APRIL 2022 "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?' " John 11:25-26
APRIL NEWS Pope's Prayer Health Care Workers: We pray for health care workers who serve the sick and the elderly, especially in the poorest Intention for April
countries; may they be adequately supported by governments and local communities.
A NAME THAT CAN ONLY BE LIVED "SISTERS OF CHARITY OF THE INCARNATE WORD" BY SR ETHEL PUNO, CCVI A name is what a person is called; it is what a person would respond to. Our name is part of our identity, of who we are. Naming a child is one of the most important actions parents do, so they come up with a list of potential names even before the child is born.If we must call someone our “parents”, they would be Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis and Mother Jeanne Chezard de Matel because, by the grace of God, they were instrumental in our Congregation coming into being and in acquiring the name we now consider ours – The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. To do justice to the task of reflecting what our congregation’s name is calling us to, I invited some of our sisters to ponder this with me and to share their reflections for this article, after all it is the incarnational thing to do. Sister Francesca Kearns admits, “The name of our Congregation has always been intriguing and amazing to me. Awesome because it bespeaks of a spirituality revealed before its time. Intriguing because it can only be lived and renewed by a deep contemplative apostolic commitment.” To understand what our congregation’s name, Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, is calling us to, we need to know who we are named after – Jesus, the Incarnate Word. Our name starts with “Sisters” as Sister Helena Adaku Ogbuji rightfully noted – “We are Sisters. We are kin,” in Christ. Of course, we do know who Jesus is, yet I would hazard to say many of us would still stammer or would need some time to articulate who we say Jesus is for us and to what we are being called to as bearers of his name. How well do we really know the Word Incarnate?
“The name of our Congregation has always been intriguing and amazing to me. Awesome because it bespeaks of a spirituality revealed before its time. Intriguing because it can only be lived and renewed by a deep contemplative apostolic commitment.” - Sr. Francesca Kearns, CCVI
When Jesus asked his apostles who they say he is, it is Peter’s answer that we have learned to accept as the best expression of the truth – “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mk 16:16) While this is the universal truth, how we know Jesus is also very personal. Our individual response to Jesus would be nuanced by our individuality and our own experience of God. We share the same foundational understanding of what we are called to be as Incarnate Word sisters, i.e., to embody the love of Jesus through the witness of our lives as we answer Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis’ call to mission of providing relief to the suffering of Christ in the persons of the sick, the poor, and infirm of every kind, including our ailing planet which all creatures of God share as our common home. NEWS & NOTES
A Name that Can Only be Lived, Con't
We also often defer to the prologue of John’s gospel, as did Pope Francis when he said, “The prologue of the Gospel of John (1:1-18) reveals Christ’s creative work as the Divine Word (Logos). But then, unexpectedly, the prologue goes on to say that this same Word “became flesh” (Jn. 1:14). One Person of the Trinity entered into the created cosmos, throwing in his lot with it, even to the cross . . .” (Pope Francis, Laudato Si', 99). Sister Hannah O’Donoghue sums it up by referencing John Duns Scotus and Bishop Dubuis – “Jesus came to earth as an expression of the Father’s love, as part of creation. Jesus integrates perfectly the human and divine natures. Consequently, the purpose of creation is Incarnation (Duns Scotus). All persons are part of God’s ongoing creation and expression of His love. As Sisters of the Love of the Incarnate Word we are called to highlight in community and service the call of the Incarnation (Dubuis).”
"We share the same foundational understanding of what we are called to be as Incarnate Word sisters, i.e., to embody the love of Jesus through the witness of our lives as we answer Bishop Claude Marie Dubuis’ call to mission of providing relief to the suffering of Christ in the persons of the sick, the poor, and infirm of every kind, including our ailing planet which all creatures of God share as our common home. " - Sr. Ethel Puno, CCVI Sr. Rosanne Popp shares that “'Incarnate Word’ is the part of the name that is most significant to me. This name represents the charism to which I was called and still feel called: Incarnation. Jesus Incarnate, a human among other humans. Incarnation is LIFE. Jesus among us and calling me to participate in LIFE...celebrations, tragedies, sadness, suffering, being among other beings. Jesus participated in all these pieces of LIFE and is calling me as a sister of charity of the Incarnate Word to be fully immersed in the LIFE of the world today.” With this in mind, we can surmise that we are called to have an “incarnational worldview, the profound recognition of the presence of the divine in literally ‘everything’ and ‘everyone’ . . . unity with diversity, physical with spiritual, individual with corporate, and divine with human” (Richard Rohr, Inspiriting the World).
A Name that Can Only be Lived, Con't
"The name of our Congregation, therefore, calls me to a daily conversion of heart and not to miss an opportunity to be a blessing and to be good to people around me.” Sr. Helena Adaku Ogbuji Our call to mission continues to compel us to respond to the needs around us and to recognize the gift of diversity among us and in the world around us. Sisters Betty Campos, Aracely Pérez, and Vilma Ramos expound on this by saying, “By being Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of Houston we have been able to become a living sign of the comforting presence of Jesus for those we serve in our ministries. As Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, we let Jesus Incarnate in our personal reality through Prayer, the Eucharist, contemplation of the paschal mystery, allowing Him to touch our being through our dedication to the mission and our community and intercultural living experience. Thus, we are a permanent reflection of God’s tenderness and we live as Gospels of Love, as a response to our call and commitment to building the Kingdom of God.” With our name we proudly wear our emblem as another symbol of our identity. For Sister Francesca Kearns “. . . our congregational emblem is a gathering of the meaning of our name and mission. The emblem reminds us that making the Charity of the Incarnate Word present is surrounded by a crown of thorns. This was the experience of Jesus and Mary. The heart of our vocation is to love as God loves, thus promoting human dignity. He who calls us does not protect us from suffering; he makes us a channel of his love through which the thorns become a means of deepening our compassion, illuminating our understanding of how best to Incarnate His Love in our times.” Sister Helena Adaku Ogbuji aptly recognizes that “to be a compassionate and an incarnational Sister means I don’t have to wait for Christmas, birthdays, feast days or any special occasion to be kind to my sisters and to others. It is a daily activity. It might be as simple as listening to them, becoming sensitive to their needs, offering a smile or a word of consolation, etc. Galatians 6:10 says: ‘Whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all.’ The name of our Congregation therefore calls me to a daily conversion of heart and not to miss an opportunity to be a blessing and to be good to people around me.” Sr. Maureen Kossbiel, on the other hand, references Mother de Matel in Serving with Gladness, p.107, as “urging us to grow in a personal love and devotion for the Incarnate Word and to try to inflame others with that fire.” These are but some of the ways the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of Houston understand, live, and continue to respond to the call of Jesus Christ, our beloved/nuestro amado/mpendwa wetu/ ating minamahal/thân yêu của chúng tôi/ar gràidh. May we, as consecrated women who profess to follow Jesus, remain faithful in living up to his call in extending the Incarnation to the world.
Praised be the Incarnate Word! *My heartfelt thanks to all the sisters mentioned in the article and to the other sisters (Sisters Ita Harnett, Deenan Hubbard, and Kim Xuan Nguyen) whose reflections were not directly quoted in this article but whose insights contributed to it greatly.
“Today it is very fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is very unfashionable to talk with them.” -- St. Teresa of Calcutta.
MY JOURNEY RESPONDING TO GOD'S LOVE BY SR. KIM XUAN THI NGUYEN, CCVI
As I reflect back over my life, I am grateful for God’s many blessings and profound love that he has bestowed on me throughout my life. I am who I am today with the support and love from leadership, formators, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, my family and friends, and all the people that touched my life along the journey. I am deeply grateful for their love, prayers, and guidance in my life. I was born and baptized in Vung Tau, Vietnam. I am the ninth child in the family. I have eight brothers and one sister. Later my parents adopted two more boys and so I had a total of twelve siblings. I enjoyed and am grateful for my big family. Due to the communist regime in Vietnam, my family escaped from Vietnam by boat in 1980, hoping to find a better future for all of us. With God and St. Joseph’s protection, we made it safely to Indonesia. At the Galang Island in Indonesia, I received the Sacrament of Confirmation from a Bishop who came there to visit the refugees. After six months in Galang, we arrived in Pennsylvania and lived with one of my brothers who had left Vietnam in 1975. I was seven years old. Looking back, our escape reminded me of the Exodus event, when the Israelites escaped from Egypt. It was a scary experience but my family is grateful to God for bringing us safely to Indonesia and to the United States. Once I settled in the United States, I attended Elementary School in Tower City, Pennsylvania. After three years, my family moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where I lived and got most of my education. I tried to focus on studying since my parents had sacrificed a lot to bring us to America. I graduated top ten from McMain Magnet High School and got my scholarship to Loyola University, where I received a Bachelor in Science degree. I decided to move to Dallas, Texas after college to get my Doctorate in Chiropractic. I worked for Dr. Curtis Adams for three years so I could save up some money. The experience at Dr. Curtis’ clinic had instilled in me more competence and courage to be independent. After I left his clinic, I opened my own clinic and worked in Garland, TX for thirteen years. Like many young adults, my focus was on my career and having fun with friends. The idea of becoming a religious sister never occurred to me. My calling to religious life started later in life. Even though there were sisters who invited me to their “Come and See,” I always found some reasons to excuse myself from attending. I could not imagine myself being a Sister. I did not think that I could be obedient since I was an independent person. However, God had an interesting way of calling me. God invited me slowly through different events and people in my life. After a few years of healing from a heart-broken two years relationship in my late twenties, I met a friend who introduced me to a faith-sharing group. The group helped me to know more about God with scripture meditation through Ignatian Spirituality.
BY SR. KIM XUAN THI NGUYEN, CCVI
Later, the parish priest invited me to join the catechist team since they needed more teachers at that time. In a short period of time, I was trained and taught catechism. The more I taught the more I found out that I did not know much. So I decided to take a three year course of Advanced Biblical Studies at UD University night classes after work. As I got to know God better, I began to attend daily mass and sometimes adoration. Then, I went on several 3-5 days directed retreats directed by the Jesuit priests, and also attended the 19 weeks annotation with my faith sharing group to deepen my relationship with God. Each of these events has brought me closer to God. As my relationship with God grew deeper, there was a voice that lingered in my mind and heart that kept saying, “You have not tried me yet.” Again, I just let it go for years and continued on with my single lifestyle until I attended a directed retreat in 2012. God came to me through a vision. During my meditation on the scripture passage Philippians 2:5-11 in the retreat, I asked Jesus “Why do you love me so much and what would you like me to do for you?” Suddenly I saw a scene of poor people and a voice deep from within my heart that I cannot explain saying “It is I in them.” Then, a flood of tears came running down from my eyes and was unstoppable. Deep from within my heart, I knew that Jesus was calling me to help the poor. At the time, I owned a Chiropractic clinic with another partner. With God’s grace and strength, I decided to sell my clinic and home even though I did not have to since I was still in the discerning phase. Then I prayed to God that if religious life was meant for me then he had to arrange the transactions of selling my clinic and homes smoothly. Otherwise, I would be distracted and I could give up. Indeed the process did go smoothly and within that year I accomplished my goal. Looking back now, I feel that I was negotiating more with God than praying with abandonment.
During this time of transition, I prayed to God to lead me to the religious congregation that would be right for me. Providentially, a priest friend, a vocation director from Houston, called and introduced me to a sister from the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in Houston (CCVI). I visited the Congregation and felt at peace and welcome there. I felt that their charism and the call of their founder, Bishop Claude Dubuis, “Our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering in the persons of a multitude of sick and infirm of every kind, seeks relief at your hands,” really touched me and felt right within my heart. Their mission to embody the love of the Incarnate Word and bring the Gospel of love to others from Mother Jeanne de Matel touched me and was something that I love to do. So with God’s grace, prayers, and the help of discernment by a Jesuit priest friend, I courageously said “Yes.” Just when I thought that I was ready to enter religious life, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer stage four. In the beginning, when I was discerning for religious life, both my father and mother were against the idea. They were hoping to live with me in their old age. I did not have the support or blessing of my parents, but somehow, God’s grace prevailed. I felt that God would take care of them and that my brothers and sister would step up and take care of them also. With that in mind, I moved forward and joined the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of Houston in August 2013. Now, I had the support of my mother and family. With time, they came to understand that they were not losing their daughter or sister since I am still connected to them through phone calls and home visits.
SR KIM XUAN THI NGUYEN, CCVI
"AS MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD GREW DEEPER, THERE WAS A VOICE THAT LINGERED IN MY MIND AND HEART THAT KEPT SAYING, “YOU HAVE NOT TRIED ME YET.” AGAIN, I JUST LET IT GO FOR YEARS AND CONTINUED ON WITH MY SINGLE LIFESTYLE UNTIL I ATTENDED A DIRECTED RETREAT IN 2012. GOD CAME TO ME THROUGH A VISION..." SR. KIM
I began my formation process with the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word in 2013. Through my formation years, there have been joys and challenges to my vocation. But I have learned and grown a lot, both in knowledge and spiritually. The congregation provided me with many opportunities through retreats, school, workshops, and training to improve myself as an individual and most importantly to grow in my relationship with God and the Sisters. I can say that I am a better person now than before. I completed my novitiate and took my First Vows on August 13, 2016. I began working at St. Mary’s Clinic for 2 years as a Chiropractor, helping those who were in pain physically and spiritually. Afterward, I returned to St. Louis to complete my Master of Pastoral Studies in 2019. From there, I was missioned to Kenya, Africa, for my international experience, but this was cut short due to the pandemic. After a couple of months, I was missioned to Lake Charles, LA following the two hurricanes. I worked as a Chaplain at CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital. I also enjoy relationships and times with my community, friends, and family. They are the people in my life who continue to support, love and pray for me. I can always fall back on them when my life feels overwhelming. Although community is one of the things that attracted me to religious life, it is also one of the most challenging aspects. We are an international, intercultural, and intergenerational congregation. Diversity comes with the richness we each bring, but if we do not know or understand each other and our cultures, it will be challenging to live a true authentic community life. I have learned to let go through prayer and be grateful, kind, and patient. I am still learning how to be a better version of myself.
SR KIM XUAN THI NGUYEN, CCVI
"I SURRENDERED MY LIFE TO GOD, WHO LOVES ME FIRST BEFORE I EVEN KNEW HOW MUCH GOD LOVED ME. I VOWED TO LOVE AND SERVE HIM WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL."- SR. KIM
On January 1st, 2022, the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, I made my Perpetual Profession of Vows witnessed by some of my sisters, family and friends. I surrendered my life to God, who loves me first, before I even knew how much God loved me. I vowed to love and serve Him with all my heart and soul. I will continue to deepen my vows commitment and be more integrated in my prayer, community, and ministerial life. I hope to live Incarnational Spirituality more fully and faithfully and also to live a more balanced life as I continue to bring the love and healing of Jesus to those I encounter, especially to those in need. My deep gratitude to Sr. Kevina Keating and the council for their support, generosity, and love for me, Sr. Helena, Sr. Ita and Sr. Alice Mary for their guidance and care throughout my formation years, all the Sisters for their prayers and encouragement, my family and friends who are there for me and love me, and to all those whom I encounter on my journey and those who came to celebrate and witness my Perpetual Profession of Vows. I thank God for all of you. May God bless all of you abundantly with good health and peace!
Praise Be the Incarnate Word! Forever!
"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?' "
John 11:25-26
Resurrection sculpture in the cemetery of the Villa de Matel
CCVI ASSOCIATE BOOK REVIEW The CCVI Associates were pondering and sharing around the issue of racism. As part of their efforts, each took and read a different book on the issue to share with each other and the Congregation. Here is the second of those book reports. BY JANET MAYORGA, CCVI ASSOCIATE The Warmth of Other Suns is a nonfiction history of the great migration of blacks from the South to cities in the North, Midwest and Western states. It is a true account of this migration, which took place between 19151970. It became known as the Great Migration. According to the account, six million left their homes in the South with hopes of finding a better life and a new beginning. The author Isabel Wilkerson's father's parents were among the migrants. She interviewed 1,200 people to gather the data for her book which won a Pulitzer Prize. She was the first black woman to be given this honor. Although the book is nonfiction it reads like a novel. The story centers around three main characters who made the journey at different times and to different areas in the North, Midwest or West. Ida Mae Brandon Gladney picked cotton in Mississippi was married and had two children. Her husband was a sharecropper, which meant they farmed and worked for a landowner and, in return, had a place to live and were given food but no salary. At the end of the season, after the value of what they were given was calculated and how much their living expenses were, they would receive whatever amount was leftover, usually a small amount. Many times they were told there was nothing left for them. In October 1937, Ida Mae and her family boarded the Jim Crow car for Chicago seeking a better life. George Swanson Starling lived in Florida and worked in the orange groves. He Migrated to New York City in April 1945. He didn't know what he would do but he thought any place would be better than the one he had in the South. George also had a wife and children. He got a job working on the railroad and stayed there the rest of his work life.
The Warmth of Other Suns Review, con't The third character in the story is Robert Joseph Pershing Foster, a physician who left Monroe, Louisiana in 1953 and drove to California. He was a surgeon trained in the Military and yet in Louisiana, he was not allowed to do even minor surgery. He was married but left his wife and daughters while he sought a better opportunity in California. He drove to California and on his journey Author Isabel Wilkerson was happy there were no signs on motels saying "No Coloreds". He attempted to get a room in Texas that had vacancy signs. He had some responses saying "sorry we just rented the last room and forgot to take down the sign." Finally, he did find a room. So the freedom he was looking for was not apparent in reality in all places. Throughout the book, the author describes the background history of the migration and the caste system that existed in the South as well as what conditions were after the migration. Upon arriving in the North or West things were not easy either. Although there were no signs that said "No Coloreds Allowed" there was still considerable resentment to the new migrants. Housing was very expensive and they were still paid low wages. There were many obstacles to overcome and it was not easy but overall they believed it was worth migrating. Migrants born and raised in the South were better educated and were more likely to be married. Very few children from the South lived in single-parent homes compared to those who were born in the North or West. This was not what was expected and residents in the North tended to believe the migrants were not educated or married and brought crime to the area which for the most part was not true. Isabel Wilkerson did a masterful job of tying the stories to the conditions in the South that prompted their migration and the difference in life once they arrived at their destinations. This book is well worth reading it. It's very long, 598 pages. However, once I started reading it was hard to put it down. After reading the actual book I got the audio version which is very well done and helped me to remember the details of the story. Reading this book helped me understand what life has been like for those who lived through this difficult time in our history.
OUR LADY
QUEEN OF AFRICA
RESEARCHED BY DOROTHY HARRIS, VILLA DE MATEL LIBRARIAN The Basilica of Our Lady of Africa stands on a cliff overlooking the bay of Algiers. The church, whose construction began in 1872, is visited by Muslims as well as Catholics. Women, young girls and grandmothers, alone or accompanied, can be seen praying here in front of the beautiful bronze statue of Our Lady of Africa clothed in a richly embroidered Tlemcen style garment. The church custodians say many Muslim visitors ask about Mary, the Bible, the four Gospels. They spend time looking at decoration, the Stations of the Cross, and frescoes of the life of Saint Augustine, the 4th century Bishop of Hippo, born in Tagaste. Augustine is Christianity's first and most famous Algerian. Below the frescoes runs a phrase of St Augustine in Arabic, French and Cabila: “Brotherly love comes from God and is God”. In 1838, sisters from Lyon donated the image of Our Lady of Africa to the first Bishop of Algiers. It is a “black Madonna,” an image of Mary with dark skin color. The statue was consecrated in 1872 and placed in the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa of Algiers. Since then, this has been a place of pilgrimage for the small Catholic community in Algeria and for Muslims. April 30th is celebrated in the Church as the Feast of Our Lady of Africa.
“CHRISTUS St. Mary’s Clinic staff celebrated Sr. María Méndez Lainez’s birthday on March 12, 2022