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Reflections on Consecrated Life

On May3rd five Sisters celebrated their 75th Jubilee of religious profession. Seated left to right: Sister Mary Grace Micke and Sister St. Francis Wenzel. Standing left to right: Sister Juliana Weber, Sister St. Agnes Stuttgen, and Sister Cecilia Byrns.

My first profession came on August 15 after a two year novitiate, and final pro-fession followed three years later. There was no looking back because profession opened me to a fulfilling life in which I taught for 45 years in every grade from 1 through 8. . . . May God bless this beautiful Community which has been my home for nearly 80 years. Today and everyday my heart and mind sing: “Deo Gratias, Thank You God.” —Sister St. Agnes

I thank God for my vocation. Even though my motive for going to the convent was “just to be a Sister,” that was a way the Lord was pulling me to Him and realizing the greatness of His

call. All the blessings I have received during my life are pure gift from God. I truly believe the quote from Psalm 37:5-6; “Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him and he will help you. He will cause your goodness to shine as the light and your righteousness as the noonday sun.” That is exactly what He has done for me and is my prayer for our Franciscan Community. In these troubled times for religious communi-ties the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity will shine as the noonday sun because it is placing its trust in God, the teachings of the Church on reli-gious life and in the charism of our foundresses. —Sister Julianna Weber V

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Volume 49 Issue 5

May 2015

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Going down in history: A look back at Good Samaritan - from Zanesville Times Recorder. By Kate Snyder

For more than 100 years, Good Samaritan has been a staple of health resources in the area.

ZANESVILLE, [Ohio] – There are a few histories of

Good Samaritan Hospital, both official and unof-ficial.

The original building opened in 1895. The current name was decided in 1902. But by many accounts, the hospital didn't start to become a hospital until the nuns arrived.

Later this year, the Good Samaritan building is slated for demolition, and the new Genesis Hospital will take both its and Bethesda Hospital's place in the commu-nity. For more than 100 years, Good Samaritan has been a staple of health resources for the area.

Its story begins 120 years ago, in 1895, at the Margaret Blue Sanitarium, which would eventually become the Good Samaritan Hospital. In 1900, Dr. Thomas Sut-ton, who was the board of trustees at the sanitarium, asked the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, for nursing assistance.

The way the unofficial account goes, said Sister Laura Wolf, president of the Sisters' organization, is that Dr. Sutton wanted nurses for the building and was told, "You want some nurses? Get yourself some nuns."

Five nuns came to Zanesville to be nurses at the hospi-tal. Their responsibilities included cleaning, bathing, feeding and providing for patients.

"Nursing in 1900 was very different than nursing to-day," Wolf said.

Most of the milestones of Good Samaritan Hospital concern new buildings and departments being added as older buildings are torn down. The 1905 building, one of the first with the moniker "Good Samaritan," and the 1922 building were both torn down in 1974, which is when the first of several new additions to the current building was constructed.

"(The current building) has very faithfully supported this community for 60 years," said Genesis CEO Matt Perry.

A campaign to raise money for renovations and addi-tions to the hospital, similar to the recent campaign, took place in the 1950s, and more than $3 million was raised to upgrade the facility.

An aerial view of Good Samaritan Hospital on July 9, 1954. (Photo: Times Recorder file photo)

Going down in history: A look back at Good Samaritan

Good Samaritan Hospital in 1905. (Submitted photo)

Sister Bernadette Nabaggola graduated May 2 from Silver Lake College of the Holy Family with a BA in Theology.

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A nursing school began at the hospital in 1905. Two women enrolled in that first class, according to ar-chives at the Times Recorder and Good Samaritan Hospital. The nursing school was open until 1975.

“By then, it made little sense to continue operations when prospective students also were being recruited by many other nursing programs developed statewide,” said Sister Maureen Anne Shepard, director of missions at Good Samaritan Hospital.

Shepard also works as a keeper of the historical ar-chives located in the Chapel Building on the Good Samaritan campus. The archives will be preserved, and some will be included in a history wall in the new Gen-esis Hospital.

"We build the future on what we remember in the pre-sent, which is based on what we learned in our past," she said.

Historic portions of the existing campus will be incor-porated into the new building, including stained glass from the chapel, the statue of Saint Francis and works of art. Crucifixes from patient rooms will be moved and made available to new patients on request.

Shepard has been with Good Samaritan Hospital for eight years, and from what she's heard from patients and their families, what they remember of their experi-ence at the hospital is the care they received from doc-tors, nurses, other staff members and volunteers.

"They would talk about the people," she said. "They didn't talk about the floors and ceilings and walls."

Throughout the years, the population of sisters grew to a peak of about 60 in Zanesville, all here to serve from Wisconsin. “They have committed to the com-munity for more than 100 years,” Wolf said, “and even with Good Samaritan and Bethesda hospitals coming together, that partnership will not change.”

"I think the Good Samaritan building represents the commitment of the sisters to meeting the needs of the ill people in southeast Ohio," Wolf said. "I think it just represents the quality of care and service. That's what we hope will continue in the new Genesis Hospital."

Future of Good Samaritan property is uncertain

ZANESVILLE [April 5]– Noth-ing is set in stone yet for the fu-ture of the Good Samaritan property, but it will likely be used to serve future community needs.

The Good Samaritan Hospital will be torn down later this year as part of the construction of the new Genesis Hospital, located on the site of the former Bethes-da Hospital. “The property will

probably be used for different kinds of health care ser-vices, but no official decision has been made,” said Sister Laura Wolf, president of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sponsored Ministries, which owns the property Good Samaritan sits on.

Wolf said the decision to demolish the building was not made lightly. A complete renovation, rather than demolition, was possible, but she said it would have been extremely expensive.

"The money was needed in the completion and con-struction of the new building," Wolf said. "It has met its service to the community."

“Everything would have had to be upgraded,” she said, ‘including the wires, circuits and plumbing.”

Sister Laura Wolf

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Sister helps build her community’s successful ministries

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During this year of Consecrated life, The Compass has planned a series of articles featuring individuals living the Consecrated Life within the diocese of Green Bay.

By Benjamin Wideman | For The Compass April 1, 2015

Franciscan Sisters’ Sponsored Ministries in-clude health care and education fields

MANITOWOC — For the past 30 years, Sr. Laura Wolf has been nurturing the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sponsored Ministries Inc.

Sr. Laura Wolf has guided the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity’s health care ministries since 1985. In 2012, her role expanded when the religious community added Silver Lake College to the sponsored ministries operation.

“This sounds paternalistic, but I feel the organizations in Sponsored Ministries are my children, and every one of them has skills,” said Sr. Laura, who helped create Sponsored Ministries in 1985 and serves as its presi-dent and chief executive officer.

“What you’re doing is pushing them to adulthood, to maturity, to making good decisions without cutting the line that tethers them to you. Sooner or later, they stand on their own and do fine. You care about them with the same love and attention as you care about your family.”

Organizations served by Sponsored Ministries include Holy Family Memorial in Manitowoc; St. Paul Elder Services in Kaukauna, Wisconsin; Franciscan Care Ser-

vices in West Point, Nebraska; Genesis HealthCare System in Zanesville, Ohio; and Silver Lake College of the holy Family in Manitowoc.

Sponsored Ministries’ mission is “to carry out the commitment of the sponsor to the healing and educa-tional mission of the Catholic Church through the pro-vision of quality health care and educational services. In a spirit of partnership with dedicated religious and lay leaders, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Sponsored Ministries will strengthen the sponsor’s commitment by managing change, ensuring steward-ship of resources and integrating mission and values.”

Sr. Laura said she enjoys being part of an organization that helps so many people.

“It also means I get an opportunity to impact how and where our sisters serve and how the ministries that we’ve developed for over a century will be assured for the future,” she said. “It allows me the opportunity to build on the tradition of the congregation and to call forth from the people who work with us their very best commitment to church, community and profes-sion of the areas they serve.”

Sr. Laura hails from Delaware, Ohio, located about 30 miles north of the state capital, Columbus. She joined the Manitowoc-based Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in the 1960s. The Sisters continued to have a presence in the Delaware area until 1986.

RON BRIGGS retired May 1 as the president of Franciscan Care Services

in West Point, Nebras-ka. In the past 20 years under his helm, there have been additions in space as well as in-creasing the number of doctors.

Jerry Wordekemper has been appointed the new president and CEO. He began on May 1.

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By Benjamin Wideman | For The Compass

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This month let’s take a moment to consider what our bishops are saying to our federal government in terms of the Agricultural Appropriations Bill, often referred to as the “Farm Bill”. This will involve a little lesson in some ABCs as we learn what the Church is saying about funding of various programs labeled with acronyms. Below you will find quota-tions from the USCCB letter to members of the Ap-propriations Committee giving their stance on vari-ous agriculturally related programs.

DOMESTIC PROGRAMS

WIC: Fully fund the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program at $7.141 billion as reflected in the President’s Fiscal Year 2014 budget. With rec-ord high child poverty (1 in 5 children), a cut to this program would harm some of the most vul-nerable low-income women, infants, and children in our country.

TEFAP: Provide $268 million in commodities to The Emergency Food Assistance Program for food and distribution grants in local communities. Cuts to the program could force some of our par-ishes and other charities and food pantries to turn away hungry people when they continue to need our help.

SNAP: Restore the $2 billion that has been cut from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro-gram (SNAP) reserve fund in the 2010 child nu-trition bill. Restoration of funding is necessary as families continue to struggle with joblessness, hunger and poverty.

CSFP: The Commodity Supplemental Food Pro-gram provides food assistance to low-income sen-iors, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and in-fants and children. Adequate funding is needed to help faith communities and other charities pro-vide food packages to hungry people in their local communities. Reductions will result in a loss of food for thousands of low-income seniors and others.

CSP: Adequately fund the Conservation Steward-ship Program to help farmers conserve and care for farm land for future generations. Strong con-

servation programs are necessary to promote good stewardship of creation and provide needed support to family farms.

VAPG: Maintain current funding for the Value Add-ed Producer Grants program to help farmers and ranchers develop new farm and food-related busi-nesses, to increase rural economic opportunity and help farm and ranch families thrive. In addi-tion, restore funding for the Rural Micro-entrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP)—which was eliminated in the FY 2012 funding bill—to help small businesses develop and grow in rural communities.

You may be thinking “Whew! That was a lot to plow through!” It is amazing to consider all the ramifica-tions within the field of agriculture. Knowing a bit about some of these federal programs helps us to understand their purpose and their value to those who have so much less than we!

By Sister Kathleen Murphy Social Justice Commission

http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/women-infants-and-children-wic

From The Compass-Bishop David Ricken led a Cele-bration Liturgy to Certify the four Emmaus Program Ministerial Leaders on Sunday, May 3, at Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Green Bay. They include Sr. Regina Rose Pearson, left, Sandy Salentine, Nancy Baldschun and Molly LaFond. (Submitted Photo | For The Compass)

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Green thumb gardening club begins in St. Rita’s

Young mother pursues surgical NaProTechnology fellowship

Research is published

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Continued on page 7.

In 1997 Sister Caritas Strodthoff posed a question in one of the nurs-ing journals: Was it really necessary to do routine PAP smears on women, such as members of a religious con-gregation, who were not sexually ac-tive? Judy Bautch, one of the instruc-tors from UWSofN responded to the question as she was doing research in the same area. In 1999 they came and did chart reviews on all Community members who were living in 1999 (N=469) looking at frequency of cancer, heart disease, etc. After studying

their data, they requested permission to do a longitudinal study whose purpose was to describe changes in health status and func-tionability among religious Sisters. They also considered (a) self-perceived health status and (b) use of health promotion and disease prevention practices. In 2003 159 Sisters volunteered for their research. Many of you will remember: health question-naires, physical performance skills, mini-mental status exam, blood pressure and

hearing screening. Sister Rita Ann Fish was so good that she could recite the three words for the mini-

As of Wednesday, April 22nd - Earth Day, St. Rita’s Sisters have be-gun planting seeds for their “Green Thumb” Gardening Club. Each Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 pm, different seeds are being planted to start growing vegetables, herbs and flowers indoors. Once the weather warms up and the plants are established, they will be trans-planted and moved outdoors. Radishes have germinated in just 2 days! The Sisters are excited to see them growing already. Sister’s on 3rd floor along with Activities Staff will be maintaining the plants and making sure that they are watered and cared for. If anyone is interested in joining us with this activity – please contact staff from the Activities Department, or just stop in on 3rd floor at 2:00 pm on Tuesday afternoons between now and Memorial Day. Submitted by Lisa, Activities Director

Dr. Amie Holmes arrived at the Pope Paul VI Institute in April of 2014 and has pursued her surgical NaProTechnology fellowship with Dr. Hilgers and his clinic colleagues for the past year. She will be presenting her research project to the staff of the Institute and will receive her diplo-ma for the program the following day. I have had the privilege of teaching the ethics seminar portion of Dr. Holmes fellowship program and have come to admire her courage and tenacity in pursuing this year of fellow-ship study with three children and a fourth on the way! Simply incredible! She has procured a position in a Catholic Medical Center in California, the same institution that employs her husband, the other Dr. Holmes who is a general surgeon. What a lucky medical center to have an excellent NaPro Surgeon on staff who is married to another very accomplished surgeon!

Sister Renee and Dr. Amie Holmes

Sister Phyllis Schouten was one of many Sisters who participated in the research studies.

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Published (continued from page 6)

Sisters help to prepare young people for the Sacraments

mental even before they told her what they were!!

After ten years of data collection, Phyllis and Judy wanted to publish their data. Finally in the March-April 2015 issue of Research in Gerontological Nursing, the study was published. They were thrilled. The heading for their research is: A Longitudinal study of the Health Status of a Community of Religious Sisters: Addressing the Advantages, Challenges, and Limitations. [by Phyllis Meyer Gasper, PhD,

RN; Judith C. Bautch, PhD, RN; and Sister Caritas M. Strodthoff, RN, MS, ANP-BC]

A copy of the article can be found on the Bulletin Board in the Heritage Room. Special thanks and much appreciation is extended to each of you for either your participation or the support of this endeavor with your prayers and encouragement. I am especially proud of this entire project accomplished for Judy, Phyllis and the students who were part of the research collection and could do Master’s Degree thesis work. They could not have done it without every one of you. You are to be commended on your continued support of educa-tion!! Submitted by Sister Caritas Strodthoff

Sister Kathleen Murphy and Father Greg Plata OFM at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Greenwood, MS.

Sister Carla Riach at San Xavier Mission Church, Tucson, Arizona. Sister Carol Seidl with first communicants

at Our Lady of the Mountains, Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Confirmation was celebrated at Christ Our Light Parish, Cambridge, Ohio on April 19, 2015 by Bishop Jeffrey Monforton. Sister Anna Maar was among those preparing the young people for the sacrament.

By Wes Jones

Spring is the time of year when many of us remember our First Holy Communion and Confirmation Days—what special days they were! Grateful for those religious who prepared us, we rejoice with our Sisters who helped to prepare the young people this year..

Researchers Judy and Phyllis

Sister Carolee Vanness at Christ Our Light Parish, Cambridge, Ohio.

Security alarm sounds, again

Mound Bayou., Mississippi—A call from St. Gabriel Mer-cy Center's security system around 8:00 PM on a Tues-day evening brought news that both the fire and bur-glary alarms were set off in the Senior Outreach Pro-gram room. Police and fire department personnel were on site by the time the Sisters reached the front of the building to find a truck literally inside and a large gap-ing hole in the wall. The driver was able to safely walk out, stating he was trying to avoid hitting a dog. How-ever, the room and much of its contents were totally damaged. We were grateful that it was evening when no one was in the building. That room is used every day and has anywhere from seven to fifteen people occupying it. The small bus used to pick up the wom-en was also hit and damaged. With a broken front axle, it is not going very far these days.

The center had to be closed for the rest of the week and gradually opened up the week after as insurance people and contractors arrived to assess the damage. Fortunately we were able to start up all the other pro-

grams in the center after this was done. The senior program will start up soon, using what rooms are available on Mondays and Fridays. It is estimated that it will take a month to get the room back in use and the brick wall and window replaced. We will see how long a month will be in this case. By Sister Mary Beth Kornely

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