May-June 2010, Vol. XXX, No. 5
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters Convent of the Holy Spirit – Techny, Illinois 60082-6026
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e can count the years our Sisters have served as religious missionaries, but can we ever count all the blessings of their lives given in service? So many blessings they have received and so many blessings others have received through them! We celebrated jubilees twice: on April 25, the Golden Jubilees of Sr. Priscilla Burke and Sr. Judy Vallimont; and on May 30, the Diamond Jubilees of Sr. Mary Jane Lusson (65 years), Sr. Mary Pardy (60 years) and Sr. Maria Elisabeth Klodt (60 years). The days were set apart to cherish each jubilarian and the memories each carries within her. The Jubilarians themselves will share a bit of what fills their hearts and memories at this time.
Srs. Priscilla Burke and Judy Vallimont
Srs. Maria Elisabeth Klodt, Mary Jane Lusson and Mary Pardy
Sr. Judy: In 1960, the year 2010 was not only fifty years away, but sounded like something from outer space. I don’t know what you or others received from me during these years or how I might have affected your lives. But I have a good idea of what I’ve gained from you. You have affected me as channels of God’s love and wisdom by sharing stories, by our working and playing and praying together. God, ever loving, calls each of us to live gospel and we faithfully respond wherever and however we experience that call. We vow forever, but we live one day at a time. Sr. Priscilla remembers her Dad’s role in her vocation: The first “seeds” of my missionary vocation were planted by my Dad. I had witnessed in his life many deeds of compassionate caring. When I was quite young, he used to take me on trips around the world on his (continued on page 2)
(continued 1) Of coursefrom theypage experience frustration
and fear in this process and find it very hard at times. Gradually though, their total surrender fills them with peace and gratitude. They know with EB Liner. will we go today?” would he took a volume of the a real “aha”“Where experience: “they are good;hetheir lifeask hasasbeen good;out God’s love for them is Encyclopedia Britannica and opened it to China, Australia, Japan, or some far off country real; God’s promises are true.” and we would read all about it. I traveled all over the world with my Dad on his EB Liner. My Dad five from yearsour before I entered Holy Spirit Missionary The gift Idied receive elderly sistersthe is the realization: “At the Sisters, center ofbut myI know being,that I am the first seeds of these past 50 years of vowed life I owe to him! not what I achieve, but more what is freely given to me. God has loved me long before I could love anyone else. The love I express in my life is a stream of a great expansive love flowing from God. I have come from God and am returning toand God. Myended efforts a small Sr. Maria Elisabeth shared many humorous events in her life then onare a more seand partyears of a great my strength in Jesus my own efforts“You but lies the rioustemporary note: Many ago, Imission was in aand vocation crisis. isI not heard saying: are in mine Holy Spirit who brings our personal and communal salvation to completion.” and mine forever.” And at another time: “This is my Elisabeth, I love her, she is mine.” I can only praise and thank God for His infinite love and mercy — and I invite all of you to Thank you with dear me Sisters! Your truly precious and given mission. You are witthank God for His lovelife forisHis little Elisabeth. Pleasefor help me sing, Glory to God, nesses to us until the last moment when you are carried over into the heavenly embrace. glory, O praise Him, alleluia! Amen!!! Sr. Mary Pardy: Jubilee is a celebration of Spirit faithfulness over the years. I have seen that every time a door is closed in my life, God opens a window. Our Lady summarizes it best, “Magnificat Fiat,” or as it has been popularly amplified, “For all that has been, Thanks; for all that will be, Yes.” Sr. Mary Jane Lusson: My very special thanks to each one of my dear Sisters and friends for so lovingly have remembered me on this joyful occasion of my 65th Jubilee. At such times one certainly feels the bondedness of belonging to a very special Congregation and Province. May the Holy and Triune God truly live in our hearts and in the hearts of all people everywhere. Dear Jubilarians, we thank God over and over for the goodness that each of you is. May God hold you near and bless you as you continue your religious-missionary journey in trust and humility. Sr. Carol Welp, SSpS
Management of Religious Institutes Workshop
From May 24 to May 28, Sr. Elwira Dziuk participated in the Orientation to the Management of Religious Institutes at the Cenacle on Fullerton Avenue in Chicago. The workshop included topics such as how to promote good stewardship in religious institutes, how to make socially responsible investments, how to deal with human resources and employee issues as well as many other important topics. The purpose of the workshop was to familiarize new leadership and treasurers with the legal side of finances. It was also a time to meet leaders and treasurers from other religious communities and share some insights with them.
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Comings and Goings
The Vacation Bible School team will leave on June 4 for the Mississippi program and return on June 14.
Sr. Monica Mabel Balbuena returned from her home leave in Argentina on May 16. She visited our novice, Sara Guardado, in Paraguay on her way and brings many greetings from her. Srs. Xaveriana Ngene, Yuliana Meno and Edel Deong left for Indonesia on May 20 for their home leaves. Sr. Graciela Castro left on June 2 for her home leave in Argentina. Sr. Anahi Francou left on May 15 for her mission in Romania. She had been with us nearly a year and a half studying English and was very eager to get to “the mission she was waiting to join for the last five years.”
Summer project participants enjoy their packing and preparations for the trip south.
Srs. Dinah Marie Aguirre, Betty Tranel, Marie Angela Risi, Novice Salud Osornio, Srs. Kristina Jawa Lajar and Stela Maris Martins leave for summer Bible School! Sr. Anahi bids farewell to Sisters at Techny.
Our communities in Rogers Park and Bronzeville are both up and packing. Rogers Park is to be renovated and during the time of renovation the community will be living in Grayslake. Our community in Bronzeville has been living in a rented apartment and we will discontinue renting this space. Sr. Maria Burke is already living in Techny and Sr. AnnIta Walsh is assigned to Antigua. Sr. Marcina Stawasz will continue living at CTU.
Sr. Miryan Inéz Céspedes Cañete is leaving for the International Tertiate in Steyl on June 12. On her way home in September she has an overnight delay on her flight in London so our Sisters from Farnham will pick her up and she will stay with them overnight. Rebecca David is hoping to travel to Africa this summer to meet her family again before entering the pre-novitiate. Dates are still being arranged.
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Province Days and Local Leadership Workshop Immediately preceding Pentecost, May 21-22, about 65 Sisters in the Province came together for our annual Province Day Learnings and Sharings. This year the theme was: The Way of Compassion in Community and Mission. Our keynote speaker for the occasion was Fr. Michael Crosby, a Capuchin Franciscan priest from Milwaukee. Father emphasized the connectedness of all things and that as human persons we are to consciously connect: Christically, cosmically and compassionately. The connectedness of the three Persons in the Trinity is our model. In the Trinity there is no hierarchy. Our relationships are always either emitting negative or positive energy. Relationships are never neutral. Positive energy is shown by respect, affirmation, challenge and correction given with care. This leads to trust and freedom within the community and to collaboration and compassion in all relationships. Father’s input was spaced with personal examples and made for a joy-filled and special celebration. On Pentecost Monday our Local Leaders and those who could stay participated in a day of sharing how we as communities might implement the talks of Fr. Crosby in our community living. We also shared more deeply on implementing participative leadership and also on the financial resources within the Province. At the end of the day the Local Leaders with the PLT shared what they hope to implement with their communities and how we can support one another in our ministry. Our task as communities is always to widen our circle of compassion to embrace the human family, all living creatures and the whole of nature.
For Your Prayerful Remembrance Sr. Marta Chang, SSpS, sister of Sr. Arnolda Chang, who died peacefully in Taiwan on June 1 at 5:30 pm. Sr. Arnolda’s first comment on hearing the news was, “She was ready; now she will pray for us.” Sr. Mary Elsbernd, OSF, who died in late April. She was the niece of Sr. Luke Hemesath. Sr. Mary taught our sisters at the Institute of Pastoral Studies and in the Intercommunity Novitiate Program. She regularly came to Techny to visit her aunt. Now they are both together in heaven. Sr. Mary Antonia Rademacher, who was admitted to Glenbrook Hospital on June 2 with a blood clot in her lungs. Sr. Rene, RSI, Sr. AnnIta Walsh’s sister, who is not doing well. She says it is a struggle for her even to live. Harold Tranel, Sr. Betty’s brother, who is critically ill in Iowa. We also keep in prayer those suffering from the huge oil spill, floodings and other disasters. We keep in prayer the many people who are out of work and those suffering from economic woes. When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us. Alexander Graham Bell
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Illinois 5th Annual Outreach Day against Human Trafficking The Illinois Rescue and Restore’s 5th Annual 2010. Sr. AnnIta Walsh, Sr. Stela Maris Martins, Eva Weisser, Br. Brian McLaughlin and Sr. Rose Therese Nolta hung posters and gave out posters in Northbrook, Northfield and Glenview in businesses, libraries, police stations, etc. This action was organized by Illinois Rescue and Restore Coalition in order to increase public awareness of human trafficking and community involvement in the Illinois’ antitrafficking campaign. This year there were 600 volunteers in Illinois to hang posters detailing information on how to help victims of trafficking and displaying the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline number.
Security, U.S. Africa Policy, Restorative Justice, AFRICOM, Debt Cancellation and others. Sr. Rose Therese and five Rwandans visited Illinois Congressional Offices on Monday, April 19, to advocate for an end to violence against women around the globe and to support free and fair elections in Rwanda.
Sr. Rose Therese and five Rwandan advocates for an end to violence and for free and fair elections.
Jubilee USA
Eva Weisser, MaZ volunteer, Sr. Stela Maris Martins, Sr. AnnIta Walsh, and Sr. Rose Therese Nolta
Africa Faith and Justice Network Conference April 17-19, 2010, Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) held its 2010 annual meeting and conference, entitled "Justice in Africa: On Whose Terms" featuring Fr. Peter Henriot, S.J. as a keynote. Sr. Rose Therese along with nearly 150 gathered in Rosslyn, VA, to share and learn from one another. Some of the workshops included Food
Jubilee USA is an organization that works for debt relief of the poorest nations; the Paraclete Province is a member and participates in activities that try to reduce the poverty in our world today. April 19, Sr. Rose Therese visited the Jubilee USA office and met the staff. One of the members spoke in various places regarding the importance of debt relief for the people. During our Day of Prayer for Immigrants the Sisters made paper chains to ask for debt relief and the reduction of poverty. These paper links will be sent to Jubilee USA who will deliver them to G20 meeting in Toronto, Canada, in June, 2010. At left, Srs. Edel and Adelmara Eisenmenger create paper chains for Jubilee USA.
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Day of Prayer for Immigrants
Immigration Press Conference at Holy Name Cathedral
The SVD-SSpS-SSpSAP Joint Immigration Venture had a Prayer Day for Immigrants at the Holy Spirit Convent at Techny on April 30, 2010. The theme for the day was “Christians at the Border” with van Thanh Nguyen, SVD, who teaches at CTU, giving us two presentations on ‘Immigration in the Old Testament and the Implication for Today’ and ‘Jesus as Sojourner: The Implication for Today’. A panel consisting of Salud Osornio, Mexican, Rebecca David, Sudanese, Nathaniel Nguyen, Vietnamese and Jaroslaw Dabrowski, Polish, shared their own personal immigration stories. We also joined in prayer for immigrants, reflected together and had time to share.
Dozens of religious leaders named comprehensive immigration reform as a moral issue on May 12 during a press conference at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. Rabbis, imams and pastors joined Catholic priests, brothers and sisters to condemn Arizona’s new illegal immigration law which makes it a state crime to lack immigration papers and makes it possible for police to determine whether people they stop are here legally. Sr. Rose Therese was among the Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants present during this event and held a frame around her face to show who could suffer from the recent immigration crackdown.
Fr. vanThanh Nguyen, SVD, presenter
The “faces” of those suffering from immigration laws and practices.
Discussion on the controversial Sudanese Elections The Illinois' Sudanese community partnered with the new Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie for an April 25 discussion of the controversial Sudanese elections. Dr. Isaiah Majok Dau , Bishop of Pentecostal Evangelistic Fellowship of Africa (PEFA) for Nairobi North District, spoke on “Sudan: A Country’s Present and Future.” After the main presentation, Malual Awak, President of the Sudanese Community Association of Illinois, and Gabriel Dut Atem of the Chicago Association for the Lost Boys of Sudan were our discussion guests.
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JPIC SSpS USA
way to make nuclear abolition a reality in our lifetime. The testimonies of many expressed wisdom, and hoped that our hearts would be united with one desire:
May 2010
May, 2010 International Conference for a NuclearFree, Peaceful, Just, and Sustainable World April 30 to May 1, 2010. Riverside Church, New York City,
Disarm now! For peace and human needs. The conference consisted of three plenary sessions and numerous workshops. Many things touched my heart. I would like to share with you the testimony of Yuriko Sadakiyo who is an A-bomb survivor: “It is my desire as well as my obligation, as a miraculous survivor of the Hiroshima A-bomb, to make a world without nuclear weapons. I lost many of my family, relatives, and friends
By Sr. Gladys Smith, SSpS I went to the International Conference with many expectations, and I felt that it enriched my life in many ways. Peace for every one, right now. During these days I met hundreds of people who represented hundreds of international organizations from around the world. All were there to come together to make
by the horrible A-bomb in 1945. I lost many precious people due to the bomb. My voice and action represents those who were snatched suddenly by the bomb. We cannot have a peaceful world without abolishing nuclear weapons. The A-bomb is so cruel that radiation still remains in my body after 65 years and this causes lots of physical problems. I have been operated on many times. I never want anyone else to experience the sorrow and hardships I have had. I want it to be our 7
obligation to pass down a safe and peaceful world to the next generations.”
way to make us more sensitive about Peace as a Human Right.”
In Hiroshima there is a monument on which is inscribed, “We Will Not Repeat the Wrong Any More.” A Japanese panelist related, “When I was a kid, I wondered why the people in Hiroshima said this. I told my mother, ‘It is the American people who should say it.’ My mother replied, ‘All the people of the world, including Japanese and Americans, should keep this in mind.’ I must and want to appeal to you from the bottom of my heart, ‘Abolish nuclear weapons from our world. No nuclear weapons!’ ”
One member from Nigeria said, “We cannot speak about peace, if we do not live peace at home. We must work for Women, Peace and Security.”
This was one of the many testimonies that brought tears to my eyes and challenges me to work for peace.
There are many websites regarding this, for example: info@peacefuboat-us.org - www. AEDIDH.org – www.GVCP.org – www. peacefultomorrows.org On Sunday, May 2, there was an International Day of Action. All members of the conference marched from Times Square to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. During the rally we heard testimonies, sang songs and prayed for peace in our world now.
Representatives from India, Pakistan, Germany, Korea, and France shared what their governments are doing regarding nuclear weapons. Many of them felt concerned because they know that in their countries nuclear weapons are continuing to be developed. o
No more Hiroshima, no more Nagasaki, no more war. Another workshop that touched me was entitled “Peace as a Human Right”. Cora Weiss, one speaker, said that we have declared many human rights, but “Peace as a Human Right” was never declared. We must work for this. The best way is through education -- to teach peace in every school, at every level, and bring it into the curriculum. It is the best
In summary, the testimonies of hundreds of people encouraged and challenged me to work for peace in my heart, in my community, and in the world, Right Now. Peace as a Human Right, Now!
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