November is a time to give thanks for what we have and a time for us to reach out in service to one another.

There are many opportunities to engage in service in and around the Portland area. If you’re interested in finding a place to share your gifts and talents as a volunteer, please send me an email and we’ll set up a time to talk  .

For those of you living at a distance, I’d love to hear how you are engaged in service in your local area.

If you are concerned about the needs of homeless folks you can donate clothing to the Father’s Heart a local agency providing services to homeless men and women in Oregon City. A donation box is set up inside the main entrance to Clark Commons.

Finally, the Archdiocese of Portland has several events related to social action. Here’s the link to find more information:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/142142e258be1586

On November 22nd there will be a walk in support of homeless persons, here is more information:

Friday, November 22: 4th Annual Walk of Awareness for Homelessness

7:00 – 7:30 a.m. Open house and breakfast hosted by Sisters of the Road Café (133 NW 6th Ave, Portland). Breakfast prepared by Sisters staff and members of the homeless community

• 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Walk from Sisters of the Road to Pioneer Courthouse Square.
• 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. Interfaith Convocation on Compassion and Justice at Pioneer Courthouse Square

For more information, contact Paul Schroeder, 503.913.7853  paul@newcityinitiative.net   Flyer

Why You Want To Attend: The Catholic bishops believe decent, safe, and affordable housing is a human right. Catholic teaching supports the right to private property, but recognizes that communities and the government have an obligation to ensure the housing needs of all are met, especially poor and vulnerable people and their families. At a time of rising homelessness and when many workers’ wages are stagnant and living expenses are rising, it is important to ensure housing security.

Blessings,

Carol

Today’s blog was written by Sister Carole Strawn, snjm — University Communications, Thanks Carole!

Today is the day in 1859 when the first Holy Names Sisters arrived in Oregon from Quebec. The Chronicles tell us the Sisters were greeted with rain and the unpaved streets of Portland were rivers of mud. … but they stayed anyway!

Here are other facts of interest about October 21.

Today is also the day of groundbreaking for the “new” college at Marylhurst in 1929. Below is an excerpt from the Sisters Chronicles.

Oct. 21, 1929. The Blessing of the Site for Marylhurst College. 

Excerpted from the Catholic Sentinel: “Monday, October 21, marked the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Sisters in Oregon. This date has always been kept by the Sisters of Oregon as Founders’ Day, and has been set apart for special commemoration. One of the happiest features this year was the blessing of the site and the turning of the ground for the new college buildings at Marylhurst.
The beauty of the spot was enhanced by the glories of the day. To the west, facing the campus, was the lovely wooded hill, rising behind the Pacific Highway; at the right and in the rear, a girdle of trees, rich in their autumn beauty; to the left, half hidden by trees, stood the Provincial House… Not far away, in other blessed ground, rested some of the first missionary Sisters.* Their 7,000-mile journey by land and sea to Oregon’s shores had ended on a day and under circumstances very different from these. The time, twilight, with a bleak, cold rain falling; their destination, along neglected habitation on the margin of the town. The brilliant sunshine of 1929 seemed to typify the earthly success and the heavenly reward which have come to their sacrifices and labors of 1859.

*NOTE: Four of the original 12 Sisters are buried in the Holy Names Cemetery near Villa Maria, so we have a direct connection back to Canada =:)

Today is the Feast of Teresa of Avila.

Teresa was a 16th century Carmelite nun. She wrote several texts on prayer and because of her unique and profound insights she is one of only a few people named as “Doctor” of the Church. This past summer I was lucky enough to take a class on Teresa and John of the Cross. What I learned was both earth shaking and simple.

Teresa teaches people how to pray. Her spirituality is deeply rooted in the Incarnation of Christ. In the book of her life she states:

I am not asking you now that you think about Him

or that you draw out a lot of concepts

or make long and subtle reflections with your intellect.

For who can keep you from turning the eyes of your soul toward this Lord,

even if you do so just for a moment if you can’t do more?

You can look at very ugly things;

won’t you be able to look at the most beautiful thing imaginable? (Way of Perfection, 26.3)

There it is in a nutshell, if you want to pray, look at Jesus.

Often times we use a lot of energy talking about, talking about, prayer. Teresa reminds us that if we wish to pray we just need to put ourselves in the presence of God.

Blessings,

Carol

October is one of my favorite times of the year–as I said in my last post, I really do love Fall.

I  love Fall because it is a time of remembering some of my favorite people — Therese, Teresa, Francis, Mother Rose, Matthew… to name just a few of the Saints we celebrate this month.

I find that some people are confused by the word “saint” because they are under the false impression that we (the Catholic Church) have the ability to turn someone into a saint. Nothing could be further from the truth. What the Church does is identify people who through their lives lived the Gospel of Jesus in profound ways. The Church points these people out as models and inspiration for the rest of us on the journey of faith.

Take Therese for example. She lived at the turn of the 20th century in France. Her life was sheltered; she entered the Carmelite convent at an early age, and died in her early twenties. What makes a woman whose life is so different from mine a role model?  She bore suffering with grace and love. Therese suffered from TB and died a painful death. But, the suffering that I find more significant is her experience with one of the nuns in her convent. Apparently this woman took every opportunity to make life difficult for Therese. She scolded her, publically corrected her, watched her constantly—I think today we might say the woman was a bully.

How did Therese respond? With her “Little Way” which basically means she killed the woman with kindness.  Instead of becoming defensive, avoiding the woman, or appealing to her superiors for help she simple made the decision to always be kind to this nun.  If you have every been in a similar situation you know how difficult that can be; now consider the reality that you will spend the rest of your life living in community with someone who is out to get you. Therese understood that she would never change the woman’s behavior, but she also understood that she could change how she felt about the woman’s behavior by seeing the face of Christ in her. Imagine the discipline, the love, the strength it must have taken to consistently be kind to this nun, and the grace it must have taken for Therese to see in her the presence of Christ.

When I ponder the life of Therese I am always reminded that I can do better. I can learn to love the difficult people in my life. I can learn to be less difficult to the people in my life.

Blessings,

Carol

Okay, I confess, I’m a true Oregonian. That said I’m one of those people who gets cranky if we have too many sunny days in a row. For me, Fall is always a relief, a time to slow down, a time to look inward rather than outward. How can this be you ask? Doesn’t school start in the fall?

Fall is a bit of a paradox in that it is one of the busiest times of the year as well as the time of year when I feel called to slow down and embrace my prayer life more fully. It doesn’t matter how busy I am, this is the time of year when I feel drawn to prayer. 

When I make time for prayer, to be with God in an intentional way (as we are always with God) I find that I actually do have more time for all the business of Fall. I think maybe prayer grounds me, centers me, helps me to focus my energies so that when I am working at my desk I actually do get more done.

Fall, the beauty of the trees as they begin to turn, the comforting sound of rain on the roof, the wonderful soups and breads that we create with the bounty of the harvest…a time of sensory delight. Oh, and did I mention the light is softer than during the height of summer.

Fall is also the time for some of my favorite Saints:  Francis, Teresa, Theresa, Marie Rose Durocher, the Guardian angels, St. Matthew, to name just a few. So take some time to listen to their wisdom even as you find your days filling with many worthy tasks.

Blessings,

Carol

Creator of the universe, of all that is beautiful and good, help each of us to create deep within our being an inner space, a place:

Where the work we do will not overshadow why we do it

Where we can spend a few minutes in quiet each day, gaining the courage to continue

Where we can look at ourselves—who we are, what we are doing, how we are doing it

Where we can stop and evaluate what the world is asking of us, what we are asking of the world

Were we can re-affirm those values by which we live

Where we can remember that the love and warmth and compassion which are deep-rooted in each of us should reach the surface of our lives and spill over into the lives of those we touch each day.

Grant to each of us the honesty to do what is right and just, the courage to take a stand when necessary, the strength to face the problems of each day and the gentleness to handle them with care—so that it may be said of each of us as was said by the psalmist of old:

“Surely, goodness and kindness have followed them, all the days of their lives.”

Sister Joanne Glavin, SNJM, 1983

This summer I’ve been working on a project for my Doctor of Ministry degree. The project is called, “Walking and Talking with Holy Partners”

The purpose of the project is to see how hearing and reflecting on the narratives of men and women who are perceived to be “holy” might impact our own spiritual narrative.  The process has been amazing as each time I present a session I find myself going deeper into the material. So far we’ve explored:  Desmund Tutu and Mother Teresa; Benedict and Scholastic; Francis and Clare; and Martin de Poress and Rose of Lima.

While I may not understand everything about these folks, I am noticing that as I consider their stories I am coming to see more clearly God’s action in my life. One of the temptations for me, as an educator, is to get into the head stuff – but the heart of my program is not about knowledge it is about story and practices.  So I invite the participants to engage some of the practices of the holy partners. I offer for your late summer consideration a few of the practices we’ve explored:

• Reconciliation and forgivenss
• Joy
• Formal prayer such as:  Mass, the Divine Office, the Rosary
• Spending time reading the “scripture” of nature
• Fasting
• Hospitality
• Mindfulness
• Journal writing
• Use of the imagination
• Service
• Silent Meditation

Of course this list is not all inclusive, nor are the holy partners the “inventors” of any of the above practices. I do believe that every now and then we need to stretch our spiritual life a bit and try something new, something which may at first feel uncomfortable. If you’re interested in learning more about spiritual practices you might consider reading Soul Feast written by Marjorie Thompson. She provides a clear, simple, and solid overview of many of the above practices and a few others as well.

Enjoy!

Carol

I just finished five days of meetings with 350 of my closest friends — sisters and associates of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. I find myself reflecting on community — what is it? How do we recognize it? How can we make it stronger?

As Christians we speak of the Holy Trinity — God as three persons; yet one.  I’m not even going to try to explain the Trinity;  I think it is enough to say it is a mystery. The reason I even mention Trinity is because we do know that as a trinity of three persons God is relational. Have you ever reflected on the love that God has for God?  Many great teachers throughout our history have talked about this love and how it is so powerful it overflows from the heart of God into God’s creation — which includes us!

Now take a moment to remember that we, human persons, are made in the image and likeness of God. If this is true then we are in fact mirrors which reflect God. If God is all about relationship and love are we too not also about relationship and love?

What does this mean for community? Our very faith tells us that we need each other. To be Christian means we are called to engage in community with one another. So, ponder your communities – do you participate in a faith community? If not, do you have others who support you in your faith journey? If not, I encourage you to consider finding community to support and challenge you as you walk in the footprints of Jesus.

Carol

May you treasure wisely this jeweled, gilded time

And cherish each day as an extra grace

Whose heedless loss would be a tragic crime

In today’s tasks may you find God’s tender face

May you know that to miss love’s smallest chance

Is a lost opportunity, a senseless waste

May you see need in every anxious glance

May you sort out of the dull and common place

An invitation to God’s merry, manic dance

And may the Lord of the Dance bless you

As he invites you to the dance of the hallowed present.

~Andrew M. Greely, A book of Irish American Blessings and Prayers

The end of May brings us to Memorial Day, a day we remember the men and women who sacrificed life for the sake of our freedom.

Sacrifice is not a popular word or concept these days, but sacrifice is what we do for those we love and for the ideals we love. I think all of us make sacrifices each and every day. The question is do our sacrifices have meaning? Some examples are obvious, the sacrifices parents make for the sake of their children or the sacrifices a student makes to earn his or her degree.  But what about those times when it is not clear to us that our sacrifice serves any greater purpose?

I think most religious traditions tell us that the small stuff does matter. I know in Christianity we have hope that in the end God will make all creation new. We also believe that we are called to be co-creators of this new creation. Each of us has a small part to play in bringing forth God’s justice and peace. The small choices, those little sacrifices, may not seem like much — but what if no one bothered to take the time for small acts of service and kindness?

It is my hope that we always remember the sacrifices made by all who have died for our freedom. It seems to me that one of the best ways for us to remember them is to follow in their footprints. I don’t mean we all need to join the military, but I think we do all need to become more aware of the little ways we can help others.  When we sacrifice we honor those who died and we offer our small contribution to the work of God.

Carol