Franciscan Missionaries of Mary USA Province Volume 38 No. 2 Winter 2008

May I have the joy of experiencing a renewal of love at Christmas in my soul and in the souls I love . …

As you prepare for Christmas, be more and more faithful so that you may have a large share in all the graces

I desire so much for you. Stir up the same generosity around you.

Blessed Mary of the Passion

Letter to Marie de Ste Cecile,

2

NEXT ISSUE: SPRING

Editors’ Notes Our General Chapter 2008 has finished. Now is the time for all FMMs to receive a first hand account of proceedings from Lois Anne Pereira and Pat Barrett, our delegate. Then it is our part to implement any decisions. Thanks to our General Media Team we were able to follow each day’s proceedings by means of the www.fmm.org website. For other readers of Sharings who did not have this means of following the General Chapter here are a few high-lights. Sr. Suzanne Phillips, fmm was elected as the 10th General Superior of the Institute of the Francis-can Missionaries of Mary. Sr. Sue, who is from Australia, has served as a general councilor. In 1987 Sue was missioned to Meknes, Morocco where she was involved with school administration. She also served as a local coordinator and was a member of the province Formation Team. In 1995 Sue was missioned back to Australia and became involved in parish work and social work. During this time she was responsible for opening a House of Welcome for Refugees in Sydney.

Sr. Christiane Mégarbané received a resounding applause expressing the grati-tude of each one in the Institute for her leadership; 12 years as Superior Gen-eral preceded by 12 years on the General Council culminating in her gifts shared in this Chapter, her presence, her Report 'Following Christ', her assurance that she is always one with us. Newly elected general councilors are; Sister Ramoni Iribar Cortajarena, Spanish, provincial of the

province of Spain; Sister Célestine Lambo Kembele, Congo-lese, provincial of the province of Congo – Kinshasa; Sister

Ana María Campos, Chilean, ex-provincial of the province of Bolivia, Chile; Sister Helen Mendonça, Indian, from the Mission Office; Sister Małgorzata Sielużycka, Polish; Sister Mary Elizabeth Donlon, Irish, provincial of the province of Morocco; Two councilors were appointed: Sister Bibiana Suh Young Hi , former provincial of Korea; and Sr. Andrina Lee Bi Yuan, former pro-vincial of Taiwan. We send you our greetings during this Advent time of watching and waiting that leads us to the coming of Jesus, the true light that enlightens all people. ,

Anne Turbini, fmm, Maryann Alukonis, fmm, Rosemarie Higgins, fmm

Contents Our Deceased & Sick, Excerpts: Provincial News, Eulogy: Jeanne Letendre, Thanks …………….. 3 Beauty & Change, Art Ministry ………….. …. 4 Pre-Novitiate News ..…………………………...5 Franciscan Youth Group .. ………………. .. ….6 Zenit, Stuff the Van ………………………. …... 7 Journey to Franciscan Life ……………………...8

Sharings is published at: Provincial Communications Office 399 Fruit Hill Ave- North Providence, RI 02911 Tel: (401) 353-5804 Ext: 130 Fax (401)

Symposium ……………………………………….. 9

Visioning Weekend: Roslyn, Thank You ………… 10

Where Is God?, Tree Blessing ……………………. 11

Sue Phillips, fmm ………………………………… 12

3

Eulogy for Jeanne Letendre, fmm

Thank you Dear Sisters, I would like thank each of you who send canceled stamps to me. Here at Fruit Hill I still do them. Carrying on Mary Rose's old charge not in the Mission House but in the Red Cottage. Thanks for taking time to pass them on. Love and prayers Maryann, fmm Errata Sr. Lois Houlihan, fmm created the poem printed in the last issue of Sharings - “The Latter Days”

Our Deceased Relatives & Friends Jeanne Marie Letendre, fmm (Marie Domitille) Born to Eternal Life: December 3, 2008

Eugene Sullivan, brother of Mary D. Sullivan, fmm Pat Willoughby, sister of Rosemary Freda, fmm Martha Riordan, sister-in-law of Helen Riordan, fmm

Our Sick Sisters-Relatives & Friends Claire Napoleon, fmm is continuing her rehabilitation after knee surgery. Linda Sylva, Maria’s sister is in critical condition. Rose Minoletti., sister of Virginia Ptak, fmm who had major surgery. Jack Cambio, driver for Fruit Hill Day Program for Elderly, is homebound recovering from Bell’s Palsy.

News from the Provincial Council Noreen Murray, fmm has been appointed Local Coordi-nator of Myriam community. Thanks to the work of Nzenzili Mboma, fmm and Eliza-beth Ann Conyers, fmm, the Council reviewed the first draft of the synthesized report of the two June Vocation Visioning Weekends. The session given in Roslyn, their comments and evaluation, will be included in the final report. Pauline Gilmore, fmm shared the experience of partici-pating in the Eucharistic Congress that was held in Que-bec, Canada. After the Congress the sisters traveled to Montreal where they had a week long session with a re-reading of their experience animated by Simone Bastien, fmm, the Provincial of Canada, and Patricia Saint Cyr, fmm. The theme of this week was “The Eucharist, Gift of God for the Life of the World”. Fr. Giles Bourdeau, OFM, who was a member of the Moderating Team for our General Chapter gave a session. Sun-An Park, fmm one of the Young Religious from Canada also gave a ses-sion. Anna Kim,fmm who had done her preparation for final vows here in the US before returning to Canada, gave a sharing. She was on home leave from her Prov-ince of Kenya-Ethiopia.

On September 1, 1882 Mary of the Passion wrote: “God is, God sees Himself, God loves Himself in my soul through grace. I possess the Blessed Trinity within me! Prayer is God’s being in me, it is seeing Him and loving Him. In possessing, in seeing, and in loving God’s be-ing in me I achieve union…If God is in me, without my knowing Him, seeing Him and loving Him, He will not live in me. Prayer is thus the food, the life of God in me… If He is, if I see Him, if I love Him, I will desire that He be, that I see Him, that I love Him even more! … If I possess, if I see and if I love God within me, I will be consumed by the desire that He be, that I see Him and that I love Him in all creatures. After all, this is the desire for heaven, and it is in us by grace. Resolution: I will make my life a prayer. I will possess God. I will see Him, I will love Him without ceasing, then I shall be un-ceasingly immolated with Jesus Victim. “ Throughout her more than 80 years of religious life our little Jeanne possessed God and was truly possessed by her loving God. Wherever she was on mission, and we know that she has many ministries in so many places here in the U S Province, Jeanne was a beautiful witness of one who loved her God and one who lived in total union with God. One of the sisters shared with me that she felt that Jeanne had the wonderment of a child who was so close to her God. I can imagine that Jeanne is now walking hand in hand with the God who loved her and Whom she, in turn, has loved without reserve. May she rest now in the peace that she so richly deserves.

4

ART MINISTRY IN A FISHBOWL FLORIDA Tomorrow is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and I am in downtown St. Petersburg for the opening of my art exhibit at St. Anthony's Hospital run by the Allegany Franciscans. The visual arts are contributing something special to the feast. Virginia Falk arrives soon and will enhance this day even more with the beautiful sounds of her voice and gentle harp music. It has been two years since I began the work which is displayed for the first time here. The sign giving direc-tions to the room reads, nin the Fishbowl". Of course, this is not the usual kind of fishbowl but a large room with glass from ceiling to floor on three sides. I will be here for a week with this art series that seeks to em-body meaningfulness and be relevant to the concerns of the people who will view it.

Change is everywhere especially these days of au-tumn. The leaves of the trees turn into yellow, or-ange, red, pink, brown and later are blown by the chilly wind. So my life this year is totally different than my previous missions in Rome and Chile-Bolivia. I arrived in USA province on May 21. It was

the birthday anniversary of our foundress Mother Mary of the Passion and in the receiving room or sala of our Manhattan convent her photo touched me with a mes-sage “we need mission-aries.” This gave me the impetus to open myself to whatever He sends me.

But as I look back, I was always surprised about everything the way God has designed his ways for me, they are like the autumn leaves with its beauty. He continues to surprise and delight me with the gift and warmth of my Sisters, the new charge and my experiences of daily adjustments and inculturation.

The sight of the beauty of autumn is very visible here in the Northeast of USA and Canada. So even the Halloween celebration is decorated with the differ-ent produce of the land. This celebration is a thanksgiving for the great harvest from agriculture. This occasion graced also my harvest of new com-munity with different descents - Lithuanian, French, Irish, lndian-Goa, Vietnamese and English-. My su-perior is Sr. Alma, our former Superior General. More abruptly the change came to me when on the spot, I was named Vocation Director. This would en- tail going to the different states to promote and re-cruit vocations. Now I have been joining the Voca-tion Promoters’ meeting of New York, Rhode Island and New Jersey. As I go to the different activities, I learned to find my way by bus, train, subways and cars, through the use of different maps. Inculturation is part of my entry to the province and I am enjoying to come to know the history of the USA, the Church and the reason of the birthing of the USA province. Lately, I attended the religious sessions held in the Archdiocese of Boston and a week-end seminar of formators in Riverdale, New York. We were 48 par-ticipants from different states, Guam, Canada and

Rome. The seminar helped us reflect deeper the encouraging viability of religious life founded on prayer, community and mission. May I end my sharing and enjoy my photos, with this prayer:

O Lord, it is said that you have created people, nurture in me the song of a lover,

the boldness of a prophet, the courage of a disciple.

Be with me as I live out my MISSION and MY STORY.

Alicia Alambra, fmm

5

Can art in the form of paintings, sculpture and the "Open Table" installment have a power to reveal us to ourselves or give us a glimpse of what we can choose to become? My display here aspires to take a step in that direction through the legacy of St. Francis. Com-memorating an 800th anniversary of the year when he received papal approval for his way of life, this exhibit also shows his relevance to our own twenty-first cen-tury lives. Its title," Who Do You Say I Am ?", refers es-pecially to our potential to become integrated in body, mind, and spirit and connected through the heart to the whole of life. St. Francis prefigures this new human person in the next stage of our becoming. Sunday ~ The third day is now in progress. Many from the hospital staff as well as others from the Tampa Bay area have been coming through. I try to be a welcom-ing presence and to answer questions. Artist col-leagues ask about technique and the painting proc-ess. An art student brings his drawings to get some critique and tips, others are just drawn into the Fishbowl by the bright colors and large canvases. One person expresses personal meaning evoked by see-ing something in one of the paintings. Another wants to stay awhile and just talk. Viewing my creative work she feels she knows me as one who will listen. At times a heart opens and, in the sacred moments that follow, I receive its story. This is my ministry in a Fishbowl. Frances Falk, FMM

Dear Sisters,

In the week of Nov 7 – Nov 11, 2008 Kyong-Ha Yim and I got a chance to participate in the Vocation Vi-sioning Workshop in Roslyn and visited three communities in New York. Therefore in this sharing, I would like to express my special and deepest thanks to all of the Sisters from Myriam Com-munity, St. Francis Community and Our Lady of Mill-brook Community for their hospitality and love during our visitation. It had been a blessing for me to spend time, to hear stories and to share meals with the sisters, especially with the sisters whom I encountered for the first time. In those short but precious days, I was able to hear many inspiring vocation stories from our sisters. The sisters’ stories encouraged and affirmed me in my own vocation and a call to become an FMM.

Besides spending time with the sisters in each com-munity, Kyong and I also got to tour around St. Francis Hospital and Cardinal Hayes Homes in Millbrook. It was such an “eye opening” experience for me in many ways. I was touched by two specific things that I would like to share with you. I was very touched when I saw the pictures of many FMM sisters (in black and white) being honored on the walls of St. Francis Hospital and at Cardinal Hayes Home. It made me wonder how many lives our FMM sisters had touched while they were there; conse-quently it also makes me recognize the great humility of the sisters who are now quietly continuing with the same ministry/volunteering at these facilities. It is such a beautiful image that helps me grasp somewhat the meaning of being an FMM.

I was also very much moved by the great charity of each one of the staffs at Cardinal Hayes Home. It is the attention (presence), words of encouragement and love, the caring and the smiling that the staff have for the children that radiates the love of God. Likewise, I can also see how significant an impact the children have on all people who work at Cardinal Hayes Homes. I can still see many past “memories” which remained up on the walls of every house I visited. I can feel the love in the tone of voice a staff person had when she shared about “Robbie”. It is such a pro-found image for me when I put it all together. Through this image, I really can see how each staff member is Christ for each child, as well as each child is Christ for the staff. And through this image, I am able to witness the “Kingdom of God on Earth”.

6

Therefore, I am very thankful for the opportunity to visit almost all the sisters in the New England area as well as St. Francis Hospital and Cardinal Hayes. Though the visits seemed short, they were very precious to me. I am very thankful for the prayers and support that you all have for Kyong and I as we journey in this formation period. I pray that the gracious Lord will continue to bless each one of you and on your ministry. In Christ’ Love, Thuy Nguyen, Prenovice FMM

Franciscan Youth Group

The last time we had our bi-annual gathering with the Franciscan Youth, it was the spring time in New Eng-land. After a full season of sweltering heat, fortifying sun-rays and monsoon like rains, it is now the autumn time in New England, where trees blush with their love for their Creator and birds sing heavenly tunes to praise the Lord who provides everything for them. With the cool, crisp wind, the time had come for us to have another gathering with the Franciscan Youth. On Octo-ber 18, 2008, we gathered once more in the spirit of St. Francis and his followers at the Mission Resource Cen-ter in Fruit Hill.

This time, with Sr. Alma and Sr. To Anh, we were also graced with the presence of Sr. Roseda, Sr. Hoa, and Sr. Alicia for whom it was the first gathering with the Franciscan Youth. “I was so happy to be sharing in the day with the youths and their families who all come from the same parish of St. John the Baptist in Provi-dence, RI. I also discovered that the youths are mem-bers of various ministries at the parish such as the choir and alter serving,” said Sr. Alicia.

The theme of the day was “Thanksgiving to God in the Franciscan way.” So we opened the day with a song praising all the creations of the universe by singing “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” from the movie of the same title with Sr. To Anh leading with her lovely guitar play-ing. Uniting in praising God and His creation, we sang out the wonderment of nature which is God's pure gift to us. We continued the morning portion of the program by introducing the 'Canticle of the Creatures' by St. Fran-cis. All Franciscans throughout the world know some-thing about thanksgiving and is there a better example of thanksgiving and offering praises to God than St. Francis’ own 'Canticle of the Creatures'? We first led the group to reflect on the goodness of nature as God's pure gift to us and then we divided the group into six elements of nature within the canticle. (Brother Sun, Sisters Moon, Brother Fire, etc.) Each element group was given a set of reflective questions to discuss and each group also prepared a group presentation based on what each member reflected on. At the end of the morning program, all six groups presented their understanding of each natural element with creativity and simplicity and thanksgiving. We also came to-gether to take a group picture, becoming the ‘Canticle of the Creatures’ ourselves! In the afternoon, after a nourishing lunch time with pizza and the wonderful company, we gathered the fallen leaves from the convent ground and decorated a food basket and thanksgiving greetings for The Poverello Center in Providence, RI. Everyone picked up more than a handful of what each perceived as the most beautiful leaves on our ground. The older group members also visited our sisters resting in our cemetery and said special hellos to the ones they remembered from years past. Our younger members, once again, abandoned them-selves with zeal to their perennial favorite activity on our ground - rolling down on the hills!! At last we ended our day by watching an excellent and informative documentary film about the 'Sister Water.' It was so refreshing to observe the young peo-ple’s reactions as they were clearly impressed with the wonders of the 'Sister Water' in its grand appearances human body.

7

We are always amazed by what young people see and feel through their eyes, hearts, minds, souls and spirits and through this gathering they amazed us once more by being so clearly thankful about the goodness of our natural resources and being aware of the needs to conserve them. Sr. Alicia also re-marked, “We felt that even the younger ones who, de-spite such young ages of being pre-teens, are very reflective in their sharings and have really imbibed the Franciscan spirit of simplicity, joy and love of the na-ture!” Thank you Lord for gathering us once more to praise you and behold Your creations in awe and wonder! And it was a lovely day to be outside...for the Brother Sun was truly 'beautiful and radiant with great splen-dor'! Kyong-Ha Yim, Prenovice FMM

From Zenit Church Steeped in Communication Age Objective Is Allowing All to Share in Culture "To facilitate this access is to multiply the beneficiaries of the banquet of culture." In this regard, Archbishop Celli recalled the words of Benedict XVI at a world congress for Catholic commu-nication faculties last May: "It would be a tragedy for the future of humanity if the new instruments of com-munication, which permit the sharing of knowledge and information in a more rapid and effective manner, were not made accessible to those who are already economically and socially marginalized, or if it would contribute only to increasing the gap that separates those people from the new network that is developing

at the service of human socialization, of information and of understanding." Archbishop Celli affirmed that the agreement with Telefónica would be most successful when it achieves the "inclusion of underprivileged communities, which also have a lot to communicate." "The objective of all communication in the heart of the Church is to generate a greater environment of com-munion and mutual service, in accord with the Gospel spirit," he added. "An authentic living of communion becomes leaven in the dough, and increases the Church's credibility when it proclaims the good news of the Lord in the pluralistic society of today."

Cardinal Hayes Home, Millbrook, NY

At our October mission meeting members brought up the fact that a local food pantry had to close its doors. Its shelves were empty! We decided to have a food drive to help - ”Stuff the Van”. As some of the staff re-flected - ”times are hard but we have a job. We want to reach out to others.” Food and other needed items were collected and the “Stuff the Van” vehicle rode at the end of our Thanks-giving parade. It was then driven to the Loaves and Fishes Ministry in Dover Plains. Sr. Maureen was de-lighted. Now we are in the midst of stuffing stockings for children and teens for the Salvation Army in Bea-con, NY. Last year we stuffed over 100 stockings. By the way, the stockings are about 2 feet long! Anne Turbini, fmm

8

Fr. James Hynes, OFM

Journey to

Franciscan Life After ordination in 1980, Fr. James Hynes, OFM, was assigned to St. Fran-cis Retreat Center,

Rye Beach, N.H., as coordinator of retreats and vicar of the friar community. Four years later, he was sent to our novitiate as assistant novice master. In 1986, he was appointed Guardian of Holy Cross Friary in the Bronx and director of the affiliate program. Since Au-gust of 1990, he has served as Pastor of Holy Name Church in Manhattan and executive director of the Franciscan Community Center. Growing up in South Buffalo, N.Y., one could not help but happen upon a Franciscan friar of Holy Name Province. Every evening, the friars who staffed Bishop Timon High School, only two blocks from my home, would walk through the neighborhood. They would stop to greet people or sit on the front porch of a fam-ily’s home. Each Sunday, friars served in my home par-ish, and I remember hoping it would be a friar who said the Mass. Many vocations to Holy Name Province have come from Timon and parishes like mine. All through grammar and high school, I encountered friars and knew there was something different about them from other priests or religious. They were natural, and at ease with you, always seeming to know what would engage you in conversation. Now that I am a friar myself, it is very clear to me that one of the Fran-ciscan charisms people acknowledge as important is a friar’s ability to accept them as God’s created ones. Thomas of Celano told of how St. Francis wished to insert into his rule of life that the Franciscan order is for the poor and simple, as well as the rich and learned. In other words, “respect for all persons.” Though it was never put in the rule, this respect certainly lived in the hearts of his brothers and continues to do so today. During my early college years, the thought of being a friar was ever present. It was a time when vocations were on a downswing, and the general atmosphere was not one promoting this way of life. But still I could not dismiss the thought. However, I convinced myself that if I was a little more involved in my church, volun-teering my time and services, this desire would soon pass. Just the opposite took place. While teaching in

my parish Confirmation program, of which Timon High School students were members, I encountered Br. Gabriel Del Mastro, OFM, who taught on the faculty of Timon. I would never have described Brother Gabe with words such as perceptive or engaging. He was more like a simple presence. But perceptive he was. One day I made an appoint-ment to discuss this deepening desire to know about the Franciscans. Struggling to move beyond superficial words, Br. Gabriel finally got up, walked over to his desk and gathered a stack of books. Returning to his chair, he lifted up his cowl and from a secret pocket he took out a paper with the address of the vocation office and handed it to me with the following instruction, “Before you write your letter, read these books and get to know St. Francis.” Getting to know St. Francis took longer than I had envi-sioned. Each story led me to ask what it was about his love of God and neighbor that motivated me to want to be a friar. It was the early stages of getting to know myself and the desire to live my faith in the spirit of St. Francis—not to be another Francis. In reading the life of St. Francis, I came to realize that his first brothers also had no desire to be St. Francis. Rather, they hungered to capture in their hearts the presence of Jesus Christ as they had experienced in their brother Francis. Thomas of Celano writes: “The brothers, moreover, who lived with Francis knew how his daily and continuous talk was of Jesus, and how tender his conversation was, how kind and filled with love his talk with them.” My journey has led me through many struggles, won-derful experiences of fraternity and challenging minis-tries. Through each moment of the last 20 years, my faith in God and the continued support of my brother friars has sustained and challenged me, as I strive to grow in my understanding of the Franciscan call and respond to an ever-changing world and Church. —This essay was written in 1997 when Fr. Jim was Pastor of Holy Name Church in Manhattan. It ap-peared in the March 1997 edition of the Anthonian. From 1990 to 1999, Father Hynes was Guardian and Pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish on West 96th Street in New York City. From August 1, 1999 until July 31, 2008, he was Guardian and Pastor of St. Patrick and St. Anthony Parish in Hartford, CT. Father Hynes then began a sabbatical leave, working on a Masters Degree in Church Administration at Villanova Univer-sity in Pennsylvania.

9

In 1992, the province negotiated to purchase the con-vent at Holy Name Parish on West 97th Street. Father Hynes met with the Provincial Mary Petrosky, FMM for the visit of the convent and arrangement for the pur-chase. As we were in the process of selling the Divine Providence convent on East 45th Street, the convent on 97th Street would now become the new location for the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Manhattan. From the very beginning Father Jim welcomed the FMMs to participate in the various ministries in the Parish. It was Father Jim’s generosity that gave us access to the space behind the convent which was transformed into our secret garden. Father Jim died unexpectedly on Saturday, November 1, 2008, in Bryn Mawr, PA, as the result of a heart at-tack. He was 57 years of age, a professed Franciscan Friar for 32 years and a priest for 28 years. The news of his death was received with great sadness in New York, Connecticut, the East Coast and The Franciscan family. The FMM Sisters @ 97th Street, NYC Symposium on Apostolic Religious Celebration The Archdiocese of Boston along with the Diocese of Fall River and Stonehill College sponsored a sympo-sium to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Archdio-cese of Boston. This symposium was a gift from Stonehill College to all religious in Boston, Fall River and other New England dioceses. The organizers were expecting 250 attendees, and instead there were more than 650 registered partici-pants, said Bishop Coleman. Six Franciscan Mission-aries of Mary attended. The Symposium was organ-ized superbly with students of the college as guides both inside and outside. The whole Symposium was taped and in our USA Province Communications Office there is a CD with all of the presentations available for the asking. Or you may access the transcripts at http://stonehill.edu/rlsmanucripts.xml. You might be amazed at the presentations, which took us on the turbulent journey of religious congregations during the post Vatican Years to the present in the USA. The theme was “Apostolic Religious Life since Vatican II . . . Reclaiming the Treasure: Bishops, Theologians and Religious in Conversation.” One of the keynote speakers was Franc Cardinal Rode, Prefect of the Con-gregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Socie-ties of Apostolic Life. In his presentation he said:” Even a sketchy overview of history can show abundant evi-dence that, without the presence and activity of monks

and nuns, religious women and men, despite their acknowledged cultural and historical limitations, the history of Western civilization and the evangelization of vast areas of the globe would be immensely poorer,” he said. “The history of the Church in the United States of America is rich with the contributions of conse-crated men and women who have left an indelible mark on the culture.” There is a crisis in religious life, especially in those who have struggled with the changes brought about by the Second Vatican Council, and its document on religious life, “Perfectae Caritatis,” he said. In the period of inno-vation that followed the council some religious orders mistook the spirit of renewal to license rupture, rather than reform.” Sr. Sara Butler, MSBT, member of the International Theological Commission spoke about the post Vatican II years. She addressed the prevalence of polarization in religious communities. “Part of the problem was timing,” she said. “The 1960s and 1970s were the worst times to initiate reforms, given the turmoil and strife that marked those decades. This was especially true, considering the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis on the apostolic at the expense of the monastic.” Every panelist gave a provocative assessment of Reli-gious Life since Vatican II up to and including the pre-sent time. Other Panelists were: Sr. Gill Goulding, C.J.Fr. Joe Koterski, SJ; Sr Elizabeth McDonough, OP; Fr. Hugh Cleary, CSC; Ann Carey; and Fr. Kurt Pritzel, OP.

The Symposium was concluded with a vigil Eucharist for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary time.

Rosemarie Higgins, fmm

Sean Cardinal O’Malley Archbishop of Boston

Sister Sara Butler, MSBT

Member of the International Theologic l Commission

Professor of Dogmatic Theology, St. Joseph Seminary, Dunwoodie

Franc Cardinal Rode Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life

10

WE HAVE COME TOGETHER

TO REMEMBER THE CALL VISIONING WEEKEND ST. FRANCIS COMMUNITY, ROSLYN Lord, we have come together to remember the call which we heard at the early age; at grade school, col-lege or at work. It was a mysterious call from deep within, powerful and irresistible, saying: “I have called you by name, consecrated you and you are mine. You set our hearts on fire and we waited for your time to come. We know you are a God who finds the way to find the persons you love. Then we found You in the lived faith within our families and also you attracted us through the joy and the sim-plicity of the FMM - at Kennedy Memorial Hospital, at Saint Clement Shrine, Legion of Mary, the commis-sioner Sisters and by the stories in the Far Away Mis-sions, the Corpus Christi procession, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and even by the amazement of seeing an OFM in sandals! Lord, you are a God of sur-prise! We thank you for paving our way to you. We remember the miracle of that inner strength, stronger than the storm of opposition that rose from the parents who were concerned about our future and our happiness. We thank you because we were capa-ble of taking that leap of faith into the unknown as did Ruth, the Moabite woman who teaches us the total self-gift. We are grateful for the many Naomi who stood at our side, challenged us. Their support al-lowed the inner freedom to prevail. We recognize the gift of this wonderful Vocation Vision-ing Weekend. Our stories were very powerful, inspir-ing, enriching, energizing! These stories gave us a bet-ter understanding of who we are: and a deep appre-ciation of the sisters with whom we live every day. We thank you, Lord, for we, FMM are one big, happy and a friendly family, a family of the Marines of the Mis-sionaries, they said! We, FMM love vitality; we have passion for life and delight in our vocation. We em-brace the decrease of our number as a God-given opportunity. And so we seek together the way to keep enough fire going in the coals, to rekindle our enthusiasm on voca-tions so as to attract new membership who will carry on the mission of the Institute of setting the world ablaze; of being women of healing, those who bring back to God the lost sheep. Bless us with the gift of creativity as we engage ourselves onto an uncharted road, the road of uncertainty; teach us how to

embrace this unfamiliar new land. We want new members to be strong so as to renew our strength as we strive to move out of our comfort zone, and consecrate the best of our time to promote vocations in the province. Yet, at the same time, we acknowledge the constrain of a full time ministry. But we know that you are a God who loves to work with impossibilities. Be our source of inspiration and help us to continue building a community where joy, simplicity and happiness wit-ness to your life-giving presence among us…. Lord, it is good to be here at Roslyn and to behold your beauty in the creation. The dance of the autumn colors fills our hearts with songs of joy and gratitude! It is good indeed to proclaim together the beauty of being Francis-can Missionaries of Mary. May the way we live the pre-cious gift of being FMM become a fiery flame that at-tracts young women who want to join us and share the happiness of our total dedication to your Kingdom. May Mary, Mother of Jesus, who was, at the dawn of the vo-cation of many among us, a source of strength and in-spiration, continue to guide us, inspire us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives, and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen. Nzenzili Mboma, fmm

Thank you Dear Sisters, Trinity community: Our Lady Queen of Peace; Holy Family; Our Lady of Lourdes; De Chappotin Com-munity and Provincial community. I'm most thankful for your lov-ing welcome. My ex-perience in this Prov-ince was a grace of God from my arrival to my going back to Peru. I have been here for four months living the daily Eucharist, community prayer, fraternal meeting and birthday party. In each event I learned to listen. I have had good experiences though it was a short time. I 'm most thankful to the United States Province. Thanks very much sisters. You were good and generous to me. Thanks for your kind words, patience and smiles when I did not understand.

Good memories! All the employees were kind to me also. I really give thanks to God for this oppor-tunity. In gratitude, My prayer is always for you, Sonia fmm

WHERE IS GOD

When I was a little child The question asked was “Where is God?”

And with earnest certainty, I replied “God is everywhere?”

Where is God?

In the stars that shine at night In the joys that bring delight

God follows us, too in the days of our life When we are surrounded by pain and strife

God is there in the times of success

But close to us, too, in failure’s stress.

Where is God? God is with us with power and love

Helping us as we walk with Him In days of light or shadow dim.

God calls and I follow as I did long ago!

Wherever He leads me I know that He’ll be

Always beside me with light and security

And so if I falter and the journey seems long I’ll reach out and touch Him,

asking Him to make me strong

Clouds may gather I may not see the way

But I know He is beside me To protect and to guide

To keep me forever Where He abides,

My Father, my Jesus, great Spirit of Love In the mansions that are readied in the dwellings

above

Mary S. Bayer, fmm

Tree Blessing At Fruit Hill, twenty-three trees were planted this fall. Even though we called a moratorium on the planting

of trees, we have re-quests for more trees that we will plant next spring, God Willing. If our renova-tion of King’s Highway is completed

by spring 2009, we will have place for new trees and colorful bushes that will be planted all along the “highway”. Please keep this in mind if any of your friends or relatives would like to donate a bush. Fr. Doug Grant, pastor of Mary Mother of Mankind Church, blessed the trees. The day was warm so many Sisters, relatives and friends joined the blessing procession which was followed by refreshments in the recently renovated “Hogan”. The Secular St. Francis Fraternity, St. Clare of Assisi Fra-ternity do-nated a Holly Tree In honor of Sr. Alma Dufault’s 60th Jubilee 2007.

Blessing a tree in memory of one of our for-mer cele-brants, Fr. Leon Maynard.

L-R: Rosalie McNaughton, fmm, Fr. Clyde Walsh and Tom Deady, Fr. Walsh’s former altar server.

12

Ask Our Lord to come … Say to Him with faith, hope and love:

Come, Lord Jesus. MD, 53

From Blessed Mary of the Passion ...

Only love can fix our broken world. We are instruments of incarnation …

calling forth a new creation. We become mothers of incarnation by giving birth to the Word of God

by the way we live and work. - G. Straub

Lord our hearts are filled with joy as we thank You for the gift of this moment in the life of our Institute. We thank You for the gift You gave us in Sr. Christiane and for her years of generous service. We thank You for the gift of Sr. Suzanne Phillips and for her 'Yes' as she takes up this service."

… keep your eyes and hearts fixed on this vulnerable, humble and suffering God

whose face we know in Jesus who is so alive and at work in you

to live the incarnation of your own uniqueness as missionaries of Mary in the Franciscan way.

Sue Phillips, fmm Closing Message

at Chapter ‘08