april 2011 communigram

Communigram

April 2011

Volume 45, Issue 4

Eleven specially selected early 1900 photos of the Motherhouse were hung in St. Thomas on March 2 bringing the refurbishing project of the room to completion. The center of the ‘memory wall’ features a photo of the room when it was used as a classroom. Other photos are unique in their portrayal of original rooms of the Motherhouse along with various points of interest on the grounds.

You are invited to view a gallery of these historical images at: http://www.fscc-calledtobe.org/living/index.php/2011/03/12/how-archival-images-of-franciscan-sisters-motherhouse-encourage-conversation/

Refurbishing Completed with ‘Memory Wall’

Sisters Mariella Erdmann and Paula

Vanden Hogen work on hanging the

pictures for the ‘memory wall.’

Manitowoc, WI ― Just when day light dawns earlier and birds

begin to sing, we set our clocks ahead an hour and morning

turns dark, again! Just when we are rejoicing over the sure

signs of spring―aconites, snow drops, crocuses, and rob-

ins―a blizzard hits mixed with rain. That’s what happened

March 21-23. The Motherhouse Community couldn’t help

but smile at the appropriateness of a Lenten song they sang

for Mass that Wednesday morning. It was Tom Conry’s

Ashes. Verse three reads:

“Then rise again from ashes, let healing come to pain,

though spring has turned to winter, and sunshine turned to rain.

The rain we’ll use for growing, and create the world anew from

an offering of ashes, an offering to you.”

“Spring has turned to Winter”. . .

Sister Caritas Strodthoff was able to capture this refreshing

photo of spring’s first aconite in St. Anne’s garden at the

Motherhouse before the new snows of March 21-23..

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

Sister Mariella Erdmann re-flects: “God’s ways are not our ways” is something I was going to learn throughout my life. I was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, of parents Elmer and Rose Erdmann, who had one daughter and two sons before my twin brother and I came along. I was the ‘oldest’ of the twins and liked to remind my brother of this fact.”

“I started at St. Joseph School in the second grade. We had huge classes, but we surely did learn in spite of it. I admired how the Sisters could han-dle so many children in one room. In 7th and 8th grade we changed classes and were taught part-time in the basement hall. We had 109 in our class. After graduation from grade school I went to St. Joseph Acad-emy, Green Bay. The Sisters of St. Joseph were good teachers and I truly liked many of my teachers, but I always was drawn to the simplicity of the Franciscan Sisters.”

Sister did not know just when she thought of entering the Convent but it was probably in her junior or sen-ior year in high school. Being a tom-boy and a great lover of the out-of-doors she never thought too seri-ously about actually becoming a Sis-ter. She was inclined to the spiritual, however, and God was a part of her

life. She says, “One day while I was sitting high on some granite rocks overlooking High Falls Lake, feeling the breeze in my face and grateful for being alive to enjoy all the beauty, I felt a deep sense of God and that He did indeed wish to call me to religious life. Once I decided on asking for entrance to join the Franciscan Sisters, I had no idea how I was going to get the items on the list or pay the dowry. But God was with me. Sister Henrielda Cloutier called and asked me to come to St. Joseph School. She then proceeded to tell me that the Sisters had extra items in their trunks that they did not need and they thought I could use them. I was also informed that the dowry was paid for!”

Sister relates: “The day I entered our community my youngest brother decided to play a trick on me and unknown to me he put a 20-gauge shot-gun in my trunk. Needless to say, I did not know what to say when Sister Francis George Leibfried found out about it. Her response was great! She said nothing to me about it for weeks, and then one day she handed me a letter from my brother and said, ‘Your brother misses you. He writes every day. Why don’t you get a camera and take some pictures of the stuffed animals in the biology department and tell him that is how you are using the gun.’ She was a wise woman!”

Sister says she was blessed to have Sisters Francis George, Jolyce But-tres, Rita Ellen Hoffman, and Lu-cretia Schantz in the formative years of her religious life. “Each was very different but each taught me some-thing of her wisdom to carry into my years on mission. I was blessed and I

knew God was walking with me through these people.”

After novitiate Sister was sent to the newly built Holy Family College to continue her second year of college classes. When asked to declare a major and minor, she told Sister Dol-ora Deem that she would like a biol-ogy major and art minor, but Sister Dolora wrote “art major” and “biology minor.” She was then sent to Alverno College in Milwaukee to complete her degree with a major in studio art. We had no major in art at our college at that time. Upon com-pleting her degree she was asked to teach a summer class at Holy Family College. With hardly any education courses and no student teaching she taught the summer painting class. By the end of the summer the class had an exhibit at the Rahr Museum. Sis-ter Leon Bergeron knew the curator at the time, and it was a good experi-ence for them all.

That fall, Sister was sent to Xavier High School in Appleton, WI. Again, she was reminded that God’s ways are not our ways. Her whole mission life was heading in a direc-tion she never dreamt of. She had pictured herself as teaching in grade

Communigram Volume 45, I ssue 4

Sister Mariella with part of the ethnic

group at Silver Lake College.

By Sister Kay Elmer

school at our Arizona missions. Af-ter a couple of years at Xavier, Sister Henrielda, then the Community Di-rector, asked her to go on for a Mas-ter’s degree in Art. Sister Mariella went to Siena Heights College in Adrian, MI and received a MFA in sculpture and printmaking. The di-rection of her life was truly going farther and farther away from what she had ever thought of. She had not wanted to be in a rut by staying in one place too long, but she now has been 33 years at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family. She has been Chair of the department for 17 years, Coordinator of the Fine Arts Depart-ment one year, and now is Program Director for Art. She followed Sister Andrée Du Charme as Department Chair and says she owes a lot to her as she was a fine teacher and won-derful chairperson. “All these years, I cultivated many interests and read broadly so as not to become narrow-minded. I also served as Directress of Postulants following my teaching time at Xavier High School. This was a blessing in disguise. It was truly a graced time amidst the many challenges that faced religious com-munities in the late 60’s and into the 70’s. Again, God’s ways were not my ways but much better than my ways. I prayed to be truly an instru-ment in the Lord’s hands. Only He knows if I succeeded.”

Sister’s main apostolate over the years consisted of teaching art on the college level. She very much enjoys working with the students. Over the years she had to learn different me-dia because in a small college with a broad-field major of 56 credits for an art education degree, the college had to offer many courses, including de-sign, drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, metal arts, graphics, pho-tography, fibers and art history. In the last 10 years Sister has built up the computer lab to offer computer graphics as another tool for creativ-

ity and did away with traditional photography and gone to all digital. “I have taught just about every course, except the art methods courses. I really liked drawing and watercolor but with new hiring, I would give courses to the other pro-fessors that they felt comfortable with. Soon I found myself doing a lot of computer work.”

Sister reflects: “What means most to me after all these years is not what I accomplished, because all is gift from God, but rather what I in faith and with God’s grace was able to say yes to. In the end that yes to God is all that matters. I have received many honors over the years while at Xavier High School and at Silver Lake College but my service to the Church and my religious community was always of greater importance to me. I only want to mention a few things I did: I worked very hard at the college and received the rank of full professor. I was asked to do commission work (stained glass win-dows) for my home parish in Green Bay, and in area churches in North-east Wisconsin. I even designed a large poster for the La Gran Misiόn De Lima, Peru. I also did work for our Community, the six-foot San Damiano Crucifix being one of them. I was just using the talents God has given me.”

Sister was also blessed by being able to travel through Europe for six

weeks while she was in graduate school. The art teacher she was teaching with at Xavier High School asked her to go with her to study art. At the constant urging of the Sisters she asked and received permission from Sister Henrielda to make the trip, which included camping instead of formal housing for all those weeks. It was an invaluable experi-ence. Some years later she was asked by the Community to accompany Sister Patricia Linssen to the Third Order Regular International Meeting in Assisi. It was a time for her to truly take in the great art in Assisi and to imbibe the ‘Franciscan Spirit.’ She also spent nine weeks of one summer in Lima, Peru for con-tinuing education. She said these experiences truly helped her broaden her perspective of the world around her and not be so provincial in think-ing.

“So you can see, God led me in a very different direction than I had ever expected. I never saw myself as a teacher in a high school or as a directress of postulants, and least of all as a college professor for 33 years. Yet I was all three and have never set foot on any of our Arizona missions. Still, I have been blessed in doing not what I thought was good, but what I was asked to do in faith. Along the journey in this life and through our Religious Commu-nity, God has led me where He wanted me to be. It was not always an easy journey but it has been a blessed one. I did not come to a Community to do my will but to serve the Church as a Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity and in so doing give glory to God. I pray that I have done this in some small way. I owe tremendous gratitude to our Community for the opportunities I have had both educationally and spiritually. ‘God’s ways are not our ways’ -- they are better!”


Sister Mariella demonstrates a pottery

technique to her students.


Spring Break Trip to Natchez

Caption.

As soon as all Sunday Ministry Commitments were com-pleted by the Sisters in Greenwood, we hit the road for a mini spring break in historical Natchez, Mississippi, lo-cated in the southwestern corner of the state along the Mississippi River. Through contacts Sister Mary Ann Tupy had through the Catholic School in Natchez, we were provided with housing in a rectory next to Assump-tion Catholic Church, a simple home that provided enough beds and couches for our evenings.

Our trip was remarkable, filled with God's goodness through the people we met who would provide either nourishment or information that guided us to our many spots of interest occurring during Natchez's Spring Pil-grimage time. Now, we have our own idea of what a pil-grimage is. However, in Natchez, Spring Pilgrimage is a cherished Southern tradition for over 70 years consisting of a five-week celebration every March and April. Over 30 historic Houses with hostesses in period costumes, provide tours of antebellum (of or belonging to the pe-riod prior to the U.S. civil war) homes, many which were being constructed before the Civil War and only mini-mally finished after the Civil War. We were told supplies from the north did not always arrive or were stolen or sunk when they came by way of the Mississippi River after the Northern Union was in control, thus their life-style in battle-damaged-free Natchez was severely af-fected. We saw three of the homes, Longwood, the larg-est octagonal house in America and which only the bot-tom and 1st floor were completed, Melrose which was fully furnished, and the William Johnson House, a home owned by a "freed person of color" who owned a barber-shop.

Another event held during this time is the Natchez Pag-eant, a blend of tableaux, song and dance depicting Natchez antebellum days. We were guests for this per-formance involving over 300 people which included scenes of Ole Man River with the arrival of the Show-boat, children dancing around the maypole, couples weaving an intricate waltz at a Confederate Ball, and the pageantry that goes with the beautiful hooped dresses and wealth obtained from the cotton fields during the days before the Civil War.

We began Tuesday morning by participating in Mass at St. Mary Basilica, the church that was the original Dioce-

san cathedral for Mississippi. After enjoying a breakfast treat at The Coffee Shop compliments of Fr. David O'Connor, pastor, we headed back to the basilica to see more closely the refurbished work accomplished only a few years ago. Because of seeing us through security cameras in place, a member of the parish who worked there treated us to a fascinating guided tour and history of the basilica. The Catholics of Natchez held on to their faith from 1798-1839 when they had no priest to serve them. They kept petitioning Rome for a priest until Pope Gregory XVI sent them the first bishop of Mississippi. It didn't take long for them to begin building a cathedral. After the cathedral status moved to Biloxi and then Jack-son, the parish began efforts to obtain the status of a Ba-silica, which was granted in 1998. Did you know that the symbols of a basilica are a bell and umbrella?

Later that day at the African American Museum we were somewhat deprogrammed with facts presented by a gen-tleman who dedicates his life promoting the full picture of life as experienced by all people, not just the wealthy white people, during pre and post civil war days. Because of our interest in what he had to say, he shared with us a film from the 1930's depicting the exact same scenes we saw at the pageant the night before. In the film was a 10

A tour guide expounds on the magnificent, although unfinished home as Sister Annette, Mary Ann and Kathleen look up at what would have been the Byzan-tine Moorish dome filled with mirrors and prisms filling the house with light.

Sister Mary Ann, Annette, Kathleen and Mary Beth stand in front of Assumption Catholic Church with the rectory in the background that provided us with welcomed shelter at the end of the day.

A picture of the six story Long-wood home with the Spanish Moss hanging from the trees.

Continued on page 6.


Hispanic II

Last month we learned about the some of the defining issues facing the Hispanic community in our country and in the Church. Now we turn to the issue most commonly associated with the Hispanic population, namely immigra-tion. In a unique partnership the Bishops of Mexico and the U.S. collaborated in writing the statement Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope. Published in 2003 this call for reforms includes the following elements:

Global anti-poverty efforts

Many migrants are compelled to leave their homes out of economic necessity in order to provide even the most ba-sic of needs for themselves and their families. The bishops call for international efforts designed to create conditions in which people do not have to leave their homes out of necessity. Trade, international economic aid, debt relief, and other types of economic policies should be pursued that result in people not having to migrate in desperation in order to survive.

Expanded opportunities to reunify families

U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents must endure many years of separation from close family members who they want to join them in the United States. The backlogs of available visas for family members results in waits of five, ten, fifteen, and more years of waiting for a visa to become available. The bishops call for a reduction of the pending backlog and more visas available for family reuni-fi�cation purposes.

Temporary worker program

The U.S. economy depends upon the labor provided by migrants. Therefore, many migrants come to the United States to fill jobs. The bishops acknowledge this reality and call for a more rationale and humane system by which laborers from other countries can enter the country legally to fill positions in the labor force, including on a tempo-rary basis. Because the U.S. experience with temporary workers programs has been fraught with abuses, the bish-ops call for a temporary worker program that includes:

• Path to permanent residency which is achievable/verifiable

• Family unity which allows immediate family members to join worker

• Job portability which allows workers to change em-ployers

• Labor protections which apply to U.S. workers • Enforcement mechanisms and resources to enforce

worker’s rights • Wages and benefits which do not undercut domestic

workers • Mobility between U.S. and homeland and within U.S. • Labor-market test to ensure U.S. workers are not

harmed Broad-based legalization

For those in this country without proper immigration documentation, opportunities should be provided for them to obtain legalization if they can demonstrate good moral character and have built up equities in this country. Such an “earned” legalization should be achievable and independently verifiable.

Restoration of due process

In recent years, immigrants have been subject to laws and policies that debase our country’s fundamental commit-ment to individual liberties and due process. These laws and policies, including detention for months without charges, secret hearings, and ethnic profiling, signal a sea of change in our government’s policies and attitudes to-wards immigrants. We are a nation with a long, rich tradi-tion of welcoming newcomers. Government policies that unfairly and inappropriately confuse immigration with terrorism do not make us safer, tarnish our heritage, and damage our standing abroad. The bishops urge our gov-ernment to revisit these laws and to make the appropriate changes consistent with due process rights.

Also in this context, the bishops call for reforming our system for responding to asylum seekers and considering their claims. Today, asylum seekers must meet a very high bar for demonstrating their claim for asylum and are incar-cerated in the meantime. The bishops believe that our na-tion can both protect its citizens from terrorists and re-main a safe haven for legitimate asylum seekers fleeing persecution.

As our country grapples with the many faceted issues and problems associated with immigration let us pray for a just and compassionate spirit in all citizens and in our lawmak-ers.

Ad ment By Sister Kathleen Murphy

Social Justice Commission


Happenings in Hawaii

Natchez, and the rest of the stories . . .

1. Once a teacher always a teacher-Sr. Mariadele Jacobs is teaching Grs. 1 & 2 at St. Theresa School, while Mr. Archie, the 1st & 2nd grade teacher, meets with the Accreditation Team.

2. Spouting Horn-the ocean water is pushed up between rocks

3. While Sr. Mariadele visited us we went to the Botanical Garden in Koloa. An orchid plant growing on a tree.

4. It was a great chance to see the falls flowing in Waimea Canyon after a very wet winter.

5. Students at St. Theresa School enjoy

learning how to play the ukulele.

year old girl who is now 80 and one of the unflinching backbones of the city. Lots of history is still going on.

These amazing days came about as a follow through to Sister Kathleen Murphy's life long dream she had after writing a report in 6th grade on Natchez and the antebel-lum homes. As a result we arrived back home on Tues-day night having experienced some of the deep south culture and a better understanding of this amazing area. Never give up.

SPECIAL DINNER GUESTS

First grader Makaiya Hemp-hill with her grandmother Betty Mae Jackson and 3rd grader Mykiyah Harris with her parents Pamela and Dar-ren Thompson enjoyed a Sunday chicken dinner with the Sisters in Greenwood on March 27. These two lovely girls are the only black Catholic girls in St. Francis School. Even though they are still young, we are hoping to nurture any possibility of a future vocation. The girls didn't want to leave when dinner was over, and that was even after they helped to serve some of the food. It is

also a blessing to see parents who are so supportive of their daughters' growth in their faith.

DR. JAMES MEREDITH VISITS GREENWOOD

The afternoon of March 27 provided an unexpected op-portunity to see and hear Dr. James Meredith at Zion Mis-sionary Baptist Church in Greenwood. Being the first black person to enroll at the University of Mississippi, aka as Ole Miss, in Oxford, Mississippi in 1962 and the days of the Civil Rights riots and disturbances, the National Guard had to be called in to make sure he could attend classes. Two people died in those riots at Ole Miss.

We found it a privilege to be in the presence of someone who made history and was the catalyst for change during our grade and high school years. We were impressed with his honesty and wisdom that has come through the years of his work and support of education. He learned through the years to do the part that God called him to do and then let God do the rest. This event was spon-sored by a Greenwood group "The Bridge", an organiza-tion that promotes racial reconciliation.

Submitted by Sister Mary Beth Kornely

1 2 3 4 5


Inside Story Headline

WEST POINT STUDENTS ATTEND RETREAT

February 25 to 27, thirty-two students from sixth, sev-enth and eighth grades participated in an Edge Retreat at Tintern Retreat/Resource Center near Oakdale, Ne-braska. The presentations were conducted by former graduates of Central High School in West Point, NE and the presentations were based on Dr. Seuss books. Dis-cussions about conforming one's self to satisfy others revealed some of the many pressures our middle-school students experience day in and day out. Sister Michael Ann O'Donnell said: "All those present acclaimed the Saturday Adoration time before the Blessed Sacrament as their favorite activity. One and all were truly blessed! I thank God for the opportunity to have been present and to have shared in these real life-growing experiences."

MEANINGFUL ART PIECE

This meaningful piece of Art of "The Death of St. Joseph" is a medi-tative & reflective spot in St. Mary's Church, West Point, Nebraska. In 1931, the pas-tor of St. Mary's, Father Ferdinand Peitz, made one last trip to Germany before his death and purchased it. The artist who de-signed this made just two of its kind. How blessed the parishioners are to have such a blessed masterpiece.

125 YEAR CELEBRATION ENDS WITH DEVELOPMENT DINNER

The 125th Year Celebration of Guardian Angels School, West Point, Nebraska ended with the Development Din-ner at the Nielsen Center on Monday, March 14th. The dinner was made by Michael Graybeal and served by the 7th. & 8th. Graders. The Student Choir, under the direc-tion of Bill Stokeley sang. The honored faculty and staff were: Denise Baumert: 5 years, Marlene Knobbe: 10 years and Diana Iden: 30 years. The featured speaker for the evening was Archbishop George Lucas. Bishop Lu-cas spoke of the value of his home life and his own Catholic school education which was the foundation of his life. God has a loving plan for each of us to use the gifts and talents God gave us for others. The TEACHER is the instrument of grace to continue to challenge each student to be faithful. In closing, Bishop Lucas THANKED the West Point people for their leadership in Catholic Education over the years and their faithful-ness to the Diocese.

Submitted by Sister Sharon Paul

Retreatants at Tintern and Sr. Michael Ann O'Donnell as Dr. Seuss.

Some of the West Point, Nebraska Sisters enjoying the evening at the Development Dinner. Sr. Doris Jurgenson, Sr. Sharon Paul,

Sr. Marie Bernadette Dorn, Bishop George Lucas, Sr. Mary Beth Prinz and Sr. Andrene Flasch.

Where Memories

are Made

When Sister Martina

Van Ryzin moved to

the Motherhouse from

Silver Lake College two

years ago she set out to

write her memoirs a

task that was completed

this month. Congratulations, Sister Martina on

a great read!

What is Franciscan Prayer?

Sister Charleen reflects on Franciscan prayer and what it means to her. Ilia Delio’s book Franciscan Prayer is a basis for this Lenten reflection.

As a novice we were taught different methods of prayer and meditation. I vividly remember thinking “none of these fit me.” God didn’t seem to fit into the structure and neither did my spiritual life. After reading this book I gained some insights into why they didn’t fit. Franciscan prayer is not about going to God but realizing more and more that God has “come to us.” According to the author we move toward God because God has first moved toward us. Prayer in this tradition, then, is incarnational―centered on the person of Jesus Christ.

This helped me see why Francis and Clare had such a love of the crucified Christ. In that image they saw God’s ultimate coming to us and through their profes-

sion of poverty they wanted to rid themselves of any-thing that would keep them away from their single-hearted desire for God.

Because God not only came to us, but is still very much with us, Francis saw the world as his cloister. It was permeated with the goodness of God―from his brother and sister creatures, to his brother friars, and even his brother lepers. All of them drew him deeper into the mystery of Christ and out of himself. Wounded, fragile and weak they became his commu-nity.

Clare describes the image of the crucified as a “mirror”. We are to see ourselves in that mirror and become transformed by what we see. Then we can reflect God’s image to the world through our self-giving and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. “This is my body, this is my blood”―not with words but through the example of our lives.

By Sister Charleen Acker

april 2011 communigram

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