A Love that Never Says Enough

Perpetual Vows, July 30, 2011

2011-08-25T19:59:00.000-05:00

On July 30,2011 I was finally able to say yes to God forever. My journey with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament took a little over 13 years. I met the IWBS Sisters when I was 19 years old, rather insecure and frightened when contemplating such a big plan of God for my life.

My years of formation were long but blessed. There were many moments when I doubted that I had what it takes to be a Sister of the Incarnate Word, but I never, ever doubted that God wanted me. I just doubted my ability. God, however, carried me through, and on July 30, I responded to God: "Yes, I want to be yours forever!"

It is amazing how I have changed through the years. I started this blog as a postulant and I have journeyed through postulancy, novitiate, temporary and now final vows.

A dear friend of mine once asked me: "How is your life going to change?" And many times I have not been able to answer, but I think that this time I have my response:

Jeanne Chezard de Matel, our foundress, once heard from Jesus and recorded it in her journal: "I have made you a crystal, but remember that you are as fragile as glass. You make me known because your childlike simplicity renders you transparent. I reveal myself through you like a mirror. You have seen how I have placed you like a crystal vase upon the altar...your should be a transparent crystal wherein I wish to dwell. " (Complete Works 1, Autobiography, p.401)

I want to become a crystal vase. That my life may be so transparent that others may see Christ and not me. That I may be a place where Christ

chooses to dwell.

May my life be an extension of the Incarnation so that I may become, like thousands of others before me, an authentic Gospel of Love.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

How to translate a medical document and babysit at the same time?

2011-07-19T18:25:00.008-05:00

Help a 7 year old make a pillow and let her stuff it for the longest time. When done, close stitch it for her.

Then, teach her how to make a scarf with a wonderful michael's device called the knitting loom....let her do it and then undue it until she gets it right while you translate.

When done, sign the documents and have them ready at about the same time that your charge is picked up.

Voila!

Holy Thursday

2011-04-21T13:32:00.006-05:00

I made bread today for Holy Thursday's supper at home. I tried a new recipe and prayed...and it worked.

Here are the ingredients if anyone is interested:

ITALIAN CHEESE BREAD RING

Bread:
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of yeast
1 cup pf milk
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of butter
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Filling:
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 softened butter

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

Brothers and Sisters:

I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,

that the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was handed over,

took bread, and, after he had given thanks,

broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.

Do this in memory of me."...for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup

you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes.

This reading always humbles me, that Jesus is concerned about his disciples. That he doesn't want to leave them alone. And so, on his last day with them, he feeds them ad washes their feet. How humbling. Because sometimes, when everything piles up, when I feel that I can no longer keep on going, I feel like hiding, like running away, and I forget those I love, at least for that moment.

But Jesus reminds me to be a servant, to be a good teacher, to keep on giving until I have nothing else. Our foundress, Jeanne Chezard de Matel said that we should love with a love that never says enough. I will pray these days for the strenght to become like the one I love.

Happy Triduum. May these holiest of days allow you to be transformed so that like Jesus, we can give ourselves to others unconditionally, to become one with others.

May all of us become Eucharist. That is my prayer.

Happy Easter.

Mi bicicleta Olivia

2010-10-07T17:34:00.007-05:00

Esta es mi bicicleta Olivia. Olivia nacio en Nottingham, Inglatera mas o menos en los sesentas. No estoy segura cuando exactamente.

Olivia me lleva a trabajar fielmente. Le gusta pasar por el parquecito camino a la academia San Jose. Le gusta ir porque le caen bien mis alumnos. En las mananas, cundo los alumnos llegan, la saludan haciendo sonar su claxon y Olivia se rie y su risa suena ring-ring.

A Olivia le gusta visitar un taller de bicicletas en Mexico. No es como el taller de bicicltas de aqui. No, este taller tiene personalidad. Las bicicletas que Olivia ha conocido tienen mas o menos su edad y puede platicar de cosas de su epoca.

Este taller tiene accesorios que le gustan a Olivia, y yo se los compro porque no son muy caros. Los del taller de aqui no pueden comprarse, etonces la consiento cuando vamos de visita. Y me agradece con su voz de ring- ring.

En ese taller conoci al dueno. Un Senor, ya grande, pero con mucho amor por las bicicletas. Sobre todo la bicicleta popular, la del pueblo. A Olivia y a mi nos da gusto que existan talleres como esos donde bicicletas antiguas y cansadas puedan renovarse y sentirse bellas de nuevo.

A mi tambien me gusta ver como las bicicletas se renuevan. Me gusta ver a la gente del puebo. Me gusta escuchar las historias de la gente. Del numero de kilometros que viajan todos los dias para llegar a su trabajo. Y cargando tuvos y herramientas para su trabajo. Esas parrillas que venden en ese taller pueden sostener un elefante!

En fin, con gusto presentamos, Olivia y yo, al Taller de Bicicletas Royal. Ella y yo somos clientes especiales. Gracias, Mexico. (Olivia dice ring- ring)

Flooding in Mexico

2010-09-24T11:03:00.007-05:00

There has been a lot of rain in the area these last days. Last Sunday I went to the Mexican side to visit relatives. On the way back, trying to come home, the rain stopped me. I didn't mind getting wet, but no car could go through that amount of water.

There's over one thousand people homeless. The water has gone down but their houses are ruined, there's mud and mosquitoes.

Please pray for the people in Mexico and for an end to violence along the border towns.

Bread for the Journey

2010-08-17T12:53:00.017-05:00

Give us this day our daily bread...Mark 6:11

Just like the Jews waited for the manna in the desert, as Christians we know that our heavely Father will provide for our needs. "Look at the birds of the sky, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? "Mt 6:26

Making bread has become a passion of mine. It was in my bucket list. The first attemps were succesful, others were not. I performed a reversed miracle, I turned the bread into stone! Those failures taught me a few things, especially that I must be patient and that I must have the right intention. Too soft kneading, to much kneading, no, just the right kind of kneading.

The dough has been kind to me. It has shown me that if I work at it, if I intend to use it to feed people, it will show me how to get it right. In bread making the right touch is important. The right intention is too. The bread that one buys at the store, for example, never tastes as good as home made bread.

The art of bread making is ancient. The Jews for examplemake bread without yeast in remembrance of the years in the desert. Bread is important in almost every culture. There is something to say for bread that feeds the body and the soul. This is the Bread that nourishes me, it expands in my soul the way yeast expands in the flour. But yet yeast without flour is no good. I have the bread, I need the hunger.

When I make bread I pray for the people that will be eating it. It becomes a meditartion as I slowly and carefully knead the dough. I especially enjoy making bread for the Agape meal in Holy Week.

I love all the biblical images in the bible about bread. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." Mt 13:33

The pictures of this bread show a bread I make, I do not know what to call it. It is a sweet yeast bread filled with apples, raisins, nuts and other things. It was good. But there is an even better bread. The Bread of Life.

As Sisters of the Incarnate Word daily Eucharist is a must. We have the privilege the receive the bread of life everyday. That is the Bread that fills us. The Bread that sustains our life as Religious.

We ask God everyday, "give us this day our daily bread" but, are we becoming bread ourselves?

Oblate Trail Ride

2010-05-15T17:26:00.006-05:00

The Oblate Trail Ride is a bicycle tour that follows along Military Highway in Brownsville. This is the area that the Oblates of Mary Immaculate traveled by horseback more than 100 years ago in order to provide spiritual and material help to the remote communities of the Rio Grande Valley.

There were 12, 25, 50, 62.5 and 115 miles. I only biked to the 12 mile stop. It was fun...and a bit painful since I am not a sports bike rider, I only ride to work and back. However, there was something beautiful happening inside me. At some point I was so tired (since I rode my princess bike, not really made for long rides) and I prayed. I said to those holy men "Come on Brother Oblates, you know what a sore butt feels like, help a Sister!" And I felt a surge of energy that allowed me to continue to mile 12.

The route was so long that I couldn't believe the Oblates traveled it by horseback in order to celebrate Mass. Those were holy men of God with hearts of gold. May God continue to bless the Oblates and may he grant them many vocations.

After this route I promised myself to go biking along that route more often. And next year, if I can get a hold of a road bike, the other cyclist will know that God is on my side (God is always here, they just couldn't tell because they went zoom! and were gone.) Seriously, I ate their dust. So, hopefully next year I will go to mile 50.
It was fun. God bless the Oblates!

Spring in Texas

2010-04-12T20:17:00.006-05:00

My beautiful nieces, Frida and Fatima

Wild flowers on the side of the road from Corpus Christi to Brownsville, TX.

still living

2010-04-12T20:05:00.003-05:00

I am still living. It's been so long since I updated this that I had no idea how to log in.

I' still here, still a Sister of the Incarnate Word. This is my second year as a temporary profesed Sister. I am ministering in Brownsville, Texas. I live in the convent here which is actually the craddle of the Order in America. It also happens to be my hometown.

This year I'm teaching Senior Religion at St. Joseph's Academy, a Marist school. We are a few weeks from graduation. 44 days to be exact. I'm really looking forward to attending graduation with my students. I'll be there, cheering them and praying for them.

At the end of May I clean my classroom and head to San Antonio, Texas to continue work on my MA in Theology. I love San Antonio, it's full of beautiful churches and most especially Vietnamese food, right across from the University!

I hope you had a beautiful Easter. More later.

US Bishops meeting in San Antonio, TX

2009-06-19T17:40:00.004-05:00

Express-News

To some Catholics, U.S. bishops have chartered the correct course by focusing on liturgical matters at their three-day spring meeting, which begins today in San Antonio.

More than 150 bishops from across the nation will fine-tune the English translation of the Mass to conform more closely to its Latin original. They'll seek more effective ways to spread their stated-but-little-known ministry goals. And they'll approve a new Mass of Thanksgiving.
But to others, the bishops' agenda is off base and might add to their perceived ineffectual leadership in dealing with the foremost Catholic university.

About 80 of roughly 200 bishops condemned Notre Dame University for having President Barack Obama speak and receive an honorary degree at its May graduation. The bishops' conference has a policy against Catholic institutions rewarding or giving a platform to politicians who support abortion rights.

Informally, Notre Dame's decision to ignore bishops' warnings and let Obama speak is sure to come up among the bishops. But devising a united response to it — and more broadly whether the U.S. Catholic Church should cut ties with Obama in protest or work with him on common-ground issues — is not on the agenda.

Supporters and critics closely watch the bishops' meetings for clues about the future of the church and its 68 million members in the United States. For the event's host, San Antonio Archbishop José Gomez, the liturgy rightly is at the top of the list.

“We are teachers of the faith, so it makes sense that we give a lot of attention and time to the liturgy,” he said. “The biggest challenge we have is that Catholics do not know the Catholic faith. They know it, but not as much as they need.”

Masses in contemporary, spoken languages were permitted — and translated from the original Latin — after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

The English-language Mass was published in 1973, according to the conference, and has been memorized by two generations of English-speaking Catholics in America.

In 2001, the Vatican called on all bishops to review those translations for accuracy, and the revisions are expected to be released next year after some promised training. Some worry the change will cause confusion. Others say it'll clarify meaning lost in the first translation to English.
The whole effort epitomizes the widening gap between bishops and lay Catholics, a majority of whom voted for Obama and would rather have bishops' insight about him, said Father Tom Reese, senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and former editor of America, a Catholic news magazine.

“Why the bishops are running toward the cliff is just, I find, incredible. People have finally gotten these things memorized and now they're going to change them?” he said.
For Russell Shaw, former spokesman for the conference, the bishops must openly weigh in on Notre Dame.

That about 110 bishops were mute has created a leadership vacuum, said Shaw, author of “Nothing to Hide: Secrecy, Communication and Communion in the Catholic Church.”
“Bishops are reluctant to crack down, and so they have moved slowly,” he said. “But they now confront a direct and highly visible challenge to their authority by the most highly visible Catholic university in the country. If they let that pass, it's going to gravely diminish their authority.”

Gomez said bishops should act individually concerning a Catholic institution and praised Bishop John D'Arcy, whose diocese encompasses Notre Dame in Indiana, for doing so. Gomez did the same last year in calling out San Antonio's St. Mary's University for allowing then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, an abortion rights supporter, to hold a campaign rally on campus.
The universities defended hosting the speakers as exemplifying academic freedom.

The Notre Dame issue “is already past, and I don't know what else we can do,” Gomez said. “I think what we are trying to promote is communication and collaboration with Catholic

universities. We support Catholic universities, but they need to be more aware that they need to work with us. It's surprising that some of them don't really work with us in a closer way.”

I am still living

2009-06-12T10:20:00.004-05:00

Thank you to those who wrote me a personal e-mail. I'm glad that sharing a bit of my journey has helped some.

I have been busy with ministry, formation, studies, prayer. I find that the longer I'm here, the more my responsibilities increase.

Right now I am in San Antonio, Texas, continuing studies for my MA in Theology. Right now I am taking Liturgy and Christology. The amount of reading is incredible. I daydream about the day when I can sleep and read some poetry.

These weeks, I am staying with our Sister community, another group of IWBS sisters from Victoria, Texas, stationed in San Antonio. I live down the street from the missions. I attend Mass every day at San Jose Mission Church This Mission was founded in 1720, I believe. (by the way, the picture is not mine, I found it online, credit goes to Hadassah28 from Flickr.)

The city is incrediby beautiful, and these days incredibly hot. I miss my sisters and I miss the bay's breeze.

Among other news, next year I will be teaching in Brownsville, TX. I had been teaching Montessori (3-6 year olds) this past year. Next year I will be teaching High school kids again. I am excited because Brownsville in my hometown, the place where my parents and siblings live and where my Alma Mater is found. I love Texas!

¡Que viva Tejas!

2009-01-14T19:16:00.003-06:00

It's been such a long time that it is hard to know where I left off. First of all, I want to wish everyone the sweetest, holiest year of your lives.

I have been busy with teaching. I am also finishing up a Montessori certification while also taking a history class at a local college (to keep up my Texas teaching certification.) I am also in formation. This is my first year in the scholasticate.

I have a lot going on, and I find that I am no longer able to keep a blog. My life is full with God, community life, ministry and studies.

Thank you for coming to visit and for writing and sharing with me/us. I will continue to pray for all of us.

If God is calling you, listen carefully...

Praised be the incarnate Word!

The Ladybug Nun, Halloween and the Dia de los Muertos

2008-10-31T16:07:00.007-05:00

Today is Halloween...costumes filled my day. Putting wings back on, readjusting zippers, hats, helmets, halos and crowns. I am tired!

But it was a beautiful day. The kids were so excited. They love costume day!

I made my costume right there in the classroom, as the children were doing show and tell. As I was there with my kids, I couldn't help but think of the markets in Mexico where the merchants are offer the things needed to prepare for the altar for the Day of the Dead.

In Mexico, this is more than a christian festivity, it is a celebration where the prehispanic culture meets with the catholic religion. This is where the Mexican people kept their ancestral traditions alive.

It is in this tradition where the sorrow of having lost a dear one looses itself in a colorful fiesta filled with delicious aromas and prayers of the faithful.

This festivity is divided in two parts, the first one being All Saints Day (Nov. 1) and the second one being The Day of the Dead (Nov. 2)

On All Saints Day we celebrate the lives of people who lived exemplary lives as well as the lives of children who died young (little angels.) This is a small celebration compared with Novemeber 2. People build altars to the Saints inside churches and many families build altars to thei rdeparted children either at home or at the cementery. The altars are adorned with colorful paper, flowers (marigolds) and they place toys, dolls, candy for their children.

On November 2 many families take flowers to the gravesites, but many others still celebrate the ritual of buiding an altar. The whole family participates and it takes a long time to build. Some of these altars are truly works of art. In some families it is just a very simple altar placed on a table where they put a picture of their deceased relative and it is adorned with flowers and the belongings of the departed one.

The altars built according to the tradition have seven steps that represents the seven levels that the soul has to go through in order to be able to truly rest. This altar is built in a room spacious enough to hold the altar and the whole family. A day before the altar is built the room is swept with aromatic herbs.

This is what the steps contain.

1-The deceased person's favorite Saint or Virgin.

2- This is reserved for the souls in purgatory.

3-This is reserved for the souls of children in purgatory.

4-This is where the family places the "pan de muerto" a special bread made only for this day, adorned with red sugar. it is recomended that the bread is made by the family of the deceased person.

5-This is for the deceased person's favorite food and fruit.

6- This is where the picture of the deceased person goes.

7-This is where the cross of a rosary is made of limes and tejocotes (a yellow fruit like a plum found in Mexico)

The offerings placed at the latar are the following:

Four candles pointing to the four cardinal points. On the side of the altar a pot of clay is placed containing aromatic herbs.

The altar must be decorated with yellow and purple paper reprersenting the union between life and death. "Papel picado" representing the joy of living. (Papel picado is the national art of folding and cutting paper, see picture)

Flowers in white, yellow and purple representing heaven, earth and mourning.

Candles representing the ascension of the soul They also represent light, the guide in the way to heaven.

White cloth representing purity and heaven.

An easter candle representing the soul.

Incense symbolizing the crossing from life to death.

Corn representing the aboundance of the earth.

Fruit representing the gift of nature. It is generally sugar cane, oranges, tejocotes and jicamas.

Sugar skulls (a prehispanic tradition)

Water which gives life and energy for the journey)

The deceased personas favorite dishes.

A crucifix to represent the person's unity with Christ.

A cross made of calcium lime simbolyzing the four cardinal points.

Salt so that the body does not get corrupted.

A way made of marigold petals from the front door of the house to the altar, to guide the soul of the deceased person.

A branch stick to free the person from the demon and evil spirits.

Personal objects belonging to the deceased person.

***********************************************************

This is a colorful tradition in Mexico and in everyplace of the Mexican Republic it is different. If you do a quick search you can find pictures and more information on it.

As a disclaimer: please do not e-mail me to tell me this is the work of the devil. Save yourself some time. This a cultural tradition where people pray and remember their loved ones...

Awaiting New Member!

2008-10-18T20:17:00.005-05:00

I am excited to announce the upcoming entrance to religious life of Ms. Agueda Oviedo from Donna, Texas.

Agueda will start the pre-postulancy with us on November 07, 2008. The entrance ceremony will be held at our chapel here in the Motherhouse followed by Vespers.

Please pray for Agueda as she prepares these days to embrace the Incarnate Word and begin her journey to becoming a Sister of the Incarnate Word.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Visit our new website

2008-09-20T20:37:00.002-05:00

Again, it's been a while since I updated, but I had a reason this time...We had been busy working on the last details of our website which went up today!

Please visit us at www.iwbscc.org

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Be doers of the word and not hearers only.. ---James 1: 22

2008-09-07T10:35:00.002-05:00

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds…
Deuteronomy 11:18

It’s almost a month since my First Profession of Vows. It’s been tough finding the balance between work and prayer, not because of the time issue but because it’s been a difficult transition. School started right away, I only had one day to prepare, well not really because on Sunday I still had family and friends here. So, Monday came and I found myself in a classroom full of three, four and five year olds, a couple of criers and a screaming little darling.

I told the aide, I’m coming right back. I went home (right next to the school) and got my guitar. Back in the classroom I sang to them and they sang with me. It calmed them down. Every kid, and I mean, EVERY kid likes twinkle, twinkle little star. Thank you Lord, for music!

The following days were better, but I went right into work, not having time to write thank you notes, to figure out where I was and what I was doing. It’s all been happening too fast…whatever is happening.

Just this past week, I began to calm down, to figure out where I am and to breathe in between. I have been missing the time I had in the novitiate for prayer and more prayer. But I have been praying, very early in the morning and when I come back from school, then late at night. I mostly pray that God will speed up the “settling” process.

I have been trying to reflect on what it means to be a consecrated woman. When I first became a novice my Spiritual Director asked me: “How is your life going to change now?” and now, as a temporary professed, “How is my life going to change?”

I have been thinking, reflecting on the mission of our congregation which is “to adore and to proclaim the Incarnate Word.” Our spirit calls us in a special way to represent the Incarnate Word before the world as perfectly as possible. How am I growing there? How am I deepening my commitment? How does that translate into my life? What I do, say, think, feel?

And then this morning I read this phrase from Thomas Merton:

“Contemplation is the response to a call: a call from Him who has no voice, and yet Who speaks in everything that is, and Who, most of all, speaks in the depths of our own being: for we ourselves are words of His. But we are words that are meant to respond to Him, to answer to Him, to echo Him, and even in some way to contain Him and signify Him."

We ourselves are words of his. That is very profound.

In today’s reading, God warns Ezekiel against not speaking up, not being a word of God. The Gospel talks about the same thing, speak up, be a word of reconciliation, a word of God. The problem is that it is hard to be the person who points the finger. No one likes tattlers! It is so much easier to be a consoler, to be a word of love. And yet, we can not fashion a God according to our needs. God just is!

Thomas Merton says:

We ourselves become His echo and His answer. It is as if in creating us God asked a question, and in awakening us to contemplation He answered the question so that the contemplative is at the same time question and answer.

This life isn’t always easy. But I feel that in the midst of the unsettledness God is calling me to grow, to stretch some more. Please continue to pray for me, that God will give me the grace to be a true “extension of the Incarnation.”

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Profession Pictures

2008-08-16T14:11:00.012-05:00

Sr. Michelle Marie: Sister Mary Helga, what do you ask of God and of God’s Church?

Sr. Mary Helga: I ask to be incorporated into the religious community of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament through the profession of the public vows of celibate chastity, poverty, and obedience. I pray for the grace of perseverance in dedicating my life, through the vows, to the formation of a community of worship and service centered in the Person of the Incarnate Word.

Sr. Michelle Marie: Why do you wish to take this step?

Sr. Mary Helga: In Baptism I have been called to participate in the life and mission of Christ. I wish to respond to the call as a vowed member of this religious community committed to bringing about “a Christian wholeness in each person and Christian unity among all.”

Sr. Michelle Marie: (addressing the religious community)

Sisters, are you willing to incorporate Sister Helga into our community as a Sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament?

Sisters: yes, we rejoice in God’s election of Sister Mary Helga, and we pray that together we may participate ever more effectively in the mission of Christ. May our community be an increasingly clear sign of the Reign of God yet to come.

Presider: The Church of Corpus Christi also rejoices in this new strengthening of one of her religious communities and sees it as a manifestation of God’s love and goodness. May the sign of your community be a continuing inspiration to all who witness your life together.

Sr. Michelle Marie: Sr. Helga, may God grant you the grace to fulfill what you desire.

All: Amen.

(The assembly stood while the choir sang Psalm 115 and all the sisters came to greet me and welcome me.

How can I repay You, o God, for your goodness to me?

What can I say? I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for all of God's goodness to me. It seems like a long time ago that I was 21 years old and discerning. I had no idea that God was going to give me so much more than what I left behind.

I had been waiting to write, to share with you this joy, this wonderful thing in my life, but I can not. I do not have the words to express this feeling, this "knowing with the heart." So, I will keep it and ponder these things in my heart.

Please continue to pray for me as I start this new stage of formation.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Now and forever. Amen!

New, more literal English translation of Order of the Mass approved by Holy See

2008-07-31T08:30:00.001-05:00

Washington DC, Jul 29, 2008 / 11:20 am (CNA).- The Holy See’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has approved the new English-language translation of the Order of the Mass submitted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The Order of the Mass, which is the first section of the translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal, includes most of the texts used in every celebration of the Mass, including the responses given by the people.

The new translation is more literal at times. For instance, the first line of the Sanctus, which follows the Consecration, reads “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts,” instead of “God of power and might.”

The people’s response at the Ecce Agnus Dei (Behold the Lamb of God) is to be “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed,” which more closely follows the Scripture passage on which it is based.

The response “et cum spiritu tuo,” previously translated as “also with you,” is now translated as “and with your spirit,” while the Confiteor (Penitential Rite) now includes the text “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.”

A letter from Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said the text is provided now so that there is enough time “for the pastoral preparation of priests, deacons and for appropriate catechesis of the lay faithful. It will likewise facilitate the devising of musical settings for parts of the Mass.”

The new text is covered under copyright law and the Statutes of the International Commission on English and the Liturgy.

The release date of the entire translation of the Roman Missal is not yet available, and liturgists contacted by CNA were hesitant to comment on the new translations until the U.S. Bishops’ Conference offers its explanation, which is expected sometime in early August.

The new translation is meant to give Catholics a greater awareness of the transcendent nature of the Mass, to elevate the language with which worship is offered to God and to more accurately reflect the original Latin prayers.

Bishop Arthur Sarretelli, who chairs the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, recently described the purpose of the changes, writing, “By the very fact that, in some instances, the new translations require thoughtful and careful attention to pauses when speaking helps to foster and create a less rushed and more reverent way of praying.”

He added that, “Liturgical language should border on the poetic. Prose bumps along the ground. Poetry soars to the heavens. And our Liturgy is already a sharing of the Liturgy in heaven.”

From Catholic News Agency

New English translation for Mass

2008-07-28T08:43:00.003-05:00

I read in the news today that the Vatican has approved a new English translation for the central prayers of the Mass in the United States. It also says that it will not to be used inmediately since the US Bishops are directed to begin pastoral preparations for the changes in the language of the Mass.

I like this alot since all of these changes will make the English Mass a lot closer to the Spanish Mass. I supppose it was a lot easier to translate the Latin into Spanish than into English.

The changes will be:

At the Consecration, the priest will refer to Christ's blood which is "poured out for you and for many"-- an accurate translation of pro multis-- rather than "for all" in the current translation.

In the Nicene Creed the opening word, Credo, will be correctly translated as "I believe" rather than "we believe."

When the priest says, "The Lord be with you," the faithful respond, "And with your spirit," rather than simply, "And also with you."

In the Eucharistic prayer, references to the Church will use the pronouns "she" and "her" rather than "it."

In the Agnus Dei, the text cites the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world," rather than using the singular word "sin."

In the preferred form of the penitential rite, the faithful will acknowledge that they have sinned "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." In this part of the Mass in Spanish, the faithful touch their heart three times with a closed fist...as a sign of regret...

Throughout the translation of the Offertory and Eucharistic Prayer, the traditional phrases of supplication are restored, and the Church is identified as "holy"-- in each case, matching the Latin original of the Roman Missal.

I wonder how long it will take for the changes to be used, but I am looking forward to it.

To read full article click here

Dolly Aproaches

2008-07-23T11:19:00.006-05:00

UPDATE:

The strong winds cut our beloved pear tree in half. No more pear harvesting in the fall...

There was a small tornado near Incarnate Word ranch in San Patricio County, but other than knocking down an empty trailer house there was no other damage.

Please help me pray this prayer or any other prayer. Hurricane Dolly approaches the South of Texas, where my parents live. We are getting plenty of rain and winds in Corpus Christi, but Brownsville and Matamoros are getting the worst of it.

Prayer for Hurricane Season

O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster. During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.

Originally dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Audrey in 1957.
- Fr. Al Volpe, Cameron Parish, LA

Here's some more infromation from the National Hurricane Center

About becoming living altars....

2008-07-22T12:41:00.005-05:00

As I sit here, reading the homily of Pope Benedict, on the occasion of the dedication of the new altar at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney during the EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION WITH BISHOPS, SEMINARIANS AND NOVICES, I can't help but be so touched. There are s many beautiful words there that this post would not be enough to express it.

First of all, I loved the image us "being set apart for Christ " like an altar. Because although many religious claim that they are just like anybody else, and try to be like anybody else, the truth is that by our calling, we have been set apart to be the hands and feet of Christ. Pope Benedict is right in saying that
"In the name of human freedom and autonomy, God’s name is passed over in silence, religion is reduced to private devotion, and faith is shunned in the public square." I, by choosing a clearly identifiable outer sign of my vocation, tell the world that I have been set apart for Christ. It isn't always easy. Sometimes people treat me differently, sometimes they want to pay for my stuff, or expect me to have an answer for every single thing in life...yet, I know that people need God. It is God they see, not me!

"We too can be tempted to make the life of faith a matter of mere sentiment...I do not want my life to be mere sentiment, therefore I have chosen the best part. But I know it doesn't stop there, or with my profession...I know it requires a constant conversion. As the Pope says: It is in this truth – this mystery of faith – that we have been “consecrated” (cf. Jn 17:17-19), and it is in this truth that we are called to grow, with the help of God’s grace, in daily fidelity to his word, within the life-giving communion of the Church. Yet how difficult is this path of consecration! It demands continual “conversion”, a sacrificial death to self which is the condition for belonging fully to God, a change of mind and heart which brings true freedom and a new breadth of vision. Sometimes people think that we pray all the time, or that things work out all right every time. They do not! Religious life is hard. If only it was about donning a habit and singing "The hills are alive..." but it isn't. Sometimes the hardest part is the everyday, realizing that the life, although prophetic is not grandiose, sometimes the sacrifice is staying behind curtains, dying to self and all it entails...not putting on the beautiful habit that will turn heads, being the last...

Then our Pope courageously spoke to the victims of abuse. He called the sin by it's name and acknowledged the pain it has caused in many people, especially the young, the future of our Church. I applaud the Pope for addressing this because it is the only way our Church and the victims will heal. I can sense that the young will transform the Church. I mean, just look at how many people came from every corner of the world. How many seminarians and young religious Sisters and Brothers are giving their lives to God. Our Church has a brilliant future.

The Pope tells us: Do not be afraid! Believe in the light! Take to heart the truth which we have heard in today’s second reading: “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and for ever” (Heb 13:8). The light of Easter continues to dispel the darkness! And he also calls us to walk in the light daily through fidelity to personal and liturgical prayer, nourished by meditation on the inspired word of God. I know that it is not easy, but that prayer and the nourishment I receive through the daily partaking of the Eucharist builds me up, prepares me and disposes me for a life of conversion, a life where I can be an extension of the Incarnation or as the Pope puts it to become living altars, where Christ’s sacrificial love is made present as an inspiration and a source of spiritual nourishment to everyone you meet.

So, I want to continue on this path. The Pope says that by embracing the Lord’s call to follow him in chastity, poverty and obedience, you have begun a journey of radical discipleship which will make you “signs of contradiction” And of that I am sure. A sign of contradiction is the most appropriate way to describe our lives modeled after Christ. I just pray that God will give me the strenght to continue to spread the scent of my youth and to put it all God's feet.

If you have ever thought of being a Priest, a Brother or a Sister, do not be afraid! This life is worth it. Do not be afraid to be a sign of contradiction, to become a living altar, the love and prayer of the Church is with you.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

The song is almost ready...

2008-07-20T15:00:00.007-05:00

The song is almost ready. I want to use this opportunity to thank Sr. Rose Miriam Gansle, IWBS, for her amazing talent and patience in helping me to write my song into real music.

This song will be sung before Mass, like a sort of overture because it is not appropriate for Mass (I don't think.)

I do know it will help to prepare my heart for my FIAT. This song was a gift from God and it will be a gift from the Sisters, since it will be sung by them and the arrangements are still a mystery, but I know it will be beautiful.

After I finished writing the song, I looked closely at the words from Scripture. I loved the words: "I will give you back your vineyards and a door of hope."(Hosea 2:15) I was so touched that God is speaking to me directly, as if those words had been waiting for me since the beiginning of times.

Let me explain, I think I have said before that when I was growing up we had a vineyard. My earliest memories were of the leaves shining with the early morning dew...grapes remind me of my Grandmother's love, her Bible reading, her spontaneous prayer, her coffee cup and her mischievous smile...

The door of hope reminds me of the door to the backyard, where the vineyard was, where I could play and eat sour grapes until my tummy hurt, and then I would cross the door again to run to my grandmother, whom I afectionately called Mamá Ofelia (my mother was Mami Ofelia, how confusing can that be for a poor child?)

In this song, the door of hope, tells me that God is giving me back that door, to run back to him. The door of my freedom, the freedom I have found in Christ (See Galatians 5:1)

Please continue to pray for me...

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Happy Feastday!

2008-07-16T09:35:00.006-05:00

Today is a day of celebration for all carmelites! I was remembering yesterday, how when I was younger and I was discerning , I went to several convents (I actually went tramping, traveling by day, visiting convents and churches, a pilgrimage sort of thing, and getting on a bus and traveling by night...) I was about 20 years old. And that time, by myself, allowed me to breathe deeply, to take in all the beauty of our earth, to find God deep within me, and in the people I met and eventually to find my place here.

One of the places I went to was a Carmelite Monastery . The Nuns had two young novices, I think they were around fifteen years old, I still remember their sweet little baby faces, but more than anything, I remember the face of every Nun glowing.

In this journal entry from yesterday (See drawing), I wrote about Elijah waiting for the Lord to pass by, but the Lord is not in the wind, and the Lord is not in the earthquake and the Lord is not in the fire but yet Elijah tunes his ears to listen and he hears the voice of God in the soft, gentle whisper. (IKings 19:11-13)

I was thinking how throughout my life, sometimes I want God to let the heavens loose and to speak to me with a thunderous voice, to be clear and specific...and yet, I have not put my face between my knees, waiting, like Elijah for the rain...

So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. (I kings 18:42)

Through these years in the Convent, I have learned that God does not come with a bang! God speaks to us through the Incarnation, in the day to day, sometimes in the dullness of routine, it is only a matter of being willing to listen. I keep on learning that with God it is never done MY WAY, but God's way, because as St. Edith Stein said "Love is the freer thing there is." I keep on listening. I keep on waiting...

I have alwyas enjoyed this poem of a great Carmelite of our times, Sr. Miriam of the Holy Spirit, also known as Jessica Powers...I like it because this poem is so carmelite and so Incarnational....

Creature of God

That God stands tall, incomprehensible,
infinite and immutable and freeI know.
Yet more I marvel as His call
trickles and thunders down through space to me.

that from His far eternities He shouts
to me, one small inconsequence of day.
I kneel down in the vastness of His love,
cover myself with creaturehood and pray.

God likes me covered with my creaturehood
and with my limits spread across His face
He likes to see me lifting to his eyes
even the wretchedness that dropped his grace.

I make no guess what greatness took me in.
I only know, and relish it as good,
that I am gathered more to God's embrace
the more I greet him to through my creaturehood.

Jessica Powers/ Sister Miriam of the Holy Spirit
Carmel of the Mother of God, Pewaukee Wisconsin.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

A Fathers Mercy - Sr Marie Therese Sokol OCD

Countdown to profession

2008-07-13T14:30:00.004-05:00

It's been quiet around here...I keep on praying, preparing for my First Profession. This waiting is hard to describe, the only thing I can compare it to is Advent...I feel like I'm hosting something inside, something precious that will need all my care...And while I wait, I'm waiting inside the heart of God...

Basically my life looks the same and yet it is not. There is something that happens inside that I can't explain...I think that as my certainty grows that this life is for me, that I could not be anything other than a Sister of the Incarnate Word, there is a soft warm breeze that fills me. I am changing. I am no longer a young girl in love with God, I am a young woman in love with God who knows she is God's beloved! And that certainty keeps on transforming me.

I have so much to say and yet I do not know how. The Sisters tell me I look serious these days, but I feel so full of God that I don't want to open my mouth, I want my eyes fixed on God, I want to enjoy and savor this warm feeling inside!

I was never much for the bridal imagery, and yet, this morning, as I sat in prayer, it came to me...I'm a bride! I'm giving myself totally to God.. it's for real....I'll be the Spouse of the Incarnate Word! (and the warm feeling gets warmer)

Please pray for me these days as I stand with my oil lamp, waiting......

Sr. Elizabeth and her mischief

2008-06-29T13:50:00.006-05:00

Well, we're finally finished with Chapter. It was truly a gift and a blessing to be able to be present (even if I can not vote because I'm not finally professed.) The days were long (and there was lots and lots of sitting) but the conversation was good and just being there, with my nuns made the sitting seem like less.

One of the highlights of the week was Sr. Elizabeth playing a joke on Sr. Emma Marie. It all started because someone found an orphan rosary and Sr. Emma Marie said: "Oh, can I have it?" Some times I am outside or in a different placeo f hte house and I do not have my rosary with me..." So, Sr. Elizabeth, being so clever, went around the house, gathered A LOT of rosaries and taped them to her door with notes:

For 1st flor, for 2nd. floor, for 3rd floor, for laundry room, etc.

Of course, she was caught in fraganti by yours truly...and I happened to have a camera to capture her Irish humor...

Who said life in a convent was boring?

The prankster

The gift of a song...

2008-06-23T12:56:00.002-05:00

The retreat is over! It was wonderful. I loved having complete silence in the house!

During the retreat I prayed before choosing the Readings for the Mass of my Profession day. Then, another day I was tring to choose the music. One of my readings is from the Book of Hosea. I did not want the song we all know..."Come back to me, with all your heart.." I feel it is too sad. So, half joking, half hoping I asked God before going to bed, "Could you gift me with a song tomorrow?" and then went to bed. The next day, the song came. The words and the music for it. Right now it has been recorded and Sr. Rose Miriam will help me with the notation. Then Sr. Therese Ann will help me with parts for clarinet and flute. I love community! There's always someone who knows how to do what you don't know how.

Here's my song:

******************************************************
Remember

SPOKEN:
Remember, oh Israel, I am the Lord your God, there is no other.
You shall love your God with all your heart ,with all your soul, and
with all your strength.

When you were a child, oh Israel,

I taught you how to walk,

I took you in my arms,

I wrapped you in tenderness.

How could I leave you? How could I abandon you? Oh Israel

It isn’t by chance,

it isn’t by mistake

That I love you,

Refrain:

Get up, then, my love! (the time is right)

It is time for singing, (sing with me)

The song of doves is heard in the fields.

Come out of your hiding, (come with me)

Let me hear your voice, (speak to me)

Let me see your face, my little dove.

Because I will win you back, oh Israel

I’ll take you to the desert,

I’ll speak to your heart.

And there you’ll respond to me (as in your youth)

And I’ll make a covenant with you,

I will espouse you in love and in mercy,

In faith and truth, in tenderness and justice.

I will espouse you in faithfulness today

And you will know that I’m your God,

And you’ll belong to me forever.

Refrain:

I will make rain fall on the earth,

I will gift you with abundance,

I will give you back your vineyards,

And a door of hope.

And in those days, people will say:

Let us rejoice,

Let us be glad,

Let us give him glory!

For the wedding Feast of the Lamb

Has just begun,

And his bride is ready to welcome Him.

The denim Quilt

2008-06-13T10:28:00.006-05:00

The quilt for the brother has been finished! I am so excited that I finally made something that looks boyish. I have been acussed in the past of making girly stuff only. So, there, a quilt for a brother!

I am so glad I finished this last night because we start retreat on Sunday and then we have Chapter. That will leave me very little time to sew my black veil for my profession in August. I am so excited.

Among other good news, my friend Adriana will come from Costa Rica for my profession. Adriana and I have been pen pals since middle school. We have actually never met face to face. So, finally, after a little more than fifteen years we will meet. Please pray that Adriana does not have any trouble getting her visa to come to muy profession.

I will not be updating in the next two or three weeks, maybe four. I will be busy with the things of the lord.

I will be praying for all my readers during retreat.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

(Now and forever more, amen.)

A few aprons...

2008-06-06T09:34:00.008-05:00

Well, these days I have been working in the afternoons, trying to reduce the stash before I start teaching in August.

I made a few aprons from some denim garments that my friend Águeda brought me (in hopes of them being used for my brother's denim quilt) but they were so pretty that I decided to make parons instead.

I put these in our arts and crafts in the front office. One already sold.

I am also going to make a few for my classroom (little ones for my three year olds) in the practifal life section.

A Denim Quilt for my Little Brother

2008-05-28T20:30:00.011-05:00

Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and can be of service to him. And blessed is he who loves his brother as well when he is afar off as when he is by his side, and who would say nothing behind his back he might not, in love, say before his face. ~St Francis of Assisi

God did not allow us to grow together, I know,
But yet, I’ve seen you grow and I’ve grown with you,
Wondering about the great things that God
Had in store for you.

Will you be a doctor? Will you be a soldier?
Will you be a priest? Will you be a good man?

There are so many choices, little brother, big soul,
And many times we make mistakes that we regret
And yet, God always allows us to come back,
In a big, fancy way, like that prodigal son.

Someone said we’re all tied to God
With a string of yarn,
When we sin, the yarn is cut
But when we come back to God,
He ties that yarn, getting you a bit
Closer to Him.

Before you were born, God chose you,
Before I was born, God chose me,
We were meant to be born
From the same womb,
Meant to be born
Of our parents great love.

I remember you as a baby,
So delicate and frail,
A tiny, wrinkled thing
Who held my finger
With his whole hand
And wounded my heart
With a love I can not explain.

Brother, coat of many colors,
Child of dreams
Like Joseph of Egypt,
You are becoming a man,
And I need you a child.

You’re growing up so fast,
What’s the hurry?
Wait for me, the one who
Grew up too fast to play with you
And who now walks at your side,
Rejoicing at every step you take.

I can not protect you anymore,
Or kiss your pains away,
What can I tell you?
Life is this way.
I wish I could give you more certitudes
Than uncertainties,
I wish I could give you
A firm ground, to stand on,

a good world where you could do and undo.
But yet, I can only give you my hand
And my love.

Brother, my little boy,
Become the best you can be,
Whatever profession, it doesn’t matter,
Whatever makes you smile.
Become the holiest, happiest man,
I, as always, will be by your side.

I love you, brother!

Your Sister Squared

*************************************

The pictures are of a quilt I am making for my brother Manuel (the Spanish word for Emmanuel.)

Goods 4 Girls

2008-05-15T16:50:00.005-05:00

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Mark 5:24-29

The story of the woman with the hemorrhage has always touched my heart. First of all because I think that the woman was very gutsy. She dared touch a man, when her bleeding rendered her unclean, more than that, her 12 years of bleeding had turned her into an outcast. But she pressed through the crowd and touched Jesus who felt immediately that powered had gone out from him. When he starts asking, "Who touched me?" The woman must have been petrified. She was not supposed to be out in public, she was not supposed to touch anybody, much less a rabbi!

But Jesus kept asking. He wanted to know who had had such faith. He forced the woman to acknowledge her act. I think Jesus wanted to make sure that it was her faith which had cured her. Perhaps to give her back the dignity she had lost many years ago when she had been ostracized from society.

She was healed! But she was terrified. And even trembling, she fell at the feet of Jesus and told him the whole truth.

I wonder how many of us are afraid not of looking for healing but of actually being healed? How would our lives change?

Jesus then says: "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Freed from suffering! Not only of the physical suffering, but also of the emotional and the social, I imagine the spiritual (since she couldn't attend religious services.) She was free! But now her life had to change.

Jesus know, of course who it was that touched him. But He wanted to make her stronger, to heal her publicly, to restore her dignity publicly.

In our days, these things are still happening. I keep on seeing these TV commercials where we're told that girls in Africa can't go to school because they do not have menstrual pads. These girls also suffer because it's a social and public humiliation. And there are many more women throughout the world who suffer like the woman in Jesus' time.

(The following is taken from http://www.goods4girls.org/)

"In many areas of the world, access to adequate menstrual supplies is difficult to come by. Many women and girls rely on rags, newspaper, camel skin or nothing at all for their menstrual needs. A lack of sanitary pads can be a big barrier to a girl's education.

It may seem difficult to comprehend for many women who have easy access to a varied source of supplies, but we can all appreciate how difficult life would be without them. Imagine trying to go to school or work without protection. For many, it brings life to a halt.

Providing disposable supplies creates an additional burden on some communities where solid waste disposal consists of burning the garbage. Since many disposable feminine hygiene products contain plastic, incineration potentially creates an environmental and health hazard.
Goods 4 Girls was started to seek out donors to sew or purchase new, reusable menstrual pads for donations to areas of Africa where these products are needed most. Providing reusable supplies not only provides a more environmentally friendly alternative for these young women (in areas of adequate water supply for washing), it reduces their dependence on outside aid organizations to continue providing for their monthly needs.

It's easy to donate, even if you don't know how to sew. For more information about why you should donate, read the About Us page. For more information on what agencies we (they) are working with, please visit the News page."

So, I started sewing to contribute a little bit to give women some dignity. The other night I was watching a PBS program about Fistula Patients in Africa. Well, basically this women have a ruptured birth canal because of difficult births which leaves them unable to control their bladders. Often, in their small villages, they suffer humiliation and become outcasts. It is very prevalent, the most common estimate is that 100,000 women worldwide develop fistulas every year, though some estimates put the number closer to 500,000.

In Africa, after a difficult labor (in most cases the baby is stillborn), the woman is left with constant leaking of urine and, in extreme cases, feces, and she is often abandoned by her family and community because of the smell, which is sometimes linked to superstitious beliefs.

One girl, seventeen years old, said that she was in labor for a week and then finally the baby was yanked out of her and since the baby was born dead, her husband left her. She was no longer a woman. You can read some more about the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital and the Fistula Foundation.

It is incredible what one simple operation can do. It is incredible what a well made pad can do for a girl's dignity. And it is incredible what the waste of disposable pads can do to people's health (especially in Africa where they incinerate because of lack of landfills, exposing the community to the breathing of all those chemicals and toxic materials.)

In the United States we do not have that problem. I can not help but be so full of gratitude for all the privileges we have in this country. So, let us continue to pray for all the people that suffer around the world. Especially the victims in Myanmar and in China and here in the United States. And let us pray for all the women around the world who do not even have the dignity of protection for their periods. And if you can, please donate to either foundation so that they can also hear:

"Go in Peace and be freed from your suffering"

¡Sin rama no hay uvas!

2008-04-27T09:01:00.005-05:00

El evangelio del miércoles nos presenta la imagen de la Vid. Jesús dice: "Yo soy la Vida verdadera, y mi Padre es el que la cultiva." Esta imagen me remonta a mi infancia, a la viña en el patio trasero de mi abuela. Las uvas eran verdes y tenían un sabor agridulce.

De niña, el proceso de podarlas siempre me causaba tristeza. No podía comprender por qué si mi abuela quería que la viña diera uvas, podaba las ramas. A mí me gustaba ver la viña, creciendo a lo salvaje y enredada en las rejas de la ventana. Me gustaba ver sus hojas grandes y sus ramas de resorte. Mi abuela me explicaba que a la viña no le dolía cuando la podaban sino que al contrario de esta manera ella se sentía más libre y podía concentrar sus nutrientes en producir fruto.

Después, separaba las ramas que había cortado. Algunas ramas iban a la basura (siempre me daba mucha tristeza ir a tirarlas) y algunas otras, las más sanas, pasaban a su labortatorio-vivero-cocina donde las embolsaba con un poco de tierra, un poco de agua y un poco de aire, esperando que le crecieran raíces para así plantarlas o regalarlas plantadas en latas de legumbres decoradas.

Después de la muerte de mi abuela vendimos la casa y las viñas se quedaron atrás pues pertenecían ahí. Yo no tengo mano para las uvas como mi abuela pero soy aficionada a las rosas. Gracias a mi abuela sé como podarlas para infundirles vida nueva.

Así mismo nos dice Jesús: "Si una de mis ramas no da uvas, mi Padre las corta, pero si da uvas, la poda y la limpia para que dé más. Ustedes ya están limpios por las palabras que les he dicho. Sigan unidos a mí, como yo sigo unido a ustedes." (Juan 15:2-4)

Que el Señor me permita la gracia de producir fruto y que cuando el Jardinero necesite podarme, que pueda yo aceptarlo como parte del proceso de amor para ayudarme a crecer y a producir fruto.

¡Alabado sea el Verbo Encarnado!

To pray unceasingly

2008-04-20T07:51:00.005-05:00

I watched half of the youth rally on TV yesterday. I wanted to read the Pope's talk to the young and went to the Vatican website. It's already there. How cool is that?

I liked the following part:

"There is another aspect of prayer which we need to remember: silent contemplation. Saint John, for example, tells us that to embrace God’s revelation we must first listen, then respond by proclaiming what we have heard and seen (cf. 1 Jn 1:2-3; Dei Verbum, 1). Have we perhaps lost something of the art of listening? Do you leave space to hear God’s whisper, calling you forth into goodness? Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness, listen to God, adore him in the Eucharist. Let his word shape your journey as an unfolding of holiness."

I like what he says about first listening, then responding by proclaiming what we have heard and seen. "Let God's Word boil within before it boils over. " That image is going to be with me for a long time.

But what Pope Benedict says is so true, it does take some courage to be silent and still. When I first came to the convent I already had a history with God. I always prayed but my prayer was this ongoing conversation...while driving, while working silently... (O.K, it was more like me talking at God.) I was not used to Adoration (which is very important for us as Sisters of the Incarnate Word AND Blessed Sacrament.) The stillness made me feel uneasy. I had no problem talking to God, but I don't think I was listening long enough, lest He thought of answering. He might have even told me He wanted me to become a nun, no way!

After I came I started to get more used to it...Praying to God helped me with my prayer to God, if you know what I mean. I keep on keeping on and God's word has helped me...softening the process, and now I know I couldn't be without Adoration, without the privilege of sitting before Jesus. Reading scripture, listening to God, all these things are necessary in my life.

Through this listening, through the prayer life, personal, communitarian and liturgical, I am nourished, and like Pope Benedict says I "find the courage and support to walk the way of the Lord." May others in the United States and throughout the world be encouraged to pray and to trust that God will show them the particular vocation he has for each one.

Meanwhile let us continue to pray unceasingly.

Thank you, Pope Benedict!

Poverty, the border and Psalm 8

2008-04-18T08:35:00.019-05:00

I just came back from laredo, Texas where I attended the last meeting of the Inter-Congregational Novitiate. This last meeting-conference was on the Vow of Poverty. The presenter was Fr. Don Goergen, OP.

The Inter-Congregational Novitiate this year included the Dominicans Friars of the Province of St. Leo the Great, The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the Cordi-Marian Sisters and us.

Of the many wonderful things Fr. said, I picked one that remained with me. He said that to truly live out the Vow of Poverty one must become a contemplative to let God "boil within" before it "boils over." I find this very touching, very close to my experience because as I said in the previous post, it's been almost ten years sice I first met the Sisters...I think if anybody would have said to me that it would be ten years before I made first vows I would have gone to look somewhere else, but nobody did (here I smile.)

I believe that God wanted to use this time to "boil within me," to prepare me, to whisper to my heart before sending me out to extend the wonderful mystery of his Incarnation, before His love would boil over...but I am such an impatient creature! It is easy too see it now, but it wasn't so easy then...Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7) Easy to say, not easy to do...

Fr. Don also used the Beatitudes in his talk about Poverty. "Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:3) Fr. then also asked us to write one Batitude according to what we were learning and where we were at this time. Since waiting has been my theme these last days my Beatitude was: "Blessed are they who wait in darkness for God will arrive and shed His Light on them."

Poverty was experienced first hand during this time. on Thursday morning we went to the border between Mexico and the Us to pray for the immigrants, the ones who have died, the ones who will, the ones who have crossed, the ones who will, and while we were praying we noticed two men who were swimming to the American side. The waters were very high and very strong. The river is known in English as "the Rio Grande River" in Spanish is known as the "Rio Bravo" which means the "Fierce River." Many people have died trying to beat its fury, trying to find a better life for their families. It's a sad story. So, the two men, either because of the fury of the water or because they saw us and got scared swimmed back to the Mexican sad. The whole experience left a wound in my heart. This is the kind of poverty that's hardest to live. There's nothing I can do for them.

So, I prayed. I prayed. I prayed. I wished God would part the waters for them like He did for the Israelites. But God calls me to something else. "Trust me", He says, "for I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD...

And although my heart is still unsettled and rowdy over the border scene I pray that God allows me to continue to trust, to tame the high and fierce waters of my heart.

Meanwhile, I leave you with Psalm 8, written and sung by my own Sisters.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Big, Big News!

2008-04-13T12:35:00.005-05:00

I had been impatiently waiting to be able to give you my big news. I have been accepted to profession and I have a date!

I am so full of gratitude I could not fully express it. It has been a long time. From the time I met the Sisters (May 1999) to the time I entered (Jan. 2004.) It's been long and throughout that time I often asked God, "Lord, how come other people get to enter, how come other people seem to have what I don't?" I had college loans and was supporting my family, I had a few things to work through. It seemed like I just couldn't enter.

My mom told me if I wanted to enter I needed to finish college first. That was something I didn't want to do. Like other people in this crazy "instant" age, I wanted to drop everything and enter (I coined it "giving everything up for the Lord") truth is, I didn't want to wait. It is true I wanted to give God the best of my years but God was also preparing me, teaching me patience and surrender.

The day I finished college was a happy one. The Sisters went to my graduation.

They sat for the 4+ hours. I even had a bishop there for me! The wonderful Bishop Fitzpatrick who has gone to heaven since. Some of you may know that I have a sick addiction to dictionaries, well, Bishop gave me a Merriam-Webster 11th edition as a graduation gift. Another group of friends (band directors and self-appointed young-nuns' cheerleaders) gave me the two volume Diccionario de la Real Academia Española 22th edition. It was a happy day, more than anything because I was getting closer to my dream (the dictionaries are great too.)

Even when I entered, I was still helping to support my mom's studies. My mom is a registered surgical nurse in Mexico. She had been studying English to be able to become an RN here. My mom is now working in the United States, in nursing, though she's not an RN yet but continues to study to achieve her goal. She's working, enjoying it and I see her happy, healthy and fulfilled. God couldn't have given me more.

The college loans are gone. I had an angel to help me finish paying them off, or rather, many angels. Then, there was the question of certification. Some of you know that I have a degree in Spanish Literature with a minor in Translation Studies (big deal, what can I do with a degree like that?) So, I needed to study more in order to share in the ministry of my Sisters. Pope John Paul II has been instrumental, every step of the way, his words:

"Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

have always been with me. Do not be satisfied, God wants more!

So, I went back to studying. I am now a certified generalist teacher with a kinder endorsement and a bilingual certification. I am halfway through a masters in theology and will become certified in Montessori Education. I am prepared for ministry, I am ready and willing. I want to give it all to God and He is taking my word.

I no longer look at other people and ask, "why can't it be me Lord?" My time has come. On Agust 9th, 2008 I will say YES! to God. I will say like our Foundress Jeanne Chezard de Matel:

"O my Gentle Love...choose me as your friend. Make your intimate hiding place in me, as I do in You. Make me a chanel through which You can pour out Your graces on all those whom You want to favor."

Today's readings speak to me greatly. When I was a child my grandmother had me memorize the Psalms to repeat in moments of anguish or fear. Psalm 23 was the first one I learned; "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..." Today, I can say that I recognized the voice of the Shepherd and I follow Him. My cup is overflowing. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the day of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord FOREVER! My grandmother is surely smiling down from heaven.

Praised be the Incarnate Word! Now and Forever more. Amen!

Easter updates

2008-03-26T12:27:00.014-05:00

It's been a long time. It has been busy here at the house these days. I did not post much during Lent. I wanted to keep more silence than usual, saving my thoughts for God, trying to hear Him more. Then the Triduum came and there was a lot of work at our Chapel, linens, ironing, flowers, Cross, etc.

Our services were beautiful. On Thursday the Superior General and her council washed feet before the Agape. It was a beautiful experience, not only the washing but the experience of family, the intimacy of washing feet and breaking bread together, as Jesus and the apostles. Then, after the supper, our Triduum retreat started. We had Mass, the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament and adoration.

Friday was a sad day. Even knowing that Saturday night the world will resound with Gloria's and Alleluias, the day is sad. I have a tape of the Stations of the Cross. It really is poetry, a romance, depicting Jesus' great love for us. It was written by Fr. Benjamin Sanchez Espinoza, a Mexican priest who first published his poetry under the pseudonym of Fra. Asinello (which I believe it means little donkey in Italian) I used this tape for meditation often during Lent and Good Friday. There is a frase that says in the first station: "You were condemned by two silences, one a silence of fear, one a silence of love" ....) I had a hard time moving on to the second station because the great love of Christ for us becomes so much more evident on Good Friday.

Saturday was again busy with preparations for Chapel. This year it was my honor to glorify the Cross. I chose to use birds as a theme for resurrection because to me they represent the freedom that through his death and resurrection Jesus gifted us with.

The music for Saturday night and Sunday was beautiful thanks to Sr. Kathleen, our choir director. One of these days I'm going to learn how to record digitally and how to upload so that I can brag about the beautiful voices of my Sisters.

Easter is here! Happy Resurrection time! May the words of the Exultet continue to make our hearts dance and to make us free to love and to serve our living Lord!

Happy Easter!

Incarnate Word Formation Symposium 2008

2008-02-22T07:49:00.013-06:00

I have been away for quite a long time. I had been busy preparing for our annual formation symposium. This is a gathering of all the Sisters in formation in our order.

This year the symposium was held in Mexico City. Some of you may have read a post from August of last year where I speak of spending a whole month in Mexico City studying at the Center for Incarnation Spirituality in conjunction with the Pontifical University of Mexico City. So, this year the symposium was held at the same place, the Retreat House of our Incarnate Word Sisters of the Tlalpan Generalate.

The Symposium opened February 15, 2008 with Vespers.

If there is something our Sisters are known for that is being great teachers and great singers. The music for liturgies was awesome! I had such a warm feeling being in chapel, praising God with some many other Sisters. I can not do a good job of describing the experience.

We arrived in Mexico City on Thursday to have some time before the opening. I have a cousin who lives in the city but unfortunately I wasn't able to see her that morning due to her work schedule. However, the Sisters took us for a tour of the City in one of these "turibuses". We all went to the second floor to be able to get some sun and feel the cool breeze and watch everything. The buses provided each person with these cool earphones which we connected to the back of the seat in front of us to hear a narration of the places where we went by. The city is so large that I believe the bus takes eight hours to show you the whole city. We only rode for about three hours and then had lunch and headed back to the house for the opening.

One of the places we visited was downtown Mexico City. I love the old buildings with their baroque beauty (they might be older than that, though.) Right next to the Metropolitan Cathedral there are the ruins of the ancient "Templo Mayor." In that place, last year, sometime in August a group pf Mexican archaeologists detected the presence of a sort of funeral chamber that could contain the mortal remains of Emperor Ahuitozl, who governed the Aztecs when Christopher Columbus came to the New Word. If they can prove that then it would be the first tomb of an Aztec governor ever found. Anyway, I find these things very interesting.

While at the Zocalo, I saw this organ grinder

(is that what they're called?) I saw some others in the city

dressed just like her. I snapped the picture before thinking of asking her, and then her assistant came immediately to ask for the "picture fee." That was cute. I gave her a good tip.

On Saturday we started with the recitation/ chanting/ singing of Lauds. Then we had breakfast and then moved into the morning work. We had a wonderful conference by Fr. Alex Zatyrka on being Mystics. Then after some process we had Mass, lunch and then the afternoon session was on being Prophets. That evening we presented our theme. Each congregation had to prepare either a PowerPoint, talk or some other creative way to speak of how we are Mystics and Prophets: Disciples of the Incarnate Word in our congregations. We chose to prepare a PowerPoint. I had been taking pictures of the hands of my Sisters for a couple of years. This was the time to use those pictures! So, using only pictures of their hands I showed how we live our call to Discipleship in Corpus Christi. If I find out how to put it here I will. Does anybody know? I know I can put post videos, but, how do I make a video out of a PowerPoint? Any help is appreciated?

On Sunday we were divided by stages. I went with the other novices to pray and reflect on our call to Discipleship. At the end of the time given, we came all went back to the conference room and spoke of our understanding, our hopes and dreams for our life as Incarnate Word Sisters. It was very inspirational. I must add that those of us who were bilingual helped with the translation. At some point I started talking a thousand miles a minute to this Sister who kept on staring at time with her bright blue yes. It happened to be one of our American Sisters and she did not know ANY Spanish. But at that point my cables were more than crossed.

After that we had some pictures taken. I took a picture of the picture takers (here they are pretending to be models, aren't they cute?) Then we closed with a Mass at the Basilica of Guadalupe. The frunny thing is that they have this little chapels on the second floor looking into the main Altar but they are not divided by walls (sort of like a VIP box at the theater.) So, when we were having Mass we were looking into a different Mass. It was hard to concentrate but it was beautiful.

I think we all came back energized, full of life and hopes for our future as Sisters of the Incarnate Word. What a beautiful experience that was.

On a side note I want to ask for prayers as I prepare to ask for First Vows in this congregation. That God may allow me to fall more and more in love with Him and as our Sister of Cleveland say, may I become a Gospel of Love.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

World Consecrated Day, Jubilarians and a batch of marmalade

2008-02-03T16:20:00.000-06:00

Today is the World Day of Consecrated Life. In our Diocese, here in Corpus Christi, we had a Mass at the Cathedral. I always dread this because we have to process in and I feel the whole world is looking at me (it's also televised....) Well, it's a bit prideful to think they are ALL looking at me since there are many, many other religious, but being a bit on the shy side, well, I can't help it.

During the Mass, the jubilarians in our Diocese were recognized for their years of service.

Our jubilarians were:

6o years

Sister Mary Stella Barrientes

Sister Margaret Patrice Bradley

Sister Mary Christina Bradley

Sister Mary Lucy Garcia

50 years

Sister Denise Cassidy

Sister Brenda Thompson

40 years

Sister Barbara Marie Netek

Congratulations to my nunnies! May they continue to serve the Incarnate Word and to be gospels of love.

I guess to celebrate the World Day of Consecrated Lilfe, I put out the February batch of marmalade and jelly. This month I made Sweet Carrot Marmalade and Apple Jelly.

As soon as I put them out today, the apple ones were gone. Thank God I took the picture before I put the note on the door. I was expecting people to buy marmalade tomorrow when they come to Mass but some of the nunnys bought the jelly to give to friends.

Back in the day when the Sisters were building this Convent and trying to raise the money to pay for it, Sister Raphael Bartosh and Sister Anselm Till stayed up late many nights to make jellies to sell. We used to have grape vines. They would tend the vines, pick the grapes, make jelly and then they would go sell it. It was a lot of work (I bet they made it in industrial amounts.) The very first time I attempted to make grapefruit marmalade I got stuck. I had put too much water and it wouldn't gel. Then the jars would not seal. I started then asking Sr. Raphael to be a guardian angel (she has gone to heaven now.)

So, this marmalade is in honor of those Sisters who worked hard, played fair and loved much. May God bless us and allow us to follow the wonderful example of the many who have gone before us and who wait for us in Heaven.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

When I'm an old lady....

2008-02-02T17:33:00.000-06:00

The Sisters of the Incarnate Word of Corpus Christi really know how to have fun together! Today we had a meeting at the motherhouse where we took the opportunity to dress silly. We laughed and talked and enjoyed being together.

Some of the Sisters prepared a display with pictures of us at a youger age. It was a lot of fun to guess who was who. Some were pretty easy since they haven't changed much. Others were a little tougher, I thought mine was pretty obvious but still some people took a long while to figure me out. It was cute to see how most of us look the same.

Doesn't our Superior, Sister Irma looks just the same?

After the meeting was over we had a delicious merienda (afternoon snack) provided by our three kings (queens, really.) These are the three Sisters who found a baby Jesus inside the Kings Cake (Rosca de Reyes) on January 6 (they come with three Baby Jesus' inside.)

After the merienda we just sat and visited. Yours truly kept on taking pictures of everybody. It isn't everyday that we see each other wearing purple.

And why were we wearing purple? No, were not celebrating Mardi Grass ahead of time, we were just being more spontaneous, more playful. We are moving into the future with a child's playful heart and the wisdom of an old lady. We are going back to the heart of our Mother Foundress who said: "Since this Order is protected by God, the Sisters will play in this world of happiness which is preserved by heaven. It will be a heaven on earth where the King of Heaven will be honored and adored." Writings, Vol. 7, p.46

With that in our hearts we remember that when we gather in His name, he is there in our midst (Mt. 18,20)

And well, I can not describe the spirit of the day better than posting Sister Ann Brigid's version of the poem "When I'm an old Lady" by Jenny Joseph.

When I'm an old lady I will wear purple with a crazy hat which may or may not match (it won't matter.) And I shall spend my allowances in trifles and share them with great laughter and joy.

I will take wonderful delight in the rain and marvel- with new companions- at the sunsets in other places. The beauty of children will still warm my heart but I will be sharing it with newly-found friends.

In my older age, I just might take up a second language for my new place in life- Swahili, perhaps French, maybe Vietnamese or even Chinese. The possibilities are dazzling. I will always stop to smell the roses but I will be on the way to somewhere new.

Why, in a few years, I might be living-near the eastern hills of Africa. I could be teaching in Ohio, working in California or Guatemala or learning a whole new skill in the heart of Mexico. Can you see me sitting at a computer in Roanne with the French breezes wafting through the room? I can! Will I be able to walk in the shadow of Jeanne herself? I think so.

Who knows, in 2013, I might be flying to Saigon City to open a formation house for twenty postulants. Someone might ask me to build a new garden; imagine starting one from scratch.

In any of these futurings I will be following in the pioneering steps of those who came before me. They answered a call and went where none had gone before- secure in the arms of He who had whispered to them.

Do I- in this age of purple and unmatched hats- hear those same whisperings? Do I slink back into my security or do I throw it all to the spirit in my old age and say, why not Lord!

I took this last picture at the last moment, inspired by the power of community. We are so diverse, so different and yet we all love God, we all love the Church and we love each other. May God help us all to have more purple in our lives.

2008-01-31T08:20:00.000-06:00

I used to love this movie when I was a child. Of course it was already a classic when I was a child Ha Ha. I mean, you can see the sixties all over the place.

The song translates

"With an angel's smile, Sor YE-YE serves God,
With a constant joy, Sor YE-YE serves God
with a look that calms you,
With a simple prayer
with a modern prayer
with a song in her voice.

In a little convent she teaches
how to do good and
The children squeal happily
when Sor YE-YE arrives."

Pretty innocent, but I loved this song and I loved the movie. The scene is where her friends from "the world" come to visit her (she used to be their vocalist.) She had recorded a song that got them into a contest and they are trying to convince her to go sing at the Festival di Sanremo to make money for the orphanage the convent runs.

Check out the guy with the long hair. So funny!

Note: YE Ye is a style of pop music popular in France and Spain and Mexico in the sixties. The music has influences of soul, rhythm & blues and pop.

2008-01-29T20:47:00.002-06:00

VOY A PASAR LA VIDA

-Voy a pasar la vida
más o menos inútil,
más o menos poeta.
No habré tenido un hijo.
No habré sido magnate ni gerente de lucros,
ni albañil o mecánico.
Habré plantado unos contados árboles
y habré escrito unos libros,
muchas cartas,
hojas hijos al viento.

-Procura que la Gracia y la Ternura
llenen de vino nuevo ...
tu ánfora de barro.
Dios mide a su manera la eficacia.
Ama a todos los hijos de los hombres.
Di tus palabras como las semillas
que mueren pero brotan.
Haz de tu corazón célibe solo
un ambulante hogar desatrancado,
una lona de circo bullanguero.
Deja las digitales de tus pies peregrinos
como besos en llama solidaria
sobre la carne de la Madre Tierra.
Posa tus ojos, tibios ya de ocaso,
como lumbres de aceite, acurrucadas
en la vigilia universal del Tiempo.

Don Pedro Casaldaliga

El Misterio de la Paternidad Divina en Jeanne de Matel

2008-01-11T13:37:00.000-06:00

Update: I might not be closing this blog after all, but I will not be posting as often. Do come back and check it from time to time. Meanwhile, may God bless you.

******************************************************************************

Buscando en los siente volúmenes de las obras completas de Jeanne Chezard de Matel encontré en una carta al Padre De Meaux, SJ, que ella no rezaba al Hijo y al Espíritu Santo sin rezarle al Padre Todopoderoso. A pesar de que la espiritualidad de Jeanne Chézard de Matel se centra en Jesús, el Verbo Encarnado, es, sin embargo, intensamente Trinitaria. Ella siempre ve a Jesús en relación al Padre y al Espíritu Santo y esto es bastante evidente en sus escritos. Al leer estos he podido encontrar muchas veces como en los relatos de sus visiones o conversaciones con Dios Padre, este se refiere a ella como “Hija mía,” y Jesús, El Verbo Encarnado, su modelo a seguir nos presenta al Padre como Abbá.

Esta experiencia me invita a una relación más intima con Dios como Padre. No sólo como origen primero de todo y autoridad trascendente sino también como el Padre que es al mismo tiempo bondad y solicitud amorosa para todos sus hijos. El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica nos dice que nadie es padre como lo es Dios y que Dios trasciende la experiencia humana de la maternidad y la paternidad pues Dios no es hombre ni mujer, es Dios. Pero de acuerdo a mi experiencia, que es solo la humana, si mis padres han podido amarme de tal manera, cuanto más no me amará Dios. Por eso tengo la confianza de acercarme a Dios y dirigirme a Él como mi Abbá, como mi padre.

Yo recuerdo perfectamente el día en que tuve conciencia de Dios. Mi abuela, mujer de una fe profunda me llevaba a la Iglesia (no éramos católicos) y un día, a la edad de cinco años, ella me habló de Dios. A mi corta edad yo conecté a ese Dios con el libro negro que ella leía sentada en su mecedora, con las oraciones que recitábamos antes de dormir, con las oraciones espontáneas durante el día y con la expresión: “¡Jesús de mi corazón!” Después vino todo un huracán de preguntas de mi parte. Una en específico recuerdo con mucho cariño, “¿a Dios se le habla de tú o de usted?” Mi abuela me respondió, “deja que tu corazón le hable como se sienta más a gusto.”

Por eso mi relación con Dios Padre nunca ha estado teñida de la piedad popular, de novenas o de oraciones previamente formuladas. Dios es mi Padre y me ama con la ternura de mi abuela. Eso siempre me ha traído consuelo en momentos de angustia.

Me gusta en especial el Salmo 103, 13: El Señor es, con los que lo honran, tan tierno como un padre con sus hijos. Y si pudiera añadirle al Salmista diría: “Y es tierno también con los que no lo honran.” La fidelidad de Dios no tiene límites. Una vez que confesamos nuestra fe en Él, Dios nos hace hijos suyos y no nos abandona nunca. ¿Puede una madre olvidarse de su criatura, dejar de querer al hijo de sus entrañas? Pues aunque ella se olvide, yo no te olvidaré (Is 49,15).

El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica afirma que nosotros como cristianos somos bautizados en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo y antes de eso confesamos nuestra fe en el Padre, y en el Hijo y en el Espíritu Santo. Precisamente al confesar esa fe recibimos la gracia de ser llamados hijos del Padre. (Juan 1,12) Jesús quien nos revela el Rostro del Padre (Juan 14,9) nos acerca a Dios de una manera íntima, nos lo presenta como su Abbá.

En el sur de Texas donde yo vivo, es muy común escuchar a la gente referirse a su padre como su Apá. Es una expresión de cariño, en cuanto que dirigirse a su padre como Padre expresa una lejanía rara en nuestra cultura. En mi oración al Padre no uso nunca la palabra Señor ni mucho menos uso su nombre, esto sería como hablarle a mi madre por su nombre, simplemente lo invoco como Padre.

Desde nuestra espiritualidad de la Encarnación, donde Jesús, El Verbo, nos revela al Padre (Juan 14,11) Jeanne nos enseña a conocer al Hijo para conocer al Padre. El Catecismo afirma que Jesús ha revelado que Dios es "Padre" en un sentido nuevo: no lo es sólo en cuanto Creador; Él es eternamente Padre en relación a su Hijo único, el cual eternamente es Hijo sólo en relación a su Padre: "Nadie conoce al Hijo sino el Padre, ni al Padre le conoce nadie sino el Hijo, y aquel a quien el Hijo se lo quiera revelar" (Mt 11,27).

Como Hermana del Verbo Encarnado, quiero acercarme más al Hijo para poder acercarme al Padre pues ellos son uno. Nuestra madre fundadora me anima en mi deseo: A ti, hija mía, se te ha dado a conocer y recibir el reino divino. Nuestra sociedad viene a tu alma en su totalidad, porque el Dios todo bueno ama a quienes guardan su palabra. Yo soy la Palabra del Padre, y tú guardas mi palabra en tu espíritu, en tu corazón y en tu Orden, que es la mía, por habérseme consagrado y dedicado.

Que Dios me conceda la gracia de asemejarme al Hijo y que Dios sea siempre el Dios de mi corazón.

¡Alabado sea el Verbo Encarnado!

Goodbye!

2008-01-05T21:36:00.000-06:00

This post is only to announce that I will be closing down this blogging business. After much prayer, I have realized that I really do not have the time to keep on writing. It is true that I have deleted rude comments lately....but, that is not why I am ending it, it's more due to the fact that time to make vows is approaching and I have to get busier with the things of God (though the blogosphere would be a much better place if people were more respectful.) This will go on for a week and then I'm deleting it.

It has been a pleasure to read your comments and to share life with you. Thank you for reading and praying with us, the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament.

I wish you all a wonderful year. May God shower his blessing upon all.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-29T11:04:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since my last post. I have been home (where else could I be as a canonical novice?) I have been trying very hard to stay away from all the goodies we got from people, cookies, cakes, chocolates and all kinds of sweets. I have been praying that other people get to them before I do.

I have so much news I can't even remember now. Let me see..... we have a new Superior General, Sr. Michelle Marie, to be installed next summer, and we also have a whole set of counselors: Sr. Mary Ann, Sr. Martha, Sr. Barbara Marie and Sr. Esther. We had a retreat before the elections and then the Sisters went into the chapel to vote. I was blessed to be able to witness the whole process from the back of the chapel. Those of us who were not voting, sat at the back and prayed throughout the Chapter of Elections. One thing that we heard during the retreat was that with God all things are posible. And they are! We also were reminded of our Lady of Guadalupe and how, when she came to America, she came to give birth to a new people (Mestizos) and became mother of the Indigenous and Spaniards. I love that image because it is like our community. We are so diverse! And yet we are one at heart. I love this picture of Sr. New York and Sr. Vattman making tamales!

After the elections it was time to decorate our house and our Chapel. We had so much work I didn't even think of taking pictures. I also didn't take any pictures of Midnight Mass or Christmas Day Mass. I recently became an alto (I used to be a second soprano) and I really was more interested in singing the right notes and giving glory to God in the Highest in the right tempo, that the camera was the last thing in my mind.

For midnight mass we had a full house! Antoher tradition we have here is to get together and go caroling arond the house, with a candle procession (I didn't join this year, I was late) and then we go to chapel to sing carols for half and hour before Mass. This time we sang "Il est ne, le divin enfant", and two carols in Spanish (I played guitar with Sister Rosa) plus some of the really traditional golden oldies.

After Mass we went downstairs to enjoy our traditional tamales and other goodies. I made a cheese ball and spiced up crackers to go with it. Sisters from other houses also brought other cheese treats and crackers. I also had been baking for many days. And this was the day to put the cookies out. Now I just have to figure out how to stay away from all those leftover goodies.

The next day we had our Christmas party.

I took my camera this time but I was having such a good time I forgot to continue taking pictures. But I did manage to capture some of the "jewels" of our community.

Merry Christmas to all who read this and a most blessed 2008!

What are some of the traditions in your family, congregation, place?

¡No tengas miedo, José! / Do not be afraid, Joseph!

2007-12-18T07:41:00.000-06:00

En las lecturas del Adviento podemos encontrar a diferentes personajes a los cuales se les aparece el ángel del señor y les dice: “¡no tengas miedo, María...Zacarías...José!” El autor nos hace saber que la promesa del Señor, anunciada a través de los profetas en el Antiguo Testamento está por cumplirse.

In the Advent readings we can find different people to whom the Angel of the Lord appears and tells them: "Do not be afraid, Mary...Zachariah...Joseph!" The author is letting us know that the promise of the Lord, anounced through the prophets in the Old Testament is about to be fulfilled.

En el caso de José, el ángel del Señor se le aparece en un sueño y le dice, “No tengas miedo…su hijo ha sido concebido por obra del Espíritu santo.” Yo me pregunto que es lo que habrá sentido José. Las escrituras solo nos dicen que él era un hombre justo, y por lo cual es fácil pensar que se haya sentido avergonzado, confundido. Las escrituras no nos dicen mucho. Pero a veces la piedad popular nos presenta a José como un super-hombre, el héroe de María y Jesús. Pero yo creo que en realidad el no nació santo.

In the case of Joseph, the Angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream and tells him, "Do not be afraid...her son has been conceived by the Holy Spirit." I wonder how Joseph felt. The scriptures only tell us that he was a just man, that's why it is easy to think that he must have felt embarrased, confused. The scriptures do not tell us much. But sometimes the popular piety presents Joseph as a superman, as Mary and Jesus' heroe. But I believe that in reality, he was not born a saint.

Yo me pongo a pensar en mi propia experiencia y sé que no es fácil confiar de esa manera. Antes de entrar al postulantado se me ofreció una beca para un doctorado en literatura. La decisión fue bastante difícil. Yo no tuve un ángel del Señor que me clarificara la decisión o me hiciera más fácil tomarla. Lo único que tuve fue un sentimiento de paz bastante gradual que me fue facilitando la decisión. El “¡No tengas miedo!” Se me fue abriendo en el corazón de una manera bastante lenta.

When I think about my own experience I know it is not east to trust in the same way. Before entering the postulancy I was offered a scolarship for a doctorate in literature. The desition was very difficult. I did not have an Angel of God to clarify my desition or make it easier for me to take it. The only thing I had was a very gradual sense of peace that allowed my desition to take shape. The "Do not be afraid!" started to open up in my heart very slowly.

Y yo creo que es eso precisamente lo que pienso acerca de José. No creo que claridad se le presentó de manera inmediata. No creo en esas historias de las palmeras inclinándose ante la sagrada familia...pero creo en la bondad de los seres humanos y creo que eso es precisamente lo que el evangelista nos está tratando de decir. El “¡No tengas miedo!” Se nos seguirá presentando a través de los tiempos y Dios nos seguirá dando la libre opción que nos transformará desde dentro.

I think that is what I believe about Joseph. I do not think that the clarity came to him inmediately. I do not believe in those stories about the plam trees bending to hide the Holy Family...but I believe in the goodness of people and I believe that it is precisely that which the author is triny to tell us. The "Do not be afraid!" will continue to come to us throughout the times and God will continue to give us the free will that will allow us to be transformed from the inside out.

La Alianza en Oseas y Jeanne de Matel

2007-12-15T20:29:00.000-06:00

Jeanne Chézard de Matel escribió: benditos aquellos que no se escandalizan con tu amor. Creo que esto aplica perfectamente al modo de amar de Dios que se repite constantemente en las escrituras a través de la Historia de la Salvación. El amor de Dios, experimentado por su Pueblo, Israel, resulta escandaloso por el modo en que Dios perdona una y otra vez a un pueblo que le adora con los labios pero le es infiel en su corazón.

En el libro del profeta Oseas, quien profetizó durante uno de los periodos más obscuros para Israel, la caída del reino del Norte, este modo de amar de Dios es incomprensible pues ama su Pueblo con la ternura de un esposo y demuestra que su amor no se deja vencer por la infidelidad sino que hace prevalecer la misericordia sobre la ira.

En este libro, Gómer, la esposa del profeta, representa simbólicamente a Israel, sin embargo, el profeta Oseas vivió y experimentó en carne propia la infidelidad, de modo que su anuncio profético y la renovación de la Alianza de Dios con su Pueblo le vienen del corazón.La Alianza de Dios con su Pueblo es representada como un matrimonio en el cual las dos partes tienen una responsabilidad, para Israel esto es ser fiel, para Dios, es la protección a su Pueblo.

En el libro de Oseas, Dios manda al profeta que se case con una prostituta (aunque algunos estudiosos afirman que Gómer no era prostituta en sí sino que era una adoradora del dios Baal) y de este modo Gómer representa al pueblo caído de Israel que se vuelve a adorar a dioses extraños y por lo tanto se considera que se han prostituido, entregándole su corazón a dioses extraños.

Israel, por lo tanto, ha fallado, no ha cumplido su parte de la Alianza que era ser fiel a Dios. Dios por su parte, manda al profeta a advertirles. Primero, como un aviso bastante evidente, Dios manda que el profeta tenga hijos con su mujer. El primer hijo es llamado Jezreel lo cual es aviso que Dios castigará a los descendientes del rey Jehú por los crímenes cometidos en Jezreel. Después manda que el profeta tenga una hija a la cual nombran Lo-ruhama lo cual significa que Dios no tendrá compasión del reino del norte y finalmente manda que tengan otro varón al cual nombran Lo-amí lo cual significa que Israel ya no es pueblo de Dios, la Alianza ha sido rota.Después de esto vienen las profecías, los anuncios que prefiguran la restauración de Israel: Y en vez de decirles: “Ustedes ya no son mi pueblo,” Dios les dirá: “Ustedes son hijos del Dios viviente.” (Oseas 1,10)

El capítulo dos escribe algo parecido a un divorcio, un rompimiento con Israel, el fin de la Alianza, pero más adelante, casi enseguida, Dios, manda al profeta a denunciar su amor por Israel: Yo la voy a enamorar, yo la llevaré al desierto…Israel, yo te haré mi esposa por siempre, mi esposa legítima, conforme a la ley, porque te amo entrañablemente. (Oseas 2,14;19) Después de varios oráculos, el Señor manda a Oseas a comprar de nuevo a Gómer, como simbolismo del rescate de Israel por parte de su Dios aunque no lo merezcan. Pero a pesar de los ruegos de Oseas, Israel no se vuelve a Dios y pierden el reino del norte.

Sin embargo, Dios no los abandona completamente pues permite que vayan al exilio. A pesar de todo esto, Israel, infiel, no responde, pero la grandeza del libro de Oseas es que demuestra que el amor de Dios es siempre fiel y a pesar que su Pueblo ha roto la Alianza el Señor dice: Voy a curarlos de su rebeldía; voy a amarlos aunque no lo merezcan…Israel vivirá de nuevo bajo mi protección…(Oseas 14, 4;7)

Jeanne Chézard de Matel escribió: Tu amor hace que siembres los caminos del mundo con espinas para que las almas que vagan regresen a Ti, y diariamente Tú abres tus brazos para recibirlas…Yo creo que en esto consiste la grandeza de la Alianza, el gran romance divino: Dios es por siempre fiel. Dios no abandona.

Sr Helga Leija

¡Felicidades, Reina de México!

2007-12-12T08:11:00.000-06:00

¿No estoy yo aquí que soy tu Madre? (Am I not here-I, your mother?) With these words our Lady of Guadalupe became the Mother of all Mexicans, of all mestizos and indigenous peoples, the protector of the poor and the humble. Our Lady of Guadalupe, our beautiful dark Madonna of Indigenous features.

In Mexico, it is said that four million people come in pilgrimage to honor and greet our Virgencita, our sweet Mother who speaks our language. There is one Church named after her in every city in Mexico. Her image is in every Catholic Mexican home. Our Lupita gives us our Catholic Mexican identiy. Our Morenita came to show us the infinite love of the Father. She unites us all under her mantle of stars and tell us:

For am I not here-I, your Mother? Are you not in the cool of my shadow, in the breeziness of my shade? Is it not I that am your source of contentment? Are you not cradled in my mantle, cuddled in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else for you to need?".

In many parts of Mexico, on the eve of the feast of the Virgen of Guadalupe, babies and toddlers are dressed in representation of the many Indian tribes of Mexico. The procession begins and fills the streets, accompanied by singing and punctuated by firecrackers. It ends at the Church named after Her, for the Mass of thanksgiving for her protection and grace. At the end of Mass the children leave baskets of roses or poinsettias, light the candles and pray, quietly waiting for their turn to revere our Madrecita.

After their offering at the temple, parents take their kids to take a picture. (I've got one of those!) Children will pose on the traditional burro, dressed up with crepe paper and flowers with the image of Our Lady up on top. Thereis also the pose at the grottoe, with the figure of Juan Diego kneeling before the Blessed Mother, that can serve as a background. (notice Juan Diego behind me)

December the 12th marks a special event in the history of America. Our Niña Amada came to help two great civilizations to dialogue. And thanks to that dialogue, the Mestizo people were born. AND, she chose to stay, she asked for a templito (a little temple) to shw us her Son. It is once again, a very pregnant Mary looking for an inn.

And when Juan Diego tells her: "Niña, why do you send me where I can't go? Send someone who is worthy" and She responds: "Juan Dieguito, you are my most worthy ambassador." And I believe it is She who is asking the same of us. She is asking us to be her ambassadors, taking her roses of love all over the world. She is telling us to not be afraid, she is with us, God is with us. How can we fear?

Nuestra Señora sees all of the nation, rich and poor, exalted and humble, as her children, and holds us in her protective grace. Our pilgrims do not come asking for health as in Lourdes, they do not come asking for pardon and mercy as in Portugal, they come to Tepeyac to be cuddled by their Madre.

¡Viva México!

¡Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!

Dia de la Candelaria, a Mexican Tradition

2007-12-10T13:00:00.000-06:00

The Dia de la Candelaria (Day of the Candles) is a big feast in Mexico. It differs from the Candle Mass in the United States because during this Mass not only the Candles get blessed but also the Baby Jesus from the crib. In Mexico this has been celebrated since the Colonial times. This celebration also changes according to every ethnic group and region who gives the Celebration the characteristics proper to their culture.

Basically, the Dia de la Candelaria (Day of the Candles) the Godparents (in some places it will be the same people who sang the Baby Jesus to sleep on the night of the 24the, in some other places it will be the ones who found the Baby Jesus in the Rosca de Reyes or Kings cake) must go to the house of the “owners” of the Baby Jesus, to dress him and to take him to Church to be presented, just like Mary and Joseph did with Jesus, forty days after he was born. The first year the Baby Jesus is dressed in white to represent El nino de las Palomas (The Child of the Doves) or El Nino de las Azucenas (The Child of the White Lillies), which signifies the purity of his being.

The second year the Baby Jesus is dressed with a blue, yellow or pink gown and the last year He is dressed according to a devotion of the Godparents. It is very common to see the Baby Jesus dressed as El Santo Nino de Atocha (The Holy Child of Atocha) who wears a hat, a rod of wheat and a basket of flowers. The Holy child of Atocha appeared to the miners in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mex. Click here to read more. He can also be dressed as the Medico de los Enfermos (Doctor of the Sick) who wears a doctor’s coat, the Nino de la Candelaria (Child of the Candles) with a white gown, a candle in the left hand and flowers in the right.

He is also dressed as Saint Joseph, A Pope, Saint Francis, Saint Martin de Porres or the Sacred Heart. Every little gown is distinguished by the attributes that represent every Saint. Once dressed, the Baby Jesus is seated on a little wooden chair and then on a tray adorned with flowers. The first time the Baby is taken to the Temple, the Baby Jesus lays on the tray since He is still little and can not walk yet.

The Padrino (Godfather) also takes candles to Church. In some agricultural communities it id accustomed to take seeds to be blessed and to pray for a year of abundant harvest. The candles and some of the seeds are then used to adorn the Altar of the Sorrows.

At the end of the ceremony the Padrino (Godfather) returns the Baby Jesus to his “owners” who will light the candles. That afternoon, or evening, there will be a traditional “tamalada” (party in which tamales are served) in which tamales are served according to the custom of the place (there are many different styles of tamales in the country.) The tamales are accompanied by chocolate, atole de pinole (A drink made of corn meal and pinole, toasted corn flour, sometimes sweetened and mixed with cocoa, cinnamon or aniseed) or champurrado (a chocolaty flavored thick drink.)

The name of Candelaria or the Purification have their origin in the Feast that the Church celebrates the 40th day of the Birth of Jesus (February2) as a closing to the Christmas Season. With the Purification of the Mother and the presentation of the child at the temple, the ritual accompanying the birth of a child was finished in the Jewish law.

I have heard from many people that it is sacrilegious to dress Jesus as Saint Francis,etc. But I believe this is very incarnational. Jesus comes to us as one of us, we see Jesus as one of us. Therefore, we dress him as a carpenter, an indigenous person, a mariachi, a dancer....And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us...

If there are theological inconsistencies that is because I only have one semester in theology...:)

Here are my own pictures : This year my Baby Jesus would have been dressed as the Sacred Heart, except in my head, I envisioned the Sacred Heart with a red cape. Well, this is my Sacred Heart/Christ the King without a crown. The first picture was from last year, Jesus as Juan Diego.

I got tagged!

2007-12-09T10:10:00.000-06:00

O.K, so after going back to Brittany's blog (Salesian pre-postulant) I found out what being tagged means. So, here are the rules to the The Immaculate Conception Meme

Rules: Each tagged person must post 8 random facts or habits about themselves on their blog. At the end of the post, choose 8 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them that they are tagged and to read your blog. Have fun!

1) I am terrible at math but again, everyone who knows me KNOWS that. The random fact is that I begged my University math professor to help me out (as a senior in College). I'm brilliant but again, I can not divide, or substract. I can add and sort of multiply...He-He, that's why I either teach literature, language or tiny ones.

2) I read alot. I downloaded the reading list for a Master's Degree in Literature from some University and I am halfway through the list. I love literature, especially Iberian and Latinamerican.

3) I eat a lot of chiles. Not as Texan chillie but chile as in jalapenos, habeneros, serranos, piquin (or pitin.) I can eat as much as 20 of them in one sitting. I also grow my own.

4) I am allergic to Cinnamon. I suffer during the Christmas season when everything has cinnamon.

5) I have a minor in Translation. I translate poetry to relax.

6) I own 25 dicctionaries. I read them. I study them. One day, sitting at the doctor's office, the receptionist was so tickled at seing someone reading a dicctionary istead of a book or magazine. I say, and what is so weird about that? I try to read a section a month, right now I'm in the g section. I find 10 words I do not know, write them down and tey to use each word at least three times. By the way, I'm reading the Spanish dictionary now. I am the proud owner of a "Diccionario de la Real Academia Espanola.)

7) I study violin. A couple of weeks ago our Sister Treasurer went around the house thinking there was a cat inside. It was me tunning. I have my grandfather's violin, a 1923 John Jusek.

8) I am obsessed with Pablo Neruda's poetry. I love his Poem # 20. I use it as a mantra when I want to concentrate in something. I also dream of going to Isla Negra (he lived there) and visiting his house, now turned into a museum.

O.K, so I tagged Sr. Nicole, Sr. Helena, Sr. Julie, The Summit Dominicans, Javier (Rosas para Maria, and Sr. Teresa. I realize this isn't quite eight, but I told you I had a problem with math (truth is, I don't know that many people with blogs.)

Preparing for the birth of Jesus

2007-12-05T14:59:00.000-06:00

It has been busy here at the novitiate, besides the usual preparations at the house and the spiritual ones, well, some of us take the child within us out to play.

I had a box of clay for some other project I never really started, let alone finished. With it,I decided to make a nativity scene and prayed with the scriptures that speak of the nativity of Christ.

(I especially enjoyed making the crowns for the Three Kings and the Star of Bethlehem!)

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel." Isaiah 7:14

Here is my prayer turned into a nativity!

I can't wait for Christmas.

Come Jesus! Hurry! Come very soon!

O Come, o come, Emmanuel

2007-12-04T09:50:00.000-06:00

My Private Shoebox

These are some pictures of our work of preparing for the coming of our Incarnate Word. May you all have a wonderful waiting time. This is my favorite season of the year! More pictures to come!

helgaleija

About the human spirit, the desire to live and God

2007-11-30T09:46:00.000-06:00

I wish I could say something but the only thing that comes to my mind are the words of St. Paul: "For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10 or "God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong" 1 Corinthians 1:27

We have an awesome God who delights in us. Praised be the Incarnate World!

Sister Celestine

2007-11-29T13:03:00.000-06:00

It is with great sadness and joy that I ask for prayers for Sister Celestine Pulido who died this morning suddenly after a short battle with a complicated condition I never really understood. I also ask for prayer for her family. It is always so hard to let go...

Sister Celi, as she was affectionately known among the Sisters, was a native of Brownsville, Texas, and she entered into religious life with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, on August, 14th, 1955.

Sister Mary Celestine’s first encounter with the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament Sisters was at the Catholic elementary school, Immaculate Conception, where she attended during her early years. Sister Mary Celestine emphasized the fact that the sisters who taught at Immaculate Conception school were her “first teachers”. During her junior year at Villa Maria High School, she began to discern about becoming a religious sister. Two of the Incarnate Word sisters that made an important impact on her life, and served as her inspiration upon entering the convent, were Sister Mary Claude McManus and Sister Mary Bernard Mehan.

Sister Mary Celestine didn’t find making the decision to enter into religious life difficult; however, her father had other plans for his only daughter. Her father wanted her to enter into the field of nursing, but that was not to be. The call for religious life was too strong and soon proved to overrule her father’s plan for her. He finally decided to let her enter at the age of nineteen.

Sister Mary Celestine served in many ministries, primarily in school administration and teaching. When asked the question what has been the best part of being a sister, her response was “The greatest joy of my religious life has and always will be administering to the people of God, and serving others”. Sister Mary Celestine recently celebrated her fiftieth Golden Jubilee of religious life. May she rest in peace. Praised be the Incarnate Word!

2007-11-27T16:20:00.000-06:00

This is Rose, our new novice. I really wanted to make her a veil, but I figured her yellow will make her stand out anyway.

Rose went to visit the kids at the kindergarten and they liked each other so much she hasn't come home yet. I believe she will have to repeat the canonical year. Meanwhile, let's sing her song....."There's a yellow Rose in Texas that I
m going to see...." This is Texas y'all!

Inter Community Novitiate

2007-11-16T19:08:00.000-06:00

I'm back in the blogging world. I had been away because we had our Inter Community Novitiate meetings. We had two; one in Dallas, Oct. 21-24 and the second one was here in Corpus Christi, Nov. 12-14. The topic in Dallas was prayer and the one here in Corpus was on the vow of celibacy. We had novices from all over Texas: 5 Dominican Brothers of the Southern Provice (Albert the Great) 2 Mercy Sisters, 1 Cordimarian Sister, 1 Sister of Charity of the Incarnate Word, 1 Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth and Sr. Theresa and myself.

We still have two more sessions to go. The next one will be in San Antonio in February and then the next one in Laredo, TX sometime after that. The meeting gave us much food for the soul. I know it will take us all a while to process everything but being novices we are all privileged with time for this. By the way, the meeting was also lots of fun! If you doubt it, just look at the slide show which was prepared by Sr. Theresa.

Of my mother, poetry and novitiate

2007-11-07T09:02:00.000-06:00

I called my mother last night. She heard good news from the cardiologist. No heart problems, only a little rheumatic pain. After I heard the news, my own pain that I've had in the center of my stomach, disappeared. I hadn't notice I had it until it was gone. Thanks be to God who is never outdone in generosity!

Among other things, I received this book where two

of my poems were published. As some know, I studied Lengua y Literatura Hispánica ( Hispanic Language and Literature) most people think it's just Spanish, but it isn't, it's different (I also have a minor in Translation which as been a lot more useful than the B.A.) Anyway, the literary magazine Novosantanderino published two of my poems.

I will translate one of them here.

To Rebeca's Eyes

Lost in the immensity

of night...

Navigating among stars

or maybe climbing the moons

of imagination...

Maybe breathing memories

and far-away smiles,

evoking the mockingbird

with the song of your soul...

Meanwhile, everything's calm,

the sun shines, the desert keeps silent,

your soul is motionless, your cup intact.

2007-11-06T11:24:00.001-06:00

I have been away. I know. It is hard for me to even begin to put the story together, but to make it short I shall say that I had to go home to attend to a sick mother and to see a cousin who's very, very ill. I ask for your prayers for my mother who will see the cardiologist today and for my 25 year old cousin who's fighting for his life in a hospital in Mexico due to diabetes and multiple organ failure.

Otherwise things are going well at the novitiate but I'm very, very worried. I can't help it, but I like to always think of one of the first phrases that caught my attention in the Spanish Liturgy of the Hours and that is: "Dios nunca se deja ganar en generosidad para con sus hijos e hijas" (God is never outdone in generosity towars his sons and daughters)

May the Incarnate Word continue to bless us and teach us even in the midst of the hard times. May He strenghten my vocation and my resolve to follow him "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part."

Amen.

Of mercy, healing and Grace

2007-10-14T08:02:00.000-05:00

Today's readings are extremely difficult. This morning, as I prayed, I thought how easy it was for me to focus on the silliness of Naaman not wanting to follow the instructions given by Elisha....or thinking, "well, he ONLY wanted to worship God AFTER he was healed, or maybe to focus on the ungratefulness of the nine other lepers.

But as I reflected on the scriptures I thought of the fact that the healing of both Naaman and the tenth leper were more than just physical. They were healed in body AND heart. Naaman requested two mule-loads of earth to build an altar for the living God and the Samaritan, another foreigner, believed in Jesus and his faith saved him.

I think of Naaman and his wanting to pay back Elisha, wanting to do something for God's servant and Elisha's strong refusal. God's gift of healing is pure grace, it can not be earned. In her autobiography, Jeanne Chezard de Matel wrote: "With great charity, You let me understand that my sins were forgiven, that You had washed them away in Your Blood. In my zeal, I wanted to be treated rigorously for the faults You had taken away which served to humble me, but Your love preferred to make me holy." Jeanne Chezard de Matel, Autobiography 1, Pages 30-31

Again, God's healing love is pure grace, it can not be earned. This is a story about faith. The second reading says that "God remains faithful because he cannot deny himself" (2Timothy 2:13)

This is a beautiful statement. I believe the Liturgy of the hours says somewhere that God is never outdone in generosity. "God can not deny himself", the thought is so overwhelming!

God said to Jeanne: "I prefer mercy to sacrifice...Since in My goodness, I have chosen to delight in you, you would make me suffer...if your heart were to reject My caresses...With humble gratitude, then, accept My graces, and allow me to love you and to pur out the torretns of My goodness upon you." Jeanne Chezard de Matel, Autobiography 1, pages 30-31

So, then, the call for me is to allow God to love me, to allow God to heal me and not to wallow in misery as I know well how to. The call is for a grateful heart who knows that God's graces can never be repaid and to say with St. Paul:

"Always thank God...because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 1:4)

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

St. Ripper pray for us!

2007-10-10T11:29:00.000-05:00

These last days in the novitiate we have been having crocheting lessons during recreation from Sr. Mary Ann and Sr. Mary Beth. Both of these Sisters are highly skilled at many crafts. This crafting session was mmmmm, rather interesting. Sr. Mary Beth succeeded at teaching a left handed person how to right hand crochet. The evening included questions like:

Sr. Helga: "Who is the Patron Saint of Seamstresses?"

Sr. Mary Beth: "St. Ripper, of course!"

Crocheting requires some concentration, especially when you are learning. I keep on thinking of something Sr. Mary Beth told me: "The stitches tell a lot about how you're feeling." Which is absolutely true, either too tight, too tangled, too loose, too wrong, too right. Same happens with quilting.

I wonder what the stitches tell about me, my life, my prayer. Sometimes I wonder where all of this will take me. Sometimes I wonder if I match the thread of this wonderful afghan of religious life.

The other day I found this granny hexagon afghan in one of the rooms in the novitiate and fell in love with it. It has become a friend during meditation. If you notice, it has all kinds of odds and ends of yarn and yet, it fits together as if God had designed it. The colors blend together and the dark colors make others stand out or accentuate them. Did you notice the baby yarn carefully guarded by other darker and brighter colors? All of them play a part in this beautiful design. The contrast makes it wonderful, attractive, beautiful. And I think this resembles our community, when you meet a Sister of the Incarnate Word....you have met one Sister of the Incarnate Word.

We have Sisters in all sizes, shapes, colors, languages and backgrounds, yet, we are one in heart and in our love for the Incarnate Word, one in faithfulness to our charism, one in being the human face of God in four continents. Together we resemble an afghan, like Joseph's cloak of many colors.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

I always wanted to do this

2007-10-02T19:00:00.001-05:00

Free Widgets

2007-10-02T08:10:00.002-05:00

Glittery texts by bigoo.ws

On Sunday, September 30, Sister Louise Marie Jones, Incarnate Word Sister of Victoria, Texas made her First Profession of Vows. The ceremony was truly beautiful! The entrance song was Veni Creator Spiritus in three voices, I think. Then her superior said a few words to Sister Louise Marie and to the assembly, after the Liturgy of the Word, Sister Louise Marie continued with the rite of Religious Profession.

These Sisters have the same profession formula that we have, except that their Bishop examines the candidates for profession during the Rite of First profession. After the examination, Sr. Louise Marie consecrated herself to God through the vows of Consecrated Chastity, Evangelical Poverty and Religious Obedience for one year. Then, she proceeded to sing Psalm 16 which is a song expressing the spirit of self-giving and joy.

One special thing about this ceramony was that Sister's daughter sang with the choir and also sang a beautiful meditation song. I was very touched and so was Sister and the rest of the assembly.

We then went on to the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the recessional song was a Hymn to Mother Jeanne de Matel. I transcribe the words.
The flow'rs have appeared in our land.
Arise my love and come!
The winter is over and the rain is past,
my dove from the cleft of the rock.

You heard the call of the Incarnate Word, Dear mother Jeanne de Matel.
You gave Him all you had to give, and ever more and more.

Watch over us, your sons and daughters, as you have always done.
That we may spread His love and peace, till all His sheep are one.

May the Incarnate Word bless her as she continues to hear the call of the Incarnate Word and may He hold her close and she continues to give her joyful yes.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Patria, te derramas en ternura

2007-09-10T08:22:00.000-05:00

A pesar del tiempo que separa
Los hechos de las fabricaciones de mi memoria,
Sigue avanzando con pasos agigantados,
La suave Patria cuyo recuerdo
Aún me eriza la piel.

Vivo en una tierra ajena
Y a la vez conocida,
Entre palmeras importadas
Y xerófitas nativas.

Vivo recordándote, Patria,
México de plazas, iglesias y maíz calientito
Comprado a alguien
De mi misma complexión,
De mi misma lengua.

Este país entiende de inmigrantes,
Me ha abierto las puertas pero no el corazón
Y yo te sueño Patria, mientras lucho por ser mejor.

Mi corazón se deshace en sonrisas
Al pensar en tu población indígena de voz de cenzontle
Y tu población mestiza, color de miel, sangre multisabor.

No me he ido Patria, me encuentro lejos de ti,
Pero vives en mi piel,
En mi lengua melodiosa, poética,
En la sangre de fuego que me recorre las venas.

Patria, México de chile y canto,
No me he alejado nunca. Tú vives en mí.

Y desde esta tierra de leche y miel
Te canto, Patria de tortilla y talavera,
Patria de mangos, mercados y micros.

Explotas en humanidad, Patria,
En ternura que se derrama
Y se agazapa en un sobre del
Hijo que anhela a su madre desde
Los campos de California,
La fábrica en Chicago,
El restaurante en Nueva York…

Te construimos Patria, día a día
Te iluminamos en la fatiga del día
Cuando cansados sacamos la guitarra
Para oírte en sus seis voces mestizas…

Te sembramos en la labor,
Te cosechamos a plena luz,
Viajas con nosotros en los ferrocarriles,
En los freeways,
Vas a donde vamos.

México, Madre
Patria de hombre y mujer trabajadores,

Polifonía de montañas, desiertos y bosques,

Escándalo de belleza transverberada

De selvas, mares, volcanes y ríos.

México, Patria para siempre.
Desde nuestra lejanía seguiremos amándote,
Construyéndote, enorgulleciéndote.

No nos fuimos Patria,
Tan solo extendimos tu corazón.

09 de septiembre del 2007

A bit more of my vocation story

2007-09-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

Check out another website that has a little bit more about my story..You can also check out the story of Sister Theresa and Sister Rosa María.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

A little sad...

2007-09-05T10:55:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking for a long time about the gospel of August 27, “Woe to you who lock the Kingdom of Heaven before others!” Maybe because of some comments I have heard about whether or not we are orthodox, traditional, liberal and such. I say, why do we have need to label ourselves as if everything in life was black and white?

These days we hear so much on the news about the “new trend” (I don’t like that, how can vocations be a trend?) of people entering communities. And then we hear the comments, “oh, it’s because they are more orthodox” and then we hear, “and for sure those liberal communities will die out.” It is true that in some communities we have a lot more elderly Sisters and when I think of my own nunnies I see vibrant women who have given their all to God and who continue to do so and to be fountains of wisdom, always ready to listen, always ready to dance, always ready to live! And so, those comments hurt me very much. Who are we to think that communities are less of a community because of the age of the Sisters, or to think that my nunnies are “unfaithful” because they do not wear a habit? If only we knew how holy these women are….

I want to say that as outsiders, we really do not know what goes inside a community, and we really can not read hearts. So, that’s plain judgments and God hasn’t died and left us in charge, so, really, we do not know.

We need to remember that Jesus hung out with the sinners, the lepers, the demoniacs, the undesirables of society. Remember his phrase, “the one who is free of sin may cast the first stone”? Why, why, why do we have to label, to judge, to waste time in negativity? Who does it help? How does it make us holier? Jesus condemned the Pharisees who pointed their finger at Jesus and his friends. Jesus said: “Sabbath was made for men and not men for Sabbath.”

Another thought that comes to me is that of our wanting people to have our own experience of God. Growing up between two worlds, that of Anglos and Mexicans, I always felt insecure. At the mall, not knowing English, I would not let go of my daddy’s hand for the life of me (my dad could speak English.) When eventually I entered the world of Mexican-Americans, I so felt at home. My experience of God resonated with them. I wasn’t expected to bow down before the distant Jesus, way up behind the altar, with blond hair and blue eyes, with the Castilian accent (“El Señor esté con vosotros, y con vuestro espíritu.) Instead, Jesus became brown and spoke Mexican Spanish and I could sing to Him with my guitar. And when I think of how many immigrants are probably finding themselves in the same situation, my heart breaks.

We need to let people relate to God from their own experience. We need to let communities be who they are. We need to let God be God and leave the judgments to Him. Today’s Gospel says: “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.” Let us remember that the sun comes out for everybody, let us not lock the Kingdom of Heaven, because as my grandmother always said, “God will hold you accountable.”

Our community has gone through almost extinction at the French revolution, Mexican Revolution, religious persecution, terrible hurricanes that have wiped our convents, fires which have reduced out convents to nothing, floods, disease, death, and yet, it is God’s will that we continue to adore the Incarnate Word and to proclaim the Mystery of His Incarnation.

Let us continue to love God and to let others love God.

Praised be the Incarnate Word!

Día de reflexión

2007-08-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

Cada miércoles tengo la bendición de todo un día para integrar y asimilar lo que aprendí durante la semana. Esta mañana me desperté bendiciendo los alimentos ¡que raro! trataba de acordarme de lo que digo o pienso al despertar y el benedictus fue lo único que se me pudo ocurrir. ¡Vaya manera de empezar un día de reflexión! Pero creo que para Dios todo cuenta, aún la intención que tenía de saludarle propiamente.

Claro está que después de tomar café como que el cerebro se me puso en su lugar.

La oración no me es dócil todavía...esta semana he estado reflexionando sobre el evangelio del lunes "¡Hipócritas!, ustedes cierran la puerta del reino de los Cielos para que otros no entren." Y esto me recuerda las palabras de mi abuela "no seas piedra de tropiezo para nadie." Pero que difícil es vivir sin pisar las cintas del zapato del otro.

Vivir en comunidad no es fácil. A veces es tedioso tener que ser amable cuando te sientes todo MENOS amable...pero la comunidad es el lugar donde lo de afuera se queda afuera y llegas y recargas las pilas. Amo a mis hermanas aunque veces no siento amarlas pues el amor siempre nos hace vulnerables...aún así, estoy dispuesta a seguir adelante con el don que Dios me ha regalado. El papa Juan Pablo II decía en su Vita Consacrata que una existencia "cristiforme" que ha sido propuesta a tantos bautizados a lo largo de la historia, es posible solo desde una especial vocación y gracias a un don peculiar del Espíritu. Es por lo tanto el Espíritu de Dios el que me permite vivir esta vocación y vivir en el corazón mismo de la Iglesia.

¡Alabado sea el Verbo Encarnado!

My Vocation Story in ¡OYE! Magazine

2007-08-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

Today I received an e-mail from the ¡OYE! Magazine where a short version of my vocation story was published. If you want to take a look click here

Among other news I read today an article that says that today more women are drawn to religious life. Thank God for Internet in which we can find information and communicate with vocation directors and other people who are discerning. If you want to read the article go here

And so, that is my news for today. Have a wonderful day and remember to pray for us.

A quilt and a prayer

2007-08-21T14:34:00.000-05:00

Today I started to put together a quilt for the friend of a friend who also happens to be my Sister in Christ. I was determined not to cut anymore but use up the odds and ends from other quilts. The result was this colorful, crazy looking quilt (it still needs to be sewn and quilted.)

As I was sitting there on the floor with all these pieces, some of them really pretty, some odd looking, some others plain ugly, I was thinking that this quilt resembles my life. We all have beautiful, bright memories to share, others that we are embarrassed to remember, others that we wish we could forget, but how, when they are all together, accepted as part of our sacred story, make a beautiful patchwork, a beautiful sacrifice of praise.

Quilting is for me such a profound prayer experience. I remember two things my grandmother used to love, and that was quilting/sewing and jigsaw puzzles. We used to sit on the floor with a cup of coffee and a cup of milk (I was a little girl) and we would be entertained for hours and hours designing patterns (there was no Internet then.) And I know that being there with her, with God in our silence, was such a privilege.

Today as I sit again (this time I do get coffee) and put together quilts and stitch them with love and prayers, I feel so blessed for the patchwork quilt of my life. For all the blessings and for all the heartaches because they have helped me to become a more compassionate person and for all the not so pretty pieces because they make me who I am, a uneven, unpatterned piece of artwork. A wonderful crazy quilt!

You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! Psalm 139:13-14

I am officiallly a second year novice!

2007-08-19T09:23:00.000-05:00

Except that means I'm back to the first year. What I mean to say is that I am a canonical novice which usually comes the first year...But I am grateful. I think it would have been really hard to go from full time ministry teaching first grade to zero ministry and lots of prayer and study. So, I went from full time ministry to part time ministry (last year I worked at the Montessori school) and this year I get to pray and pray and pray.

Prayer is a strange thing. I would have thought that it was immediately going to turn me into some kind of contemplative little soul. I am grateful for all the time and freedom to visit Jesus in either of our two chapels, and yet I feel like I go sit there and I can not pray. I probably expect feelings to be involved in all of this. My past director used to tell me: "Helga, when you can not pray it is important that you remain faithful to prayer. Prayer is not about feelings or even an outcome, but about fidelity."

So, I try to remain faithful, but it seems like every time I have made another step in formation, entering, postulancy, novitiate, second year novitiate, I get into this mood of "I'll never make it." I know that with God all things are possible, and this life is great. But sometimes I miss college, I miss walking through a really noisy and dirty city. (Corpus Christi is incredibly quiet and clean, isn't it funny?) I miss fighting with my brothers and meeting with my uncles for breakfast. I miss their guitars and our very noisy and crazy family.

I have been in the convent since 2004 (I have had a long formation process which has been my choice) and although I have learned and gained a lot, I still miss the familiar. God only knows why He made my heart such a strange little thing when He knew He would call me to be an Incarnate Word Sister, and being a Sister is not easy. God told our Mother Foundress, Jeanne Chezard de Matel: "I have made you a crystal, but remember that you are as fragile as glass. You make me known because your childlike simplicity renders you transparent. I reveal Myself through you like a mirror."

May God embrace us all in our fragility and may He allow us to always reveal Him to others. May we always be faithful extensions of the Incarnation....but meanwhile would you pray for me, for us?

A New Novice!

2007-08-17T19:35:00.000-05:00

On the Feast of the Assumption Postulant Theresa Nguyen entered the Novitiate. It was a beautiful ceremony.

For the gathering of the Assembly we sang: "Glorify the Lord, oh Jerusalem; praise your God oh Sion, for God has strengthened the bars of your gates, and He has blessed the Children within you...."

I love that! It was done in three voices (or at least we tried to do it in three voices...)

When asked why she wanted to enter the program, Theresa responded full of joy:

I wish to enter more deeply into the initiation program of this congregation so that I may help to form a community of worship, centered in the Person of the Incarnate Word, a community which, through its prayer and service will be a visible sign of the holiness of the Church.

To this the superior responded:

May you grow always in faith, in hope, and in charity, so that the life of the Church may be enriched by your endeavors and so that you may become an ever clearer sign to the world of the New Creation.

After the reading of Scripture, Sr. Irma our superior gave a beautiful homily in which she exhorted Theresa to deepen her prayer life and her relationship with God and with community. Then she gave the symbols of the novitiate: Constitutions, Directory, policy book and the veil by saying:

Receive this symbols of the Novitiate. May their use enable you to deepen your knowledge and understanding of our mission, to extend the Reign of God.

Through Baptism you died to sin and rose to a new life in Christ, now you wish to deepen that Baptismal Consecration by a life publicly given to God. May the title Sister which you receive be a constant reminder of your dedication to the Incarnate Word, through this community. Henceforth, instead of being called Theresa Nguyen, you will be known a Sister Theresa Nguyen.

More pictures from Mexico City

2007-08-14T08:34:00.000-05:00

2007-08-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

Hi! I haven't posted anything since I came back. I had an emergency oral surgery and I'm just getting back on my feet. I vaguely remember someone saying to offer up the pain but I was so miserable I couldn't even put a prayer together....or ask for mercy. But, I'm back and i am so excited to announce that next week, August 15 we will have a new novice! As Theresa, our postulant will start the novitiate.

We will be together in the canonical year but I get to make vows first (my canonical year was reversed so that we could be together.)

I will leave you with this picture of my studies this summer. From left to right are Sr. Magdalene (Africa), Sr. Mary Helga (US) Sr. Wanda (Argentina) and Sr. Maria Elena (Mexico) playing for the last Mass of the Matelian Studies this summer in Mexico City.

Sin palabras

2007-07-30T14:15:00.000-05:00

Being in Mexico City has been a rather moving experience. On the one side I see all the beautiful archtitecture and the splendor of a great city, on the other, I see in the subway so many desperately poor people that it just breaks my heart. I know that we talk a lot about the poor and about social justice and prayer and....but actually seeing them, face to face...It is quite an experience.

Yesterday we went to the Zocalo and on the way there, in the subway, an old man was sniffing something, he was clearly drugged, but there was such a look in his eyes. He was standing next to me until another man got up from his seat and gave it to me, and a group of other men, stood right in front of us, to protect us. There were no words said but the experience of those eyes will not leave me because they made an imprint in my soul.

I was asking myself, what is all this business about professing the Incarnation if I can not live it, if I can not see it in my broken brother, in the poverty of that man who could be my father? I kept asking me, what is in that heart? And I felt so powerless.

Later, we got to the Zocalo and then again, there were millions of people there. I am not kidding by saying millions. People were pressing everywhere and the four religious who went there had to hold each other`s hands and walk one behind the other, otherwise I would never see them again in that sea of people...There was a man who could not walk and was lying on his stomach in a little cart, I can not remember what they were called, but I had one as a child. He added a little motor to move about. Both his feet were gangrened. And again, I felt such a pain in my heart that it turned into actually physical pain. Have you ever hurt so much in your heart that the pain turns physical? That`s what I felt.

And then? What to do with that? How do I, as a religious of the Incarnate Word take that pain and make it life-giving? I`m still praying. But I wanted to write it so that the experience will never be forgotten. May God help us all and may the Incarnate Word help me to find Him in everywhere.

Greetings from Mexico City

2007-07-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

It has been the longest since since I posted last. I have been in Mexico City since the beginning of July. I am studying at the Pontifical University. I have not had time for anything. I mean, studies are heavy with papers to write and all that good stuff. One of my professors a Friar from Spain, wrote most of the hyms for the Spanish Version of the Liturgy of the Hours. He has been writing poetry mostly every day for class. Today was my last class with him, but I still have a few more before I head back home for my canonical novitiate.

I forgot to mention that I am studying for a certificate program on Matelian Spirituality, that is, the Spirituality of our Foundress, Jeanne Chezard de Matel which is totally Incarnational.

I have learned so many good things that I can not think of what to share...Today we had Mass in Latin, the priest said that the Holy Father is asking religious communities to celebrate the Latin Mass often so that religious are more familiar with the language of the Church...I thought that was a funny coincidence that in class, one of the Professors said that God´s language was that of the heart....To each his own! I was totally confused during Mass but I was able to follow. Still, I like to understand what is being said.

In class we have a Sister from Africa who went for a quick three week course in Spanish and she is taking the class and writing papers! I believe this is her fourth or fifth language. Some people have an amazing ability for languages.

I want to learn French like our Mother Foundress learned Latin. She prayed to God saying: "If I could understand Latin I would read the Bible and love you even more." And one day God infused the knowledge...Can you all help me pray? If I knew French I would be able to read her original writings. Father said today that the language of the Spirit can only be expressed in your mother tongue....I agree. So, please pray for me that I can learn French, yeah, and Latin, why not...

Ascension Sunday

2007-05-20T10:15:00.000-05:00

Gospel

Jn 17:20-26

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:“Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

Today's reading never ceases to amaze me. When I hear Jesus saying: "Father, they are your gift to me...I wish them to be where I am." This prayer of Jesus is not only for the Christian community, not only for the disciples but for all those who will believe in Him through the ages. This prayer is for us in the same way that the Incarnation was a gift from God to us. Jesus sees us as His gift and yet He is God's gift to us. He became clay for us so that we may become wheat like Him.

I think of the poor disciples, standing there in sadness, missing their Lord, heartbroken and yet, filled with awe for the great things that God allowed them to be a part of. Jesus now calls them friends. Jesus now prays for them and for us and wants us to go where he is going.

Thinking of the Ascension reminds me of St. John of the Cross in his Dark Night:

"¡O noche, que guiaste! ¡O noche amable más que la alborada! ¡oh noche que juntaste amado con amada, amada en el amado transformada! "

( "O blessed night! O night more lovely than the dawn! O night that has united the lover with His beloved, Transforming the beloved in her Lover.")

I believe that this sadness allows precisely the transformation that Jesus and the Father wish for us. Unity is the theme of this prayer, that we may be brought to perfection, that we may become more like Jesus.

In another poem, St. John of the Cross writes:

—Nada me contenta, Hijo, fuera de tu compañía. Y si algo me contenta en ti mismo lo quería el que a ti más se parece a mi más satisfazía. Y el quen nada te semeja en mí nada hallaría en ti solo me e agradado ¡o vida de vida mía!. Eres lumbre de mi lumbre eres mi sabiduría figura de mi substancia en quien bien me complazía. Al que a ti te amare Hijo a mí mismo le daría y el amor que yo te tengo ésse mismo en él pondría en razón de aver amado a quien yo tanto quería.

(-"My Son, only your company contents me, and when something pleases me I love that thing in you; whoever resembles you most satisfies me most, and whoever does not resemble You will find nothing in me. I am pleased with you alone, O life of my life! You are the light of my light, you are my wisdom, the image of my substancein whom I am well pleased. My Son, I will give myself to him who loves you and I will love him with the same love I have for you, because he has loved you whom I love so." )

And so, I think of the Ascension as an opportunity to reasses who I am, and whom I want to resemble. I know I fall short of Jesus' ideal of unity, but I keep on trying, and Jesus keeps on praying for me, for us. This day, let us pray for each other that we may be one. The Incarnation of Christ has already opened the way and His Ascension has confirmed that we can go to where Jesus is.

Caring for God's tiniest children

2007-05-09T19:23:00.000-05:00

Last week we received a call from Fr. Vega, the chaplain at Driscoll Children's Hospital (two blocks from our place) He wanted to know if there were any retired Sisters who knew how to sew. He said the children at the hospital who are often born prematurely and due to their extremely small size there are no appropriate gowns, sleepers and other garments for them to wear. He also said that when babies die it is very hard for the parents to find burial layettes for their babes and in some cases babies are buried in hospital gowns too big for their size.

So, a few of us started to sew. One Sister is sewing hospital gowns, I am sewing burial layettes.

A big thanks to Patty from St. Louis for sending us a pattern from Newborns in Need. They are a charity that specializes in the needs of premature and newborn babies that are sick or in crisis. They donate baby items to hospitals, homeless shelters, crisis enters and other organization who provides for the needs of these tiny babes.

They provide warm sleepers, undershirts, gowns, hats, booties, etc.

Quilts, afghans and blankets

Burial layettes and memorial items

Baby hygene products

Toys and comfort items, etc.

The pattern is beautiful and very easy to follow. The pictures show the extremely small size of the gowns.

If there are any seamstresses out there, please give Newborns in Need a look. If you can't sew, then you can donate fabric, thread or many other items they need. Check out their website at

http://www.newbornsinneed.org

I am not able to meet with other people that sew for them (we will be sending our garments to our local hospital) but we are united in prayer and in love for God's tiniest children.

Jeanne Chezard de Matel...continued

2007-05-05T14:57:00.000-05:00

(Relics of Jeanne Chezard De Matel, Lyon, France)
The difficulties of the foundress during these years were many. The journey of this virtuous woman has been recounted in her own Autobiography and likewise in works by Canon Penaud, Prince Galitzin, Mother Saint-Pierre, Canon Cristiani, Father Juan Lozano among others.

In addition to her Life, Jeanne de Matel has left to those who continue in her mission a wealth of spiritual writings. This collection includes volumes of her own spiritual journey, collections of letters and treatises. The most well known of her treatises is that pertaining to the Beatitudes.

During the French Revolution of 1789-1793, the Sisters of the Incarnate Word were dispersed, but in 1816, a holy priest named Father Etienne Denis, assembled some of these Sisters in a humble house, and they recommenced their life in community.
In 1852, the convent in Lyon, in order to respond to the desire of Pope Pius IX, sent the first group of Sisters to the province of Texas in the United States. They were established in Brownsville and after a few years found branches of the Order in Corpus Christi, Victoria and Houston. The Houston foundation was made in 1873. In addition to these houses, foundations were made in Cleveland, Ohio and Mexico. This Order has further helped to give birth to another Order, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

Jeanne Chezard de Matel was declared Venerable in 1992 by Pope John Paul II. This title verifies that the Church perceives this woman to have lived a life of heroic virtue. Her writings have further been studied and deemed orthodox. Her beatification now awaits the authentication of a miracle.

Who was Jeanne Chezard de Matel?

2007-04-30T16:26:00.000-05:00

(Icon of Jeanne Chezard de Matel, used with permission
from the Sisters of the Incarnate Word, Cleveland, Ohio)

Jeanne de Matel was born in Roanne in the diocese of Lyon, France on November 6, 1596. Her father, Jean Chezard de Matel, an officer in the army, enjoyed the friendship of two monarchs: Henry IV and Louis XIII. Her mother belonged to an excellent family of Roanne and distinguished herself by her virtue and piety.

At the age of twelve, Jeanne made her First Communion. This was the beginning of an intimacy with the Incarnate Word, to Whom she consecrated herself by a promise of perpetual virginity. Thus, there was established between God and this servant a degree of friendship which manifested itself through extraordinary graces received. The priests of the Society of Jesus were the confidants of these graces accorded to her, and during her lifetime, they were her most faithful counselors and protectors.

Our Lord Himself clearly informed Jeanne that He had chosen her to be the foundress of a new religious Order. After having consulted her spiritual directors, Jeanne, at the age of 29, commenced working for the establishment of a new Institute. She began with two companions, in Roanne, on July 2, 1625, but soon afterwards transferred to Lyon. From there she called for her first companions, and they established themselves on the Gourguillon hill, in a spacious house which Our Lord had previously shown her.

Monseigneur de Miron, the Archbishop of Lyon, died unexpectedly after having occupied the archepiscopal See for only two years. His successor, Cardinal Alphonse Louis de Richelieu, brother of the famous Prime Minister under Louis XIII, maintained an unwavering opposition to Mother de Matel's foundation. Confronted with the dispositions of he new archbishop, Mother de Matel's situation became both difficult and critical. Despite the protection of the Jesuit Fathers, the Cardinal would not consent to the foundation of a new Congregation, and he refused his approbation within his diocese. In 1633 Mother de Matel received the Apostolic Bull of Establishment from Pope Urban VIII authorizing the foundation of the new Order, but Cardinal Richelieu refused to make the Bull effective. Mother de Matel, tranquil and full of confidence in God, established the Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in other dioceses. She founded a monastery in Avignon on December 15, 1639, in Grenoble, on June 3, 1643, in Paris on January 1, 1644. The successor to Cardinal Richelieu, Monseigneur Camille de Neuville canonically recognized the monastery in Lyon on December 30, 1655.

(To be continued....)

Happy Birthday Sr. Mary Rose!

2007-04-25T18:57:00.000-05:00

Today is the ? birthday of Sr. Mary Rose (of our Sister community in Cleveland, Ohio)
Who would think this sweet little baby would become an Incarnate Word Sister?

Sister Mary Rose serves her community as part of the Leadership team. We pray for them as they prepare for Chapter this year (we are right behind them, ours is next summer!)

This is my favorite picture of Sister. I meet with Sr. Mary Rose and Sr. Rose Miriam some summers and we have journaling parties. I find that journaling clarifies my thoughts. I am so glad to have a couple of journaling friends!

Happy Birthday to my Sister in Christ. May God bless you and keep you!

Communion within the Church essential for flourishing of vocations, Pope Benedict writes

2007-04-24T14:25:00.000-05:00

Today I read Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Sunday, April 29th.) The Holy Father spoke of religious vocations as a communion.
He also emphasized the importance of living in communion with God and with our brothers and sisters and of making the Eucharist the center of our lives as vital to the flourishing of vocations.

I particularly like the following statement:

"At the centre of every Christian community is the Eucharist, the source and summit of the life of the Church. Whoever places himself at the service of the Gospel, if he lives the Eucharist, makes progress in love of God and neighbour and thus contributes to building the Church as communion. We can affirm that the "Eucharistic love" motivates and founds the vocational activity of the whole Church, because, as I wrote in the Encyclical Deus caritas est, vocations to the priesthood and to other ministries and services flourish within the people of God wherever there are those in whom Christ can be seen through his Word, in the sacraments and especially in the Eucharist. This is so because "in the Church’s Liturgy, in her prayer, in the living community of believers, we experience the love of God, we perceive his presence and we thus learn to recognize that presence in our daily lives. He loved us first and he continues to do so; we too, then, can respond with love" (n. 17)."

You can read the article here:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com

Faith Sharing at the Bay

2007-04-23T16:57:00.000-05:00

On Friday, April 20th, I met with my faith sharing group for a very awesome shared lectio time. Sr. JoAnn, Sr. Rose Miriam, Sr. Raquel, Sr. Maria Elizabeth, Theresa and myself met at the Corpus Christi bay. We were reflecting with the Sunday reading (Jesus appears to the disciples the third time.) I really loved this faith sharing because looking at the water made it so much more real, the disciples more present, the Gospel more "ours." We were the disciples and Jesus was asking us: "Do you love me?"

Yes, Lord,

we love you!

we love you!

we love you!

After that we tried catching fish for dinner but we couldn't figure out from which side of the boat to cast our net. So, we ended up picking up some fish from Boat N' Net. It tasted almost as good as it tasted to the disciples.

Easter Vigil, 2007

2007-04-07T23:58:00.000-05:00

Palm Sunday 2007

2007-04-01T10:09:00.000-05:00

Today at the Procession with Palms the reading from Lk 19:28-40 says that Jesus was going into Jerusalem and had need of a colt. The Disciples bring it to him and as he comes into Jerusalem people throw their cloaks on the road and as he approaches the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples begins to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they have seen. They proclaim out loud:“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd then say to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” But He replies, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”

I love this reading because the Incarnation of Christ is made evident. Christ does not ask for a horse, or a chariot, he asks for a donkey! Jesus wants to be the King of the Poor, the Word Incarnate who came to experience the vulnerability of the poor, the voiceless, the defenseless. Jesus' commitment to enter our lives, share our experiences, and walk in the path of our suffering begins. The fulfilment of God's gift for us enters the final hours.

In the reading, the Pharisees try to silence the crowd who wants to praise God. In today's world there are many voices who are raised to silence people's cry for God. Last year in his Easter Message, our Holy Father asked us to pray specially for Africa, Darfur, Uganda and Zimbabwe, for Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Holy Land. Let us continue to pray for them and also for Chiapas and Oaxaca in Mexico, for all the countries in Latin America and the world where the people, the Children of God suffer. Let us pray a lot for the nations to respect human rights, religious freedom and the dignity of the peoples. Let us pray for the missionaries who take the Word to places torn by war, hunger, and violence. Let us pray that the voiceless, the defenseless, the vulnerable will find their voice so they they, us, the stones and all of creation will be able to worship God without fear and cry out: "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Feast of the Incarnation

2007-03-26T11:41:00.000-05:00

“In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God…” (Lk 1:26)
Today we commemorate the solemnity of the Incarnation, the hour when the Angel Gabriel sneaked in through the window of a poor home in Nazareth to ask a humble virgin if she wanted to be the Mother of God. Mary’s unwavering yes became a crucial moment in history. It constitutes a fundamental truth of our faith. Mary’s yes permitted the Word to become flesh to dwell among us, God’s ultimate gift of tenderness to all His children.

The Solemnity of the Incarnation is, therefore, a celebration of thanksgiving. I am filled with gratitude each time I hear the narration of the Annunciation because I realize God trusts humanity despite our continual failure throughout history to be faithful. I am amazed at the audacity of God to submit his designs to the freedom of a young girl. The power and greatness of God do not coerce her and God does not manipulate her. God simply asks: “Do you want to be the Mother of God?”

Our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate the feast of Pesah as their celebration of Freedom, we, as Christians, celebrate our Freedom today. We celebrate Mary’s freedom to choose to be the Mother of God. God’s relationship with humanity is based in freedom, just as love is and we are free to accept or reject God’s love. Today we celebrate God’s tender love for us manifested in His commitment to enter our lives and share in our human experience.

As Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament we feel truly blessed and honored to bear the name of Jesus in our title. The word Incarnation reflects God’s total solidarity and identification with the poor of the earth and His ultimate gift of love to humanity.

Mary was young, yet she said yes. It is important to say yes to God in our own way. God can make wonderful things happen with our lives. Let us not be afraid to accept God’s invitation to use our freedom to respond: “I am the Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)

(The painting hangs at the entrance of our chapel.)

Quiero

2007-03-20T19:05:00.000-05:00

“Todo poeta es un niño que se niega a ser adulto.”

Pedro Casaldáliga

Escribo cuando hay pocas cosas a las que aferrarse. Yo me aferro a tu rostro y a tu sonrisa que se parece a la mía. Me aferro a los recuerdos de una infancia que parece inventada y que renace en el alma al orar de madrugada.
Me aferro al Cristo joven, en jeans y botas de minero, con una guitarra a la espalda…cantando las bienaventuranzas.

Me aferro a tu corazón que entiende como si fueras reflejo de mi alma. Me aferro a la niña que escribe cuentos, me aferro a tu niña que los escucha.

Los sueños son cosas extrañas.

Yo sigo en la habitación diminuta que vislumbra el peral que ya no agoniza en el letargo del invierno. Ya se ha vestido de galas blancas y verdes, más tarde ofrecerá sus dones como sacrificio a la admiración que le profeso.

Ahora amanece y el peral y yo entonamos salmos, leemos a Machado, tomamos café, escuchamos a Rachmaninoff, vestimos a mi muñeca Rhonda, escribimos poesía…

Yo no quiero ser grande. Yo quiero verte y hablarte del Cristo que me enamora. Yo quiero darme toda completa a la humanidad, con la impetuosidad del Ché, Con la constancia del peral en el otoño, con el abandono de Jesús, con la inocencia del recién nacido que abre los brazos confiando.

Yo quiero ser poeta. Yo quiero ser de Dios. Yo quiero ser yo.

Saint Patrick's Day at Incarnate Word Convent

2007-03-17T17:18:00.000-05:00

Celebrating Saint Patrick's Day at Incarnate Word Convent is a tradition.

Today we had Mass with Irish service music. I really like "Lady of Kock." I'm not Irish but I get the chills when I hear that song. it's probably to the Irish as "La Guadalupana" is to the Mexican. Regardless, I put on a shamrock ring....How would you like it for my final profession?

At lunch we had Irish food (potatos, cabage, soda bread, etc. )

At three o'clock we have our usual coffee break but today we had a party! The Irish Sisters played Irish music and served Irish coffee and Irish bread. Even Our chaplain, Father Tom got into the Irish Spirit and put on a green t-shirt. The decorations in the dining room were beautiful. This map of Ireland is one of the posters on the walls.

This is Father Tom with his green t-shirt.

Sister Elizabeth, from Dublin, prepared Irish coffee for us. Doesn't she look pretty in green?

This is my novice director, Sister Maria Elizabeth...Irish as can be!

Sister Elizabeth (in green) and Sister Marian perform an Irish dance for us.

Enjoy the pictures and have a blessed Saint Patrick's

day. Here's the prayer of Saint Patrick:

Críost ar gach taobh díom; Críost amach romham;Críost taobh thiar díom; Mo dhídean sa ghá Críost I mo chroí istigh, Críost fúm is tharam;Críost do mo thacu, mo neart os cionn cách. Críost ar mo dheasláimh, Críost ar mo chlé dom; Críost I mo thimpeall, mo sciath is mo scáth. Críost I mo luí dom, Críost I mo shuí dom, Críost liom ar m'éirí, á adhradh gach lá.
Críost I ngach éinne a mbímse 'na intinn; Críost I ngach béal bhíonn ag labhairt liom nó fúm. Críost isna súile dhearcann im' éadan; Críost isna cluasa a éisteann lem'rún.

Christ be beside me, Christ be before me,Christ be behind me, King of my heart.Christ be within me, Christ be below me,Christ be above me, never to part.
Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand,Christ all around me, shield in the strife.Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting,Christ in my rising, light of my heart.
Christ be in all hearts thinking about me,Christ be on all tongues telling of me.Christ be the vision in eyes that see me,In ears that hear me Christ ever be.

LADY OF THE ROSES (JUAN DIEGO MESSENGER OF GUADALUPE)CLIP

2007-03-04T20:55:00.001-06:00

Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe

2007-03-01T14:33:00.000-06:00

¡Cuarenta días otra vez! Una vez más el sacerdote marcó mi frente con cenizas y me recordó mi fragilidad humana. Hoy pensaba en la fragilidad de tantas y tantas personas sin acceso a las necesidades más mínimas de la vida. ¿Qué hice para merecer el lugar en dónde estoy? Que gracia tan grande la de Dios que me rescata una y otra vez cuando mi vocación parece sozobrar. ¡Cuarenta días! El profeta Joel nos recuerda "rasguen su corazón, no su ropa." ¿Pero cómo rendirle el corazón, cómo acompañar a Cristo en estos días? Me doy cuenta que soy totalmente criatura de Adviento, la Cuaresma no me sienta bien. Hoy precisamente se lo comentaba a Dios. Y entonces, casi de repente, pensé en la Encarnación..."Ser extensiones de la Encarnación...." y pensé, "¿Por qué querría Dios venir a nosotros, criaturas débiles? ¿Pórqué la Cruz? ¿Por qué se hizo carne el Verbo?" Y entonces entendí que nuestra humanidad, nuestra fragilidad, es el Don que nos regala Dios como punto de encuentro con el Hijo Amado. El Verbo se encarna en mí, cada día a las 6:30 a.m cuando recibo a Jesús en la comunión. ¡Qué misterio tan grande, que un Dios tan enorme se esconda pequeñito en un pan para alimentarme, para encarnarse en mí!

Entonces, al igual que el profeta Joel, ("no la ropa, sino el corazón,") mi llamada esta Cuaresma (prefiero la palabra inglesa Lent) es la de la conversión interna. Quiero olvidar lo obvio y centrarme en lo escondido: el corazón.

Me siento tan agradecida por haber sido llamada a esta congregación que no puedo más que desear con toda el alma ser Eucaristía para otros, punto de encuentro, extensión de la Encarnación.

Incarnate Word Formation Symposium

2007-02-10T16:12:00.000-06:00

Well, after all this time of silence I'm back into the blogging world and I'll post in English!

So, we hosted the annual Incarnate Word Formation Symposium. Each year Sisters in formation from the United States and Mexico gather together to share and learn different aspects of our Spirituality. This year's theme was "Back to the Future: Heart to Heart." The idea was to show how we need to go back to our roots and take from the richnes of our Incarnational spirituality legacy to be able to go into the future.

Saturday morning we had presentations by the different communities. The assignment was to interview the elder memebers of our communities and ask about the Faith History of each individual community. It seems that many things are held in common like trials and tribulations but great faith, courage and trust in our Incarnate Word. Every community presented a PowerPoint, that was really moving, to see how we are part of the same Order and how, no matter where we are, we belong together. I wish I knew how to post the presentations. If anybody knows how, please let me know. (Our powerpoint has videoclips)

On Saturday afternoon we had a presentation on "Ubi Caritas Est" by Pope Benedict XVI by Sister Annette Wagner (from our community.) But the best part of it all was the recreation! We had Karaoke night. I had oldies for the nunnies like Patsy Cline, Elvis, and musicals. We also had music in Spanish for our Mexican and Mexican American Sisters (including your humble servant :) Anyway, we had a blast, the whole weekend was great.

Thank you, Jesus for making our Incarnate Word family so large!

La fe comunitaria

2007-01-12T12:38:00.000-06:00

Marcos 2:1-12

Entonces, entre cuatro, le llevaron un paralitico. Pero como habia mucha gente y no podian acercarlo hasta Jesus, quitaron parte del techo de la casa donde el estaba, y por la abertura bajaron al enfermo en la camilla en que estaba acostado. Cuando Jesus vio la fe que tenian, le dijo al enfermo: Hijo mio, tus pecados te son perdonados.

Hoy durante lectio me di cuenta de algo muy importante en el evangelio de hoy: la fe comunitaria conmueve tanto a Jesus que perdona los pecados del hombre. Al perdonar Jesus los pecados del hombre, le sana la inmovilidad del corazon, en segundo plazo la inmovilidad del cuerpo le es sanada tambien.

Para Jesus es mas importante nuestro corazon, inmovilizado por nuestros pecados. ¿ Cual es mi inmovilidad? ¿ Que me ata a una camilla?

Por otra parte, me conmueve tambien el hecho de que estos hombres de Cafarnaum, cuatro de ellos, amen tanto a su amigo o pariente, que se atrevan a levantar el techo de una casa ajena para que este vea a Jesus. La fe del hombre unida a la de sus cuatro amigos enternecen profundamente el corazon de Jesus. ¿De que manera participo en la fe comunitaria? Ciertamente no me refiero a la expresion externa de nuestra fe, sino a la expresion interna. ¿De que manera contribuyo a la sanacion de la paralisis comunitaria?

Si en el norte, sur, este y oeste encontraramos la fe de estos cuatro hombres, el mundo seria muy distinto.

Pero lo unico que puedo hacer es dejar a Jesus que me transforme a mi.

¡Jesus, saname la inmovilidad del corazon!

2007-01-02T13:53:00.000-06:00

El dia de hoy le preguntan a Juan: "¿Quién eres?"

"No soy el Cristo, no soy Elías, no soy el profeta," responde Juan

Soy la voz que clama en el desierto: "Preparen el camino del Señor"

"Hay alguien más poderososo que viene y ustedes no lo reconocen"

El Evangelio del día de hoy habla de inseguridad, no sabemos quien es Aquel que viene. Juan lo dice: "El viene, pero no lo reconocen." Juan sabe sobre sí mismo gracias al que viene después que él. Juan contesta con simpleza y humildad: "No soy el Cristo."

Juan dijo en otra ocasión: "Es preciso que él crezca y que yo disminuya" (3:30) La misión de Juan en el mundo fue simplemente alumbrar el camino y retirarse cuando llega Jesús, dejarle el escenario, amarlo desde el silencio.

Creo que en la vida religiosa esa es nuestra misión. Ser portadores de la Buena Nueva, anunciar la Buena Noticia, extender la Encarnación...y después, retirarnos, dejar a Dios hacer lo suyo, cederle el escenario.

¿Cómo respondería yo a la pregunta, quién eres? ¿Y si supiera la respuesta, sabría quien soy en cuanto a Jesús, en cuanto a mi relación con El? ¿Sabría responder con humildad?

Juan dedicó su vida a proclamar al que venía despúes de El. Aquél al cual no era digno de atarle las sandalias. Aquél a quien no reconocemos pero que viene a bautizar con un bautismo de fuego.
Las palabras de Juan son verdaderas, tiernas y duras a la vez. Pero llegan a mis oidos: "Sé portadora del Evangelio."

"Para que tú me oigas mis palabras se adelgazan a veces como las huellas de las gaviotas en la playa."

Dios nos habla de tantos modos, nos manda tantas señales. ¿Quién es "Juan" en mi vida diaria? ¿Quién me anuncia al Salvador? ¿A quién le soy Juan? ¿A quien anuncio?

Y las miro lejanas mis palabras. Más que mías son tuyas. Van trepando en mi viejo dolor como las yedras.

Que yo disminuya para que el crezca...

2006-11-22T19:34:00.000-06:00

ENCARNACIÓN

Acostada, en brazos
de la incertidumbre,
viviendo en unicidad
con la pregunta:
"¿Cómo puede ser?"
Pero asintiendo, aceptando...
lanzándome a la buena de Dios

De pie, envuelta
en el misterio
de la presencia de Dios

en mí

dentro de mí

viviendo en mí

encarnado en mí

Y así, camino
de la mano
de la certeza

¡Bendita entre todas las mujeres
y bendito es el fruto de mi vientre

Jesús!

helga

¿Discípula o seguidora?

2006-11-04T10:26:00.000-06:00

Hoy leía un libro para la clase del noviciado que se titula "discipleship" y habla precisamente del llamado al discipulado. Hubo ciertos puntos en la lectura que me hablaron profundamente quizás por los eventos del día de hoy. Hubo una cita bíblica que saltó del libro a mi corazón:

" Si alguien no quiere cargar su cruz y seguir mis huellas no es digno(a) de mí"

Esto me llega la corazón porque yo deseo seguirlo pero parece que no deseo cargar la cruz. Creo que no es intencional, quizás es solo cobardía. Tengo en mí la inteligencia necesaria para comprender la profundidad del mensaje y sin embargo no lo aplico. ¿Qué me pasa? Es en este punto en que me siento "atorada" espiritualmente:

"El concepto de una fidelidad que trasciende toda presión familiar, basado en el valor trascendental del Reino, debe haber tomado un colorido particular en las mentes de los discípulos en cuanto a que entendieron el adviento inminente del Reino como conllevando la destrucción del viejo orden de las cosas."

Yo creo que es verdad, no podemos recibir la vida nueva a menos que hayamos sometido la vieja. ¿Cómo ser llenados si no hemos sido vaciados? La frase: "Sígueme y te haré pescador de hombres" conlleva precisamente ese abandono a la voluntad de Dios que tanto me falta. Es como si a momentos tuviera ciertos ataques de lucidez, pero el resto del tiempo estoy instalada en la cobardía.

Y es que reconozco que Dios me llama a más, a crecer más, a dar más, pero cada paso duele. Es como cuando mis alumnitos me dicen: "Sister, me duelen las piernas" y yo les respondo: "Acuérdate que duelen porque estamos creciendo" Pero me cuesta tanto aplicarlos a mi propio crecimiento. Me siento agradecida con Dios porque al volver la vista (y leer mis diarios) puedo ver que he crecido enormemente (no que sea super madura, pero es que ERA super inmadura.) Ahora puedo evaluar la situación con las MGSpS y puedo ver que me faltó madurez para vivir esa vida. Aunque también sé que no era mi camino...Sé ahora que Dios me llamaba a amarlo y serle fiel en las cosas sencillas. No podemos transplantarnos a menos que Él así nos lo pida. A mi me llamaba a amarlo dentro de mi realidad fronteriza. Me llamaba a terminar la carrera (aunque yo quería darle lo más de mi juventud, me faltaba preparación espiritual, académica, emocional) y sucedió que terminé amando la frontera, las carreteras tejanas, el calor del desierto, los crudos inviernos, las Hermanas locales) No necesitaba irme lejos para servirle..."Aquí te amo, en los obscuros pinos se desenreda el viento" diría Neruda.

Yo quiero ser discípula y no simplemente seguidora. Pero debo estar dispuesta a vender todo lo que tengo (interiormente) que es más dificil que lo material. Quizás entonces y sólo entonces podré ser digna de seguirle.

Donde el corazón te lleve (Susanna Tamaro)

2006-11-02T16:27:00.000-06:00

Creo que éste parrafo de la novela de Susanna Tamaro explica en dónde me encuentro en cuanto a mi vida espiritual en estos momentos. Cómo quisiera que aquellos en Oaxaca lo entendieran. Que Dios nos bendiga, nos proteja y toque los corazones de quienes no ceden, sea el gobierno, la izquierda, la derecha, la represión...Quienes sufren son nuestros niños que no pueden asistir a las escuelas cerradas por las protestas. Jesús Maestro, ayúdanos.

******************************************************************************

"¿Por qué será que las verdades más elementales resultan las más difíciles de comprender? Si yo hubiera comprendido entonces que la primera cualidad del amor es la fuerza, los hechos probablemente se habrían desarrollado de otra forma. Pero para ser fuerte es necesario amarse a uno mismo; para amarse a uno mismo es necesario conocerse en profundidad, saber todo de uno, incluso las cosas más escondidas, las más difíciles de aceptar.

¿Cómo se hace para cumplir un proceso de esa clase mientras la vida con su ruido te empuja hacia adelante? Lo puede hacer desde el principio sólo quien posee dotes extraordinarias. A los mortales comunes, a las personas como yo, no les queda más que el destino de la vajilla de cobre y las botellas de plástico.

Alguien-o el viento-de golpe te arroja en el curso de un río; gracias a la materia de que estás hecho, en lugar de irte al fondo te mantienes a flote; eso ya te parece una victoria y así, enseguida comienzas a correr; te deslizas con agilidad en la dirección en que te lleva la corriente; cada tanto, debido a un nudo de raíces o a alguna piedra, te ves obligado a hacer un alto; estás allí un poco, golpeado por el agua, que después sube, y tú te liberas, sigues adelante; cuando el río está tranquilo, permaneces arriba, cuando hay rápidos, estos te sumergen; no sabes hacia dónde vas ni te lo preguntas alguna vez; en los trechos más tranquilos tienes oportunidad de ver el paisaje, los terraplenes, los matorrales; más que detalles, ves las formas, el tipo de colorido, vas demasiado aprisa como para ver otra cosa; luego, con el tiempo y los kilómetros, los terraplenes bajan, el río se ensancha, todavía tiene márgenes! pero cada vez menos.

"¿Hacia dónde voy?", te preguntas entonces, y, en ese momento, delante de ti se abre el mar. Gran parte de mi vida fue así. Más que nadar, avancé a tientas. Con gestos inseguros y confusos, sin elegancia ni alegría, sólo logré mantenerme a flote."
Susanna Tamaro

Desvaríos

2006-10-26T21:20:00.000-05:00

Creo que hace aproximadamente un mes se me secaron los pensamientos. Nunca más tocarán mis labios las mismas palabras.

"Aquí te amo, en los oscuros pinos se desenreda el viento.
Fosforece la luna sobre las aguas errantes.
Andan días iguales persiguiéndose."

Monotonía de lluvia tras los cristales diría Machado. Monotonía de pensamientos que no me suben del corazón a la cabeza.

"Aquí te amo y en vano te oculta el horizonte.
Te estoy amando aún entre estas frías cosas.
A veces van mis besos en esos barcos graves,
que corren por el mar hacia donde no llegan."

Pero dice la Biblia que Dios no se deja ganar nunca en generosidad para con sus hijos e hijas.

"Mi hastío forcejea con los lentos crepúsculos.
Pero la noche llega y comienza a cantarme.
La luna hace girar su rodaje de sueño."

En la lengua de la mariposa Don Gregorio dice que en los libros podemos refugiar nuestros sueños para que no se mueran de frío. Creo que eso suena bastante lógico e ideológico.

"Me miran con tus ojos las estrellas más grandes.
Y como yo te amo, los pinos en el viento,
quieren cantar tu nombre con sus hojas de alambre."

2006-10-17T21:07:00.000-05:00

The week was essentially necessary, a profound conversation with Him, I felt his touch, his gentleness, his ever loving countenance contemplating me.

I dreamt with a mountain. I dreamt with a cementery. I got lost. I dreamt with the devil. I told him: "Get back Satan! I am not afraid of you!" I never invoked the name of Jesus, but the evil one knew I was clothed with Christ. The river was crystal clear. I could see the river stones like the ones of my childhood when I bathed in the river behind my great-grandmother's mill, not for nothing was it called "Purification River" How appropriate! The gate to the cemetery was locked, but the power of God dissipated the fear. God conquered.

I don't know what will become of the week, or where Spirit will take me. I just know I am ready to unfold. So ready.

Sobre los sueños

2006-09-25T16:07:00.000-05:00

Hace poco pensaba en lo que tú y yo platicamos acerca de aferrarse a los sueños. Tú sigues aferrada al tuyo, con tu departamento, tu trabajo, tu independencia en la capital y hasta con tu éxito en la universidad. Yo soñaba, tú lo sabes, con tener un departamento lleno de miles de libros y diccionarios y gatos. Soñaba con ser profesora en la universidad. Quería impartir literatura, sobre todo literatura femenina, Sor Juana, Santa Teresa de Jesús, Ibarbourou, Storni, etc…Y quizás Neruda, Lorca, Alberti, yo que sé.
Pero ¿sabes? ahora que estoy aquí, en mi habitación diminuta (que vislumbra el peral cargado de fruta), con el alma suspendida entre lo que sé que deseo y lo que deseo y no sé, me siento un tanto abrumada, quizás sólo desconcertada, no lo sé. A veces pienso que la vida que ya es bastante difícil, la complicamos al querer entenderla. Es tan difícil, Guaguis, ¿te acuerdas de Cama y Mesa? Entonces todo era más fácil. Todo era montarnos en el jeep y largarnos a la playa sin preocuparnos de nada. ¿Recuerdas aquello del A.D.O? ¡Qué aventura en la Isla!
Pero sé que hemos crecido y nuestros caminos se han tornado tan diferentes. Cómo quisiera poder compartir contigo este camino que recién he empezado a caminar porque tú me entiendes aunque no lo entiendas. Aunque nuestra filosofía haya cambiado, aunque ahora vivamos tan lejos…siempre estaremos tan unidas como cuando cogimos tortícolis por los murales del cielo de nuestras habitaciones.
Ahora me doy cuenta que la literatura sigue viva en mí, aunque no la imparta porque la traigo implícita, recorriendo mis venas. Y con respecto a mis sueños, bueno, hay que considerar que Don Quijote, el loco-cuerdo que al principio siente un amor ridículo por Dulcinea da paso a que ese amor se convierta en un amor puro y espiritual…o Sancho que comienza como un campesino bobo y luego se convierte en un bobo-sabio, y al final de rigor, ¿quién sabe si es quizás el cariño entre ambos lo que los transforma? El caso es que la locura de Don Quijote llega a cobrar matices religiosos y quizás hasta mesiánicos...¿Por qué vemos la bondad como locura, el ímpetu de una juventud olvidada que resurge en Don Quijote, liberar al oprimido, paz, justicia, amor? ¿Quizás la locura es en realidad cordura y simplemente no sabemos distinguir?
Mi sueño sigue vivo, Guaguis, pero va tomando otros caminos, como el sueño de Don Quijote. Y lo que quizás parezca locura a otros, sé que lo entiendes. Necesito que lo entiendas porque aquí, Guaguis, aquí todas duermen.

Pear Harvesting 2006

2006-09-22T09:34:00.000-05:00

Our objective...

They're way too high!

God provides!

This is how you do it...

Learn the vietnamese way!

Pear Harvesting 2006

2006-09-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

Watch me! Are you watching me?

Let me try...I'll put the Mexican touch to this...

Watch and learn, this is how we did it in Ireland...

This is how to do it!

The fruit of our labor

Look! We did it!

24th Sunday in Ordinary time

2006-09-17T10:36:00.000-05:00

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”

I write this in the middle of a diluted reality I’m trying to elucidate. She asked me, “How is your life going to change now?” And I knew right away that she was not asking about the externals, ministry, residence, name or title, etc. I knew it was a profound question, rooted in the spirituality of the congregation, but I didn’t know how to answer. Peter had no problem answering “You are the Christ!”
But I am weak and selfish. I am afraid I will not be able to respond like Peter. This fear comes from deep within, lives right next to the question I can not answer yet. I know where I want my life to go, I want to be a saint! But not a pale, long-haired hometown saint. I want to be a bone and skin saint, like those nobody recognizes when they see them. Like Doña Laura back in México who became my grandmother when I lost mine and the pain had made me a sad eyed little girl. She recognized my need, she sat me in her lap, made fideos for lunch, French braided my hair like Mamá Ofelia used to, became my partner in crime, spanked me when I was being a brat and most of all loved me like only grandmothers can. Mom and I will be forever grateful.
Doña Laura is now in her eighties but still has much love to distribute among the little ones of the Kingdom. She always a prayer on her lips, a hand ready to help, and a kitchen full of dirty dishes and a warm stove. She still walks to people’s homes to take food to the lonely, the sick, and the heartbroken. She feeds the whole neighborhood. I want to be a saint like that. That is how I want my life to change. But I know of the littleness of my heart, the many limitations that keep me from being an everyday saint.

My foolish heart! It has so many walls, so many fears. I used to be able to make friends right away. She came and she was immediately everyone’s friend and that makes me wonder where my heart stands. Sometimes I get this feeling of inadequacy, like everybody moves so much faster and I’m always trying to catch up. I used to wonder, “How can people live without literature, without philosophy?” But then I think that maybe those people have it inside of them, that they live it out. And that those people like myself, with pen and paper and music and brains infested with poetry are maybe a total waste of talent

I want to proclaim like Peter, “You are the Christ!” But I have so many limitations. I need music, literature, dictionaries and people to read poetry to. And as these things/people start becoming scarce and I only have a blank paper in front of me and a single, simple pen, I write to tell you that I am afraid of the page remaining blank because I didn’t have the courage to write a new life for myself.

May God give me the strength and the courage to answer your question and to proclaim like Peter, “You are the Christ!”

Pictures from the novitiate

2006-09-14T07:53:00.000-05:00

Greetings from the cream of the crop of the Community. One of our greatest treasures and a great canasta player!

Henceforth now you will be known as Sr. Mary Helga...

I received the veil!!!

I want to be accepted as a novice of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament.

Entrance to chapel, September 12, 2006, Memorial of the Most Holy Nae of Mary. To my left is Superior General, Sr. Maria Irma Gonzalez. To my right is my novitiate director, Sr. Maria Elizabeth Brehony.

Sylvia

2006-08-27T20:15:00.000-05:00

I feel so broken inside. Sylvia told me a few days ago that she is leaving the community. The reasons aren't important, the fact is that she is leaving. She already made up her mind and I can't help but feel so broken. There is no other word to describe how I feel.

With at least fifty other Sisters around and I can't help but feeling so alone, and she hasn't even left yet. There is so much beauty in being in formation with other people. I mean, I still have Theresa, but I won't have my companion to Saturday morning's menudo.

Sylvia: As I see you leave I want to sing, because crying causes pain. I want you to sing with me and to feel blessed because you gave the best of you, your heart.