousness. I was told to follow a novice to the dining area (called a refectory) to have a snack. Graham crackers? A cookie or piece of cake would have been so thoughtful on such an auspicious occasion. Oh well, after all, it’s the convent.

“I’ll Never Wear Shorts Again!”

Fifty-seven years ago today I was in my home of 18 years. It was the last night to sit in the kitchen, which I thought I’d never see again. Even though there were several inches of snow on the ground, I put on shorts. I knew it would be the last time I’d ever wear shorts again. The thought of black dresses, black nylons and shoes every day for the rest of my life weighed upon me. Vatican II had barely finished, and the renewal of religious life had not begun. It would be a couple decades more before I could wear a pair of shorts or a swimsuit or even another color besides black. Without a crystal ball to inform me my bleak vision was not true, I put on shorts and sat near a radiator with a blanket on my legs. While I thought of a drab, uncomfortable wardrobe, my parents were probably thinking of “losing another daughter,” since my older sister had entered the community of the Sisters of Notre Dame five years before me. (Stay tuned to read about my first day donning all black and going through the doors of the Sisters of Notre Dame building on the corner of Secor and Monroe.)

But It’s Only a Litle Tug

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, they find it attached to the rest of the world.” This is the wisdom of John Muir, naturalist, mountaineer, and Father of America’s National Parks. Cosmologists know some intricacies of the universe, and marvels keep being discovered. The greatest discovery of all is to know that everything is connected, dependent, united. Everything is the descendant of the Big Bang, and the descendants are family. Our country has been aware of the unity in the universe, and our citizens have worked to protect nature, harness wind, purify water, protect coral and animal life, and rediscover best farming and gardening practices. A stroke of a pen has the power to shatter the unity. When “drill, baby, drill” is the legal and profitable thing to do, will we have the determination to live by the knowledge that any one thing we do is attached to the rest of the world? Let’s keep recycling and reusing. Plant trees. Rotate crops. Use less fuel. Eat less meat. Attend to water, air, animal life, and human health. Today’s tug is tomorrow’s future.

Excavating Your Motive

How often do you ask yourself “Why?” Your first answer may not be as truthful as you think. “Why didn’t I volunteer to bake goodies for the hospitality kitchen?” First reason: I don’t have time. And…anything else? I don’t like going there. Why not? It’s so unpleasant. Why? I don’t know how to talk with those people. What do you mean by “those people”? Well, they’re so unlike me. Really? How are you different? Well, I have a roof over my head. And what does that have to do with baking for the needy? Oh, all right. I can manage some baking, and if I deliver the goodies, I might understand the recipients more. Maybe eventually I’ll be less afraid. Maybe do some good for them and me beyond baking a batch of cookies.

What will your excavating questions uncover and discover?

Meet Sr. Valerie

As Sisters of Notre Dame, Mary is a model for us as we seek to experience and express God’s goodness and provident care in the unfolding of each day. Join us on the journey!

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