Entries categorized as ‘Meet IHMs’
Advent longing
I had a great conversation with Sr. Gen Petrak at a time when she felt more caught in the busy-ness than in a contemplative Advent mode. I had asked my her to share about she entered into Advent this year. This is what Gen said:
“You don’t want to hear my thoughts on Advent. I’ve hardly had a chance to think about your questions.” I just sat expectantly so she continued, “Oh well I guess this is real. I started out well, relishing the consoling Scriptures, but then found my self caught up in the ‘messiness’ of so much to be done. I guess the question for me is how to bridge the gap between the deepest part of me, which is in the longing of Advent and the other part that is sometimes pretty consumed in my responsibilities, like planning liturgies.
In Advent we celebrate the already and the not yet. Christ responded to our human longing two thousand years ago–the already, but the human heart continues to long for something-the not yet. Maybe that’s what Advent is about, hanging in there in the midst of daily life, knowing the longing, and being open to the glimpses of God coming to us every day.
When I was a junior sister our director, Sr. Helene Berry, IHM quoted a passage from Janet Erskine Stuart that has never left me, ‘Holiness is in the now just as it is.’ Maybe my Advent isn’t as bad as I thought it was.”
Categories: IHM · Meet IHMs · religious life · spirituality
Tagged: Advent longing, IHM, Sr. Genevieve Petrak
A telling tree
When you asked me my favorite Advent Scripture the one that came was Isaiah 11, “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse…” This speaks to me of new life out of the old. Advent comes in the midst of the dark and cold at the end of the year, but it holds the promise of new life. This reading also focuses on a tree, and in my spiritual life the tree has been a most important image. It exemplifies the cycle of life– the new growth of spring, the profusion of summer, the flaming, dying beauty of autumn and the stark bare winter. At one prolonged, difficult time in my life I was driving along a road in winter and noticed a barren looking tree with no sign of life. All of a sudden I realized that there was life deep inside the tree– and inside of me. The tree would sprout forth in green again and just as surely there was new life in me waiting to flower. I discovered that resilience is a name of God.
December can be such a busy, frantic time, but the Advent Scriptures help me tune into a longing for peace. This year I may be physically achy, lower in energy, but I’m grateful to be much calmer in my tasks, taking time and rejoicing in Advent’s promise of new life.
Categories: IHM · Meet IHMs · religious life · spirituality
Tagged: hope, IHM Advent, new life, Sr. Marie Gabriel Hngerman
What is Advent like for IHMs? Last week I decided to ask some of my sisters about how they pray into Advent. What a great experience for me. Their sharings were so real, and, of course, they helped me to enter into Advent more deeply. Over the next few days I want to share them with you.
Never long enough!
Sister Donna Hart, IHM said that for years Advent has been a vitally important time for her. ”It’s never long enough,” she said. “The reality of God taking on our human condition is such a startling, gigantic event that I can’t take it in all at once. I takes time to walk around this incredible truth.
I remember I was in my late twenties teaching at Immaculata High School in Detroit when the reality first struck me so forcefully. I wondered at the time, ‘Why is this happening to me now?’ The answer came, ‘You’re finally ready!’
Now in the Motherhouse I am not as heavily involved in the season’s busy-ness. In between the wonderful celebrations I have quiet time. I need those in-between times. The season is never long enough for me.
Categories: IHM · Meet IHMs · religious life · spirituality
Tagged: Advent, spirituality, Sr. Donna Hart. IHM
When Candyce Rekart, IHM, went to Puerto Rico in 1972, she had no idea how long her ministry would last. She’s still there, 34 years later. For the last nine years, she’s ministered in a mental health clinic within a small university. Her clients are adults, adolescents and children – all of whom are survivors of sexual abuse. “I love my work,” Sister Candy says emphatically. “Not the violence that inspires the acts of sexual abuse, but seeing the courage of the survivors is incredible –the courage it took to live on, and also the courage to seek help, to talk about their experiences and to heal from them.”
The psychological services provided at the clinic are free, thanks to a grant from the Justice Department of Puerto Rico in conjunction with federal funds. The program has trained more than 300 doctoral students in the area of sexual abuse. “Because we’ve trained so many people, many psychologists know about us. We get lots of referrals and consultations, and we serve the whole island,” explains Sister Candy. “Many clients are impoverished, but they are willing to travel distances, sometimes on public transportation after work, in order to get the help they need.” Because of the nature of the trauma experienced by those to whom she ministers, Sister Candy notes that treatment is often long-term – anywhere from months to years.
She tells the story of a six-year old girl she treated several years ago, who often chose to color during play therapy sessions. The child, whose life was very chaotic at the time, became extremely upset if she colored outside the lines. “I used to just redraw the lines for her and reframe the picture encouraging her to see potential beyond the limits,” recalls Sister Candy. “I ran into her not long ago. She’s a teenager now, but she told me that those sessions had a profound effect on her.“She said that redrawing the lines of an established picture showed her that one way or another one can look for solutions, even if the solutions are not the ones you expected.
“There is great satisfaction in accompanying people in their journey to find their own inner strengths,” Sister Candy says.
Categories: IHM · Meet IHMs · religious life
Tagged: Candy Rekart, IHM, play therapy, Puerto Rico, survivors of sexual abuse
Sister Margaret (Mary Hofbauer) Alandt, IHM, finance manager for MOSES (Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength), credits “a fluke of filling out a form” for her current ministry.
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