UT CHRISTUS REGNETA publication of the School Sisters of Christ the King

the King

Joyfully Serving

Dear Family and Friends,

“Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him singing for joy.

Know that the LORD is God, he made us, we belong to Him” (Ps.100:2-3).

Having been elected the new Mother General of the CKs one

month ago, I have been praying and reflecting on the concept of service.

We are consecrated to God and to His service through our profession of

vows, and we are called to live in the spirit of joyful fidelity to Christ the

King. Even in the hard times, the difficult moments, the heartache, the

fatigue, the failures—joyful fidelity. Not because of a determined hope

for better days or greater success, but because of our one great hope—our

Savior Jesus Christ. As the psalmist exhorts: He made us, we belong to

Him! An essential element of our charism is the constant awareness of

belonging totally to Christ our King through creation, redemption and

donation. He made us, so we belong to Him. He ransomed us from

captivity and death by His own death and resurrection, so we belong

to Him. He called us to be His own through our gift of self in chastity,

poverty and obedience, so we belong to Him. What then can take our joy?

Serve the Lord with Gladness

Please pray for our newly-elected general administration for 2019–2025: (from left) Sister Mary Gabriel, first councilor; Sister Anne Joelle, vicar general; Mother Margaret Mary, mother general; Sister Mary Angela, third councilor; and Sister Mary Alma, second councilor.

As St. Paul wrote: “We are workers with you for your joy” (2

Cor. 1:24). It is a privilege for us to work together with you, with parents,

faculty, staff and volunteers of the schools, that Christ our King may

reign in the hearts and lives of our students and of us all. Whatever our

particular role—working directly with the children as teachers, or in some

role of support or administration in the school, or even if we are not

sharing directly in the apostolic works of the community—we are each

called to serve with joyful fidelity for the spread of Christ’s kingdom. We

pray, work and sacrifice so that Christ our King may be known and loved,

and that our students may be formed as missionary disciples, becoming

servants of joy themselves, as they witness to the joy of salvation.

We thank you for your prayer, work and sacrifice for the reign of

Christ!

In the Heart of Christ our King,

Mother Margaret Mary, C.K.

On May 1st, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph the

Worker. Very little is known about the foster father of Jesus. The few

glimpses into his life that the Gospels offer to us reveal a simple man who

lived a life of humble, obedient service.

I am sure when St. Joseph was growing up he would not have

imagined God asking him to be the foster-father of His Son. He grew

up like any other Jewish boy: learning a trade, learning how to pray and

learning the Scriptures. St. Joseph was a simple man who did not seek any

fame or riches but to do God’s will by serving Him with the daily tasks

that were given to him. Day in and day out he worked in his carpentry

shop and as a faithful Jew he joyfully kept the loving commands of God.

Because he was faithful, he accepted and did what God asked of him.

After his betrothal to Mary, I can imagine that St. Joseph planned

to provide for his future family by continuing his joyful and simple work as

a carpenter. Instead, God asked him first to go to Bethlehem then later to

Egypt. Even though the travel was not easy, he trusted that God was with

him. He did not know what was going to be asked of him but continued

to listen and was humbled to do what God wanted, even if that was

different from the plans he had made for his family.

When St. Joseph brought Jesus and Mary back to Nazareth he

continued to serve them as a good husband and father does, by earning

a living to keep food on the table, spending time with the family and

teaching Jesus about the Scriptures. He is truly an example of how to

serve, trusting in God. We do not know how Joseph died but I believe

he was a humble servant until his dying breath. I am sure our Heavenly

Father said to St. Joseph, “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matt.

25:23). Let us ask St. Joseph to be with us on this blessed journey back to

our loving Father!

by Sister Anne Joelle, CK

St. Joseph Model of Service and Humility

Saint Joseph, pray for us!

Over the years, many of our Sisters have held “rosary clubs”

with our students. Sometimes they are official clubs that meet after school

and sometimes they are a group of junior high students looking for

something meaningful to do during recess. However they are organized,

the goal is the same: sharing the love of Mary through a small service

of prayer and time. The Sisters teach the children how to make rosaries

and also pray the rosary with them. The homemade rosaries are given

away to people near and far. This year, one rosary club decided to share

their rosaries with patients in a local hospital. Below are a few vignettes,

showing some of the fruit of these children’s service:

. “I have given away many of the rosaries at the hospital. The

patients really love them. One patient who received a rosary was a priest.

I took care of him the week before he died. He was very thankful and he

used it while he and I prayed the rosary throughout the day. I hope the

children know how much good they are doing in making these rosaries.”

. “I saw a picture of my grandma who just turned 97. She is

wearing the rosary a 5th grader made for her!”

. “I am a nurse on a critical care floor in a hospital. I was

assigned to care for an 80-some-year-old man who was admitted with

respiratory failure and pneumonia. He also had dementia. He had been

very confused during the night, pulling out his IV and restless. As I

assessed him and got him ready for the day we talked farm. He was a

retired farmer and I had grown up on a farm. I cared for him for two days.

He told me several times throughout those two days that he wasn’t going

to make it out of the hospital. I would reassure him that he was doing just

fine—and he was.

“I had several days off after those shifts and when I came back he

was still in the hospital having trouble breathing. I was the charge nurse

that day, but I went in to say “hi.” He was restless again, concerned that his

wife had not come to visit. I reminded him that it was Sunday and asked

if maybe she was at church. He seemed relieved and said that she never

missed Mass. I asked if he was Catholic and he said he was. I told him

I was given some handmade rosaries to give to patients and asked if he

would like one. He said

“yes.” He wanted to get

a bath and shave and

look nice for when his

wife came to visit so I

helped him with that. I

helped him get to the

chair and handed him

his rosary. I told him I

would be back to check on him.

“As I left, he asked me to shut the door. When I went back into

the room about 15 minutes later he had passed away in his chair, rosary in

hand.

“Although his wife and family were shocked to get the news, they

were comforted by the fact that he died holding his rosary.”

compiled by Sister Marie Caritas, CK

Sharing Mary’s Love

Serving Together with a heart for all of God’s people

Have you ever found it difficult to write a thank you card

because you were too grateful? Words just can’t express the inexpressible.

That’s how we feel about the many friends who join our mission of

evangelizing through Catholic education through their vital service to our

community. We’d like to put a spotlight on a few of them for you:

Our families continue their generosity in so many ways. Bob came to “shop vac” weekly through-out our dusty construction. Charlie and Sue have assisted during retreats. Others provide for gath-erings throughout the year.

John, our caretaker since 2010, is so much like St. Joseph that we call the tool shop where he often works Nazareth. He is in the midst of an incredible task of setting tile throughout our Motherhouse.

Our Companions of St. Joseph and many oth-ers make it possible for Con, Donna, Jeanne and Carmen to use their gifts in maintenance and office work to support our mission as part-time staff for our Motherhouse.

Ginger and Jeanne volunteer to make dinner for us at the motherhouse two to three times a week during the school year. They also enlisted an army of volunteers to bring dinners to the Sisters in the local convents, which en-ables the Sisters to focus on prayer, community and school work.

Many friends share their bounty: tile for our floors, bikes for exercise, tables, chairs, desks and other fur-nishings. The Knights of Columbus in Nebraska City give us meat and Mary faithfully delivers it.

Serving Together with a heart for all of God’s people

Outdoor workday volunteers help to tame and beautify our prairie grounds–the garden they plant is enjoyed throughout the year. We are grateful for the gift of a rototiller and the fathers who rototilled, and the service of Eagle Scouts, Pius X students and 8th graders from St. Patrick School in McCook, Nebraska.

How blessed we are by those who teach with us, serve on the staff and vol-unteer to build the Kingdom in our schools. Our students also give service to one another as they take care of their responsibilities in the community of their classrooms.

Our gratitude goes to doctors, den-tists and optometrists who waive our copays and more; Nebraska Printing who generously prints this newsletter and other materials; Sid Dillon Auto who assists when we need car repair or a new vehicle.

Many thanks to our chaplain, priests in the schools where we serve, confessors, retreat directors, those who teach our Sisters and give conferences and all who pray for us, especially those who offer a weekly Holy Hour for vocations to our community.

The architects, project manag-ers, carpenters, roofers, painters, plumbers, electricians and all those who demolished much of our home and rebuilt it with a new heating and air conditioning system are deeply appreciated.

He didn’t stop walking down the sidewalk, but he looked right at

me. It seemed that he saw me in my misery, the dejected college freshman

I was, and he smiled. Not a mocking or belittling smile, but a smile that

said, “I see you, and it’s going to be okay.” That semester in college life

felt like it couldn’t get any worse for me, but I still remember that middle-

aged man who smiled at me and lifted up my dreary spirits through his

understanding smile.

Now, I can help young women have the experience of being

seen in a deeper way through my joyful

assignment as a member of our

community vocation team. During

spiritual direction at campus Newman

Centers, I experience the breath-taking

privilege of witnessing tender moments

of love between the Lord and His

beloved daughters as they discern their

vocation. Those same young women are

tossed around in the ups and downs of college life. It seems to me that

all people need someone to see them, to understand them and to be with

them on their vocational path so they can be more aware of the gaze of the

Father.

Whether we notice it or not, each one of us is inescapably held

in His loving gaze. This gaze penetrates you and me to our very depths. It

gives us our meaning because He loves us into existence and sustains us

all the time. Our paths in life come from the Father’s gaze and His love,

which means that a young woman’s vocation, her life path, is the way He

wants to live in love with her.

Most young women have fears about their future; I do, too. I

need to continuously bring my fears back into my awareness of the Father,

which puts fear in perspective and melts it away. The service I can give to

young women is to listen prayerfully to their stories and to allow my heart

to be penetrated by their needs and the astounding ways God works in

their lives. By my presence in their lives, I can be a conduit for the river of

love God wants to give to each of them.

As important as it is to understand and be with young people as

they discern their vocations, the most important work I can do for them is

to intercede for them. I offer sacrifices from my day and prayers for them.

This is a vital part of being with young people as they emerge victorious

over inner tumult and receive the Father’s perfect will for their lives. I

want to hold the hearts of young women tenderly in conversation and

prayer so each woman knows that God Himself is moved with compassion

and tender love for her.

by Sister Mary Immaculata, CK

Come and See Visits: December 13-17 & May 8-12Retreats: September 13-15 & March 20-22Contact us to arrange a visit: ck-vocations@cdolinc.net

Vocation Dates

Service to Women

“By inviting people to play.” Andrew, 5th grade

“I serve God by being an artist.” Isabelle, 3rd grade

“I serve God by doing things that I think make Him happy. I also trust Him because He knows best.” Blair, 5th grade

“By praying to Him in adoration.”Caroline, 5th grade

“I serve God by helping out my parents. Since I have five other siblings, I help out a lot in my house.” Matilda, 5th grade

“I serve by doing little things: bringing joy to someone, noticing something small that needs to be done and doing it.” Sister Mary Agnes

“I serve God by singing His praises in Mass.” MJ, 3rd grade

“I serve God by treating others like God is in them, because He is.” Carter, 6th grade

“I serve God by trusting in Jesus.” Sister Peter Marie

“By bringing laughter to others.” Isaiah, 5th grade

“By ardently seeking His will, and then by loving those in front of me.” Sister Mary Fidelis

“By trying to be the best me I can be.” Cecilia, 6th grade

“I serve God by trying to do things I don’t want to do joyfully - and love God while I do it.” Maddox, 6th grade

How do you serve God? We asked some Sisters and students. This is what they said:

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