How has your life changed since becoming an Associate?

By Dan Heckel, OSUA

In a Nov. 29, 1981, letter to the Ursulines Sisters, Sister Rose Marita O’Bryan – who then served both on the Leadership Council and as chairwoman of the Formation Team – spoke of a “new hope taking shape in our hearts” – the beginning stage of launching an Associate program.

The Formation Team was asked to work on goals and objectives for an Associate program. This is how Sister Rose Marita described the potential program to the Sisters:

“An Associate is a person (man or woman) who wants to be associated with the mission and spirit of the Ursuline Community, who wants to share in the community’s ideals, goals and challenges, but who does not wish to profess canonical vows or promises in the congregation. Associates live their own lifestyle, share communal prayer experiences, community workshops and celebrations, communication, hospitality and work of ministry in some way. The Mount Saint Joseph Ursuline Associate Program is a mutual belonging, individually designed, which can be revised or terminated by mutual agreement.”

In the fall of 1983 – 40 years ago this year – Sister Fran Wilhelm was named the first director of the Associate program. In her first letter to the Sisters on Oct. 24, 1983, Sister Fran said this:

“We hope to keep the program as unstructured as possible, in order to move freely with the Spirit as it takes its own form around the gifts of both the Associates and the MSJ Ursulines. It is open to both men and women who are seeking affiliation with us in any of several levels of involvement.”

The program has been tweaked over the years, as its leadership has transitioned from a handful of Sisters to lay Associates. But the core of being an Associate has never changed – it remains a “mutual belonging … guided by the Holy Spirit.”

As we celebrate 40 years of Ursuline Associates in 2023, perhaps it’s time to push the reset button. As we at Maple Mount have tried to bestir our Associates after the isolation of Covid, some Associates have wondered if they are expected to take on some group service project, or commit to attending more meetings.

We think great things can happen when Associates and Sisters gather, and we know your communities have many needs that our Associates

Angela was active in community

Welcome 2023! Happy New Year! I hope everyone was able to enjoy a safe and relaxing holiday with their loved ones. I hope this year finds everyone in good health and brings much happiness and peace. We begin this year with open hands, big smiles, and new beginnings. Despite all the challenges of the past year, we were able to rise above them and move into a new year.

As you recall, Carol Braden-Clarke, Dan Heckel, and I visited several Associate groups to have a Community Conversation on how we can get involved in our community to better the areas that need change. We had some very interesting conversations and found that most groups are experiencing many of the same situations in their individual communities.

Getting out into their community is what Saint Angela Merici and her daughters did in her time, and they did it in the name of the Company. When each of us goes out and helps anywhere in our community – either individually or as a group –we are doing this as Ursuline Associates of Mount Saint Joseph. This year, we would like to focus on what all Associates have been doing in their community and how being an Ursuline Associate has changed your life.

Thank you all for being such wonderful examples of the charism of Saint Angela Merici.

Doreen Abbott, OSUA Coordinator of Ursuline Partnerships

Associate Update is published four times a year for the Associates of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356-9999

Phone: 270-229-2006 Website: ursulinesmsj.org

Email: associates.msj@maplemount.org

Coordinator of UrsUline PartnershiPs: Doreen Abbott, OSUA direCtor of Mission advanCeMent/CoMMUniCations: Dan Heckel, OSUA

CoMMUniCations sPeCialist/GraPhiC desiGn: Jennifer Kaminski, OSUA direCtor of develoPMent: Carol Braden-Clarke

Mission advanCeMent assistant: Sister Mary McDermott, OSU develoPMent assistant: Sister Amelia Stenger, OSU

Associate Purpose Statement

We, the associates of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, proclaim the Gospel of Jesus through the actions of our everyday lives. We commit ourselves to living the charism of Saint Angela Merici in union with and in support of the Ursuline community of Mount Saint Joseph.

TDear Friends, ake a moment and think about “prisms” and “similes.” Yes, prisms – those transparent, three-dimensional objects that disperse white light into its component parts and create rainbows. And similes – figures of speech involving a comparison like “brave as a lion,” or “courageous as Saint Angela.”

We’ll come back to these later.

In this Update, you’ll be asked to think about how “becoming” an Ursuline Associate might have changed your life. I’d like to reflect a bit on “becoming.”

Back in 1965 when I was 17, I began my college years at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri; an all-girls’ school steeped in traditions of excellence and service. Within my first week, my Christian College “big sister” called me to account. I don’t remember what I had done or hadn’t done, but Sally came into my room, held my gaze, and intoned words that helped change my life: “Remember, Sharon, from now on, wherever you go, whatever you do, you will always be a Christian Cathy. Always.” That was all.

This was not a choice; it was now something I was. I could not say, “Oh, on Wednesday I think I’ll act like a Christian Cathy.” By becoming a Christian College freshman, I became then and forevermore different from what I had been. I could never be just “Sharon,” responsible only to me; I was now part of something larger, and in becoming part of a greater entity I had also expanded who I was.

Over the years there have been similar epiphanies or insights when I understood that an essential component of who I was had been expanded or shaped in a way beyond my conscious control. When I realized that I would always be a Girl Scout, when I knew that I was a Brescia College special educator, when I became an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph – these realizations were accompanied by the knowledge that from that point forward, how I responded to and how I helped shape the world in which I lived must and did reflect their values and character and charism.

Now, here’s where the prism and simile come in. We each have these many facets within ourselves, sometimes visible and nameable, sometimes hidden by our own events and experiences; but like a prism, the facets of who we are can catch and expand the light that surrounds us. I believe we have an option here – we can claim our prismatic selves, enjoying the colorful refractions of our becoming; or we can settle for similes – “acting like.”

May you have many diverse prismatic moments!

Blessings of peace and discovery, Sister Sharon Sullivan, OSU Congregational Leader from front CHANGED could help improve. But those are individual decisions to be made, not an expectation. The fact is, however you choose to serve, you do so as an Ursuline Associate.

Let’s say that again: However you choose to serve, you do so as an Ursuline Associate. You don’t have to wear your “Associate hat” in some official capacity to serve as an Ursuline Associate.

The Ursuline Sisters serve in a myriad of ways –many outside their “official” ministries – but they can’t help but serve as Ursuline Sisters. That is who they are. It’s a part of their identity.

Is being an Ursuline

Associate part of your identity? That is the core question that all Associates need to ask themselves. But here is an easier question that we would like you to answer:

“How has my life changed since I became an Ursuline Associate?” There is no right or wrong answer because each person has their own story, their own journey with the Ursuline Sisters as an Associate.

The late Sister Marietta Wethington used to jokingly refer to a local priest as a “dangerous preacher,” because she said, “his homilies make me want to change my life.” Interacting with deeply spiritual people – both Ursuline

Sisters and Associates – offers us all an opportunity to change our lives for the better. Please take a few moments to think about “how has my life changed since I became an Ursuline Associate?” Then send your response to Doreen Abbott at doreen.abbott@maplemount. org; by phone at 270-229-2006; or by mail to 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356. We’re thankful that you’ve chosen to live your life as an Ursuline Associate. Your responses will not be attributed to you without your permission. They will help guide us into the future as the Ursuline Sisters continue to transform lives.

How has my life changed since I became an Ursuline Associate?

Clip and mail to Doreen Abbott, 8001 Cummings Road, Maple Mount, KY 42356.