In response to Pope Francis’ question, do we – as lay people or religious – radically and sincerely live the Gospel? The men and women in religious life can be considered a sign of the end times. Not in the sense of “doom and gloom”, but because they show us union with God, and a sign of the Kingdom of Heaven. Have we ever thought about the religious in this sense?In Lumen Gentium, the Church asserts that all people, not just priests and religious, are called to sanctity. All all these vocations and calls t
Dec 14 2014, 7:01 PM
SrSusan (guest): All all these vocations and calls to holiness equal, or is one greater than the other?
Dec 14 2014, 7:01 PM
SrSusan (guest): That’s some questions for tonite
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Living radical for Christ!
Dec 14 2014, 7:08 PM
SrSusan (guest): Beautiful!
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SrSusan (guest): Do you find it difficult to radically and sincerely live the Gospel? Sometimes we need support
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I do need support
SrSusan (guest): What kinds of situations have you all been encountering?
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Alice Lewis-Eckardt: The other day at work I had to wear a mask because I refused the flu shot. One man was so annoyed with me! And it was just a shot! When you talk about religion folks really get cranked up!
Dec 14 2014, 7:15 PM
SrSusan (guest): I find it hard when religious have different perspectives- to find common ground.
Dec 14 2014, 7:15 PM
Anne M: I have been asked if I am a convert to the Catholic faith, as I promote scripture reading, study, and prayer/lectio Divina
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Judy K: Hi Everyone! I am sorry that I missed last week’s chat. I spent the whole evening on the phone with tech support. I was afraid the same thing was going to happen tonite, but I figured out how to fix the situation by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
Dec 14 2014, 7:16 PM
Anne M: when i said no, the response was “the Church says we shouldn’t read scripture on our own”
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Judy K: Bravo Anne, for promoting the reading of Scripture, study, and prayer. You are to be applauded for doing so. 8 PM
Anne M:s. I lifted him in prayer and was able to give him a rosary. He loves it. I think he fell in love with Mary. Not coming to church, yet. he’s baptised Lutheran
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Wonderful Anne! Hope I can do the same with my brother
Dec 14 2014, 7:20 PM
Judy K: Alice, it must be very frustrating for you to have your brother saying bad things about the Church. Surely he needs prayer. I wonder if you have asked him what he really objects to. He may have some erroneous information which you might be able to clear up for him.
Dec 14 2014, 7:20 PM
SrSusan (guest): Place them also in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary where we find pure love
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Sister what do you suggest for living our lives for Christ radically?
Dec 14 2014, 7:20 PM
SrSusan (guest): You are witnessing wonderfully
Dec 14 2014, 7:20 PM
Anne M: He travels quite a lot and went to Italy this past summer. After the rosary was given he made a detour to Ephesus to visit Mary’s house.
Dec 14 2014, 7:21 PM
SrSusan (guest): Wow One of my favorite places , tho I was never there. There is a beautiful hymn about Mary’s house
Dec 14 2014, 7:22 PM
SrSusan (guest): I think we live radically when we go against our own grain- in anything that’s hard we choose for Christ
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Anne M: Alice, say a novena to Our Lady of Good Remedy. Powerhouse!
Dec 14 2014, 7:23 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Thank you Sister and Anne! I never heard of that novena but will surely try it
Dec 14 2014, 7:23 PM
SrSusan (guest): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI7_BIeXCFc
James Kilbane – Mary’s House. Our Lady of Ephesus – YouTube
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SrSusan (guest): I never heard of that one either
Dec 14 2014, 7:24 PM
SrSusan (guest): Watch the above you tube
Dec 14 2014, 7:25 PM
SrSusan (guest): Our Lady of Ephesus
Dec 14 2014, 7:25 PM
Anne M: You can find it here: https://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/novena/Remedy.htm
SrSusan (guest): Have you had a radical week for Christ?
Dec 14 2014, 7:27 PM
Judy K: Yes, that first question really make think. I think that I do live the Gospel sincerely, but I do not think that I am living it radically. If I think of radical as “root” then I have to say that the Gospel is the root, the foundation of my life. But I do not feel that I am living it radically. While I am poor by today’s standards, I live in subsidized housing which is quite nice. I have no pension, which makes it hard to keep up, but I do receive food stamps, which are being decreased in January since the S
SrSusan (guest): We can always go deeper into poverty
Dec 14 2014, 7:28 PM
SrSusan (guest): As long as we don’t resent our circumstances but accept with love
7:29 PM
SrSusan (guest): That is where sincerity comes in
Judy K: Since my desire is to live in perfect uniformity with God’s will for me, and this must be His will, then it is my will too. I am not resentful at all, but sometimes scared.
Dec 14 2014, 7:30 PM
Anne M: The video/song is beautiful. The altar
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Judy K: Which must mean that I am lacking in trust.
Anne M: I think the most radical thing I have done is give my television away a few years ago. I don’t miss it so it’s not really a sacrifice, is it?
Dec 14 2014, 7:31 PM
SrSusan (guest): I understand that- we all still have that aspect of wanting to be somewhat in control of our lives
Dec 14 2014, 7:32 PM
SrSusan (guest): It mite have been a sacrifice at the time
SrSusan (guest): It is harder to love radically
Dec 14 2014, 7:32 PM
Anne M: My confessor used to make me read Psalm 23 a lot for trust
Dec 14 2014, 7:32 PM
Dawn L: wow…thoughtful question, Sr Susan…..”have you had a radical week for Christ”. I am challenged to do his will and can tell this because I come out of my comfort zone, or its different than when I do my will….which is never a good idea!
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: True Dawn
Dec 14 2014, 7:34 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I mean the part about your comfort zone
Dec 14 2014, 7:34 PM
SrSusan (guest): Usually I find that if I am overwhelmed by something- lose peace- I have secretly been resisting God somehow
Judy K: Is it possible to come out of one’s comfort zone and it not be in the will of God?
SrSusan (guest): I guess if it is not comfortable to commit a sin and you do so anyway/ That’s the only thing I can think of
Dec 14 2014, 7:36 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I am not comfortable on a roller coaster! LOL
Dec 14 2014, 7:36 PM
Judy K: E.G It would be out of my comfort zone to volunteer to go to a mission in Africa. If I were to volunteer to do so, it would probably not be within God’s will because of my handicap and poor health.
Dec 14 2014, 7:37 PM
SrSusan (guest): That’s a good example
Anne M: On one hand I hear there will be great peace in doing His will, but my stomach and often my brain feel differently. I was confused about this for a long time
Dec 14 2014, 7:37 PM
SrSusan (guest): There you are trying to love radically but it is not in sync with your condition
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Alice Lewis-Eckardt: My whole move back to NY from Maine was outside my comfort zone but I do think God has me here for a reason
Dec 14 2014, 7:38 PM
SrSusan (guest): Ah yes!
SrSusan (guest): I have been pondering this lately- when I was young I did not look for God’s will but went with my interests- and He used that to lead me- now I look for God’s will and am not sure what is going on!
Dec 14 2014, 7:40 PM
Judy K: God will reveal it in His own time. Be patient and wait for Him.
Dawn L: sometimes I speak from my personal experiences, and lately this has been much concerning family members and 2 little ones. I do not feel I am grown enough to bring God into their midst….but God does, so I am learning to trust him more and more. and I may feel uncomfortable in one instance but I do not pay attention to how I feel and listen to his will for me …or them
Anne M: ” now I look for God’s will and am not sure what is going on!” Oh, good. I don’t feel so bad now. Thanks!
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Haha Sister- I know what you mean
Dec 14 2014, 7:42 PM
SrSusan (guest): He is mysterious! He s is Lord
Dec 14 2014, 7:42 PM
Dawn L: ah! this is reassuring Sr Susan….and full of wisdom!
7:42 PM
SrSusan (guest): I am happy to hear it’s a common experience!
Judy K: I wonder if we spend too much time “looking” for God’s will instead of just allowing it to happen. God can be very serendipitous. Sometimes we need to, as the old saying goes, “Let go and let God.”
Dec 14 2014, 7:43 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes that is a very good point!
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I don’t know that I’m a let go kinda gal- are there different methods for dif people
Dec 14 2014, 7:44 PM
SrSusan (guest): The Holy Father is very person oriented so I suspect living radically has alot to do with interpersonal ways of connecting with others too
Judy K: I also wonder if some of us are actually afraid of living radically. When we thing of radicality, we think of actually giving up everything we own and becoming other St. Francises.
SrSusan (guest): In Lumen Gentium, the Church asserts that all people, not just priests and religious, are called to sanctity.
Dec 14 2014, 7:46 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I don’t mind giving up things as I have but talking about God with people sometimes gets weird
Dec 14 2014, 7:46 PM
SrSusan (guest): Radicality is not only in poverty but in charity
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Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Well I am not sure really. Sometimes people like my brother shut me down or argue
Dec 14 2014, 7:48 PM
Judy K: Radical charity–can that mean giving of ourselves (our time, a shoulder when needed, encouragement, things like that)?
Dec 14 2014, 7:48 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes
Dec 14 2014, 7:49 PM
SrSusan (guest): live the present with passion.
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Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Or like when I took my pocket bible out of my purse at work when looking for my lunch money…
Dec 14 2014, 7:49 PM
Judy K: Do small things with great love as Mother Teresa said.
7:50 PM
Anne M: Alice, our parish just had a evangelization series (Christlife) it taught me that I am just to throw the seed, God will water it. (or send someone to) LOL
We will be able to love because we have his own heart.
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: No Judy- it was all my perception of what people would think but then I decided to leave it out
Dec 14 2014, 7:52 PM
Judy K: Good move! That was a way of witnessing to your faith.
Dec 14 2014, 7:52 PM
Dawn L: yes, Ive been thinking lately we don’t need to grasp at the idea of sharing, we just live in the presence of God. and ( for me) to pray not to let distractions get in way
Dec 14 2014, 7:52 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Truly Sister He is my only love
Dec 14 2014, 7:53 PM
Anne M: Sister, sometimes I don’t know why the Lord puts up with me. He’s so patient.
SrSusan (guest): You keep returning to Him That’s what He wants
Dec 14 2014, 7:53 PM
Judy K: Jesus is my only love also. Oh such love do we receive from Him!
SrSusan (guest): That’s a blessing Alice! Anne, make it real by trying a discernment retreat someplace
Dec 14 2014, 7:55 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Anne I have been there too
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SrSusan (guest): and for those who cant be nuns well: The creativity of charity is boundless; it is able to find countless new ways of bringing the newness of the Gospel to every culture and every corner of society.
Dec 14 2014, 7:58 PM
Dawn L: I have thought of being a nun as soon as I returned to the church. I think of it alot. I paint them, I watch them in videos, they are truely witnessing loving Christ with everything. and it is just so beautiful
Dec 14 2014, 7:59 PM
Anne M: He makes it work
Mary Roberta Viano: I like that phrase “the creativity of charity” – so true. Loving help can be given everywhere we turn, that’s for sure.
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Mary Roberta Viano: And it’s that kind of help that’s making the Gospel come alive.
Dec 14 2014, 7:59 PM
Carol Ann: Yes, I’ve been running today and forgot the time. What have I missed?
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Judy K: That brings me to the second question about religious being a sign of of the end times. I know that I have heard this concept but have never really thought about it. But lately I have been thinking about the sign value of a religious habit. When I was younger, it made no difference to me whether or not Sisters wore habits. Now I find that I am attracted by those orders who are in habit. It doesn’t have been like Mother Angelica’s habit which I think is a bit reactive. But I see the habit as a real sign of ,
Anne M: One time I accidentally clicked on a postulant taking the habit and wept like a baby for a long time.
Dec 14 2014, 8:01 PM
Anne M: That would be “a video of”…
Dec 14 2014, 8:01 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I have too Anne
Dec 14 2014, 8:01 PM
Carol Ann: I have the same feeling. It seems like I am called but not to the traditional way
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Mary Roberta Viano: I agree about the importance of the habit – as a sign of commitment (like a wedding ring) and as a sign of poverty (we only own two of them). 8:02 PM
Judy K: the consecration of the religious man or woman. It makes them visible and approachable. I can frequently tell a Sister even if not in habit, but I still feel that the habit still has a place in this society. Perhaps even more so in this society.
Dec 14 2014, 8:02 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Any giving of oneself, not counting the cost, is very moving – even to tears.
Dec 14 2014, 8:02 PM
Judy K: Hi Sister Mary Roberta. Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.
Dec 14 2014, 8:02 PM
Anne M: If I do it a habit would be important
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Carol Ann: Do you think the places that gave up their habits will take them back?
Dec 14 2014, 8:03 PM
Dawn L: Therer is a DVD called The Nun, The story of a Carmelite Vocation. She is young….well it is so very beautiful. before and then after 5 yrs she films and talks. Her Habit, the full habit , leaves me in awe
Dec 14 2014, 8:03 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: It’s great when we have to travel, now and then: we travel light – like Our Lord!
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Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I sat in Mass in front of a Sister and I could tell by the way she greeted me holding my hand in hers wishing me Christs peace. I felt her love :04 PM
Carol Ann: The tv channel called lifetime is doing a reality series about 5 young women discerning vocations PM
Judy K: Yes I too get all choked up if I watch a video about a woman receiving a habit or professing her vows. I guess I am a closet religious.
Dec 14 2014, 8:04 PM
Anne M: I’d like to see that, Dawn.
Dec 14 2014, 8:05 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: My son has been watching it and is NOT impressed: apparently they still want to wear make-up and jewelry, and one has been continually followed by her boyfriend. Strange!
Dec 14 2014, 8:05 PM
Dawn L: if we all lived in one neighborhood, that would be lovely to share together! you can find clips on you tube…
Dec 14 2014, 8:05 PM
Anne M: I can tell Judy. Look how we’ve met.
Dec 14 2014, 8:06 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I think the tv version of things is fake
Dec 14 2014, 8:06 PM
Dawn L: that sounds like a secular version of vocation
Dec 14 2014, 8:06 PM
Anne M: Her boyfriend comes to the monastery?
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Dawn L: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkuEr_6M518
8:08 PM
Anne M: Thanks!
Dec 14 2014, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: He thinks they are all playing to the cameras: They go out to bars and roll up there skirts – like our own students! From his description, it doesn’t sound very inspiring.
Dec 14 2014, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: their, not there
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Carol Ann: I only saw the show once-it showed them receiving the clothes of postulant and attending Mass. Not sure how I feel about cameras in a monastery!
Dec 14 2014, 8:08 PM
Anne M: I’m glad I don’t have tv. Good reason not to watch.
Mary Roberta Viano: Discernment is so personal: Each person is different, so that’s really hard to capture on camera, I’d think.
Dec 14 2014, 8:09 PM
Judy K: I have heard it said that each of us has a God sized hole in our hearts and that only He can fill it. But He fills each person’s void in a different. For some, He calls them to consecrated life, others to marriage, others to single life and some to vowed single life. We each need to discern how He is calling us.
Dec 14 2014, 8:09 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I saw an amish tv version with teens and I am pretty sure the Amish wouldn’t approve! First of all they
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Anne M: The Benedictine sisters (no habits) have a you tube video of “vocation warning signs” funny. (and true)
Dec 14 2014, 8:11 PM
SrSusan (guest): we are called to offer a concrete model of community which, by acknowledging the dignity of each person and sharing our respective gifts
Dec 14 2014, 8:11 PM
Carol Ann: Yes, have you seen the youtube video called Girls Just Want to be Nuns? set to a Madonna song,’
Dec 14 2014, 8:11 PM
SrSusan (guest): we can form unity in diversity
Dec 14 2014, 8:11 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I think I would need a habit if I were a nun
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Mary Roberta Viano: I like SFdS’s description of St. John the Baptist in that regard: “He confessed and did not deny…Without worrying about what others would say or think of him, he walked with determination before God, not like those who go and do not go.” Hmm…
Dec 14 2014, 8:11 PM
Dawn L: The DVD is subtitled in English. its really beautiful. I wish I could have permission to show this at the high school….or any film about nuns.
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Love it! :
Judy K: Have you seen the video “Into Great Silence?” There were cameras in that monastery. It was a very enlightening film, but quite long. And I wonder how the monks felt about cameras following them everywhere they went.
Dec 14 2014, 8:12 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Good idea, Dawn!
Dec 14 2014, 8:12 PM
Dawn L: thank you Sr Mary for amazing quote
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Mary Roberta Viano: I think the monks were more oblivious to the cameras because they are used to living with their backs turned on society – except, of course, to pray for everyone.
Dec 14 2014, 8:14 PM
SrSusan (guest): Sister who did your most recent video? It was good. I posted it
Judy K: The last question addresses the fact that all are called to sanctity and poses the question regarding the superiority of one vocation. I remember when I was young, the religious life was always called a “higher state.” I wondered if a higher state actually meant the state to which one is called. Religious life would not be a higher state if one were called to marriage, would it?
Dec 14 2014, 8:19 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, and the awareness that the Lord “got her” in the end1
Dec 14 2014, 8:19 PM
SrSusan (guest): That is it Anne See she struggled
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Judy K: The last question addresses the fact that all are called to sanctity and poses the question regarding the superiority of one vocation. I remember when I was young, the religious life was always called a “higher state.” I wondered if a higher state actually meant the state to which one is called. Religious life would not be a higher state if one were called to marriage, would it?
Dawn L: beautiful witness to a beautiful life!
Dec 14 2014, 8:20 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I think any state Our Lord clearly calls each of us to, and to which we willingly correspond with our whole being, is a HIGHER STATE.
Dec 14 2014, 8:20 PM
Judy K: And then, if it is really a higher state, wouldn’t that God shows partiality?
Dec 14 2014, 8:20 PM
Carol Ann: Yes, she did. Maybe we needn’t think our struggles are detrimental
Dec 14 2014, 8:20 PM
SrSusan (guest): First of all marriage is a sacrament, then yes what you are called to is the highest for us’
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Mary Roberta Viano: I’ve seen videos of self-sacrificing mothers and fathers that are equally inspiring. 4, 8:22 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: God is partial to each of us – calling us to what He wants us to be and do. , 8:22 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I have heard of people calling a delayed vocation their second career choice
Dec 14 2014, 8:22 PM
Judy K: I do think that parents can be among the most radical witnesses of the Gospel. It is not easy to bear and rear children. Especially today.
Dec 14 2014, 8:23 PM
SrSusan (guest): That’s bringing it down a peg or two
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Anne M: She did struggle, Sr. Susan. She’s glowing now though!
Dec 14 2014, 8:23 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yep! Following God’s will- but not easy
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Mary Roberta Viano: I think a delayed vocation is just the continued following of one’s baptismal vows – wherever and wheneve :
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: True about the peg thing
Carol Ann: It’s hard though when it seems like you are called to monastic life, but not in a monastery necessarily
Dec 14 2014, 8:25 PM
Dawn L: I just thought of Sarah and Abraham….
Dec 14 2014, 8:25 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes like the solitaries of old- there is holiness in that too
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Mary Roberta Viano: SFdS says any discernment starts with HUMILITY: “Humility is the forerunner and the precursor of charity, as St. John the Baptist was to the Saviour. It prepares the way” for our vocations! PM
Mary Roberta Viano: because our vocations are all about preparing the way for Christ
Dec 14 2014, 8:26 PM
Carol Ann: I had not thought before of linking humility and charity
Dec 14 2014, 8:26 PM
Judy K: You can live a monastic style of life as a single person. You can even make your own rule. You can pattern it after the Benedictine rule, or the Carmelite, or Dominican.
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Carol Ann: or a Carmelite with Franciscan flavor
Judy K: Sure! :27 PM
Anne M: Even though there are other vocations, it seems that to give myself totally and radically would be to become a nun. The Lord seems to be making this perfectly clear.
Dec 14 2014, 8:27 PM
Carol Ann: I’d be hard to follow!
Dec 14 2014, 8:27 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: Yes but what I personally can not do is live my vocation alone
Dec 14 2014, 8:27 PM
Judy K: Or even incorporate elements of all of them.
Dec 14 2014, 8:27 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: “Humility must come in order to empty hearts they they might then receive charity”, which leads infallibly to our vocation.
Dec 14 2014, 8:27 PM
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Carol Ann: I agree with you Alice, but that seems to be what I am doing PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I like the discipline of living in a community of many different sisters who were all called by God to a consecrated life. 29 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: I am a people person Carol Ann and I don’t feel like I can grow alone 29 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: It’s not easy, but it REALLY hones one down to one’s best self1
Dec 14 2014, 8:29 PM
Carol Ann: do you ever feel like you are individuals living solitary lives in community, Sr.?
Dec 14 2014, 8:29 PM
Anne M: Srs. Susan and Mary Roberta, are you cloistered?
Dec 14 2014, 8:29 PM
Judy K: Is that the type of community in which you live, Sister?
SrSusan (guest): Brooklyn has a modified cloister, it is flexible because of the school
Dec 14 2014, 8:30 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Ours is semi-cloistered, meaning our apostolate is the school we founded, but we don’t go out into the city to serve.
Dec 14 2014, 8:30 PM
SrSusan (guest): Both Carol Ann. Solitary sometimes, community other times
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Mary Roberta Viano: We gather 5 times a day for prayer, but also spend some time in school.
Carol Ann: you are as busy as people on the “outside”, maybe busier!
Dec 14 2014, 8:31 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: We are community in that we pray, recreate, work, and eat together.
Dec 14 2014, 8:32 PM
SrSusan (guest): Would be less busy if we had more vocations!
Dec 14 2014, 8:32 PM
Anne M: Do you teach in the schools. Lesson prep…
Dec 14 2014, 8:32 PM
SrSusan (guest): I don’t We only teach religion but 5 out of 16 Srs only do that
Mary Roberta Viano: Not as regular teachers, but we sub and sometimes teach special classes in religion. We also have homerooms, where we pray with a group of our girls.
Dec 14 2014, 8:33 PM
Dawn L: Not all vocations there are called to teach then? there are other things to do?
Dec 14 2014, 8:33 PM
Anne M: Hmmm.
Dec 14 2014, 8:33 PM
SrSusan (guest): Many other things!
Dec 14 2014, 8:33 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: many, many other things!
Dec 14 2014, 8:33 PM
SrSusan (guest): And silently as we try to stay recollected
Dawn L: thats good to know! thank you
Dec 14 2014, 8:34 PM
Anne M: I’ll scrub floors, I don’t care, as long as I do what the Lord wants.
Dec 14 2014, 8:34 PM
Carol Ann: Sr Susan, that is the rub-the delayed vocations still need formation to be able to really help the right way
Dec 14 2014, 8:34 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: I work in our business office, plan liturgy, play for the Office, and oversee our library.
Dec 14 2014, 8:34 PM
Carol Ann: That sounds like fun
Dec 14 2014, 8:34 PM
SrSusan (guest): Exactly so it takes a few years to really engage fully. Formation is critical
Dec 14 2014, 8:35 PM
Anne M: I would look forward to the formation. Much needed!
Dec 14 2014, 8:35 PM
SrSusan (guest): We need floor scrubbers- and lav cleaners
Dec 14 2014, 8:35 PM
Judy K: I was attracted to what the Holy Father said about being “experts in communion…calld to offer a concrete model of community which, by acknowledging the dignity of each person and sharing our respective gifts, makes it possible to live as brothers and sisters. How is this possible for those Sisters who live alone? They cannot model something that they are not really living.
Dec 14 2014, 8:35 PM
Carol Ann: Me too, Anne
Dec 14 2014, 8:35 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, the years of formation allow us to be REAL Visitandines.
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Mary Roberta Viano: offering ourselves in whatever way is needed, according to our capacities and gifts
Dec 14 2014, 8:36 PM
SrSusan (guest): I guess they do the community aspect with the people they serve in a particular way. It is better to live in community
Dec 14 2014, 8:36 PM
Dawn L: Anne and Carol….are you each preparing to enter Visitation order?
Dec 14 2014, 8:36 PM
Anne M: Beautiful life. My eyes are welling up. See what happens.
Dec 14 2014, 8:36 PM
Carol Ann: did you ever feel, especially in the beginning, that there wasn’t a way to really share your gifts?
Dec 14 2014, 8:37 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Now, for instance, I have to go make sure I can play the music for tomorrow’s Lauds.
Dec 14 2014, 8:37 PM
SrSusan (guest): So, be men and women of communion! Have the courage to be present in the midst of conflict and tension, as a credible sign of the presence of the Spirit who inspires in human hearts a passion for all to be one –
Dec 14 2014, 8:37 PM
Carol Ann: I have visited four different orders, but not Visitation yet
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Mary Roberta Viano: It’s time, Carol Ann!
Dec 14 2014, 8:38 PM
Anne M: Thank you for your input Sister Mary Roberta.
Dec 14 2014, 8:38 PM
Carol Ann: is that an invitation? you could email me? I could email you?
Dec 14 2014, 8:38 PM
Judy K: The Lord will surely lead all of you who are seeking Him with a sincere heart and will find a way to give you your hearts’ desires.
Dec 14 2014, 8:38 PM
Carol Ann: Thank you so much Sr Susan Marie & SrMary Roberta
Dec 14 2014, 8:38 PM
SrSusan (guest): Yes sharing your gifts Carol may have to wait until you are more formed I thought in the beginning I would lose my mind from lack of intellectual stimulation but that came later!
Dec 14 2014, 8:38 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, of course, Carol Ann. My email is smaryroberta@visi.org
Dec 14 2014, 8:38 PM
SrSusan (guest): Patience!!!
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Carol Ann: ooh, when God dealt out patience, i was out in the pasture petting the horsies! 9 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Good advice! Blessed 3rd Week of Advent, as we continue REJOICING that Our Lord’s coming is SOON!
Dec 14 2014, 8:40 PM
Carol Ann: Peace and blessings!
Dec 14 2014, 8:40 PM
SrSusan (guest): So I think we have this week of Advent- week 3 to continue pondering. Keep following the Spirit’s lead
Dec 14 2014, 8:40 PM
Anne M: Thank you.
Dec 14 2014, 8:40 PM
Alice Lewis-Eckardt: God bless and good night!
Dec 14 2014, 8:40 PM
SrSusan (guest): Blessings and good night!
Dec 14 2014, 8:40 PM
Judy K: Rejoice in the Lord always! Have a blessed week everyone. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight His paths!
Dec 14 2014, 8:40 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: with prayers for each of you…please pray for us!