April 2010, Vol. XXX, No. 4
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters Convent of the Holy Spirit – Techny, Illinois 60082-6026
Signs of Spring at Holy Spirit Convent
Thoughts on Aging Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. Martin Buxbaum
The Gift of Our Elderly Sisters
R
ecently at a leadership conference we were told that, “Today in active religious orders in the USA there are more Sisters over 90 years than under 60 years of age.” As SSpS we have 13 Sisters over 90 years and 24 Sisters under 60 years in our province; so our median age is quite a bit lower than most active religious orders here. As I was reflecting on the Paschal Mystery while sharing friendship and the gifts of life with so many of our retired Sisters here in Techny, I realized what a great gift our elderly Sisters are to me, to us and to the Province. “Precious is the life given for mission”! Our Sisters have been on their missionary journeys a very long time and have passed through many hurdles and mountains of challenge in their lives of service. They have put forth great efforts and cooperated with grace to “make the saving love of the Triune God known and to promote true human progress.” (Cons. 102) However, as age creeps up on them, they lose their hearing, their sight; some are ravaged with cancer, diabetes, arthritis, cholesterol and many other diseases. No matter how hard they struggle, there is nothing they can do about their diminishment. They come to a place where effort no longer works, where they can’t do it anymore. When our sisters come to this place, they have to let go and let God; they need to trust and allow God to carry on in and through them. In their inner wisdom, they give permission to being absorbed by a love greater than themselves and know that this love will carry them, transform them until they are their true selves immersed in God. (continued on page 2)