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World Day of the Sick unleashes love |
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Tuesday, 14 February 2012 14:37 |
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 Last weekend Little Sisters from several of our east coast homes attended a conference for healthcare workers sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers. The event, inspired by the World Day of the Sick, was held at Philadelphia’s Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. It was hosted by Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Vatican’s Healthcare Council.
Archbishop Zimowski’s fatherly manner and Polish accent certainly reminded us of Blessed John Paul II, but that was not the only reminder of our late, great Holy Father. Each speaker throughout the day evoked these words of John Paul II, which can be found in his 1984 apostolic letter on Christian suffering:
Referring to the Good Samaritan, the Pope wrote, “Following the parable of the Gospel, we could say that suffering, which is present under so many different forms in our human world, is also present in order to unleash love in the human person, that unselfish gift of one’s ‘I’ on behalf of other people, especially those who suffer” (Salvifici Doloris, 29). Although there will never be a truly satisfactory answer to the “why” of suffering in our world, it is a source of hope to realize that it has a purpose, and that purpose is to unleash love in you and me!
Archbishop Zimowski gave a presentation outlining the goals of the World Day of the Sick. These include increasing awareness among the People of God and society in general of the need for solidarity with the sick and of spiritual and moral assistance in addition to physical care. The World Day of the Sick also strives to help the sick themselves find meaning in their suffering.
The Archbishop also emphasized that the care of the sick of all faiths and no faith is integral to the Church’s pastoral action. He pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI has spoken of the Church’s outreach to the sick and suffering in each of his encyclicals so far. For example, in Deus Caritas Est he speaks of the need for a “formation of the heart:”
“Individuals who care for those in need must first be professionally competent: they should be properly trained in what to do and how to do it, and committed to continuing care. Yet, while professional competence is a primary, fundamental requirement, it is not of itself sufficient. We are dealing with human beings, and human beings always need something more than technically proper care. They need humanity. They need heartfelt concern. Those who work for the Church's charitable organizations must be distinguished by the fact that they do not merely meet the needs of the moment, but they dedicate themselves to others with heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of their humanity. Consequently, in addition to their necessary professional training, these charity workers need a “formation of the heart”: they need to be led to that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others. As a result, love of neighbor will no longer be for them a commandment imposed, so to speak, from without, but a consequence deriving from their faith, a faith which becomes active through love (cf. Gal 5:6)” (DCE 31).
 In Spe Salvi the Pope speaks of society’s stance in relation to suffering:
“The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through “com-passion” is a cruel and inhuman society. Yet society cannot accept its suffering members and support them in their trials unless individuals are capable of doing so themselves; moreover, the individual cannot accept another's suffering unless he personally is able to find meaning in suffering, a path of purification and growth in maturity, a journey of hope. Indeed, to accept the “other” who suffers, means that I take up his suffering in such a way that it becomes mine also. Because it has now become a shared suffering, though, in which another person is present, this suffering is penetrated by the light of love. The Latin word con-solatio, “consolation”, expresses this beautifully. It suggests being with the other in his solitude, so that it ceases to be solitude (SS 38).
Finally, in Caritatis in Veritate, Pope Benedict speaks of respect for and openness to life:
“Openness to life is at the centre of true development. When a society moves towards the denial or suppression of life, it ends up no longer finding the necessary motivation and energy to strive for man's true good. If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away[67]. The acceptance of life strengthens moral fibre and makes people capable of mutual help. By cultivating openness to life, wealthy peoples can better understand the needs of poor ones, they can avoid employing huge economic and intellectual resources to satisfy the selfish desires of their own citizens, and instead, they can promote virtuous action within the perspective of production that is morally sound and marked by solidarity, respecting the fundamental right to life of every people and every individual” (VC 28).
Humanity … heartfelt concern … formation of the heart … shared suffering … consolatio … a journey of hope … openness to life … mutual help … solidarity … unleashing love … what beautiful thoughts—and challenging ideals—for a Saturday afternoon dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes!
(photo: Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski with Sister Eva Maria, a Little Sister from our community in Baltimore and cousin of the archbishop, and Mother Provincial Loraine Marie Clare)
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Don't be afraid to say YES to God! |
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Wednesday, 08 February 2012 01:03 |
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by Megan Spelic, Benedictine College 2013
In honor of Consecrated Life Day and reflecting on Sister Constance Carolyn’s A Heart for Those Who Suffer story (see below), I’ve realize the beauty of the consecrated life and how our mother Mary, Queen of Consecrated Life, has played such a vital role up to this point in my life.
I was first introduced to the Little Sisters of the Poor my junior year of high school when I reluctantly went to the Mullen Home in Denver to serve breakfast with my older brother. After that a few years passed by and I never kept in touch with the Sisters except with a few emails every so often. Soon after though, that all changed when I started college. I am now a junior at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas and when I spent one of my spring breaks in Boston with the Little Sisters, I immediately fell in love with the Lord and the elderly. Ever since I got back, I spend every moment I can with the Little Sisters in Kansas City with plans of entering in October 2013. The charism of Saint Jeanne Jugan and the mission of caring for the elderly poor is so captivating to me that I can’t stay away.
I’ve learned that being in school is a great time in a young person’s life to really seek out God and ask Him what he has planned for us. John Paul the Great said, “Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid to say ‘yes’ to God.” We have so many opportunities to discover those desires that God places on our hearts so take time to discern His will for you because if you ask, He will guide you. Don’t be afraid to open up your heart to the Lord. He will never let you down!
A heart for those who suffer
By Sister Constance Carolyn
Each February, the Church celebrates two events of special significance to Little Sisters of the Poor. On February 2, the Church celebrates the World Day of Consecrated Life, a day important to all men and women religious. On February 11, the World Day of the Sick is observed. Each of these special days offers an opportunity for us to affirm our vocation as consecrated women devoted to the Church’s mission of compassion through the ministry of healthcare.
Preparing for these special days led me to recall my experience in Lourdes many years ago. At the time I was a newly professed Little Sister of the Poor assigned to one of our homes in Paris and was asked to accompany a group of our elderly Residents on a two-week trip to the Pyrenees, which would include several excursions to the famous Marian shrine in Lourdes.
When we first arrived at Our Lady’s shrine I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of people participating in the outdoor ceremonies. The cacophony of languages being spoken simultaneously and the chaos of hundreds of people milling about, many being pushed in wheelchairs or stretchers and more than a few aggressively vying for the best spot in the procession, was disconcerting. But once I got used to the crowd, I witnessed something quite beautiful – and something I have never forgotten.
 Whether it was at the culmination of the candlelight procession on the esplanade in front of the rosary basilica or in the hushed shadows of the grotto of the apparitions, I saw suffering humanity seeking consolation and refuge in the arms of Our Lady, and, through her, in the heart of the Church. It was a profoundly moving sight, but that was not all. As a woman religious in the midst of this great sea of humanity, I was approached over and over by people asking questions or simply confiding their problems to me and asking me to pray for them. I realized that as a consecrated person, it didn’t matter where I was from or what language I spoke – to these people I represented the Church, and as such, the love and mercy of God.
In Lourdes I realized that just as Our Lady smiles down on those who kneel before her at the grotto, and just as the great rosary basilica seems to embrace the crowds gathered in her shadow, so as consecrated women devoted to the elderly we Little Sisters of the Poor have been commissioned by Christ and his Church to be the face and hands of Divine compassion in a broken world. Christ is counting on us to make our hearts a refuge for suffering humanity.
In his 1995 work Vita Consecrata, Blessed John Paul II wrote that consecrated life is a life of self-giving love, of practical and generous service to the poorest and the neediest. “The Church looks with admiration and gratitude upon the many consecrated persons who, by caring for the sick and the suffering, contribute in a significant way to her mission,” he wrote. John Paul II encouraged us to follow in the footsteps of the Divine Samaritan and to devote ourselves to the sick “with profound understanding and compassion.”
As we celebrate the World Day of Consecrated Life and the World Day of the Sick, please join us in praying for an increase of vocations to a life of self-giving love, and for authentic compassion for the suffering who seek comfort in the loving arms of Christ and his Church.
Sister Constance wrote and published this reflection for the World Day of Consecrated Life. She coordinates placements for our Spring into Service Live-In program and can be reached at
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or 410-262-7514. |
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A potpourri for February 2nd |
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Thursday, 02 February 2012 12:36 |
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 February 2nd is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. It is also observed as the World Day of Consecrated Life. Today we share a potpourri of images and words celebrating this day when we thank God for our vocation to the consecrated life and praise him for the elderly Simeons and Annas with whom we share our lives.
Prayer for World Day of Consecrated Life
(Pope Benedict XVI, February 2, 2011)
O, Mary, Mother of the Church,
I entrust all consecrated people to you,
that you may obtain for them the fullness of divine light:
may they live in listening to the Word of God,
in the humility of following Jesus, your Son and our Lord,
in the acceptance of the visit of the Holy Spirit,
in the daily joy of the Magnificat,
so that the Church may be edified
by the holy lives of these sons and daughters of yours,
in the commandment of love. Amen.
 “And you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed,” Simeon told Mary. Whatever pierces our heart is a religious experience. Whatever pierces our heart we are invited to offer at the temple.
We bring all our joys and trials. We especially bring our contradictions, our compulsions, our wounds.
To present ourselves at the temple is to sacramentalize them. To present our experiences is to recognize that all experience, from the smallest to the largest, has a supernatural dimension. We offer our experiences on the altar of the fact that we are loved just as we are, and that everything that happens to us is an opportunity to draw closer to Christ. We present ourselves at the temple because our lives, our work, our sacrifices are not our own.
Before we present ourselves at the temple, we see ourselves through the eyes of the world. After we present ourselves at the temple, we see ourselves through the eyes of God.
Outside the temples, for example, I’m an aging spinster, ,alone and unloved. Inside, I’m a woman rich in insight, wisdom and friends; I’m reminded that I have a unique and special mission.…
We bring our wounds and we also bring our strengths and talents. Otherwise we tend to forget that the purpose of our gifts is to glorify God. We start to think that our gifts make us special, or that we can use them to lord it over the rest. When we do present ourselves, we find that the temple is not empty. Simeon is there, and the elderly prophetess Anna. People have been praying for us all our lives. We are part of a centuries-old tradition, and we are invited to participate in the ever-unfolding and perpetual resurrection.
We go in peace, knowing that we, too, are servants whose eyes have “seen your salvation.” We, too, are granted a share in showing forth the light of revelation.… Our experiences are young. The wisdom is old.
– Heather King (excerpted from Magnificat, February 2, 2012)
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Generosity transcends all languages |
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Monday, 16 January 2012 02:41 |
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 During the Christmas season we and our Residents are often the recipients of generous gifts and acts of kindness on the part of others. A recent newsletter from our motherhouse in France relates so many beautiful Christmas stories we had to share them with you…
In Los Molinos, Spain, the generosity was on the part of the Residents themselves. Our Little Sisters related, “We are being evangelized by the poor in so many ways. We asked for suggestions for the meals on Christmas and New Year’s Day, and we were amazed by the unanimous response of the Residents: ‘Since so many people in Spain and all over the world won’t have any choice or any presents, let’s not worry about it. We eat very well every day and we have everything we need. So please don’t spend a lot of money!’”
In Turin, Italy, the Little Sisters welcomed a new Resident on Christmas day itself. He had been living in an unheated room and was no longer able to pay the rent. He told the Little Sisters he had received the best Christmas present ever.
In Dijon, France, one of he Little Sisters met an older woman who regularly comes to the home for Mass quietly distributing gifts to the Residents who would not have any company that day. Besides such habitual acts of kindness to our Residents, she cares for her own sick husband.
In the same home a young volunteer prepared a video of the Residents’ favorite Christmas memories. The Residents were thrilled to hear themselves!
Like many of our homes, our Sisters in Lorient, France, welcomed a group of young carolers who came to entertain the Residents. They had all purchased little gifts for the Residents with their own money. One of the little girls called it a “magical” moment.
In Annaba, Turkey, the wife of the Consul General worked hard to organize a Christmas sale at the French Consulate and delivered the proceeds to the Sisters herself.
In Rheims, France, the Little Sisters received a call from an elderly woman who wanted to make a donation before being admitted to a nursing home herself. She sent her next-door neighbor with the donation—a gift-wrapped package containing neatly arranged bills totally, well, we won’t say exactly, but thousands of Euros!
In Palma de Mallorca, Spain, a poor woman came to offer a few pounds of rise, a quart of milk and a box of soup she had received from the food bank, explaining that she couldn’t eat it all before her next package from the food bank arrived, and she wanted to share with others.
In Lisbon, Portugal, a business organizes a gift giving project benefiting our Residents every year. The two women responsible for the effort were going to being the gifts donated by their employees themselves, but then decided to heed the advice in the Gospel not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. So they prepared the gifts and dropped them off quietly, leaving the Little Sisters the joy of seeing the Residents’ happiness.
 A little closer to home (in the U.S.A. anyway), a benefactor in Pittsburgh sent a donation and asked that the Little Sisters buy each Resident a poinsettia for their room. When the collecting Little Sister went to a florist to buy them, he insisted on giving them all for free!
Finally, in Kansas City the Sisters were running a “Christmas Angels” program to encourage people to give in favor of the elderly. One gift arrived wrapped in a box with the words “Little Sisters of the Poor Christmas Kitty, Remember our Elderly Poor” written on the top. Upon opening the box, hundreds of one-dollar bills spilled out onto the table.
They learned that one of their “Christmas Angels,” the owner of a local barbershop, wrapped a box with Christmas paper, cut a hole in the top, and placed it on his counter to collect money for the Little Sisters. With every haircut, he put a dollar in the Kitty and challenged his customers to do the same. While many patrons matched his challenge, others upped the ante by several dollars.
We are so grateful for the kindness and generosity of so many people in favor of the elderly, despite the tough economic times in which we are living. Although it’s more obvious at Christmas, we know that charity is flourishing everywhere, in every language. We’ll do our best to repay our benefactors of all types during the new year!
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"Why do you do what you do?": Vocation Awareness Week |
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Monday, 02 January 2012 14:09 |
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 Why do you do what you do?
A good question for Vocations Awareness Week
Not long before Christmas several emails arrived in our office. They were from an eighth grade class working on a religion project. Each email included the same question: “Why do you do what you do?”
In the pre-Christmas rush I was a little frustrated, asking myself, “How can I answer such a seemingly simple question – but it’s really very complex – in a few words that an eighth grader can understand?”
“Why do you do what you do?”
Actually, this is an especially good question to ask as we observe National Vocation Awareness Week, which starts January 9th. It would be great for youngsters to ask people in many different vocations why they do what they do – their parents and grandparents, their teachers, their pediatrician, the public servants in their community, their parish priest, women religious and any other adults they admire.
 But these eighth graders were asking us, Little Sisters of the Poor, why we do what we do!
Each Little Sister could offer her own unique answer to this question based on her personal vocation story. But we also share a common call. Very simply, we do what we do – caring for the elderly poor – because each of us has been called by God to give our lives to him in the humble service of the elderly.
Each of us has been called to follow in the footsteps of Saint Jeanne Jugan, and to live the spirit of the Beatitudes. As a community we believe that God has chosen us, gathered us together and given us a mandate to share with his eldest children his love and compassion as they prepare to meet him face-to-face. God has asked each of us to be truly a sister to the elderly poor and to defend the dignity of their lives.
As we observe National Vocation Awareness Week, we ask you to join us in praying for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. Pray for vocations to our community, so that we may continue to respond to the needs of today’s elderly and those of tomorrow!
 If you are a young person, ask the adults you admire why they do what they do, and how they discovered God’s plan for their lives. If you are an adult, share your vocation story with the young people in your life, whether you have been called to marriage, single life, priesthood or religious life.
And let’s pray for one another, that each of us will live the vocation to which God has called us in a way that pleases him.
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