IHM Calling

Meet Sister Kathy

Sister MB — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:35:53 +0000

IHMs in Action Sister Kathy blends her faith formation ministry with her design ministry. She’s shown here with Thomas, a young parishioner. Sister Kathy Onderbeke, IHM, wears two different ministry hats. She’s the director of faith formation at St. Louis Catholic Community on Clinton Township, Mich., a full-time job in a parish of more than 900 families. She is also a graphic designer, serving both the St. Louis and the IHM communities on a part-time basis. “I had been attending liturgy at St. Louis and had just finished my graphic design degree when the parish received word that a transition would begin with a neighboring parish,” Sister Kathy recalls. “I knew this would increase the pastoral needs, so I offered to help while I looked for work.” “The pastor asked if I could do Christian formation. When I said yes, he told me to get him my resume. I’m now in my fourth year at St. Louis.” Sister Kathy’s design ministry has involved creating logos, clip art and custom programs for St. Louis, as well as flyers, displays, brochures and ads for the IHM Sisters. “I like the energy and creativity design projects allow,” she says. Her time management skills and the flexibility of both the parish and the IHM community allow the unusual arrangement to work. Sister Kathy’s parish responsibilities include being part of a three-person pastoral team in addition to developing and implementing faith formation programs. “It’s a typical parish structure where you do what needs to be done,” she laughs. Her ministry gives her the opportunity to work with people of all ages, something she truly enjoys. She works with children, adults and those wishing to become Catholic in the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) program. “I love the balance of working with different age groups,” she says. “Each generation has its own gifts and challenges; it s all about making the most of them. One of my favorite aspects of the ministry is accepting where people are and finding ways to engage them in their faith development. Parishioners have told Sister Kathy that she has a gift for making children feel comfortable. “I don’t expect kids to behave like mini-adults,” Sister Kathy explains. “But I do look for activities that draw them into their faith and engage them in the life of the community. “For instance, Christopher, age 2, helps me open the church doors and puts the stoppers down. Thomas, age 3, helps me greet people. Recently, he showed a little 2-year-old how you get the water ready to ”o the dishes,’ telling her that when she gets big like him, she’ll be able to help too. “They’re involved with their faith community and enjoying themselves,” Sister Kathy continues. “Along the way, they learn not only about their faith, but also that they matter and belong. “It’s not about the tasks we do, but about the relationships we build.”

IHMs prepare for Chapter 2012

Sister MB — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:33:19 +0000

Chapter 2012! What’s that you might ask. Since religious communities are living, breathing organisms, they don’t just keep existing from year to year. If they’re healthy they grow and change in response to God’s new invitations to them. Thus all congregations meet every four to six years to set directions for the future and open to the Spirit’s call.

This year the IHM community comes together for Chapter 2012 from January 23 to 28, and this will include election of our IHM Leadership Council for 2012 to 2018. Then on Sunday, January 29, the whole community–vowed members, associates and friends –will gather at a 2:00 PM Mass in the Motherhouse chapel to celebrate the graces of the Chapter and our newly elected Leadership Council. We’d love to have you with us on the twenty-ninth if that’s possible for you. Give me a call at 734-240-9820 if you’d like to come.

Of course we don’t take lightly the importance of this time . We desire to be open to the Spirit of God moving among us, so we’ve been joining in this prayer for the whole year. As friends of IHM I invite you to pray it with us.

PRAYER FOR IHM LA ASAMBLEA – ASSEMBLY 2011

God, life-giving Spirit:
Traveling our communal faith journey, you guide us.
Stepping along the pathway toward our destiny, you guide us.
Discovering our purpose for existing, you guide us.

Listening to our journey’s life-revelations, you walk with us.
Sharing our story with others, you walk with us.
Discovering the wisdom in each other, you walk with us.

Gathering strength from one another, you give us courage.
Believing in our abundant wisdom, you give us courage.
Celebrating our passion for mission, you give us courage.

Seeing what to keep and what to let go, you give us new life.
Daring to dream, you give us new life.
Moving into a prophetic vision, you give us new life.

God, life-giving Spirit, you guide us into a future full of hope.
Thank you for our wisdom experiences and for all that
will unfold on our journey.
Amen.

Feel free to ask if you’d like to know more about Chapters in religious communities.

World Aids Day

Sister MB — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:25:22 +0000

Yesterday over a hundred sisters and a number of our staff participated in a prayer service to commemorate World Aids Day and reflect on how we are called to respond to the worldwide Aids pandemic. The IHMcommunity has been committed to Aids awareness for over 20 years, thanks in great part to the leadership of our sisters ministering in Africa. Many years ago Americans could ignore the problem of Aids because it was thought only countries like Africa had the problem. Sr. Rita Rennel, IHM one of our sisters who was missioned in Africa for many years shared a poignant memory of six caskets sitting in the back of their chuch, one of them their secretary, a wonderful woman who became an innocent victim. As HIV Aids began spreading in the United States paranoia about catching Aids resulted in alienation of those suffering from the disease. As you know ,after extensive education the fear of Aids lessened and in addition, advances in retroviral drugs made the disease less of a life sentence in more advenced countries like the US and Europe. Two of my friends here in Michigan, however, experienced the horror of Aids as they watched their daughter die of the disease. The man she had married was HIV positive but didn’t tell her because he didn’t want to die alone. Aids continues its devastation, and sadly those in poverty, particularly in the African American community have limited access to the life saving drugs. Here’s a link to our prayer service:
http://www.ihmsisters.org/www/Justice_Peace_and_Sustainability/hivaids.asp
I was not surprised, but I have to admit to pride that so many sisters participated in the prayer yesterday afternoon. This is a group of lifelong learners, well-informed on issues and committed to social justice.

Why I never published this “Fun with Sabrina” post I have no idea!

Sister MB — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:35:02 +0000

Sabrina and Sr. Julia Ann Kline

Sabrina Melni came early for the Come and See weekend to hang out with the nuns. She spent her first day here at the Motherhouse doing volunteer work with some of our elders, a work that seems to come naturally to her. As you can see from the above pictures she and the sisters (and Rocky the cat) enjoyed each other. Sabrina loved the stories the sisters told her about their early days in the convent and got a good chuckle as they talked about a picture of sisters doing the dishes in the old days with habits and big blue checked aprons. The picture is intersting to look at but Sabrina loved the way the sisters were all disagreeing about the details they remembered, like what material was used for their home- made petticoates, cotton or satin. I’m betting it was cotton! Today one of our sister artists is going to teach her techniques of calligraphy and later she’ll be joining the sisters on the fourth floor for a pizza party. It’s fun to have her here.

What’s Your Decision?

Sister MB — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:26:37 +0000

Do I go to grad school? Whom should I marry? Should I change careers? Am I called to religious life? All of us have important decisions to make–decisions that radically alter our lives. Yet without a sound process in place for making key decisions, we are likely to to question whether or not our final decision was a good decision. Can we feel confident that our decision was truly what God desired for us.

For those who truly want to make their decisions with God, What’s Your Decision? is a tremendous resource. The authors provide clear principles and steps for good discernment and show that is not just a technique for making decisions, but rather a rich way of living our lives. They encourage us, “We don’t need to have it all together to make sound decisions. We don’t have to be perfect. We don’t need to be deterred by imperfect knowledge and murky circumstances. If we are earnestly seeking God we won’t go far wrong.”