Let Christ Be Formed in Me

I'm definitely not on the Eastcoast anymore...

2012-01-20T15:42:00.000-06:00

"Chelsea...you need to get up... there's a tornado siren."

Groggily, I rolled over to see Carly's face peeking through my doorframe. I glanced at my clock as I sat up, now acutely aware of the shrill cry of the siren and the hail pelting against my window pane.

My clock glowed brightly: 2:45 AM

I looked back at Carly. "Sooo...what do we do?"
Also being a native of the East Coast, neither of us had ever experienced a tornado before. She looked back at me with a blank stare. "Umm.....I don't really know..."

So I rolled out of bed, threw on a sweatshirt and moccasins, and grabbed my phone as Carly went to go make sure everyone else was awake.

All the postulants congregated in the hallway, everyone half-asleep and slightly freaked out. Quickly we decided that the best plan of action was to head down to the basement. With the wind howling at the corners of the convent and the hail beating the side of the building, we made a quick descent down the back stairwell. Halfway down the stairs, the sirens stopped.
We all froze.
Someone broke the tense silence,"Is it over?"

After lingering a few more moments to listen, half of us decided it would be best to continue to the basement, and half of us decided to head back to bed, but keep an ear out for the weather.
I was part of the group that continued down to the basement.

Once we got to the study in the basement, we flipped on the tv and watched the images of swirling clouds flash on the screen accompanied by a man's calm voice. It seemed like such a contradiction; the whirling, chaotic, screaming winds overlaid by an meteorologist's annoyingly calm voice announcing a play-by-play of the tornado's actions.

I sat with the two other postulants who also trekked down the basement and watched and listened.
As I sat, I knew we weren't going to die because of this tornado...but I realized that if I was going to die somewhere, I was happy with where I was. Our life might not be glamorous or glitzy, but it is beautiful and full of so many graces. Everyday, I thank God for having called me here. That's not to say that this life doesn't have it's challenges and trials, but it's through those trying times that we learn to grow and trust so much more. I am happy where He has placed me and there's no where else I'd rather be...

It's amazing what a tornado at obscene hours of the morning can show you! :)

However, I would prefer to reflect on my life a little later in the day and without the blaring of tornado sirens... ;)

Have a blessed day!
-Chelsea

Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus: A Beer with Jeff Bethke

2012-01-15T11:58:00.000-06:00

Some of you may have seen this video entitled "Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus" making the rounds on Facebook. Lots of people are responding with angst and intellectual put downs. I suggest a different approach. 72% of the millenial generation describes themselves as "spiritual but not religious." Maybe we should take this more seriously? I would love to have a beer with Jeff and have a real dialogue.

Here's a link to my personal response to this video if anyone is interested!

Peace,

Theresa

You Might Be a Nun (or a Postulant) If.....

2012-01-03T09:28:00.000-06:00

1. Your favorite celebrity is 84 years old, wears red shoes and speaks seven languages.

2. When you actually find a sweater in navy blue, (the Holy Grail of sweaters), you spike it on the floor and do a touchdown dance in the middle of the store.

3. Twenty dollars a month goes a LONG way in your world.

4. You get a lint roller in your Christmas stocking and don't think it's lame.

5. Your freezer is bigger than the wardrobe in the Chronicles of Narnia.

6. You use words like "chasuble" and "thurible" in everyday conversation and do not miss a beat.

7. You don't think it is pointless to clean surfaces that already look clean, (and you actually get some kind of sick pleasure out of it).

8. Inside jokes involving such ordinary things as corn can become an obsession and a communal source of entertainment for months at a time.

9. You have friends who are more than 60 years older than you (or vice versa) and you dig it.

10. Your idea of a rockin' New Year's Eve is a silent retreat and four hours of adoration leading up to midnight. Rock out.

___________________

I began this top ten list as my New Year's Eve retreat began. I just couldn't help myself. God didn't mind. The guy has a sense of humor. He's funnier than Will Ferrell. No joke.

In all seriousness though, I had a wonderful retreat. I thoroughly enjoyed myself talking to no one but Jesus for 24 hours and ringing in the New Year in the quiet. I have to say, there are many things I miss in the convent but New Year's Eve parties are not one of them. There is honestly no other place I would rather be on New Year's Eve than in chapel with my sisters smiling in silence as the clock strikes 12. I hope your New Year's was as awesome as ours. We prayed for all of you, and will continue to pray for you in this new year.

In Jesus,

Theresa

Orange Exchange

2011-12-07T21:23:00.001-06:00

One afternoon, I brushed my teeth afterlunch and then walked back into the dining room. (Not the mostbrilliant idea.) I had a few minutes before my shift at thebookcenter so I decided to have an orange. Have you ever eaten anorange after brushing your teeth?

toothpaste + orange =Not(a_good_combination)

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking.I wonder if toothpaste was made to taste the way it does to preventus from eating anything after brushing our teeth. Hmmm... Anyway,after eating that first piece, I didn't think I could eat any more ofit. I thought about throwing away my orange but that would bewasteful. So I asked Theresa, who saw the disgusted face I made, ifshe wanted to have some of my orange. Now, I wasn't really being niceby sharing my orange with her as you can tell. Nevertheless, she hadjust finished her lunch and was kind enough to “consider”relieving me of having to throw away my orange.

But then she comes back to table with atangerine (or was it a clementine?) and started to peel it. I was atiny bit disappointed and expressed it in all honesty. She commentedon my pale looking orange - that she thought looked sour to beginwith. Sigh...

And then she says, “Here, try a pieceof my tangerine and I'll try a piece of your orange.” I wassurprised not by her gesture but how I felt much joy from her simpleact of kindness. And she didn't stop there. She broke her sweettangerine about half and with a smile on her face said, “There, youcan have some of my tangerine and I'll have some of your orange.”

Believe it or not, I started to feelteary-eyed as I expressed my gratitude toward her. And I thought tomyself, “What was that all about?!” For a few days, I let it sinkin and I pondered why I felt so strongly about it. Was I just beingoverly sentimental? Or is there something else there?

On our retreat day, I began to praywith Mary as she received the message from the Angel Gabriel that shewould conceive in her womb the Son of God by the power of the HolySpirit, and towards the end of the day, I continued to pray with thebeginning of Mark's Gospel where John the Baptist proclaims to all,“Prepare the way of the Lord!” As I was meditating on this, Isuddenly felt a joy that seemed familiar. Aha! Jesus became human sothat we can share in his divinity. Just like Theresa took some of mysour orange and let me have some of her sweet tangerine. Our “orangeexchange” was very much like Christmas and Easter Joy! The joy thatcomes from giving and receiving unconditional love.

In the Catechism of the CatholicChurch, there is a section on The Christmas mystery that talks aboutwhat is called the “marvelous exchange”.

(CCC 526) To become a child in relation toGod is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we musthumble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become “childrenof God” we must be “born from above” or “born of God”. Onlywhen Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas befulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this “marvelousexchange”:

O marvelousexchange! Man's Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We havebeen made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself toshare our humanity.

Jesus, open our hearts to see you inthe face of those around us. Open ourhearts to see you also within us. In this season of Advent, may we wait with expectant joy for your coming and may our eyes be open to the empty mangers in our lives, disguised in the simple, the meek, the humble ways that you want to let us experience your extravagant love.

Have a blessed Advent!

Peace,

Cheryl

Postulancy is like...a ton of bricks?

2011-11-28T15:59:00.001-06:00

Sometimes it just hits me. BAM! Right on the head. Like a ton a bricks. I’ll be mopping the floor on a Tuesday morning and BAM! …Ton a bricks. All of a sudden I think to myself: I’m a postulant. A REAL postulant with the Daughters of St. Paul.

Let me explain: My entire teenage life I’ve known the Daughters of St. Paul. I remember being 14 and meeting my very first Pauline Sister. (Who was Sr. Rebecca Marie, who now happens to be my postulant formator! Don’t tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor!) Ever since that day I imagined what life would be like as a postulant.

Granted, I DID make it sound super glamorous in my head. For example, I thought that once someone entered Postulancy they automatically loved getting up early and praying at the crack of dawn. I thought postulants always had a cheerful and sweet disposition that never waivered. I thought they were never tired or lazy or irritable. I distinctly remember mopping my kitchen floor one day and thinking, “If I were a postulant I would love mopping.” (Ha…) Not to mention the fact that postulants were “super kneelers”! These "kneeling powers" allowed them to kneel for hours at a time in deep prayer without pain or fatigue. I couldn’t wait.

… I remember waiting and daydreaming about Postulancy

and waiting….

And now, I find my self here. I’m a postulant. I live in Missouri and I’m a postulant with the Daughters of St. Paul. Sometimes I’ll just be mopping the floor and BAM… it hits me. "I AM A POSTULANT…and I’m mopping the floor at the convent…the convent where I live. ohmygoodness… I’ve been waiting for this for so long and now I’m here." It's in these moments that I can’t help but smile in bafflement at God’s mercy.

It’s definitely not a glamorous life…but it’s definitely a beautiful one! It’s one that requires sacrifices and a lot of love. Being a postulant doesn’t mean that I LOVE waking up before it’s even light out, but I do it because He called me here out of love and it’s only because of those early morning conversations with the Lord that I get through the day. Being a postulant doesn’t mean that I’m never tired or irritable, but when those problems arise I am reminded to ask for strength, endurance and patience. He is always there for me. Oh and believe me…there’s no such thing as “kneeling powers”. It’s all offered up for the sake of the Kingdom. ;)

Wow. I’m having a brick moment right now…BAM! I’m writing a blogpost and I’m a postulant. BAMMM!

Praise God!

--Chelsea

Breaking Dawn: Cotton Candy for My Soul

2011-11-22T17:31:00.001-06:00

In sickness and in immortality...

Last weekend, I snuck off to themovies with Sandy and Carly. Well, we didn’t exactly sneak off – Sr. Rebecca, Cheryl and Chelseawere out of town. But it did feel a bit like we were sneaking – probablybecause we were watching the most recent movie in the Twilight series: BreakingDawn.

I must sheepishly admit that I am a Twilight fan. Actually,I can honestly say that I have been a fan of all things vampire since I readseveral books in the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles when I was in middle school. Ihave not read the Twilight books, but I enjoy the movies – they are cottoncandy for my soul. Of course any good dentist of the soul will point out thatsouls do not profit much from cotton candy; However,I do think there are redeeming qualities in this movie series. And as I watched Breaking Dawn this past weekend, I beganto recognize some of the strong undercurrents pulling me in.

When I was in college, I vividly remember a debate Iattended between an atheist and a Christian. The first argument that theatheist brought up was that pagan myths, far before the time of Jesus, spoke ofvirgin births. He argued that Christianity was just another concocted storythat belonged in the pages of pagan mythology. I was a bit shocked at thisargument at the time. I myself was an atheist but I had always thought theChristian “story” was at least original.

Now, as a Christian, that argument does not faze me at all.I am a Christian Catholic: Catholic meaning universal, all embracing. I do notbelieve that God only speaks to Christians or, in the time of pagan myths, onlyto the Hebrew people. Rather, I believe in a God who speaks to everyone. In ancient times, God may haverevealed more of himself to the Hebrews than to the pagans but he did thisbecause he ultimately planned to make himself available to all human beings.And this is seen by the glimmers of foreshadowing in other cultures andreligions before the time of Jesus – God was setting the stage.

I actually think that most things in this world are likethose pagan myths. If we hold them up to the light, we can almost always findtraces of God. This is true for some of the most disturbing aspects of ourculture, as well as the "cotton candy for your soul" phenomena that cause people,including myself, to go a little nuts - like Harry Potter or the Twilightseries. If people are going a bit nuts over something, there is usuallysomething deeper pulling them in, something that they are not usually consciouslyaware of themselves.

God’s Love

Every woman dreams of being pursued, desired and loved intoeternity like Bella is loved by Edward. And every woman wishes they had the awfuldilemma of being pursued by two men who are willing to love her until the endsof the earth, even if she chooses the other guy. Of course these relationshipspoint to the ultimate relationship that we are meant to have - with God. Godpursues us like a gentleman. He is always there, ready for us to reach out tohim, and even if we do not love him, he does not stop loving us. It may be hard for guysto relate to this analogy but that’s why most church pews are filled with women– men aren’t always into the idea of being romanced by God. But that is whatwe all are called to – men and women. We all have to become receptors of God or“feminine” (in a sense) to enter into relationship with God.

Immortality

Edward’sfamily is filled with gorgeous people who will be young and attractive forever.Don’t we all dream of being young and beautiful forever?

After reaching thirty,I have been on the lookout for wrinkles and grey hair. I know old age is in myfuture and if I get old I will die. Despite this obvious fact, I would like tostay young, or at least look young, for as long as I can. Why? The same reasonour entire culture is obsessed with youth – I may know intellectually that I amgoing to die but I am in denial.

But immortality for vampires is not all it is cut out to be- Edward tries his best to dissuade Bella from becoming a vampire. For a human,the idea of literally living into eternity is excruciating – wouldn’t it beboring after all, after a certain amount of time? But that is the beauty ofChristianity – we are promised not only immortality, but a life where boredom isimpossible. God is all that we are made to live for – Beauty, Truth, Justice,Love. And exploring God is like a never-ending adventure. God is like a diamondwith infinite facets or a world with an infinite number of countries toexplore.

Boredom is impossible with God.

Resurrection

Although there are differences, there is something in theimmortality of the vampire that points to our resurrected bodies. Edward’sfamily is full of good looking people who will never experience the evil ofdeath, will always be young and they sparkle in the sunlight. It sounds sillybut this is not so far from Christian teaching about our resurrected bodies.

Webelieve that at the end of the world, we will all be reunited with our bodies.Thomas Aquinas hypothesized that our resurrected bodies will look like ourbodies when we were thirty-two or thirty-three years old, the perfect age apparently (I am quickly headed downhill). C.S. Lewis said that we will not be able to discernthe age of our resurrected bodies, but, rather, we will be full of light and almost unrecognizable. We see this in the Gospels after Jesusreturns from his resurrection – it takes his disciples time to recognize him.

In conclusion...

Suffice it to say, BreakingDawn is not a film masterpiece. It will not go down in history for itsacting. But there are themes in it that pull at our soul strings – which is thereason why anyone who is honest will shamefacedly admit that they enjoy themovies.

Of course, our souls can only take so much cotton candy – we can’tsurvive spiritually on this stuff! But if we are discerning and thoughtful, wecan all learn from movies like this. So next time you find yourself enjoying something you know is cotton candy for your soul - look a little deeper, it just might lead you to a greater understanding of God and faith.

Peace,

Theresa

Postulant Surprise: The Joy of Cooking

2011-11-13T15:33:00.001-06:00

My life as one of the newest members of the FSPpostulant community has called for many adjustments on my part.

I suddenly went from being an only child tohaving a houseful of sisters. When Ileft my job this summer, I was one of the “younger” people at my firm. NowI’m the oldest of the postulants. Mywardrobe has been transformed from a nice selection of business casual clothesand suits into a small collection of blue skirts and sensible shoes. As a nativeof Cleveland, home of perpetual heartbreak for sports fans, it is even hard forme to comprehend that my new “home” team, the Cardinals, are actually thisyear’s World Series champs!

To top it off, as a former estate planninglawyer, I know the ins-and-outs of drafting wills and trusts, but most of thatknowledge has no direct application to what I’m doing now. This means I’ve spent much of the past twomonths learning entirely new sets of skills. One of these is cooking dinner for ten people on a regular basis.

To say I didn’t feel up to this task at first wouldbe an understatement. Sure, I’ve heatedup many a Lean Cuisine dinner in my day, and I can microwave bags of popcornwith the best! I’ve even scrambledan egg or two from time to time. Butcooking for ten people? That’s a wholenew ballgame.

Fortunately, my family and friends heard my desperatecries for help and generously responded by sending me their favorite recipesand even a subscription to the Food Network Magazine.

Armed with these valuable resources, I marchedinto our kitchen. Fortunately, I was notmarching alone. The postulant communityis divided into two teams who take turns cooking on alternating Mondays.

My cooking team consists of Cheryl, Carly andme. While Carly has a lot of experience in thekitchen, Cheryl and I are still learning the ropes. Our combined efforts would make for someinteresting reality TV.

Our most memorable adventure in the kitchen wasour attempt to serve Easy Cajun Jambalaya to our community and our special guests, thetwo sisters from our provincial government who were visiting us that Monday. We were determined to impress (or at leastnot induce food poisoning).

To our dismay, as my team began preparing themeal, we discovered that most of the ingredients called for in the recipe werenot in our fridge or pantry. Bravelyattempting to stick to our planned menu--- and with little time to spare--- we putout heads together and swapped almost ALLof the ingredients called for in the recipe with something else.

The result was a unique culinary invention thatcould never be mistaken for the original Jambalaya recipe. Gazingupon our masterpiece, Cheryl suggested adding one final “special” ingredient:turmeric. This transformed our dish intothe most beautiful shade of yellow (an improvement over the original hue), andour meal was complete. We lovingly namedour concoction “Postulant Surprise.”

Our "secret" recipe

I’m happy to report the meal was tasty andearned rave reviews! More importantly, itwas an experience of the challenges and joys of living in a religiouscommunity.

With each turn in the kitchen, I am learning tolet go of my desire to be “perfect.” Iam loosening my grip on my past successes and starting to live in thepresent. I am being stretched andlearning to adapt in stressful situations. I am experiencing the benefits of working together with Carly and Cherylto create meals that are not only edible, but enjoyable. One of my cooking team members (who shallremain nameless) summed it up best, as she shouted out in one of our more frenziedmoments: “I am dying to self! I am dying to self!”

Despite a few close calls, we haven’t ignited anygrease fires on our gas stove. No onehas been rushed to the emergency room after one of our meals. Cheryl, Carly and I are still speaking toeach other. Those whom we’ve fed haven’tkicked us out. Though you won’t find “Postulant Surprise” inany cookbook, life is good.

And who would have guessed I would grow to likethis community cooking gig? As a matterof fact, if I’m not in the chapel or Book Center, you might very well find me inthe kitchen frothing eggs with some of my fellow postulants.

Illustration: the effects of turmeric on white rice

God bless,

Sandy

Catholic New Media Conference 2011 - People of Good Will

2011-11-06T21:00:00.000-06:00

Chelsea, Cheryl, Theresa and Sandy with our new friend Jack
(Carly and Sr Rebecca are keeping busy behind us)

Media is not my thing.

I know, I know I am thinking of becoming a Daughter of St. Paul so that may be a problem.

I even worked inTechnology for several years but I was always the odd person out – I nevercared for or wanted the newest phones or technology. I actually refused to get a cell phone until after college when I was a teacher in a not-so-good area in Miami and someone was held up at gunpoint near my classroom, (my door faced the street). I realized it just might be idiotic for me to continue playing the anti-technology card. But I have always been a technology skeptic.

However, God always has different plans for us than we expect.

So, when I was told that the postulants were going to the Catholic New Media Conference in Kansas City I was not exactly jumping up and down for joy. I honestly expected to be bored out of my mind with technical gibber gabber. But I ended up finding the conference based more on spiritual matters than minute technical details. The issues that I think are the most important in evangelization were highlighted by all who spoke. First, if the messenger is not fully rooted in Christ, then our Gospel message will be lost in the noise or contribute to the noise on the Internet. And second, even though we all use different mediums for evangelization, it is still of vital importance to develop real relationships with the people we are trying to help bring to Christ.

But the thing that moved me the most were the people I met and observed. As I listened to other speakers and attendeesat the conference, I realized that many other people working in the new mediafor the Church have a heart for evangelism, hearts very close to the Pauline charism. In the early 20^th century, in atime when thinking about using technology for evangelization was not even inthe Church’s mind, Blessed James Alberione, the founder of the Pauline Family,knew that people in the future would unite together to use technology toevangelize the world. This premonition of the founder is found in one of thecommon prayers of the Pauline Family:

God, to communicate your love to everyone,
you sent your only Son Jesus Christ into the world
and made him our Master,
the Way and Truth and Life of humanity.
Grant that the media of social communication
press, films, radio, television, records and allaudiovisuals
may always be used for your glory and the good of all.
Raise up vocations
for this multimedia apostolate,
and inspire all people of good will
to contribute with prayer, action and offerings,
so that through these means
the Church may preach the Gospel to all peoples.
Amen.
(Blessed James Alberione)

Seeing these people of good willwho are already involved in the apostolate that Blessed James Alberione knew wouldbecome a reality was truly an inspiration to me. As I listened to them, Irealized that although I still can’t relate to wanting the latest iPhone, thesepeople are my brothers and sisters in the heart of the founder. These are thepeople of good will that Alberione knew would spring up in our time to bringpeople to Jesus through media.

I know that Blessed James is up in heavenpraying for all of the Pauline family. But now I know he is praying forthese people “of good will” who recognize the many souls who are thirsting forGod and are in need of the Living Water that we can carry to them so effectively in the 21^st century through modern technology.

And now all the postulants will be praying for the wonderful people we met at this conference - that their words and outreach through modern technology will touch the hearts of people all over the world.

Peace,

Theresa

St. Paul meets St. Benedict

2011-10-27T17:36:00.000-05:00

Saint Paul the Apostle and Saint Benedict of Nursia lived very different lives. And historically speaking, they could not have met since they lived centuries apart. After Saint Paul's conversion, he proclaimed the Gospel by traveling far and wide. He was martyred in Rome. Saint Benedict on the other hand lived as a hermit in a cave for three years before becoming abbott of twelve monasteries in Subiaco (south of Rome). Both of them are great models of holiness and have changed the world by following the footsteps of Jesus each in their unique way of life.

St. Paul's motto: "that Christ may live in me" and St. Benedict's: "to welcome each person as Christ" are very complementary. And I believe every Christian already embody both of these spiritualities in varying degrees and we are called to both in different ways.

Through the years, their legacy have been carried on by many religious communities. Two of which happen to be in the state of Missouri: The Daughters of St. Paul community in St. Louis and The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde.

So why am I blogging about this? I have a good reason, I promise. ;-)

Cheryl, Erma & Sr. Maria Victoria

When I (Cheryl) started discerning religious life, my housemate and bestfriend, Erma, supported me by helping me look at different religious communities. And so when I came home from a 10 day live-in experience with the Daughters of St. Paul in Boston, Erma was eager to show me some websites of other communities that she thought I should check out. One of them was the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde. She was so impressed by them and I sensed that she might be interested in checking them out herself! And after a few months, she did visit them for 5 days of retreat and monastic experience. I almost didn't recognize her when she came back! I mean, she was so full of joy telling me all that had transpired in those 5 days. And that she wanted to visit them again as soon as possible!

Pause. Fast forward...

In August 2010, Erma entered the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (in Tucson, Arizona) while their Clyde Monastery was undergoing renovations. That same month, I entered the Daughters of St. Paul here in St. Louis.

This summer, Erma moved to Clyde to continue her formation there. And so when I found out that our postulant community will be attending the Catholic New Media Conference in Kansas City, I went on Google maps to check how far the Clyde Monastery is to our conference venue. It was almost 2 hours away, close enough to make a quick visit!

We arrived at the Benedictine Monastery just in time for lunch! Erma and a small group of the Benedictine nuns welcomed us and joined us for lunch. Then we had a tour of their Altar Bread department, the Soap department, and their grounds via golf cars. Some of us even paddled around their pond. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was such a blessing that my sisters got to meet Erma and her sisters. Even though we could only stay for a couple of hours, it was all worth it!

Sr. Ruth and Sr. Rebecca

Even in today's day and age, where we have Facebook and Facetime, most of us (and I want to say all of us) would still prefer a "real" visit; just like the Incarnation, Jesus - the Word of God made flesh. He came to visit us and then sent us the Holy Spirit to be with us while He prepares a place for us in heaven.

Our visit to the Benedictine Monastery made me see more profoundly how our Church is really one big family; God's family. And while we are all united in prayer and through our Eucharistic Lord, nothing can be compared to seeing each other face-to-face. This includes all who have gone ahead of us to our heavenly home. As a postulant and future religious, I feel an ever growing desire to see Jesus face-to-face. Some days, I find myself in tears not knowing when this time will come. Thankfully, other days it brings me hope and joy. St. Paul and St. Benedict never met on earth but they now enjoy their face-to-face visits in heaven. And once in a while, my guess is that they conspire with God to set up visits for those of us who follow in their footsteps here on earth.

Benedictine Monastery

"You, yes you, O Lord, my God, have done many wondrous deeds! And in your plans for us there is none to equal you."

- Psalm 40:6a

Finally....Carly is here too!

2011-10-19T12:34:00.000-05:00

Hey ya’ll I am Carly Arcella abrand squeaky new postulant with the Daughters of Saint Paul. I am super excited about being acontributing writer on this blog and share some of the insights and stories ofthe beginning steps of my walk with the Lord and the many adventures ofpostulancy. Believe you me, there have been quite a few already! –and its beenonly a few weeks since I first arrived in the vast middle land of the US, the locals call Missouri.

So maybe I am mourning the loss abit of the tropical paradise I left, Lighthouse Point Florida ( 15min north ofFt.Laud) :) Where is the beacharound here anyways? All for Jesus!—No… ONLYfor Jesus! There are many wonderful people I have met here in MO. (pronounced: "Moe".) All of who, give a priceless reaction when I tell them where I am from. Which I’ve found isa crazy witness all by itself.

Sohow did a Florida native end up in the mid-west? Well, it didn’t happen over night. I just graduated in Mayfrom the University of Central Florida with a BA in Radio Television and minorsin Film and Psych.

That first struggle respondwith a generous yes to the Lord started in high school. In less than twenty-four hours afterthe day I turned sixteen, I found myself on my first retreat in front of Jesusin the Eucharist and hungry to know Him and share him with others.

Inmy prayer that night, I went from a desire to write a news story in the schoolnewspaper about who I had encountered, to starting my own newspaper, tosomething I felt was much much bigger. As it turns out, there was another 16year old that felt the same way Blessed James Alberione .

The next morning I was glowing.Jesus had totally captured my heart. He had asked me to be His and Icouldn’t help but say Yes. That night the idea of being a sister was put on my heart. It was totally out of the middle of nowhere! Nonetheless, I very deeply desired torespond with full “Here I am Lord” to whatever He desired as day-to-day life setin. My prayer life grew—I startedgoing to daily mass and adoration (both on accident--classic stories:). I discovered scripture ina new way and I just wanted to sit with Him in quiet any chance I had. I was trying to listen up; I knew I was preparing for something big.

I becameeditor-in-chief and lead photographer (only a crazy person would attempt both…) atCardinal Gibbons HS and a teen writer for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel; Iquit my varsity soccer team and took up drama. Jesus was challenging me toexplore gifts I never knew I had. Soon, I started dreaming of taking Katie Couric’s place at the news deskof the Today Show and be super catholic.

This struggle between wanting to be a catholic gutting it out in cut throat themedia world and wanting to be a sister (which was hopelessly on the other endof the spectrum) became super intensified. Right in the middle of all that, apriest mentioned to me the Daughters of Saint Paul. Ha! I thought, no way! Media and nun was not fitting together---and there is no way they made it work.(lol) But the thought ofSaint Paul stuck. Paul was just the dude I knew I could go to. And I did...

...................................So how did I meet the Daughters of Saint Paul??........................................................

Less than a year later (2006) I raninto Daughters of Saint Paul; or more like they ran into me... and shookeverything up:) They randomlyswung by parish for an hour to see how our event “coffee nite” was going. (The sisters had recently started Coffee House in Miami and my parish hoped to start one farther north in thediocese because of the amount of people that were traveling pretty far toattend.) Anyways, I walked into the event that night, saw them, turned around. And walkedright out. No seriously, I walked right into the bathroom without missing abeat and "had it out" with Jesus asking out loud, “Who is that!?.” I immediatelywas drawn to them, which was pretty scary... Thankfully, Jesus convinced me toleave the bathroom, and the courage to walk right over and meet them:) They left not too much later—and Jesus gave me this beautiful gift – to let themgo. I wanted so bad to run afterthe car, but in that moment Jesus asked me-- to trust that this was a gift, that Hewanted to give me. I didn't have to grab at it.

I graduated high school, moved four hours away, and started college at the University of Central Florida in Orlando...and I still was trusting! That night never left me. My freshman year of college I was invited to a "come and see" down in Miami. And I began to make the four hour trips to visit the Daughters of Saint Paul---each time I made that trip something grew in me ( 4years of college x 10-15visits a year x 4hrs there x 4hrs back...Jesus had lots to let take root in me). I fell in love with lectio divina, started to make sense out of my catholic media-ness, and brought everything to Him in the Eucharist.

It is such a huge blessing just to be here! Woah, reality check. (pause)...

--- Right, when I think I've ripped a good chunk of the paper off this gift --there is still sooo much more to unwrap! "May the Love of Christ Lead Us and Push us on!"

Introducing Chelsea!

2011-10-12T14:55:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! As a brand-new postulant, I was asked tointroduce myself to you. Sooooo here we go:

My name is Chelsea Moxley-Davis. I officially entered the Postulancyof the Daughters of St Paul on September 21, 2011.

As a native “Maryland-er”, I’ve lived in Mount Airy,Maryland my whole life. (Which is about an hour North of Washington DC.)

I just turned 20 in July… and I’m the oldest of 6 kids. Whichis ironic, because I’ve been the “Big Sister” my ENTIRE life, and now I’m verymuch the “Little Sister” here at the convent. (Talk about role reversal!) Mysiblings range from 7 to 18, and we often get asked if we’re the Brady Bunchbecause we’re three girls and three boys! :)

I was Homeschooled from pre-K to 10^th grade. ThenI went to Sacred Heart Tutorials for a year, where I combined 11^thand 12^th grade. I graduated high school in 2008. I then studied at Frederick Community Collegefor 2 and a half years.

I guess you could say my “professional job” before I enteredwas “full-time college student”. Besides that, I was also a part-time nanny fortwo families and a piano teacher with 9 students.

In my free time, I like to listen to music, or read, or playaround with electronic equipment…. :) If you can’t find me, you’ll usually be able to find me with my guitar or atthe piano, OR just stop and listen, and you’ll be able to locate me by myhumming of whatever song is stuck in my head that day. I also REALLY enjoyphotography! Directly before I entered Postulancy, I was in the process oftransferring to Shepherd University to major in Photography and ComputerImagery. My co-postulants and the other sisters are quickly finding out that itis a rare occurrence for me to leave the house without a camera or two… :)

People always ask how I met the Daughters of Saint Paul….

I was in 8^th grade when I took a class through myhomeschool group called Men in Black and Beyond. This class brought in priests,brothers and sisters to talk about vocations. I really hadn’t seen very manyreligious before, so I was surprised and intrigued by these “holy people” whowere very real. I remember the first sister to come and visit our class was aLittle Sister of the Poor; she was so open and authentic with us. I was amazedthat this woman who prayed (ALOT), wore a habit and worked with old people allday… could tell us that her favorite food was French Fries, and that she wasmadly in love with Jesus! It was super inspiring for me. At the end of the6-week class, I was handed a small booklet by one of the moms who ran theclass. It was “50 active woman’s religious orders in the United States”… out ofthe whole class, she only handed oneto me. So I did what any other 13 year old would do…. I made a quick exit, andshoved the booklet as far into the bottom of my bag as I could. However, assoon as I got home, I ran up to my room to look at the booklet. As I flippedthrough the pages, I saw images of nuns, praying, laughing, teaching, praying,walking, and… praying. ;) Then, a nun, dressed in blue, manning a videocamera, caught my eye. “How cool is THAT???”I thought to myself. So I sat down, wrote a letter, and addressed the envelope:“Sr. Margaret Michael FSP, Vocation Directress, Daughters of St. Paul, 50 St.Paul’s Ave…”

The rest is history. :)

I visited the Motherhouse in Boston for the first time, whenI was 14. Even as a freshman in high school, I was struck by the importance ofusing media to spread the Gospel. I knew that my generation placed such a highpriority on media, especially the Internet. I loved that the founder, Bl. JamesAlberione, “got it”. He understood and lived the call to meet people where theyare. If most people are on the Internet, we should be too. I loved that the Sisters used as many modesof communication as possible. I also was so impressed that despite theirextremely busy and demanding apostolate, they remained firmly rooted in prayerand in the Eucharist.

As I have begun this journey, I am seeing more and more, theimportance of prayer and contemplation. Blessed James Alberione, the founder ofthe Pauline Family said something to the effect of: “The more you have to do,the more you should spend time in prayer.” He really made prayer a part ofeverything he did and encouraged us to do the same, “…just as we constantlytake food and constantly breathe, all of us, everyday of our lives, must really pray.” –Bl. James Alberione

Introducing Sandy

2011-10-08T18:51:00.000-05:00

I’m Sandy Lucas, one of the new postulants. I’m an only child who was born and raised inCleveland, Ohio. I first met theDaughters of St. Paul at their Bookcenter in downtown Cleveland when I was a littlegirl. Though the Daughters of St. Paulare no longer stationed in Cleveland, they came back into my life as I began todiscern religious life.

My journey to religious life has been a long one. I first thought about religious life while inhigh school, but did not begin to actively discern until after I had practicedlaw for several years! After graduatingfrom John Carroll University with a degree in English and History, I obtained alaw degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. I spent my entire legal career at the samedowntown Cleveland law firm, where I focused on estate planning and estate andtrust administration. I helpedindividuals and families with their financial and legal matters following thedeath of a loved one and during other difficult times in their lives.

When I wasn’t at work, I spent much of my time volunteeringand serving as a trustee on various Diocesan and other Catholic non-profitboards. I was also active in Catholicyoung adult groups in the Cleveland diocese. As a parishioner at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, I servedon parish council and as a lector and Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist.

Though I had a successful career and devoted a lot of timeto church activities, I still felt called to give more. A few years ago, I finally began to contactreligious communities for more information. The Daughters of St. Paul came up during an internet search and inconversation with others. I amparticularly drawn to the challenge of communicating the Gospel using all formsof media, as well as to community life and spirituality lived by the Daughtersof St. Paul. I’m excited to be part ofthis community and to continue my discernment.

It's a Full House!

2011-10-04T14:15:00.000-05:00

Carly, Chelsea, Sandy

I'm sure that you have noticed the new faces on our blog recently.

Chelsea, Carly and Sandy entered the community on September 21st, the feast of St. Matthew. We had a special morning prayer and Mass in which we prayed especially for each of them and their families.

I am feeling so blessed by God to have the priviledge to walk with our five postulants in their first years of Pauline life.

It has been wonderful welcoming these three women. They bring a great deal of enthusiasm and joy to our community here in St. Louis -- Lots of energy!

Theresa and Cheryl are showing them the ropes getting around St. Louis, cleaning the house, cooking for the community, running Book Center events and fun things to do in St. Louis. All in all, it's a good thing. The second year and first year postulants are keeping each other out of mischief (I think).

The house is full again and so are our hearts as we enter into another year of Pauline Formation.

Now I'll let each of them tell you a bit more about themselves.

God bless you,
Sr. Rebecca

Catholic New Media Conference

2011-10-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

Here we are at the conference with our new friend, Jack!

Here we are! All five of us, along with Sr. Rebecca, headed out in the wee hours Friday morning to journey to Kansas City, Kansas where the Catholic New Media Conference is being held!

Pen and paper are definitely a minority here, as we are surrounded by lots and lots of laptops, iPhones, etc. There are so many people running around with laptops and streaming at the same time.... If you really want a first hand look at what we're doing, you can find the live stream here!

We hope to update you all on our adventures when we return home. Until then, pray for us, and we'll be praying for you!

Beautiful Vermont

2011-08-31T14:28:00.001-05:00

Just a month ago Sr. Rebecca, Laura, Theresa and I drove from our motherhouse in Boston to Vermont for an apostolic trip. We had parish exhibits at St. Ambrose and St. Peter's Catholic Church. On our free time, Laura toured us around and showed us the University of Vermont, where she studied Nursing and their Catholic Center where she met Fr. Yvon who is now the pastor at St. Ambrose and St. Peter's. We also had a wonderful time visiting with Laura's mom and hearing stories from her childhood.

This morning, I just viewed a youtube video on Laura's facebook wall showing the flooding of Vermont because of Hurricane Irene. Being there for a few days last month makes me feel very sad for the people in Vermont who have lost their loved ones, their homes and their livelihood. Vermont is such a beautiful state - because of the wonderful people that live there. I have no doubts that the people of Vermont will recover from this tragedy. Please join us in prayer for all who were affected by Hurricane Irene in various parts of our country.

Hear, O LORD, have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper.

You changed my mourning into dancing;

you took off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.

With my whole being I sing endless praise to you.

O LORD, my God, forever will I give you thanks.

- Psalm 30:11-13

God bless you,
Cheryl

Meeting YHOPE

2011-08-22T21:06:00.001-05:00

While we were in Boston, we also met with a group called YHOPE which stands for "Young Heralds of the Pauline Evangelization" led by Fr. Mike Harrington. Fr. Mike belongs to the Institute of Jesus the Priest, which is part of the Pauline Family. We joined them on a Saturday morning for some time of fellowship, Eucharistic Adoration, and faith sharing. We were very impressed of how Fr. Mike led the "visit" following the Jesus, Way, Truth, and Life method. After our visit with Jesus, we got acquainted with everyone and Jackie, Theresa and I shared with them our vocation stories.

Once in a while the YHOPErs also get together to lend a helping hand to those in need, like cooking for a group of Sisters. ;-) Recently, about 13 of them went to Madrid, Spain to attend the World Youth Day. You can read about it on their blog. How we wished we could join them. Now, we are praying we are able to go to WYD 2013 in Brazil!

Summer Highlights Part II

2011-08-18T17:14:00.001-05:00

Moving on. Summer is a time of transition for most of us. For students and those who work in a school setting, summer marks the end of the school year and the beginning of another. The rest of the world experience this transition too in their own way.

Laura

For us, much has changed and will continue to change. Part of our trip to Boston as a postulant group is saying goodbye to Laura and Jackie as they move on to the next stage of formation as Novices.

Jackie

Hopefully, they will have time to be our guest bloggers so you all can be updated on their life at the Novitiate. This invitation goes to Sr. Emily and Sr. Sylwia as well (and Sr. Carmen too). It would be nice to hear from you all from time to time.

Scripture class. We also had Scripture class with Celia Sirois. Our focus was on the four Gospels and one of the objectives of our class is "to discover the theological/pastoral message of each of the four gospel writers and discern their meaning for today". Celia Sirois has been teaching for the Daughters of St. Paul for many years. If you wish to hear her speak, you can watch one of her talks on Catholic TV.

Alright, it's time to study. Sr. Rebecca gave us our first reading assignment today!

Thanks for your continued prayers and know that we are praying for you too!

in Jesus,
Cheryl

P.S. Fill in the blank.
Our founder always emphasized that we, the Pauline Family, should have an attitude of _________. Which means we are to learn from everything. Throughout the day, like students in a classroom, we "sit" at the feet of Jesus, our Teacher, our Divine Master.

Summer Highlights Part I

2011-08-16T09:53:00.000-05:00

As Theresa was saying last week, we are sooooo happy to be back in St. Louis! I arrived from my family visit on Saturday night and Sr. Rebecca arrived from Boston on Sunday afternoon. Our summer was packed! I was going through our pictures and I couldn't believe we did all that in the month that we were away.

We arrived in our motherhouse in Boston on June 29 and throughout our stay we met many of the Sisters stationed in Boston and those visiting from our communities around the US, Canada (Toronto), Argentina, Brazil, and Korea. (And I could be forgetting some more!)

We spent our first week getting to know the different departments where our Sisters work in our Boston community. It is so inspiring to listen to the Sisters talk about their "job" with a lot of passion and share with us their love for our mission and the people they hope to touch. There is so much love, prayer and help from above that goes into our apostolate, you can smell it in the air.

It was also my first time to celebrate the 4th of July. A bunch of us walked to Lars Anderson Park to watch the fireworks. We were there early to save a spot and played some games while waiting. If you ever played Pit, you know that part of it is yelling out the number of cards you want to trade with another player so we were learning how to count from 1 to 4 in many different languages: Polish, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Swahili. It was fun! I really appreciate the multiculturalism of our community.

This was just the beginning of our visit to Boston. I will be posting again soon so stay tuned!

Peace,
Cheryl

Home Alone II

2011-08-13T14:39:00.001-05:00

Well, here I am again - home with Sr. Noel and Sr. Assumpta for a couple days with no other postulants around. Cheryl is in NJ visiting family for a couple days. Laura is in Virginia helping out at the bookcenter until she begins novitiate and Jackie is in Kenya on a long overdue visit home. And Sr. Rebecca is in Boston for a couple more days. God willing, we will have three new postulants in the middle of September, but for now I am enjoying this down time after a busy time in Boston.

You may remember the trouble I got into while home alone last time. This time I am happy to report that I refrained from going on Mormon.org and trying to chat with a missionary about the Trinity. I have been helping out in the bookcenter, praying, (of course), ironing my laundry and catching up with friends.

Cheryl and I returned from Boston this last Tuesday full of new information from taking a class on the gospels over the summer. We also helped out in the apostolate. We both were in the Digital Department, where all the newest cutting edge work is done. This is where Sr. Kathryn pulls her hair out making our iPhone and android apps and where the digital artists in residence, Sr. Ann and Sr. Sylwia, work on many of the banners for our web site, videos and signs for our bookcenters. Cheryl and I helped out with the web site, giving our invaluable advice (hehe) and doing various other things to help the sisters get the web site up and running. Check it out, it just went up! It is majorly improved, but the sisters are still working out some kinks so don't be surprised if some of the links don't work yet.

We also went to Vermont, Laura's home state, for some exhibits and lots of fun (i.e. tour of Ben and Jerry's, tour of a cheese farm, hanging out with Fr. Yvonne and Laura's wonderful mom). It was fabulous. Did you know Vermont is gorgeous? Now I understand why Laura has a superiority complex about Vermont. Now I do too. I think I will start telling people I am from Vermont. Hopefully, when Cheryl gets back she will share with you more about that trip because I am running out of time. Gotta run to the bookcenter to give the sisters their break!

Oh by the way, we are super happy to be back in St. Louis and not just because we have air conditioning in our rooms here :) We love the people here and are so happy to spend another year here in formation.

Lots of love to everyone,

Theresa

A Chance Meeting in the Holy Land

2011-07-26T15:33:00.000-05:00

View of Jerusalem from Mount Scopes

I never really considered going to the Holy Land. It was always a far away place that I figured I would make it to sometime - maybe.

Before my conversion I did not consider going because it just was not the place to travel if you do not have sufficient motivation. And after my conversion, it just seemed like too much, like something that I should put off as much as possible in much the same way that early Christians put off their baptism until their death bed. It was just not something that I felt I was ready for or deserved.

But thankfully, despite my misgivings and doubts, I made it to the Holy Land. This summer, during my vacation home, I went with my parents and my parish to a land that St. Jerome calls the "Fourth Gospel."

I had many adventures on my trip and learned so much during this life-changing journey. I am sharing my experiences on my blog, if you are interested in learning more about the places that I visited and the teachings that Tim Gray, our tour guide gave, (I cannot speak more highly of Tim, he was so amazing). So far, I have written about Capernaum, The Sea of Galilee, Gethsemane, and several other places. You can visit my blog and check out my posts for June and July for all of the places I have blogged about.

But I wanted to share specifically with the readers of this blog about a particular surprise on the trip. When I was at Ein Karem, the place of the Visitation, I walked up the stairs of the church with my group and noticed a group of sisters with Italian flags. It crossed my mind that I may see some Daughters of St. Paul but I thought it would be unlikely.

As my group prepared to leave, I noticed a sister with a habit that looked like the Daughters of St. Paul's habit. I crept closer and noticed that the sister was wearing the emblem of the Daughters of St. Paul, seen below.

I immediately got the attention of the sister and told her that I was a postulant with the Daughters of St. Paul in the United States. The sister, Sr. Auxiliadora, was so thrilled to meet me. She immediately rushed over to two other sisters from Pakistan and the Philippines and introduced me to them.

She held my hands in excitement and told me that it was very special that we met at Ein Karen, the place of the Visitation because our founder, James Alberione, always told us that we are like Mary bringing Jesus to Elizabeth, because the Daughters of St. Paul travel to bring Jesus to the world.

As I walked away with my group after taking some picture with the sisters and my parents, I was in utter disbelief that I would have happened to see the sisters so far from home. I knew in my heart that it was a gift from God, a wave from heaven, letting me know that He was blessing this trip and would continue to bless me through the Daughters of St. Paul.

Daughters of St. Paul with me at Ein Karem.
Sr. Auxiliadora is the sister to the left,
(I did not catch the other sisters' names)

Discerning is always a tough process but the Lord showers blessings upon those who try their best to follow Him. As I get further in this process, and close to beginning my second year of postulancy, I thank the Lord for all of the blessings He has showered on me.

He is so generous and full of love!

Our Future is Bright...Thanks be to God!

2011-07-15T16:51:00.019-05:00

Greetings! It's been about 2 weeks and we are settling into our life at the Mother house which has been anything but dull! One of our sisters, Sr. Margaret Joseph, did a great job at writing about our time here and experience in postulancy. Just in case you are curious about our reflections, check them out on our Pauline Faithways blog...

Peace,

Jackie.

Give to the World Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life...

2011-07-05T16:21:00.005-05:00

We are finally in Boston for our summer experience! It's been a great time to see and visit with our sisters from the US and around the world! Summer is a time when many of our sisters are "passing through" our Motherhouse as they make their annual retreats, attend meetings and take their vacations. So, the house is full - in capacity and with joy!

Part of our settling in has involved taking a tour of our Publishing house and visiting the various departments. We are getting ample opportunities to learn more about the creative work of our sisters and the many prayers that go into the production of all the books and media. As we were making our rounds, I couldn't help but notice a quote from our Founder, Blessed James Alberione: "The wise and holy apostle gives what is more useful for eternity".

What better gift can we share with our world than Jesus Christ? As Paulines, this is precisely what we are called to do. Thanks be to God for our brothers and sisters who are doing just that! Here are the words for the video...

God bless you,
Jackie.

Celebrating Good Old Times :-)

2011-06-27T19:39:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!

I know it may seem like I've been MIA since I haven't posted on the blog lately, sorry about that! But have no fear, I've been keeping myself busy. These days, I've been busy packing boxes for my move to Boston where I'll be entering the novitiate, the next step in the formation process. My parting from St. Louis will definitely be bittersweet. I'm very excited to begin the next step in this journey that I feel God is calling me to. I'm curious about what it'll be like to live at our Motherhouse, to see what the classes will be like, and I'm happy to be closer to home where my family and friends are. However there's a lot I'm going to miss about St. Louis. It's such a great city, I really do love it here. The people are so friendly! It's wonderful having the seminary so close and there are so many wonderful priests here in the Archdiocese (http://www.archstl.org/). I've had so many great experiences and have learned a lot during my time here. Thank you all so much, both St. Louisans and our blog readers, for all your prayers and support. It is truly appreciated. Please continue to remember me in your prayers as I take this next step and know that you'll remain in my prayers as well :)

God Bless you :)
Laura.

************************************************************************************
Greetings y'all!

Words aren't enough to express the gratitude that fills my heart for the grande time that I've had with you all while in St Louis. Of course, you have been a BIG part of it, and I want to say - thank you! From the sisters in our community to the people we serve here in St. Louis, I have received blessing upon blessing and graces galore to grow, stretch and leap in my vocation and call to follow Jesus more closely in the Pauline way. Thank you for your love, prayers, encouragement and support in my journey here. As I move forward to the novitiate, I carry you all in my heart and prayers. I believe we will meet again (obviously, because its such a small world these days!). Please pray for me too and who knows, we may make "guest appearances" on the blog in the future :-)

God bless you!
Love and prayers,
Jackie.

************************************************************************************

Farewell Drop-in for Laura and Jackie

2011-06-21T22:00:00.008-05:00

With goodbyes comes a time to give thanks for the friendships we have built and blessings we have received during our time here in St. Louis. This Thursday, June 23, between 4pm and 8pm, we will be having a little "farewell drop-in" for all who have been part of our journey. For those in the St. Louis area, hope you can make it on Thursday!

For y'all out there, thank you for who you are and all you have been to us!

God bless you,
Laura and Jackie.

PS. We will be posting our more elaborate thank you notes soon...so stay tuned :-)

Time for Goodbyes...

2011-06-21T21:47:00.007-05:00

Summer is a time of transition for many people and the Daughters of St. Paul are no exception.

Our Postulancy program in St. Louis is a time for the women in formation to discern even more if God is calling them, to be a consecrated religious as a Daughter of St. Paul. Laura, Jackie, Erin, Theresa and Cheryl have lived this time of Postulancy in deep discernment with our community through prayer, classes, living in community and by experiencing our mission of evangelization.

After being with us this past year, Erin has come to the decision to withdraw from our postulancy program. Erin said that she still feels God calling her to give her entire life to Him, but in a different way that she is still discovering. The day before Erin departed was the Feast of Pentecost. We had a fun day together going on a picnic after Mass and later that afternoon we made an Hour of Adoration together with all the Sisters. In the evening we prayed with and for Erin, celebrating her life and the many ways that she has enriched us and blessed us. And we shed a few tears in the process. This past year we created bonds of friendship and these bonds will continue. Erin said that she has received so much this year and is so grateful to have been here. Please keep Erin in your prayers as she continues following God’s call in her life.

We also have great news to share from Jackie and Laura. Both of them have been admitted to Novitiate. That is really great news!—but it means more goodbyes. In our great joy and excitement, Theresa, Cheryl and I will also miss them very much as they move to our Mother House and Novitiate in Boston this summer.

Now I’ll have Laura and Jackie have a few words...

God bless you,
Sr. Rebecca

Back from vacation

2011-06-14T11:24:00.013-05:00

It's been a week since I got back from vacation. And the first thing I did the next day was to sort through my pictures while waiting for the other postulants to arrive. So here they are. :)

It was wonderful to visit with family and friends and our Sisters from Chicago and Toronto. I would not have managed to see everyone I was able to visit without God's providence. I also felt your prayers for me and for all of us. Even the weather cooperated so well. The rain held up at all times when it would have been impossible and miserable for my family to travel where we planned to be. Needless to say, there were some very rainy days but those days were when the plants needed them more. ;-)

What was really special about this vacation is the awareness that Jesus has been giving me of His presence in each person. This has been recurring in the past 8+ months that I have lived in the convent and I can only hope that my eyes and my heart remain open to this truth...

"... I am with you ..."

These words are in every chapel of the Daughters of St. Paul around the world, and if I'm not mistaken, in every community of the Pauline family.

Now that I'm "slowly" getting back into the swing of things in the convent, I truly feel renewed and also challenged in a deeper way. This morning, we had our weekly shared meditation where we meditate on today's Gospel and share out loud the word or phrase that struck us and a bit of our reflection. What a blessing to be enriched by each others' reflection!

Love your enemies. It is what I find the hardest to follow out of Jesus' teachings as many Christians do. But it is also one of the things that define us as Christians. And so I pray for the grace of the Holy Spirit to be poured upon us and upon you (our readers), to grow in Christ's love, to see through the eyes of our heavenly Father, so that we may truly be children of God and that we may be perfect as He is perfect.

Peace,

Cheryl

We're back...and check this out!

2011-06-06T08:00:00.003-05:00

Hello there!! We're back from vacation and rolling into our "regular" routine for a time (we'll be heading out to our Mother house in Boston for our summer experience at the end of the month!). Meanwhile, check this fabulous video on why we wear the habit. One of our sisters, Sr. Margaret blogged about "The Habit for Sharing the Gospel" on our mission development blog: http://www.paulinefaithways.blogspot.com/. Many people have all sorts of reactions when they see sisters in the habit (as you will see from the video). The most impressive though for me is the tremendous witness it gives to people. It reminds them of God and perhaps steers them slightly to think of Him or return to Him if they have been far away...how cool is that!!

God bless you,
Jackie.

Vacation Time!!!

2011-05-11T23:10:00.000-05:00

Guess what??? We are leaving for vacation tomorrow! That means we will be "off-line" for sometime but hope to connect with you sometime early June... You are in our prayers - pray for us too!
God bless you,
Cheryl, Theresa, Erin, Laura, Jackie and Sr. Rebecca.

Teens Share the Word...

2011-05-11T22:51:00.000-05:00

Last summer, Laura and I spent some time on some apostolic projects at our Publishing house in Boston. One of the projects we worked on was the review of the now published book: Teens Share the Word. Sr. Emily (one of our novices) and Sr. Grace compiled the Scripture reflections of many teens based on many themes. The book has been launched on Facebook: www.facebook.com/teensshare and is an excellent resource for many young people to help them meet God in Scripture and see how present He is in our every day life moments. Praise God for the beautiful ways He is using us to bring His Word to others!

Spread the Word!
God bless you,
Jackie.

Hiking Expedition

2011-05-10T17:37:00.011-05:00

Yesterday Theresa, Cheryl and I went on a hike to Cliff Cave County Park which is about 20 minutes from home. It was a beautiful hike of about 5 miles near the Mississippi river. Little did we know that our hiking expedition would be more than we anticipated... Note: most parks in the area have been flooded due to the rains and overflow from the Mississippi. Cliff Cave was no exception but it wasn't THAT bad. We enjoyed seeing some unique birds, flowers, houses, caked earth and trees along the way. The greenery was refreshing and the environment serene. Further down our path, we got a taste of the effects of the flood. Some sections were pretty muddy and swampy (that was our intro into the hike!). We also came across some big dead fish that may have been washed to land from the floods. This area was filled with all sorts of smells too as you can imagine - from swampy waters to wild flowers! The last leg of our hike was the greatest surprise for us. Parts of the path were under water (hence the frown in our pictures)! At this point, we literally had to decide: should we go back (almost 3+ miles) or head to the finish line...mmmm. Well, we decided to forge ahead, besides we were almost coming to the end of our hiking path. All in all, we talked about many things on our leisurely hike and the different experiences on our hiking path certainly added to the flavor of our reflection. For instance, life is full of "unforseen" twists and turns. The question is how we go about them. Should we turn back or keep forging on? We certainly came home grateful for a refreshing hiking experience...and a few life lessons on the side :-)

God bless you,

Jackie.

Benefit Concert

2011-05-06T22:11:00.007-05:00

Dear all,

I realise that it has been a while since you have all heard from me. I apologise for my silence :)

Anyway, I wanted to write a little bit about the benefit concert we just had here in St. Louis. It was truly a community event as each one of us had our roles, and it brought me so much joy to see each person's creativity and gifts shine. Theresa designed stunning fliers and programs, Jackie and Cheryl spent many creative hours putting together a beautiful video of our life here as postulants, Laura helped so much with everything from finding the right music for the video to delivering fliers, calming me down, moving the piano, making us laugh (she brings so much joy and laughter to our community), and helping with the set-up of the hall for the concert and reception. Also, all the postulants helped me so much in the weeks leading up to the concert by taking over some of my bookcenter and cleaning duties so that I could practice. Community life is so beautiful and I am always taught and inspired so much by the generosity and care of all the sisters and postulants here. I realise in all that I wrote above that I didn't mention Sr. Rebecca or the other sisters, when actually each sister had their own role in helping to prepare for this concert so it was truly a joint effort. I can say that it was a blessed evening. We had a wonderful, warm audience. It was such a gift to see so many of our friends there as well as some new people. They created such a joyful atmosphere and it helped to calm my nerves. It is always very nerve-wracking to play for people you know and care about because you want to give them the best that you can. It is kind of like choosing a birthday gift for a very close friend. You want so much to give them the perfect gift. So I was very nervous that evening, but it didn't take long for the audience to calm me down :) For me, I always pray before a concert that I may be solely an instrument for the Lord; that my heart and whole being may be open to give; to be His hands and His heart. I pray also for the audience that they may be open to receive His presence, His love, and whatever it is that the Lord wishes to give them. Music to me is a prayer. It can often reach deeper than words can, and it communicates often more than we know how to in words. It is a gift, and my mother and I were grateful to be able to share this gift with all who came.

Thanks for reading :) and know that we keep you all in our prayers,

Erin

Theresa's Birthday Bash

2011-04-29T15:37:00.005-05:00

My birthday was Tuesday of Holy Week but I postponed the celebration until last week. I knew the sisters would plan something great and I wanted to wait until after Easter so I would feel at complete liberty to party like its 1999, (Prince reference - had to slip that one in there).

I honestly was not sure how I would feel about turning 30. I have had friends who cried at their 30th birthday parties so I was not sure what to expect. Everyone kept telling me that thirty is a special age because it was when Jesus began his ministry but honestly that didn't make me feel that great - comparing your life to Jesus' never does make one feel like a spectacular success.

But, I was happy to spend my actual birthday in a low-key way. Thankfully, I remained dry eyed; maybe it will be my 40th birthday that will cause the crisis. I happily spent a quiet day opening a box from my family, cards from friends and little presents from the other postulants left in front of my door.

But this Monday, we actually celebrated. And man, these sisters know how to celebrate!

I was so touched by all that they did. The decorations by Cheryl and Erin were so classy in blue and brown, my favorite color combination. My birthday sign was the picture from my blog. Every plate had a prayer by Padre Pio on it, (my favorite saint, don't tell St. Therese).

The meal was Mediterranean style; it was some of the best tasting food that I ever tasted. Erin printed out recipes and assigned a dish to each person. Jackie made a chicken dish with apricots; I know, sounds a little weird but it was great! Erin made tabouli. Sr. Rebecca made spicy lentils - extra spicy just for me. And Cheryl made the best hummus ever, on her first try! Laura made my absolute favorite dessert - strawberry, rhubarb pie. Needless to say, just this meal and I was in heaven.

But then, I also got great presents: a Whole Foods gift card, 2 books by Jacques Phillipe - one of my favorite authors, a little notebook, and a set to make wax seals on letters. I have been showing off every letter I send with a seal on it to anyone who will listen to me.

The thing that made me the most happy though was not the beautiful decorations or the delicious food that I wanted to eat all night or the wonderful presents. It was all the love and thought that went into everything. I was so amazed by how well these women know me after just eight months of being here, (that may be in part because I can be a loud mouth).

I truly felt so loved and understood and that is really the best feeling in the world. No comparison.

So thanks dear sisters in Christ for all that you did on my birthday, and all that you do for me every day. And may God bless all of our readers. May God fill your life with people who truly appreciate and love you for who you are.

In Jesus,

Theresa

Alleluia!

2011-04-24T19:48:00.008-05:00

We are the Easter people and Hallelujah is our song!
-Pope John Paul II

We celebrated the resurrection of Jesus today with a beautiful mass at the Basilica followed by a sumptuous meal prepared by a joint effort. We dined on ham, an Italian meat dish, the name of which I have already forgotten, (prepared of course by Sr. Mary Joan), green bean casserole, potatoes, rolls and salad. Yum! And Sr. Noel prepared a delicious punch as well as three desserts! One dessert was made of rhubarb, my absolute favorite, and it was scrumptious.

And now we are all joyfully playing bowling on Laura's Wii. Or everyone else is while I type away on my computer....

Jesus has risen and the darkness of the Lenten season gives way to joy, a joy that is only a taste of what awaits us in heaven.

May our risen Lord fill you with His light on this blessed day.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Theresa

Off to Retreat...

2011-04-21T00:06:00.004-05:00

We are off to our Holy week retreat until Holy Saturday. You are in our prayers. As you celebrate this blessed Triduum and Easter, may Our Savior's love and joy fill you with gratitude for His presence in our lives!

Peace,
Jackie.

Bebo Norman Concert

2011-04-20T23:29:00.005-05:00

Last Friday, we went to Incarnate Word parish for a Christian artist Bebo Norman concert with upcoming artist Chris August. The two artists really made us feel like we were in their "living room" and they shared freely of what God has done in their lives. What a wonderful witness that made the concert quite intimate. Some of the songs that Bebo sang were "I have nothing" (http://youtu.be/SLeDySWGfOw), "Great light of the world" and some from his new CD "Ocean" featuring songs like "God of my Everything" and "The Middle". Chris August sang "7x70" (http://youtu.be/n5-Q1zAhqpA), a song on forgiveness and "Starry Night" about God's awesomeness and creation. Hearing these songs "live" was simply beautiful but listening to the stories behind the songs was even more uplifting. God was very present there. God really works through our brokenness and life experiences to bring out His glory and presence. His light shines forth from all that to bring many to Him. That's simply what I experienced that night at the concert. It was a wonderful reminder that in case we wonder what will come out of our brokenness and strife...God's light will come shining right through it to bring others to experience Him!

God bless you,
Jackie.

Geek Party!

2011-04-18T09:00:00.006-05:00

Who would have thought turning 32 would be one of my best birthdays ever? After living in community for 7 months and celebrating the other sisters' and postulants' birthdays, I really didn't know what to expect. We all seem to be really good at surprising each other. So I had absolutely no clue what they had planned.

It was perfect! I received the sweetest e-mails from my Mom and Dad and siblings and relatives and closest friends. One of my best friends, Erma, made a pink apron that has "All for Jesus" written at the front and sent it in the mail just in time for me to wear it to the Geek Party that my sisters have prepared. The cooks made a delicious meal. They were so creative, each course was personalized to what they knew about me.

And you've seen the decorations from the pictures. I was VERY impressed. I actually think Theresa's geekness is climbing up the charts. She created an XML tag: <party> meaning "begin party" and she made sure that it didn't have an end tag! Even I wouldn't have thought of that! Jackie made sure photos were taken otherwise we won't have much to show on our blog. Laura was such a good sport and willingly played GUESSTURES with us all. Erin made sure I had my traditional rocky road ice cream. Sr. Rebecca planned a wine and cheese + Despicable Me movie night in our home theater.

There is so much more to this special day than what I'm sharing with you here. What is really special about this birthday is the Love that flows from celebrating life. This past year, the Lord has taught me how to look beyond the gift of life so that I can look deeper into the eyes of the Giver of life.

As I look around me each day and interact with my sisters in community and the people we encounter, I am beginning to see the face of God in each of them. It is not easy, especially for someone like me who is still trying to find her place in the world. It is easier to fall into feelings of envy and jealousy, but the grace of God can truly work with those feelings and transform it to joy and a deep appreciation of each person in my life.

You are God's gift to me. I thank God for you. All of you.

Love, in Jesus our Life, Cheryl

Rock Star Philosopher

2011-04-16T14:34:00.009-05:00

I became a fan of Peter Kreeft after listening to his podcast on why women cannot be priests in the Catholic Church. He synthesized the issue brilliantly and made clear something that had never really made sense intellectually in my mind. Aside from his brilliance, I also loved the way that he expressed himself - frankly and straightforward without being pompous.

Since then I have been a Kreeft addict.

When I found out that the postulants were reading Kreeft's book Catholic Christianity for our class this semester on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I was thrilled. I even had a dream shortly after getting the book that Kreeft was actually teaching the class. I was overwhelmed with excitement. But when he came in the room everyone was rudely talking as he tried to teach. Finally, I stood up and yelled, "Hey everyone, maybe you don't realize but this is Peter Kreeft, he is like a rock star! I want to hear him teach!"

The next day I laughed every time my dream came to mind, apparently my subconscious was aware that my love of all things Peter Kreeft had become an obsession.

When our real professor, Dr. Gresham, (who is also an amazing professor even though he is not Peter Kreeft), told us that Peter Kreeft was going to speak at Washington University, I almost jumped out of my seat. I looked around excitedly while the other postulants good-naturedly rolled their eyes.

Thankfully, Cheryl also wanted to go to the talk so I had a partner in crime and we set off to see Kreeft speak the next week. When we arrived, the parking lot was overflowing and we were directed farther down the street. Since we were running late I anxiously looked around for a spot and Cheryl said a quick prayer to St. Paul. Within minutes we saw a perfect spot.

Thanks St. Paul.

Then we scurried off to the talk that was being held in the chapel. When Kreeft came out, I actually felt like I was seeing an actual rock star. But forget Beck, Morrissey and Tori Amos. I'd rather see Peter Kreeft any day. All his talk was lacking was the pyrotechnics and dry ice.

Kreeft gave a talk chock full of information and ideas. Breezing through it as if everyone is as smart as him, Kreeft talked about a variety of topics. My pen could not write fast enough.

But, one point he made really stuck with me. He was talking about the need for evangelization by the laity. He exhorted the audience that evangelizing should be the primary goal of the layperson in the Church.

But he cautioned, we are never going to attract people to the Church if we do not know Jesus. Knowing Jesus is the most important key to evangelization. If we do not know Jesus, it is useless. How can we attract Protestants to the Church if we know Jesus less than they do, (which sadly is often the case)? Kreeft said, "If we do not put the fire in the fireplace of our own parishes, people will look for the fire elsewhere." He concluded that the Church will never be one until Catholics grow to know Jesus better so we can attract our brothers and sisters back.

Following his usual method of giving talks, Kreeft skipped from theme to theme, following rough notes but mostly being inspired by the Holy Spirit. He challenged the audience and there were a few moments when I noted people actually squirming in their seats. But by the end, people seemed thoroughly satisfied with Kreeft's breath of fresh air personality, his honesty and frankness minus the negativity that can often come along with that type of personality.

During the questions, I debated whether or not to stand up. In the end, I did not. But if I had, I would have asked him, "How can we become saints?" This in the end, is the most important thing according to Peter Kreeft - to know Jesus and to become saints. The solutions to all of the Church's and the world's other problems lie in that.

I have a sneaking suspicion he is right, (and I am not biased or anything).

For more Peter Kreeft, I recommend listening to his podcast on beauty, it is one of my favorites and very Pauline.

In Jesus,

Theresa

Back from Denver! Part 2

2011-04-11T09:00:00.017-05:00

It's been a month since our trip to Denver, Colorado. If you ask me to sum it up in one word, I'd say - propitious: full of promise; good, favorable; friendly.

First, the Carmelites welcomed us to their home, the Sts. Peter and Paul convent. They were very hospitable and the bonus is that they have wireless in the house! ;-) It was a challenge for me not to stay up too late checking my email and reading facebook updates. When Ash Wednesday came, I gave up going online and aimlessly surfing the web after supper for Lent. And I might even extend this after Lent. Why? Because, time is a gift from God and like every gift from God, time is sacred too. Hmmmmmm... I know it will be challenging but yesterday, I found Peter Kreeft's article on time and felt that I really should be more prudent on what I choose to do with my time.

Second, I get to hang with Sr Donna, Jackie, and Laura. By "hang" I mean I get to see them and spend more time with them than at home in our convent in St. Louis. Isn't that ironic? The nice thing about apostolic trips is that we actually get to work together for the most part of the day. At home, even though we have recreation time together, we take shifts when we work and kinda do our own thing unless we have a project we need to do together. And it's always a joy to discover something new about each other. We had good laughs, awkward moments, a sharing of musical and food preferences, and very encouraging conversations. In relation to this, what struck me also is that we all missed being with the rest of our community in St. Louis. It's nice to be back home. It really is!

Finally, the opportunity to meet new people, bump into familiar faces, and meet up with old friends or family members. Our life, our witness, our vocation is all about "relationship". Building new ones and nurturing the old. And at the heart of each relationship we have is our relationship with God. This is true for believers and non-believers alike - because God is love. What sets us apart is not that we have an "edge" over non-believers but that we have become God's sons and daughters through Jesus Christ who laid down His life for us while we were still sinners. We are given a gift not to keep to ourselves but to give to all. So what really sets us apart is our responsibility, our duty to spend our lives for the Gospel - so that all may encounter Christ and live in Him.

May we never tire of sharing the love of Jesus Christ to every person that God allows to be part of our lives today and always.

Blessings, in St Paul, Cheryl

P.S.

Do you feel called to share the love of Christ to all? Our founder, Bl. James Alberione, had "One love, Jesus Christ. One burning desire, to give him to others."

Birthday Celebration Plus Plus...

2011-04-09T09:12:00.007-05:00

March 26 was special...it was the day we celebrated my birthday! Being the second one around in the convent, I was thankful for God's faithfulness to me in my vocational journey and the ability to celebrate with joy His gift of life to me. We went all out (as we always do here!) that day. Sr. Noel made a gourmet dinner of some African and Asian dishes which were REALLY good. We danced to different kinds of music and had lots of fun playing games - mainly Chinese checkers and the Wii :-) Later in the week, we also went out for some Bubble Tea (which I love!) at a local Bubble Tea place. I am truly grateful for a wonderful time of grace, peace, rest and loads of fun with my sisters. I am also grateful that we were blessed to have two young women with us for a Come and See Lenten retreat that weekend. It was a joy that to have them with us to experience our life. Please continue to pray for them and vocations - thanks! So just in case you are wondering, we truly do "thoroughly" enjoy our birthdays around here :-) May the Peace and joy of Christ be with you always, Jackie.

All for Love

2011-03-31T13:38:00.003-05:00

The Lord has touched our lives in so many ways. From our families, friends, work to where we are today, the Lord has journeyed with us and showed us His love. He has called us to love and be a witness of His love to others. We hope you enjoy this video, a celebration of God's love in our lives and hope you can say the same for yours! God loves you, Jackie.

Let's Speak About Jesus...

2011-03-31T11:14:00.004-05:00

This morning, I read an article in the Arlington Catholic Herald (http://www.catholicherald.com/local_news/detail.html?sub_id=15439) on the work of one of our sisters, Sr. Maria Ruth, who reaches many with the Gospel through our Spanish radio ministry. Sr. Ruth is quite the dynamic nun ever full of joy and enthusiasm about telling others about Christ. I loved her words in the article: “I try to get my listeners to get Jesus from the radio program,” she said. “That is my mission — to bring Jesus to the heart of the children. If I don’t speak about Jesus, I don’t have anything to talk about". Isn't this what our lives as Christians is about? It's all about Jesus after all and His amazing work within us! May He always increase, and I decrease (John 3:30). Ever onward, Sr. Maria Ruth!! Have a Jesus-filled day! Peace, Jackie. PS. If you want to know more about our Spanish radio ministry, check out our Pauline website: http://pauline.org/HnaRuth/tabid/384/Default.aspx

Today's Meditation

2011-03-26T15:45:00.006-05:00

In today's Gospel, we hear about the story of the prodigal son. Three phrases that struck me were:

"...no one offered him anything."

"While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him."

"Your brother has returned..."

As I meditated on this, the Holy Spirit gave me new light: Through this parable, Jesus not only reveals how the Father loves us while we are still sinners and how the Father is waiting for us to come back to Him. Moreover, Jesus also reveals to us, through His life, death and resurrection that unlike the older brother in the parable, He – as our brother – loves us as much as the Father does and He can't just wait for us to come to our senses, He leaves the Father's house to go after us, to find us and show us the way home.

And He calls each of us to do likewise.

"Jesus, Divine Master, our Way, our Truth, and our Life, teach us Your way of truth and holiness."

God bless you, Cheryl

Pics from our Trip to Texas...Finally!

2011-03-23T17:16:00.008-05:00

As promised, several "decades" ago, here are some pictures from our trip to Texas :-) We really had a blast! We first went to Sr. Rebecca's home town to visit with her parents and family. Then we were off to College Station where we spent a large number of our days. During part of the day, we spent time with the sisters in charge of vocation work around the country. We also participated in or talked at some of the events at the Catholic Center. It was nice to be on a large college campus where faith in Jesus is booming! Peace, Jackie.

Update on our Sisters in Sendai, Japan

2011-03-23T16:08:00.005-05:00

We are grateful that our Sisters in Sendai and throughout Japan were personally unharmed by the tragic earthquake and tsunami. However, like so many others, they lost virtually everything but their lives in Sendai. The sisters in that community are struggling to deal with the chaos surrounding them and their community house has been severely damaged. We would like to ask people to consider offering any financial donations they can to help the Daughters of St. Paul community located in Sendai, Japan. If you would like to be part of helping our Sisters in Japan rebuild their lives and the Pauline mission in this devastated area, please go to “Japan Earthquake 2011” on our Pauline website (http://www.pauline.org/) to make your donation. As the Daughters of St. Paul continue to share the Word of God and the Gospel of hope with our Japanese brothers and sisters, Christ will be made present to those who are suffering, and He will offer the consolation and peace only He can give. We keep you in our thoughts and prayers. Your continued prayers and support are much appreciated! God bless you, Jackie.

Prayers for Healing and Strength After the Earthquake in Japan

2011-03-23T15:56:00.004-05:00

The Daughters of St. Paul and Pauline Books and Media (our apostolate) are offering resources on our website for those saddened by the destructive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The prayers and reflections are available at no cost and can be used by groups, priests, individuals, and anyone seeking a way to help bring the needs of the victims to God. Resources for parents and teachers to use at home or in the classroom to help children understand this trauma are available for download. We hope that this prayer experience will help you find peace during this terrible crisis. The prayers and resources section is available at http://www.pauline.org/ on the right-hand side of the home page. We are also extending an the offer to download the Healing Psalms and Prayers app for free! This offer will be available until March 25th, when the app will revert to its regular price. Visit the iTunes app store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/healing-psalms-and-prayers/id396799121?mt=8 to download. If the app brings you peace, kindly consider posting a review in the iTunes store. You are ever in our prayers. God is with you! Jackie.

Please Pray for our Sisters in Japan

2011-03-17T13:44:00.003-05:00

We finally got word this week that our sisters in Sendai, Japan are okay. However, we suffered a lot of damage in the convent from the earthquake. Here is some info from our sisters on our Paulines international website in Rome:

http://www.paoline.org/PortalePaoline/page6o.do?kcond1o.att10=15873&link=oln7o.redirect

Will keep you posted. St. Paul our father, pray for and watch over us! Here is some info on our sisters in Japan: http://english.pauline.or.jp/ or http://www.pauline.or.jp/
Peace,
Jackie.

When a Nun Dies

2011-03-17T13:31:00.005-05:00

One of our dear sisters, Sr. Cecilia Paula, recently passed away after battling with cancer for a while. Even though some of us did not really know her, I must say it was beautiful to accompany her with our prayers and support during her last days in her earthly pilgrimage. She offered up her sufferings for our apostolate and community needs. One of our sisters, Sr. Rose Pacatte wrote a beautiful article on what happens when a nun dies in our community. Check it out:

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/when-nun-dies. Today, we bury Sr. Cecilia but believe she is now with her Spouse and God whom she served faithfully while here on earth. May you rest in peace, Sr. Cecilia and please pray for us!

God bless you,
Jackie.

Back from Denver!

2011-03-17T13:22:00.004-05:00

We are back! Thanks for your prayers as we went forth to spread the Good News to the people in Denver. It was a VERY fruitful trip filled with book fairs, parish exhibits, visits to book centers and of course, hanging out with the Carmelites of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Los Angeles (the nuns we stayed with) :-) Please stay tuned for more pics and news on our adventures. We are still "recovering" from the trip....

Peace,

Jackie.

PS. Here is a view from our little sightseeing at Garden of the gods (http://www.gardenofgods.com) ...with our van packed to the max :-)

Finding a Way to Make Trouble

2011-03-07T21:49:00.009-06:00

I promised someone I would blog about the trouble that Sr. Mary Joan and I got in today.

Sr. Mary Joan and I said morning prayer in an alternating chorus of one. Then we went to mass and ate breakfast very quickly. It is AMAZING how fast things go with two people compared to ten. But what to do with the spare time?

Then we manned (or womaned) the bookcenter for the first half of the day until Sr. Noel arrived.

We managed to eat lunch alternating with only one person in the bookcenter at a time - gasp. But we survived.

It is surprisingly lonely without the other postulants. I say surprisingly not because I dislike them but because I like my alone time and thought I would be in heaven just having some quality time with myself, (something I don't get much of living with 10 people).

But then, it is amazing how I am already used to life with 10 people.

Exhibit A - the fact that I was missing the other postulants the moment I woke up this morning and stumbled to the bathroom all by my lonesome.

No Erin padding through the hallways with eyes closed or Cheryl bumping into walls half asleep. And no Laura getting ready at the speed of light (they say that I am the one who gets ready fast but I sleep in the room next to Laura and I say it is her). And no Jackie and Sr. Rebecca waking up at the crack of dawn and beating everyone down to chapel by at least 15 minutes. That is my guess at least, I really do not have hard data to prove this because I rarely am the very first to get to chapel and when I do I am so surprised that I spend a moment considering whether it is possible that the others were abducted by aliens, (but by the time that moment passes someone else comes through the door).

But anyway, back to what to do with my newfound spare time.

Mormon.org

Need I say more? Actually I probably do because you most likely do not know me as well as the other sisters I live with.

I love to learn more about other religions and other faiths and I have been learning about the Trinity so I am particularly interested in religions that reject the Trinity, Mormons being one.

So anyway, today I found that Mormon.org has a chat function so I spent some time virtually talking to a Mormon missionary about the Trinity. It was a blast. Until he asked me how God the Father and Jesus could be in two different places at the same time and still be God. Hmmm, I was stumped. Maybe if you know how to answer to that you can comment on this post! Anyway, something new to research.

I blame the other postulants for leaving me alone.

- Theresa

Go and bear fruit...

2011-03-03T09:28:00.007-06:00

As Theresa mentioned, some of us will be off again to Denver in a few days.

As I was talking to my mom last night, she was concerned at how exhausted I [we] may have been from our Texas trip and she made it a point to remind me to take my vitamins and to rest well. (Thanks, Mom!)

I am truly excited to hear and learn from some of the talks at the Living the Catholic Faith Conference. Jackie and Laura went last year as well and I've heard really good stories from them. I remember reading their blog post and wishing that this day would arrive sooner. And here I am counting the days, amidst trying to get some reading and homework done. And what amazes me is how our daily life really allows us to integrate and apply what we're learning in our formation/theology classes with the Sisters and our Professors.

And as I echo Theresa's words which I am sure our postulant community shares with us both, "we returned happy, healthy and exhausted", I truly feel the spirit of St Paul with us, encouraging us, praying for us, cheering us on as we continue to go out "to the ends of the earth" in our own little way to live Christ and give Christ to souls.

Denver, here we come!

Blessings, in St Paul,

Cheryl

P.S. If you know anyone who lives in Denver or who is Denver bound that weekend, please spread the word!

Don't Mess with Texas

2011-03-02T13:51:00.005-06:00

Ten days in Texas and I am thinking that the postulant crew is all a little more Texan now!

What a Spirit-filled trip we had at Texas A&M, Rice University and St. Mary's Parish in Tulsa, Ok. More updates to come but just wanted to let you know that we have returned happy, healthy and exhausted.

In a few days Laura, Jackie and Cheryl will be setting off for Denver with Sr. Donna for exhibits there and the Living the Catholic Faith Conference.

And Erin set off for England this morning for her nephew's baptism.

I will be holding down the fort in St. Louis with Sr. Mary Joan. We plan to make lots of trouble :)

I am staying home to lead our book club meeting this Monday. We are reading The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene.

So keep all of these endeavors in your prayers and we will be updating you on our various adventures shortly!

God bless,

Theresa

And we are off again...to Texas!

2011-02-16T17:56:00.003-06:00

We are on the road again, this time to Texas for an amazing experience with the college folk at Texas A & M as well the people in the parishes around there. Please pray for our trip. Check out our schedule while we are there and we will be sure to keep you posted of our journey :-)

See y'all later...

God bless you!

Lenten Come and See Weekend in March!

2011-02-16T17:32:00.006-06:00

Guess what??? We are having a Lenten Come and See weekend right here in St. Louis next month! We hope you can make it for this grace-filled time of prayer and reflection on your vocation in life. It will also be a wonderful time to visit with our sisters and postulants...

Dates: March 25-27, 2011.

Invited: Single young women 18-30 years old, who want to learn more about the vocation to religious life.

Contact persons: Sr. Margaret Michael, vocations@paulinemedia.com, 617-435-1879; OR Sr. Rebecca Marie, srmhoffartfsp@yahoo.com or 314-965-6935.

Please see flyer for more details. Looking forward to seeing you!

God bless you!

Weekend in Jerseyville, IL!

2011-02-16T16:40:00.012-06:00

Once again, we were on the road again for an apostolic road-trip to Jerseyville, Illinois. This time it was Sr. Rebecca and I along with another sister in our St. Louis community. The weekend involved bringing our books and media to the children at St. Francis/Holy Ghost school (http://www.sfhg.org/). It was really neat to see how the children recognized us from our visit with them last year. We shared materials with the children as part of our J-club program (http://jclubcatholic.com/), which is part of our mission to reach the school kids with the Gospel message. The kids and teachers really enjoyed having us as we did being there with them. The families in the parishes we exhibited too enjoyed seeing us again. They welcomed us warmly and were grateful for the materials we brought. Of course as Paulines, we did not miss the opportunity to have some downtime with our Jerseyville “cooperators in the Gospel work” (i.e. our hosts). We enjoyed a big brunch after our Sunday masses and a good time to catch up with our friends....

So, it’s “ever onward!” for the Daughters as our Founder Blessed Alberione used to say. God is truly opening up new places and ways to reach many with the Gospel!

Peace,
Jackie.

Blessed James Alberione Filming - Behind the Scenes

2011-02-16T15:33:00.004-06:00

Last week, I took a day's journey to Chicago with Sr. Mary Joan, one of the sisters in our St. Louis community and Dr. Jeff Mathews, a Pauline cooperator (http://loveofstpaul.blogspot.com). We had a blast - from cameras, lights, make-up, laughter at meals to interviewing for the film and prayer - it was all truly blessed :-) Sr. Helena (www.hellburns.blogspot.com), one of our sisters in the Chicago community is the film producer and writer.

Essentially, the filming experience was a celebration of the life of our Founder. So, Sr. Mary Joan, Dr. Mathews and I each shared how the Founder has impacted our lives. I have come to admire Blessed James primarily because of his steadfast faith in God. He believed in the grace of God at work in him when the Lord invited him to reach the people of 20th century with the “good press”. Imagine how different things would have turned out if he hadn’t followed these movements of the Lord within him? But thanks be to God that he did! For the mustard seed of the Pauline family planted in Blessed Alberione’s heart has indeed grown into a large tree with many branches!! (Matt 13:31-32)

God bless you,
Jackie.

PS. The filming crew was amazing - Spirit Juice Studios (www.SpiritJuiceStudios.com) - guys truly filled with the desire to spread the Good News through film! Check out their productions :-) In case you haven't had a chance to view the trailer, it's on www.alberionefilm.com. Also, stay tuned for updates on the film through: www.alberionefilm.blogspot.com.

Letter from John

2011-02-13T14:55:00.004-06:00

I have noticed that Jackie has been blogging all by her lonesome lately and I am embarrassed to admit that I have been focused on my own blog. But I am going to make more of an effort to get over here and add some updates for all of our loyal readers.

I have been thinking that one way I can contribute more is to share some of the posts from my own blog to the readers of this blog. On my blog I focus on my inner journey through formation while this blog mainly focuses on what we do outwardly. But, as I am sure you all know, we go through a lot on the inside while we are staying busy on the outside!

And I am sure you are interested in those details as well!

So, here is an assignment that I recently did for our Scripture class that we have been taking for Sr. Rebecca. She asked us to read a Gospel and interview one of the apostles. I chose St. John and here is the letter I wrote:

Dear Theresa,

At the end of my Gospel I say, “There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world could contain the books that would be written” (Jn 21:24).

You have asked me to describe Jesus so that you may feel closer to Him. Maybe you wish you could have seen the way that He interacted with the people He healed. Or maybe you wish that you could have asked Him questions, or received explanations that would soothe your mind. Or perhaps you wish that you could lie against His heart and feel it beating as I did at the Last Supper.

All of these are beautiful and natural desires but the thing that I want to communicate to you more than what Jesus was like is that you already know the Jesus I knew, in some ways better than I did when I followed Him. I know this is hard to comprehend and perhaps you will never really believe me, but it is true. There is a large expanse of years between the time Jesus walked the Earth and your life now, but that leaves you with many examples of what Christ was like, lived through the lives of holy people who followed in His footsteps.

If you combine all of the things that you love about all of the Saints, that tells you about Jesus. If you imagine all of the amazing saints to come, that tells you about Jesus. He has the strength and the unflinching honesty of Padre Pio. He is the tender sweetness of St. Therese. He is the knowledge and intellect of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is the humility of St. Jeanne Jugan. He has the deep and wide love for all humanity that Bl. James Alberione had. He has the love of justice of Dorothy Day and the love of the poor of Mother Teresa. Jesus is a brilliant diamond with many facets, and you learn more about Him through other people He puts in your path every day.

You love beautiful things. If everything that you saw was perfect and pleasing to the eye - that would be a little what like watching Jesus was like. He was like a moving piece of art. All that He did spoke of Beauty. All that He was is Beauty. All that He loved, it made it all look beautiful in our eyes too. And you already know what this is like, how the world has opened up like a budding flower after your conversion - that is how the world was when we were with Jesus.

You want to know what He was like, in His mannerisms and way of being. I can tell you that the thirst you have for holiness and perfection, it was found in the most ideal way in Jesus. He never responded to anyone or any situation in any way except love. He loved when He healed, He loved when He chastised. He even loved when He overturned tables. We always could trust that every single action and blink of His eye was pure love.

You have Jesus now in the Eucharist, my dear daughter. I know it is hard to remember this. It is easy to forget, to take for granted, to become lukewarm but Jesus is with you now in His body, blood, soul and divinity and He humbles Himself to become your spiritual food. God becomes your spiritual food. What an amazing miracle. Maximilian Kolbe said, “If the angels could be jealous of men they would be jealous of the gift that we have in Holy Communion,” and he was right.

So do not envy me, my daughter. Do not envy the time that I spent listening to Jesus’ heart. You listen to His heart every time you sit in prayer in front of the tabernacle. Do not envy me because I was the “beloved apostle” – YOU are His beloved apostle. Rejoice my child because Jesus is with you now, and we will all one day be together without tears or suffering in Heaven.

With eternal love,

The beloved apostle, John

I will try to make it on this blog more often but if you are also interested in reading some of my other posts on my blog, please feel free to. The address is: theresagnes.blogspot.com

May God bless you!

Theresa

Appreciation Dinner

2011-02-05T16:59:00.007-06:00

Every year we have a day when we invite all our friends and benefactors to our convent for a dinner to show our gratitude for all that they do for our community. Last Sunday, we had vespers which included adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, a homily and benediction. We had almost 50 people in attendance :-) Many have been friends and supporters of our community for years. Sr. Mary Joan, one of our sisters from Italy, cooked delicious pasta and meatballs and lots of people brought different deserts and side dishes. It was so good to see how the Lord has loved, guided, and provided for us in our mission through all these people! It reminds me of the words of Jesus to Paul, "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking...for I am with you...I have many people in this city" (Acts 18:10). God is good all the time and so we are rejoicing in His goodness!

Peace,

Jackie.

Our First Visitation

2011-02-03T13:15:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had our first visitation from our provincial councilors. A visitation takes place once a year where members of our provincial government visit our various communities around the province. The two sisters who visited our community spent some days in meetings, prayer and renewal with our professed sisters. The sisters also spent time with our postulant community where we had recreation, sharing and a presentation. The meetings were very enriching for me because I learned a lot more about our community, our councilors and their vocation stories. I also learned more about my co-postulants and myself. It was a time of much grace and lots of fun (especially at our dinner conversations!). I am grateful to have been part of it. Please keep the prayers coming so that we may continue to grow “leaps and bounds” in the Lord! You are in our prayers too :-)
Peace,
Jackie.

Thinking about LIFE

2011-01-26T16:48:00.003-06:00

Last week over 500 teenagers gathered for mass on Friday evening at Incarnate Word, a parish that we attend from time to time. Most of the postulants attended the mass because Erin was playing the viola with the other musicians. It was so moving to see so many teenagers gathered for a beautiful cause.

As I looked around the mass and saw each person, individual, unique and wanted, I really felt the presence of Jesus rejoicing. He was filled with joy that we were gathering to pray for the lives of all human beings, including those living the womb.

Please join with all of the postulants in praying for all mothers who are contemplating abortion. Help them to understand the beauty of the child growing in their womb and the miracles that God can work if only we can trust in Him. Please also pray for all of the women who have had abortions, that they may realize the hurt that the abortion has caused them and begin the healing process that will bring them peace.

Peace,

Theresa

Jan 13: We have a new Bishop!!

2011-01-19T20:47:00.005-06:00

This was one unique occasion we had - to attend a bishop's ordination. We were blessed to know Bishop Rice while he was Monsignor because he celebrated mass for our community at our convent. What a wonderful and holy man of God! The ordination was just beautiful and the music...heavenly! We were among hundreds of Catholic folk gathered at the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica (www.cathedralstl.org) where Archbishop Carlson ordained now Bishop Rice to be an auxillary bishop of St. Louis. Bishop Rice is known for his work in promoting vocations in the St. Louis area. In his role as the vocation director for the diocese, I think he visited almost all the Catholic schools and spoke about vocations! What a heart on fire for God...amazing. Go bishop! You have our prayers :-)

Peace,
Jackie.

Jan 8: Happy Birthday Laura!

2011-01-19T20:18:00.010-06:00

Today we celebrated Laura's birthday! It was her first in the convent and so we really wanted to make it special - and it was! We had a beautiful time of prayer in the evening called "sharing of graces" which Laura loves!! It's basically a time when we review how the Lord has granted us graces to live the week. We were particularly thankful today for the gift of Laura in our community :-) For dinner we enjoyed one of Laura's favorite dishes - PIZZA and yellow cake with white frosting!! She also enjoyed a couple of gifts too from the community (can you guess what?) and then we spent the evening playing a game (one of Laura's hobbies). Can you tell we had a Laura-ful day???

Peace,

Jackie.

Jan 3, 2011: Vocation Talk at St. Simons

2011-01-11T23:16:00.006-06:00

We were invited to speak to the Parish School of Religion (PSR) children from St. Simon the Apostle parish (www.stsimonchurch.org) on vocations. Sr. Rebecca and Fr. Anthony Yates, one of the priests of the parish, gave an introductory talk to all the boys and girls. Afterwards, Sr. Rebecca gave a presentation to the girls on our community, life and mission. Fr. Anthony gave a presentation to the boys. During our time with the girls, Theresa, Cheryl and Jackie also had an opportunity to share their vocation stories and journey. It was a wonderful opportunity to be present to them and share some of our experiences in our life :-)

Jan 1, 2011: Happy New Year!!

2011-01-11T22:41:00.012-06:00

Happy New Year! We hope your year has began well! After our retreat, we went out to a Vietnamese restaurant, a treat from one of our sister's family. In the evening, we enjoyed the Way of Lights at Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL (http://www.snows.org/). Theresa and Jackie enjoyed the camel rides at the grounds. It was a glorious day!

Dec 31: Tornado and 10-min Storm!

2011-01-11T22:21:00.003-06:00

We were grateful to the Lord for his protection on the last day of the year when a tornado and storm came through our area. The tornado touched down and destroyed houses in Sunset Hills, the area bordering our neighborhood! Our area was out of power for most of Dec 31. We were on retreat however, which made for a very peaceful night and intimate time of community adoration of Jesus at our convent in the candle light :-) The postulants also spent an hour of adoration (11pm-12midnight) and midnight mass with Bishop Hermann at Incarnate Word parish (www.incarnate-word.org). It was great! Power returned as we concluded our retreat on Jan 1. Thanks be to God who gives us everything that is good!

Christmas Blessings!

2011-01-11T22:16:00.006-06:00

We had a lovely Christmas together as a community. We attended mass at the Cathedral Basilica and thereafter enjoyed a Christmas dinner. We had fun opening gifts from our advent angels and enjoyed discovering who they were on Christmas day!

Postulancy 2010 - Our Year in Pictures!

2010-12-30T16:17:00.008-06:00

It's a wonderful feeling to look back at the year and see the many ways the Lord has been with us and blessed us along our life's journey. We hope you enjoy the pictures and join us giving thanks to the Lord for His goodness!!

Our Year in Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/fsppostulants/FSPPostulancy2010OurYearInPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCPm4staxx5iyQg&feat=directlink

God bless you!

Christmas Greetings!

2010-12-21T15:58:00.005-06:00

Peace!

As we celebrate the coming of Jesus this Christmas season, we join you in thanksgiving for the many blessings we've received this Advent. We also look forward to the New Year with much hope and look back to 2010 with much gratitude for new friends, new family members and the many changes in our lives this year.

Most of our postulants will be celebrating Christmas in the convent for the first time this year and though that is truly exciting, we'll surely miss our families and friends. So we ask for your prayers as we promise you ours!

We wish you and your family a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

God bless you,
Jackie, Laura, Cheryl, Erin, Theresa and Sr. Rebecca Marie

P.S. Can you guess how many Christmas trees we have?

Harry Potter Movie...

2010-12-14T13:45:00.004-06:00

Think we'd miss it??? Nope...we got in line with the rest of humanity to watch it when it premiered...it was a great experience being out in the movies and experiencing the "Potter frenzy". Needless to say, we had lots of fun! The makers of the Potter movie made sure we were hungry for more...looking forward to the grande finale next year!

Ecclesiology Class

2010-12-14T13:30:00.004-06:00

Well, this Fall we learned about the Church by taking an Ecclesiology class through Paul VI institute (http://archstl.org/paul6) with Dr. Gresham. We took the class with postulants and novices of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus (www.carmelitedcj.org/). It was an enlightening journey in many ways. More so for me to delve deeper into the big picture of being Catholic and God's desire to bring all humanity to Himself through His Son Jesus. There were a lot of other pearls we learned along the way: the call to holiness given one's vocation in life, the call to religious life, the role of our Blessed Mother...it was great! Looking back, one cannot but desire to say "Maranatha"... come Lord Jesus and renew us to bring unity and salvation to the human race, so loved by our God!
Peace,
Jackie.

Counting our Blessings this Thanksgiving!

2010-12-14T13:09:00.011-06:00

We usually spend our holidays together as a community so Thanksgiving was another moment to do just that. We were particularly graced to have Theresa's cousin and Jackie's brother and cousin join us for the feast! Everyone chipped in to prepare different dishes and make the occasion festive. Also being the eve of the death of our Founder, Blessed James Alberione, we had a grace-filled Hour of Adoration together in the evening, to give thanks for many of God's blessings to us and especially the gift of being called to the Pauline family!

On the Road Lately...

2010-11-24T22:32:00.006-06:00

We've been on the road quite a bit lately bringing the Good News to people far and wide. One of the neat things we get to do as postulants is participate in parish and conference exhibits. Like St. Paul we traverse the globe (or wherever we are at) to bring the Gospel through our books, music, DVDs, etc. Recently we had parish exhibits in Florissant at St. Angela Merici's and at the Adult Formation conference in Springfield, Illinois. It was an exciting experience for me to see so many friends at the conference who I knew from my school days in Champaign :-) Last weekend, Laura and I accompanied Sr. Donna to Leawood, Kansas to bring share the Word at Church of the Nativity (http://www.kcnativity.org/) which had over 2000 families! Needless to say, our experience there was grace-filled and the people received us so well - we were sold out of the different titles that we recommended during our pulpit talks! Through our exhibit experiences, we touch the ardent need in peoples' lives to experience God in their various life circumstances. It is so evident: when we have tasted the goodness of Jesus, it is just too good to keep it to ourselves...

Peace,

Jackie.

Radio Check...check..

2010-11-24T22:07:00.009-06:00

We had a great time recently at a local radio station when we went to record our Annual Baby Jesus party ad to go on air soon. After a brief tour of Covenant Network (http://www.covenantnet.net/), we got down to recording the ad as well as a short interview on the party and our community. We usually get over 100 families coming to our party! The Baby Jesus party is a wonderful reminder during this busy season to keep Jesus as the reason for the season. We hope many will join us as we celebrate Jesus' birth at our store (www.pauline.org/Locations/StLouisMO/tabid/225/Default.aspx) in less than three weeks!
Blessed Advent,
Jackie.

Erin does exist :)

2010-11-12T17:10:00.008-06:00

What is your name?
Erin Marie Nolan

Where are you from?
This is always the most difficult question for me to answer. The short answer is that I am basically half American and half English. I was born in California but grew up mainly in Europe; in Italy and England. I have also spent significant amounts of time in Amsterdam, Houston, TX and Bosnia. Odd combination I know. My favourite place I have travelled to is Lebanon. It is a truly beautiful country and culture.

How old are you?
I just turned 29 this past October.

When did you enter the Daughters of St. Paul?
I entered the community with Cheryl and Theresa on September 1st, 2010.

Where did you go to school?
Well, since we moved a lot I attended many different schools but for college I went to Rice University in Houston, TX. I graduated from there with a bachelor degree in music. I absolutely loved it there and would highly recommend this school for any of you that are searching for potential universities.

What do you like to do professionally and for fun?
I suppose the answer to both those questions is I love to play music. Before entering I was an orchestral musician working in London. I play the viola and love playing all kinds of music; chamber music, orchestral music, ethnic music, jazz....and I especially love playing music for prayer settings. God gave us such an amazing, rich, and beautiful gift in music and it can be used in such a powerful way as an instrument of his love, his peace, his gentleness, and just simply as an instrument of his presence.
I also love taking walks and enjoying nature. I especially love trees and never cease to be amazed by their beauty, their strength, their variety in color (even when they are all green :), and the detail in each one. I also never cease to appreciate the beauty with which they reflect the sun's light.
What else do I enjoy?... well as my sister says 'we all know that you enjoy a good movie.' This is true, I do very much enjoy movies.
I also just really love people. I love to meet new people, work with people, play music with other people, talk with and get to know people, and get to know different cultures. I suppose that leads me to another thing that I love: travelling.
I also do enjoy reading very much, even though I am a distracted reader which makes me slow. But I do treasure the time I get for spiritual reading. There are many more things but I am sure that I am beginning to bore you so I will leave it there for now.

How did you meet the Daughters of St. Paul?
Well the short answer is actually that I met them through 'Vision' magazine. The longer answer is that I have thought about religious life since I was about 16 but for various reasons it didn't feel like the right time until recently. Over the years I tried my best to give my life to the Lord in whatever situation he placed me in and followed the musical opportunities that came. At the same time I asked the Lord to guide me and to give me the grace and strength to follow whatever path he laid out for me. As the time came when it seemed as though I should discern my vocation more seriously my mother found a Vision magazine and passed it on to me. I must say that while I was excited, I was even more overwhelmed by the number of religious orders there are in existence. I wondered how I could possibly even begin to find out which one might be for me as I could obviously not go visit them all, or even talk to them all. The good thing is that there is an online survey on Vision magazine's website that asks you various questions about your spiritual life and then matches you up with various orders according to their spirituality and mission statement. After completing that survey I decided to start by looking into the first five on the list. The Daughters of St. Paul happened to be number two. I found that as I started to read more on their website, I couldn't stop reading. As I got to know them better I found that being with them, following their life, and learning from them really brought me in to a closer relationship with Jesus and inspired me to want to grow more and to want to bring this gift to others. So a year later, here I am. The Daughters of St. Paul carry with them an amazing spirit of joy that is contagious. They are also beautiful and strong messengers and missionaries of the Gospel and Jesus' presence in the Word. So, if you have a yearning to bring Jesus to others; his love, his joy, and his truth, then I urge you to come and see.

Blessings to you all!

Join us for Lunch...

2010-11-11T21:55:00.004-06:00

This Saturday, November 13 we are having "Lunch with the Postulants"! Hope you can join us for lunch, a tour of the convent, Eucharistic Adoration, some fun and games :-) We will start with lunch at 12:30pm. Hope you can make it...see you then!

Please RSVP to Cheryl or Jackie at: fsppost@aol.com or 314-965-6935.

Feast of the Divine Master

2010-11-11T21:24:00.006-06:00

Our spirituality is awesome. It focuses on Jesus our Divine Master. From Him we learn how to love, shepherd, intercede, minister...pretty much everything that Jesus did and does even today! Well, as Paulines, we celebrate the Feast of the Divine Master on the last Sunday in October. It was a feast indeed, with special prayers and time of Eucharistic Adoration. Sr. Raymond Marie, one of our sisters who was visiting from our Motherhouse in Boston, led us into a beautiful time of prayer where we invited our Master to bless our convent and different parts of our apostolate. We had a solemn procession through the different parts of our convent and Jesus blessed them (as if to say: may they be fruitful, "multiply", and give glory to God!). We then reverently thanked the Lord for His Word in different ways (e.g. kissed the Bible, touched it with our forehead, etc). Of course in addition to prayer, we had a special banquet where everyone chipped in to make different foods for the feast. We had a wonderful day! Jesus is the heart of what we do and are as Paulines. We live that He may truly live in us; that like our father St. Paul we pray: may Christ be formed in me. Its beautiful...its simply amazing!

Peace,

Jackie.

Encountering God through Media...

2010-11-11T20:43:00.007-06:00

We've been keeping busy the past couple of weeks :-) We just completed a two-week workshop on Media Literacy with Sr. Margaret Michael, our national vocation director. One would think that media and its impact on our lives just began the other day...not exactly! Actually, it was REALLY neat to learn how the Church's discussions on media and our culture have been going on for decades! Anyway, point taken, we took a journey to explore how the arts and the media of our time can be used to bring people closer to God. One of the exercises we did was the "Symbolic Way" where we got up pretty early and watched the beauty of the sunrise, God's creation of a new day. It was a profoundly spiritual encounter with God - we were moved deeply in different ways. We brought our "movements" to Jesus in our Holy Hour and this provided for an even more grace-filled encounter with God. Other parts of the seminar involved watching movies (or clips) and learning how to analyze them, seeing the messages and themes presented etc (pretty much disecting the movie!). We also learned quite a bit about our Founder, Blessed James Alberione and his vision of using the media to bring all to Christ. It was all good stuff. Certainly, there is still so much to do to bring the message of Christ's love to our world...and how beautiful and variant the means God has given us to do it!!

Peace,

Jackie.

Fun with Pumpkins

2010-10-29T17:04:00.012-05:00

When people hear that I entered the convent, I am not sure what they imagine. But I am pretty sure some people picture a dour group of women in habits, possibly with winged veils waking at 4:30AM for prayer and eating porridge for breakfast.

So, when I mention the fun we actually have together in the convent, I know that some people are surprised. The look on their faces indicates that they are thinking something along the lines of - "Fun? Really? Is that allowed in a convent?"

Yes, yes it is my friends. It is possible to have fun and be joyful, and I am realizing that the joy I feel in the convent is much fuller that what I felt before.

One such thing that brought me joy recently was our pumpkin adventure which started a few weeks ago at a nearby farm where we all carefully chose our pumpkins. Several weeks later we got together to carve them. Cheryl, Theresa, Laura and Jackie carved pumpkins and Erin, Sr. Karen and Sr. Margaret Michael busied themselves cooking the pumpkins we did not carve and baking salted pumpkin seeds.

Our fall adventure resulted in a delicious meal of pumpkin risotto made by Erin and the rest of the pumpkin insides will provide us with scrumptious pies, cookies and Sr. Margaret Michael's special pumpkin spice muffins.

Here are the results of our prodigious creative minds:

Jackie's Holy Pumpkin

Theresa's Spooky Cat

Laura and Cheryl's Sneaky Grins

The simple joys of life, nothing beats them.

Amazing young people

2010-10-21T21:50:00.007-05:00

In today’s Gospel (Thursday), Jesus says “I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12:49) This morning, during my meditation, I realized that last night I witnessed one of those fires that was set by our Lord. I would even dare to say it’s blazing. Some of us went to Incarnate Word (http://www.incarnate-word.org/) parish last night to go to one of their Wednesday prayer nights. What an amazing and beautiful evening we had. The young people of that parish gave me so much hope, encouragement, and courage to live out my faith better. Every Wednesday evening between 50-100 high school students come voluntarily to this parish to praise God. The evening began with some praise and worship music led by Adam Bitter (http://www.adambitter.com/). Yesterday, our very own Postulant, Erin, played her viola along with Adam. After several songs, one of the teens, Nick, gave a talk about not being complacent in our faith. He reminded us how easy it is to slip into bad habits in our prayer life and that over time these lead us farther and farther away from God. Following Nick’s talk, the Youth Minister Dan also gave a short talk that tied in some of the themes Nick brought up. At the end of his talk, Dan invited the teens to really think about the times that their prayer life was strong and what it was they were doing that made it so strong. One by one, they spontaneously began to share their own experiences with the whole group – very practical things they had done to make God a part of their day. I was amazed at their openness and the freedom with which they shared their experiences with their peers. There was definitely an atmosphere of trust and love for one another in the room. They all gave me some great ideas that I can use myself. One of the youths mentioned that reading a little bit of the Bible every day has really helped her, that she realized that Jesus is present not just in the Eucharist, but also in the Word. And so when she prays with the Scriptures, Christ is really present to her - even in her room. After the sharing, Adam and Erin led us in some more songs praising God. Many of the teens were down on their knees before a large cross praying to Jesus. As they felt called by the Holy Spirit, some of their peers would go over and pray with them. It was really beautiful to see them ministering to and praying for each other. I’m so thankful I decided to go last night. They were such a wonderful witness to me. It brings me great joy and hope to see the flames of faith so alive in those young men and women who are ready to set their world ablaze with the love of God.

Laura

Touched by God's Generosity

2010-10-16T22:33:00.005-05:00

Ever marvel at the ways that God uses to show us how much He loves us? Well, one afternoon, a friend of our community who had been to our Benefit dinner a couple of weeks ago surprised us with gifts of beautiful warm blankets that she had made for each one of us!! She said that she understood how it felt to be away from home and that she wanted to give us something that would help us "feel at home". Well, we are TRULY enjoying them :-) Really, a BIG thanks to you all who touch our lives through your love, prayers, and support in our journey as we strive to follow Christ more closely in our lives. You are a wonderful reminder of God's closeness, tender love and generosity to us...God richly bless you!

Go I-Pad !!

2010-10-16T21:45:00.004-05:00

One of our evenings after dinner, we got chatting about our new I-phone applications. Sr. Margaret Timothy (our Provincial superior), still visiting with us after Annual Benefit Dinner, gave us the "inside scoop" on these new applications. It was quite amazing to see how these new tools have immense potential to help people meet God and give wings to the Gospel message. From soothing meditations to powerful retreat experiences, the possibilities are truly endless! Hope you get a chance to download some stuff yourself (http://www.pauline.org/) ... Of course, we had lots of fun exploring the I-pad games as well...

Annual Benefit Dinner

2010-10-16T16:56:00.007-05:00

Earlier this month, we had our annual benefit dinner here in St. Louis. It's a wonderful time when some of the sisters who have been "missioned" here before, return for the dinner and re-connect with old friends. The dinner is also a fund-raiser for the needs of our province. We had over 270 people in attendance! It was great to meet so many friends and collaborators in our mission :-) Needless to say, it was a blast! When all was said and done, we stopped by Ted Drewes (it's tradition!) for frozen custard. Thanks be to God for the gift of friendship!

Meet Cheryl =)

2010-10-02T15:45:00.000-05:00

What is your name?

Cheryl Khristina Bayot Galema

Where are you from?

I was born and raised in the Philippines then my family immigrated to Toronto, Canada in 2001.

How old are you?

I turned 31 in April, 2010.

Family background:

I'm the eldest of four. My two younger sisters are both in their twenties and our youngest brother is turning 15 in December of this year (2010). They all still live with our dear parents in Toronto.

When did you enter the Daughters of St Paul?

September 1, 2010.

Where did you go to School?

I went to the School of the Holy Spirit in Quezon City, Philippines for elementary and highschool and graduated in 1996. Then I completed my BS Computer Science degree at the University of the Philippines (Diliman Campus) in 2000.

What do you like to do professionally and for fun?

I spent a lot of time reading books, watching TV, singing and dancing when I was younger. I also enjoy singing in the choir and playing the guitar. I started to get fascinated with computers before Windows 3.1 existed and continue to enjoy the technological advances to this day. I worked in web and database programming since I graduated from university and then I also had an opportunity to team lead and manage a brilliant team of web developers in the past couple years. I'm VERY glad to have the time now to read more and start practicing to play the guitar again. Nature walks and going to the beach are my favorite ways to relax.

What languages do you speak?

Filipino and English

How did you meet the Daughters of St Paul?

In 2004, a friend of mine needed to get a bible and she knew about the Pauline Books & Media in Toronto so I tagged along with her. From that time, we would always go there to get books for ourselves or as gifts to friends and family. In 2006, we attended one of their Faith and Film nights and that was the first time I got acquainted and actually "shook hands" with a nun! I may have considered religious life then but I was quick to brush it off and get on with my life. However, my friend and I kept coming back to the bookcentre at least once a year to get some books, music CDs and DVDs that helped us grow in our faith.

In June of 2008, I picked out the Life & Soul magazine from my mail (a quarterly magazine by the Daughters of St Paul) and it was the year of St Paul so I got curious and went online to browse http://www.pauline.org/. I found myself reading about their spirituality, the founder, their devotion to Jesus as the Divine Master, and ended up on the vocation page! I felt really drawn to "come and see" what this community is about and felt the Holy Spirit giving me the grace to take a closer look at religious life. So in August 2008, I finally "met" the Daughters of St Paul in Chicago for the young adult vocation retreat.

What drew you to the Daughters of St. Paul?

Jesus as friend but also as "teacher" had a very strong impact in my life growing up so the sisters' relationship to Jesus as "Divine Master, Way, Truth, and Life" really attracted me. Their Eucharistic spirituality; daily mass and hour of adoration reminds me so much of 3 of my dearest friends whom I met at different times in my life, who often invited me to accompany them to chapel... something that I wouldn't normally do by myself. Their mission of proclaiming Christ through the media also attracted me because I often found God's message of love, mercy and forgiveness through books that I read, songs that I listen to, and movies that I watch. But what really made me decide to move forward with applying for postulancy is when my heart was deeply moved by Jesus words to their founder, Blessed James Alberione, that can be found in their chapel...

"Do not be afraid, I am with you, From here I want to enlighten, Live with a penitent heart."

Favorite Scripture Passage:

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine."

- Isaiah 43:1

Pro-life Dinner

2010-09-30T16:47:00.010-05:00

Our community was invited to a pro-life dinner about two weeks ago by Mrs. Usselmann, founder of Our Lady of Guadalupe for Life (http://www.ourladyforlife.org/). Her daughter is a Daughter of St. Paul! The group focuses on putting billboards on major highways in our area with a pro-life message and picture of Our Blessed Mother - Our Lady of Guadalupe. Auxiliary Bishop Hermann celebrated mass and attended the dinner too. He has been an important part of the ministry and has blessed many of the billboards. At the dinner, Mrs. Usselmann shared how many peoples' lives have been transformed after reading the billboards on the highways! It sure was amazing to see how this great work which began from a simple pilgrimage experience she made to Mexico about 20 years ago, has made such a difference in many peoples' lives today. What a powerful way to reach out to people in our time with the saving message of Jesus Christ...and of course, you can never go wrong with Our Blessed Mother!

That's a first!

2010-09-30T16:24:00.005-05:00

We planned our first Seniors' day event (not only for seniors !) - and all went well :-)...thanks be to God! We had about 30 people in attendance. The topic this Fall will be on "Understanding the Mass". Our main speaker, Fr. Thomas Hinni, a Vincentian priest will be guiding us into a deeper understanding of the Mass while addressing some of the changes that will take place next year. Lots of people raised some pretty good questions, which was great! After the talk, we had some time in Eucharistic Adoration with music prepared by Laura and Erin and supported by our "postulant choir" of Cheryl and Theresa. Jackie guided us in the Eucharistic Visit. After our time with Jesus, we had a little social time with those who attended in our book center where we enjoyed some treats made by our volunteers. It was a good day overall...exhausted, but satisfied :-) Looking forward to next month!

Introducing Theresa

2010-09-22T12:16:00.008-05:00

My name is Theresa. I am one of the new postulants this year, along with Erin and Cheryl. I am really excited to introduce myself to everyone who reads this blog. Thanks to those of you who have been keeping me and the other postulants in their prayers.

I am the eldest of three sisters and one brother. I love to write on my blog, read books, goof around and bake cupcakes.

My family is one of the most important things in my life. My parents lives in Oklahoma now but I was born in Steubenville, OH. My father, Chris Noble, was a teacher of Evangelism at the University of Steubenville. I remember having a great desire even at a young age to join him in his efforts to bring others to the faith. My father let me join him in one of his evangelism classes and I filled out the workbook right along with the other adults there, (quite possibly along with some Daughters of St. Paul, because my father told me there were some FSPs in his class!).

For a variety of reasons, I rejected the faith of my childhood when I was fourteen and I spent twelve or so years as an atheist, agnostic, and finally a seeker who eventually found her way back to the Catholic faith of my family. A few years after my “reversion,” I began to hear God’s call to discern religious life. At first I totally ignored it; I really loved God but I wanted to get married and becoming a religious was just not in my plans. But thanks to a great spiritual director, I began to listen to God and realized that He was inviting me on this beautiful adventure.

I found out about the Daughters of St. Paul while I was watching this YouTube video from Father Stan Fortuna. I had first seen him speak in Oakland, CA and I really identified with his vocational story. In this YouTube video, Fr. Stan mentions "his girls" at the Daughters of St. Paul and I thought to myself, "If this priest likes this order, I might like it too." Sure enough, after a retreat and heartfelt prayer I felt myself called to enter postulancy with the Daughters.

I left a great job as a Systems Analyst in San Francisco, fabulous friends and a wonderful family in Oklahoma to come to St. Louis and I am excited to get to know a new place and follow God on this adventure He has planned for me.

Please pray for me as I begin this journey of further discernment; I definitely could use your prayers. Be assured I keep you in mine as well, God bless!

Fr Lockwood's Church History Presentation

2010-09-19T20:22:00.001-05:00

Our bookcenter events have begun again for the fall. Our first one was the first of three lectures on Church history. They'll all be given by Rev. Gregory Lockwood from St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish here in St. Louis (www.psichurch.com/churches/016stelizabeth). We had a wonderful turn out for the event! Our conference room was packed and every single chair was taken. We had to hunt up more chairs as more and more people came through the doors. For the second lecture he'll be giving in October, we've decided to move the lecture out into our bookcenter so there'll be more space. Hopefully we have enough chairs though! Father did a great job. He's a very engaging speaker. He REALLY knows his church history and he adds a little humor too when he speaks! We're looking forward to next month already!

The New and Revised...

2010-09-14T13:58:00.005-05:00

Tuesday, September 14, 2010:

Well, here we are...the new and revised postulant group :-) We thank God for sending us Erin, Theresa, and Cheryl. Please keep us in your prayers - you are in ours too. We look forward to sharing our exciting formation journey experiences with you. Stay tuned to learn more about Erin, Theresa, and Cheryl....info coming soon!

Community Sunday

2010-09-14T13:56:00.011-05:00

Sunday, September 12, 2010:

After a long week, it was nice to sleep in and have a relaxing day of rest. We attended noon mass at Assumption Catholic Church (www.assumptionstl.org) and then spent our day at The Butterfly House (http://www.butterflyhouse.org/). It was thrilling to see all the beautiful butterflies flying around inside the conservatory. We took lots of pictures. They were such a pretty sight...all sorts of colors, sizes, species...you name it! Afterwards we went to another part of the Butterfly house complex and had some fun riding on a carousel...something some of us had not done since we were kids!! It was great :-) We then went out for an early dinner to Blueberry Hill (http://www.blueberryhill.com/) located in University City. The cafe is famous for its burgers - which by the way were pretty amazing! Anyway, we had dinner at one of the tables on their sidewalk while enjoying the city which was teeming with life - lots of young people, people in costumes (not sure why...), people playing drums, and music of all sorts. We truly had a fun-filled day :-) Thank God for Sundays, now we are rejuvenated for the week!

Labor Day Celebrations!

2010-09-11T22:18:00.005-05:00

Monday, September 6, 2010:

Today we celebrated Labor day in style here at the convent. We all chipped in to prepare different cuisine for our fiesta. Needless to say, we had some very fine foods including some great BBQ by one of our sisters :-) Lunch was our big meal of the day where we truly enjoyed each others' company at table. To top it up, we went to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard (http://www.teddrewes.com/) in the evening. It was THE St. Louis experience of the day...especially for our new ones!

Vocation Day!

2010-09-04T14:40:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder of our monthly Vocation Day coming up on Saturday, September 11, 2010 from 1-4pm. All young women ages 18-30 are welcome to join us. Our topic this month is Discernment 101, Daughters of St. Paul: Our Beginnings. The event is being held here at Pauline Books and Media 9804 Watson Rd. St. Louis, MO. See the flyer for more information and please gives us a call or send us a message if you have any questions!

Good News...New Postulants!

2010-09-02T13:57:00.008-05:00

Wednesday, September 1, 2010:

Today, the Lord blessed our community with three new postulants! Finally, the day has come and we are SO happy to have Erin Nolan, Theresa Noble and Cheryl Galema with us :-) We had a simple and grace-filled entrance ceremony during Morning Prayer where we invoked our co-foundress Sr. Thecla Merlo to intercede for them as they begin their new journey. Our formator, Sr. Rebecca then presented Theresa, Erin and Cheryl with an image of Jesus our Divine Master as a reminder that they are to be drawn closer into Him so that He may be formed in them. At the conclusion of Morning Prayer, we all welcomed our new members with an embrace. Immediately following was the celebration of mass for our three new postulants, Erin, Theresa, and Cheryl and for their families in our convent chapel. Please join us in thanking God for His goodness and for sending us laborers for His abundant harvest. Pray for us that we may be faithful to the work of the Divine Master in us!

Off to our Annual Retreat...

2010-08-21T17:05:00.003-05:00

Sunday, August 22 - Thursday, August 26, 2010:

For the next couple of days, we will be spending our time exclusively with Jesus :-) Yes, we are off to our annual retreat - a time of abundant grace, a time to experience God's love anew, and a time to fall in love again with Him who loved us first. We trust that He will lead us beside quiet waters and restore our souls (Ps 23:2-3). God is always faithful. We will be praying for you...please keep us in your prayers too. See you on the other side!

Savoring our Catholic History: Vatican Splendors

2010-08-21T17:04:00.004-05:00

Friday, August 13, 2010:

How much of the history of our Catholic faith do you know? Well, we learned quite a bit when we spent some time at the Vatican Splendors (http://www.vaticansplendors.com/) exhibit held at the History Museum here in St. Louis. There were a lot of pieces of art work that were magnificent in telling the history of our faith. Some of these pieces were being shown for the first time to the general public! From the beginnings of the apostles Peter and Paul, and the early church, the "splendors" took us through a journey of learning about our popes and the happenings of our Church throughout the centuries. Towards the end of our tour, we touched the cast of the hand of Pope John II (just about the only thing we could touch there!)...which was special. Speaking about media, the "splendors" were an excellent way to help many meet God in the arts simply through the description of stories in the Scriptures alongside the hardcore facts of our Catholic faith and traditions that have stood the test of time. It was truly edifying - be sure to visit the "splendors" when you can...its well worth your time!

Parish Exhibit in Wichita, Kansas

2010-08-21T17:03:00.004-05:00

Saturday, August 7 - Sunday, August 8, 2010:

During our trip to Wichita, we also conducted a parish exhibit at Church of the Magdalene (http://www.magdalenwichita.com/) after the Saturday and Sunday masses. The pastor, Fr. Patrick, his associate Fr. Roger and the parishioners welcomed us very warmly. Sr. Rebecca and Jackie gave pulpit talks at the masses to share some of our media and explain our mission to the congregation . We learned that the Church of the Magdalene is a vibrant parish and has over 1000 families! Sr. Connie, the pastoral associate told us that the parishioners come from many nations. Most of the parishioners have young families and so it was beautiful to see how many of them took resources to help their children grow in the faith. Some parishioners has already obtained our media from our website but there were also many who asked for our website information so that they could our media there. We praise God for using us as instruments to bring His love to the people of Wichita!

Catholic Family Conference in Wichita, Kansas

2010-08-14T14:09:00.019-05:00

Friday, August 6 - Sunday, August 8, 2010:

Sr. Rebecca, Jackie, and Laura all traveled to Wichita, Kansas for the annual Midwest Catholic Family Conference (www.catholicfamilyconference.org/). There were hundreds of families there! We brought some of our books, music, and DVDs and set up an exhibit at the conference along with many other exhibitors. The conference featured some great speakers who shared their knowledge and personal experience on topics such as "End of Life Issues", "Dangers of the New Age Deception", and "Laughter: the Sanity of the Family". We took turns attending some of the talks and taking care of the exhibit. Sharon Lee Giganti gave the talk on New Age and was very powerful! She was deeply involved in the New Age movement before she realized that she was wrong and that God was the answer to all her life's difficulties. Sr. Rebecca met her during the weekend and found out that she is a novice in the Pauline Holy Family Institute (www.vocations-holyfamily.com/). This Institute is one of the 10 religious orders founded by Blessed James Alberione including the Daughters of St. Paul (www.alberionefilm.com/). Since she is a novice, she is still in formation for the Holy Family Institute, but will take her first vows this fall. It was so nice to meet someone from our Pauline "family" while we were out in Kansas! We also met Sisters from different communities including the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church (www.sistersofmarymotherofthechurch.org/) and the Olivetan Benedictine Sisters (www.olivben.org/). We stayed with Sisters who are from the Congregation of St. Joseph (www.csjoseph.org/wichita_kansas). Their convent was beautiful! One of their charisms is hospitality and it really showed. They were so kind and generous to us, willing to help us in any way. All in all it was a great weekend. We met so many kind people trying to help their families grow in their faith and grow closer to God. We are thankful for the opportunity to be able to share the Word of God with so many families.

Young Adult Retreat in Chicago - Coming up!

2010-08-05T23:10:00.006-05:00

Are you a young woman between 18 and 30 years looking for a summer get-away with Jesus? We have one planned just for you!

You are all invited to our Young Adult Come and See Weekend in Chicago this summer from Friday August 20 - Monday August 23, 2010.

Please contact Sr. Helena Raphael at 617-850-5584 or HelRaphaelfsp@aol.com for more information.

The retreat will be held in our convent at 172 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Illinois, 60601. Jesus, Our Master is waiting for you! You can count on our prayers!

Enjoy the pictures from the retreat that Laura and I attended a couple of years ago :-)

Back in St. Louis...and off to Wichita, Kansas!

2010-08-05T22:23:00.002-05:00

Thursday, August 5, 2010

We returned to St. Louis from our summer experience at our Motherhouse in Boston about a week ago. We are slowly finding our bearings now that we are back "home". It was great to see the sisters again and we truly received a warm welcome! Now that we are getting back to business, we will be hitting to road again tomorrow (Fri) for the weekend. Our destination: Wichita, Kansas where we will bring God's Love through our media to people there attending the Catholic Family Conference (www.catholicfamilyconference.org) and a parish exhibit at Church of the Magdalene (www.magdalenwichita.com). Please keep us in your prayers as we do keep you in ours. Stay tuned for our missionary news when we get back!

Fun in Vermont!

2010-08-03T21:34:00.010-05:00

Friday, July 23 - Sunday, July 25, 2010

Being in Vermont for the weekend was great because we got to see all the "must see" sites. Laura gave us the grand tour of her hometown (Newport). On Saturday, we went for morning mass to her parish, St. Mary Star of the Sea (http://catholicparishesofnortheastvermont.com/) overlooking the beautiful Lake Memphremagog. After breakfast, we got to see the US/Canada border which was just about 10 minutes from Newport. We then made a trip to see how maple syrup is made at one of the local sugarhouses owned by a friend of Laura's family. We learned that it takes almost 40 gallons of sap from the maple trees to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. No wonder the stuff is so precious! We even got a bottle of the "real" maple syrup for keeps at the end of the tour :-) After a tour of Burlington, University of Vermont campus and following our parish exhibit in Winooski, we had dinner with one of Laura's former pastor's of her parish. On our back to Boston on Sunday, we made sure to stop by Vermont's very own "Ben & Jerry's". The home-made ice-cream was quite refreshing. It was really cool to be in Vermont and experience the breathtaking scenery and fresh air - there's nothing like it, you've just gotta go there yourself!

Trip to Vermont

2010-08-03T16:20:00.006-05:00

Friday, July 23 - Sunday July 25, 2010

While we were in Boston, Laura planned a parish exhibit in Vermont for one of the weekends. Sr. Carmen Christi, the novice formator, along with novices Sr. Emily and Sr. Sylwia joined Jackie and Laura for the trip. We had the exhibit at St. Francis Xavier church (http://www.sfxchurch.org/) in Winooski, Vermont. The Pastor, Monsignor Richard Lavalley, is a friend of Laura's, she's know him for many years. He was so welcoming to all of us and was willing to help us with whatever we needed. Monsignor graciously let us give a little pulpit talk to the parishioners after Communion. We introduced ourselves, told them a little bit about our community and our mission as Daughters of St. Paul, and then highlighted a couple of the items we brought to share with them. It was Jackie and Laura's first time giving a pulpit talk! We were both quite nervous, but we did okay! We met so many wonderful people. They were very friendly, and welcoming, and happy to have us there. We were happy to be there, happy to be able to bring God's word to them, to help them grow in their relationship with God, and happy to simply tell them that they'd be in our prayers.

Scripture Class

2010-08-03T15:33:00.009-05:00

On the days we weren't visiting the various departments in our Publishing house, we were studying and taking a scripture class with Celia Sirois. The novices, Sr. Emily and Sr. Sylwia took the class with us Postulants. We met 3 times a week and each class was 2 hours long. The theme of the class was "covenant." So, we looked at many of the covenants God has made with man starting in the Old Testament with Noah, all the way through to the New Testament with Jesus being the New Covenant. Celia has a vast amount of knowledge of the Scriptures and the Jewish tradition, so she was able to give us a lot of background information before we even got into the topic of covenants. There was so much material to cover and we only had class for about 3 weeks. We probably could have had class for about 3 months and still may not have been able to cover all the material! It was so interesting though and we really saw how persistent God is. He never gives up on his people, no matter how many times we fail, he's always there to pick us up and give us another chance. We had to do a final project that showed what we learned about God's character through his covenants. We all worked together on the project and did a combination of a video and a play. We had a lot of fun videotaping and acting, but we also learned a lot in the process. Just before we left to come back to St. Louis, we performed/presented it to our teacher Celia and then for our community of Sisters in Boston. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and we were able to clearly show examples of God's character: how persistent, faithful, consistent, and abundant God is!