If the only prayer you pray in your whole life is `Thank

November 2012 Vol. XXXII, No. 9
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters
If the only prayer
you pray in your
whole life is ‘Thank
Gratitude unlocks the
fullness of life.
It turns what we have
into enough,
and more. It turns
denial into
L
iving our lives through the lens of
thanksgiving, enables us to see everything as gift, as miracle. Albert
Einstein said, “There are two ways to
live your life. One is as if nothing were a miracle.
The other is as though everything were a miracle.”
Gratitude flows from the recognition that all that is,
is a divine gift of love and freely given to us.
Gratitude is the primary and most fundamental
religious disposition. Gratitude makes for abundance and produces an abundance mentality in us.
A favorite Scripture story of mine is the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (John 6:5-15). The
crowd of thousands of people was hungry and all
the food to be found was five loaves and two fishes.
The need was enormous and the resources were
few. This is a situation wherein it would be very
easy to develop a scarcity mentality: there is
nothing we can do, so let’s keep the little we have
and survive ourselves. But there is no scarcity
mentality in Jesus. His heart is full of gratitude for
the precious gift of five loaves and two fishes from
His heavenly Father. Jesus takes the loaves, GIVES
THANKS, and shares them with the multitude. He
did the same with the fishes, giving all as much as
they wanted. Out of this mentality of gratitude and
generosity flows abundance, a mentality that brings
forth new life and vision.
I invite all of us into an attitude of gratitude and
abundance as we continue our election process. Let
us look upon the gifts we have in the Sisters of the
Province. We are Sisters from 18 different
countries doing mission together here in the USA
and the Caribbean.
(continued on page 2)
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Drawing upon our trust in one another and commitment to God’s Kingdom, we have been
working together and making things happen together for God’s people. When I prayerfully
reflect upon each of our communities and experience their diversity yet their unity in mission
and prayer, my heart overflows with gratitude. Each community is like a miracle in action!
Let us look at the giftedness of our Province with grateful hearts and trust in God’s abundance.
Wisely and prayerfully we discern who have the dimensions of leadership that will move our
Province forward. After all, it is the Holy Spirit who gives the energy and direction to us as
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, and She is willing to work with whomever we choose as our
Province Leadership Team. Let’s choose wisely, but also with great trust and gratitude!
Sr. Carol Welp
Things to Celebrate
Recollection Day at Our Lady of
the Angelus, New York
On Friday, November 9, our Sisters in
Australia are opening the Sr. Edith
Centre for Education and the new
Medical Oncology Ward. Sr. Edith
Engel, SSpS, was from the USA and was
missioned to Australia in 1945. She
served as administrator of the hospital in
Brisbane. Sister started a nursing school
in the hospital which opened in 1950.
After living a full and rich missionary
life, Sister died in July 1964. We thank
our Sisters in Australia for remembering
Sr. Edith in this way.
Forty-eight women and three men of the
Adult Seniors Group participated in the
recollection day. Our theme was “Jesus
Sr. Monica Mabel Balbuena is being
sponsored by Region 8 of LCWR to
represent us at a celebration in El
Salvador in honor of the four church
women who were martyred there.
SHARE, an NGO, which helps women
and children and encourages relationships between El Salvador and the USA,
is organizing this celebration and asked
for one woman religious from each
region of the LCWR to be present.
and the Women in the Gospel.” The
team, Sr. Zelia Cordeiro dos Santos
and Fr. Felix Jones, did an excellent job
of putting together the presentations. Sr.
Zelia and I explained our SSpS mission
around the globe and our participants
were impressed! Our Pastor, Fr. John
Mendonca, was very pleased and
supported us by helping with the details
of the day and by his presence. It was a
challenge to put this all together, but
listening to the comments of the participants, it was worth it. I had asked the
Sisters at the Convent to pray for us
during this recollection day (via Sr.
Marie Angela Risi), so I send them a big
THANK YOU! God bless!
Sr. Leonette Kaluzny
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Mission Sunday
in Memphis
Sunday, October 21, was Mission Sunday and
St. Joseph’s Parish in Memphis celebrated in a
big way. The object was to help all grow in
awareness of the one family of humanity and
the desire to reach out in kindness to those in
need. Sr. Monica Darrichon and Fr. Tony
Romo, SVD, organized the day. Sr. Philippa
Chen Jin Xiu offered for sale things from her
country to help the Sisters in their mission
work there.
Sr. Philippa
with our own Indonesian Sisters dancing and
singing, Sr. Monica Zhang, singing a song in
Chinese and leading us in Tai-chi, Sr. Rebecca
David singing and playing her drum, bringing in
the Sudanese culture, all with their national
dress. They really made the day a success. The
HSMA Filipino community added their talents
with lively singing and dancing. Sr. Carol
Welp gave a PowerPoint presentation showing
our Sisters in ministry around the world. Also,
Sr. Julita Bele Bau sent a video about her work
in St. Kitts with the children. A blueprint of the
plans for the new building was also shown. The
day was joyful, fun filled and profitable. People
were very generous in their contributions
towards the new building. On Mission Sunday
itself, the SVD Mission office offered us the
opportunity to place St. Kitts in the vision of the
benefactors and friends at Techny Towers. They,
too, were generous in their second collection.
Sr. Pat Snider
Left: Srs.
Xaveriana
Ngene,
Edel
Deong
and
Yuliana
Meno.
Sr. Monica
Right:
Procession in the
Divine
Word
Chapel
Mission Festival
In Techny
Mission Fest, October 20, the fund-raiser for
St. Kitts preschool, was a fun afternoon since
we were joined by about 90 of our friends from
around the Chicago area. International food
was shared with us in abundance by many different cultural groups. Entertainment was lively
Left: Sr.
Carol
Welp
gives the
homily.
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The 2012 United States Catholic Mission Association
Annual Mission Conference
Friday, October 26, we left to attend this conference in Los Angeles, California.
There were three groups of missionaries who attended. First:
Lay Mission-Helpers (founded by Msgr. Anthony Brouwers).
It is an independent, Catholic not-for-profit organization made
up of former religious, former lay missionaries, and other
individuals with specific professional skills. The main areas of
their ministries are education and healthcare. Second: Mission
Doctors Association, formed in 1959 by doctors from across the
United States. This group has trained, sent and supported
Catholic doctors and their families who serve people of all faiths
in some of the most underserved areas of the world. They call this mission a “Mission of Healing” and
the goal is to provide direct patient care and training for local professionals. They are maintaining their
mission in hospitals and clinics in Africa and Latin America. Third: cardinals, bishops, priests, and
religious men and women. In addition, there were two facilitators, two keynote speakers, six panelists,
and five presenters. Around 300 participants reflected on “Forging New Paths: Interreligious Dialogue,”
the theme of the 2012 USCMA Conference.
The first keynote speaker, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, started his talk on “Transforming
Dialogue” with an image of a woman at the well with an empty jar and that jar needs to be filled. It will
not be filled unless there is a dialogue with God and with his people. The Cardinal’s talk contained much
insight on spiritual awareness. As ‘people of God, through our baptism, we are called to be missionaries
- we are sent.’ However, there are still challenges in our reality, such as: How can we, the Church as an
Institution, practice the ‘Transforming Dialogue’ with other religions? How can we (Catholics) start a
dialogue with others while we don’t communicate with the people in our own pew? How can we begin a
dialogue with someone that is not supportive or is too fanatical? And yet, there will be more challenges
and the challenges will not end at once or in one way. It cannot be the responsibility of one organization
or institution, but let us embrace it as ‘our’ challenge and work it out beginning with ourselves. Then let
love speak if we don’t fulfill our aim, said the Cardinal.
The theme “Forging New Paths: Interreligious Dialogue” was extended six different ways, according to
Jewish, Muslim, and Catholic religions, and through a collaboration with Jewish, Muslim, and Catholic
Latinos. The theme was stressed specifically by the six presenters, such as: Interreligious Dialogue: A
Sustainable Pathway to Peace; Interreligious Prayer: Finding the Way Forward (visualized through a
movie ‘The Way” directed by actor Martin Sheen); St. Frances of Assisi’s Encounter with the Sultan:
Insights for Today?; and the Interfaith Practice of Jesus. At the end we learned from the second keynote
speaker, Dr. Scott Alexander, that we are ‘Living into God’s Mission - an End to Triumphalism in the
Hope of Solidarity.’
We were nourished by the Holy Eucharist, morning prayer, and the delicious food, and luxurious
accommodations at the Westin Hotel, and refreshed by a short field trip to the Cathedral of Los Angeles.
There we had Mass and dinner and enjoyed Mexican dance as the entertainment during our dinner. We
were so fortunate to have this opportunity and we would like to say thank you to God for our vocations
and the mission that God has entrusted to us. We are God’s helpers.
Sr. Xaveriana Ngene
Sr. Yuliana Meno
4
My Journey in the Institute of Religious Formation at
Catholic Theological Union
The Course
I have spent about two months in the Institute of Religious Formation
(IRF) at Catholic Theological Union (CTU). The process began with
orientation when we shared about our culture and congregation. This
helped the participants to get to know each other better. The broad
outlines of the programs are Formation and Spiritual Life, Practical
Skills for Formation, Holistic Human Development and Psychology,
and Significant Issues of the 21st Century. Along with the regular
classes, I also take Religious Experience in Context as an auditing
student. I am happy and grateful that we are supporting each other to
study and to be responsible in this program.
The Community Living Situation
The program is led by Br. Paul Michalenko, ST. There are ten participants in this course. They
are Kayula, Sister of Charity from Zambia; Helen, OSB, from Canada; Annie, O Carm, from
St. Lucia; Jia Qin Zhang, Sister of St. Teresa from China; Bruce,
Glenmary from Kentucky; Ray, Missionary of LaSalle from
Canada; William, OFM Conv, from Zambia; Julius, MSC, from
Namibia; Neri Lee, OCD, from Korea and myself. We are living
on the sixth floor at 5400 South Cornell Avenue and our class is on
the third floor. I start my daily activities with private meditation
and then go to the Mass. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,
we celebrate mass together in the IRF and Sabbatical community.
Other days we join with the Passionist community. Before class, we open with the Morning
Prayer.
At meals, we share our stories, experiences, and our studies. The politics around the presidential
election, issues of peace and justice in the world, the 50-year anniversary of Vatican II, culture
and languages are some of the topics we discuss. They are serious, happy, funny, sometimes
also boring. We often feel home sick.
In the afternoon, before or after dinner, some of us walk to Lake Michigan to enjoy the beautiful
environment, to exercise and to get fresh air. Two times a month on Thursday evening we have
a community night; we pray and have recreation together. When there is no activity in the IRF
community on the weekend I go home to the Rogers Park Community. Sometimes I invite a
friend to go and spend time with the community. I love both communities. For me, people are a
blessing in my life and I realize that my life is also a blessing for them.
In this journey, I am learning to be faithful as a student, present here and now. “Where your
treasure is, there your heart will be”. I hope what I learn really will be a blessing that is God’s
will.
Sr. Sisilia Soelistyani
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For Your Prayerful Remembrance
Our deceased:
Bro. Samuel Quaye, SVD, who died
October 19 of cancer. He is from Ghana and
his body was brought there for burial.
Tom Miller, 77, brother of Sr. Mary and
Ann Miller, who died on October 15. His
daughter is also terminally ill with cancer.
Please pray for the family.
Be Thi Dinh, the mother of Fr. Quang Duc
Dinh, Rector of Techny Community, who
died on October 15.
Andreas Ramu Uran, 65, uncle of Sr.
Kristina Lajar, who died from liver complications and was buried on October 21.
Jose Alcantar, uncle of Fr. Carols
Paniagua-Monroy, SVD, who died October
3 in California.
Our sick:
Patrick Greney, son of Shawn Greney, our
Activities Director, who is having serious
problems.
Celestine, sister-in-law of Mary Pardy,
who is hospitalized and suffering from
hives.
Family Feast
“Circle of Friends” was the theme of our
Family Feast celebrated by all the sisters at
the Convent on Saturday, October 27. We
began with Eucharist at 7:15 followed by
breakfast. The entire Community spent the
day together. At 9:30 a talent show was
presented which included poems, jokes and
a humorous skit. An ice cream social was
held at 2:30. And who doesn’t enjoy a game
of Bingo? Our Family Feast Bingo party
was the highlight of the afternoon and lovely
prizes were won by the lucky Sisters. A
good time was had by all!
Sr. Marie Angela Risi
Sr. Kristina Lajar, who has a serious
kidney malfunction and will have a biopsy
on November 8.
Lambertus Bele Bau, 74, father of Sr.
Julita, who is hospitalized for complications
with his heart and high blood pressure.
Alphonse Schroeder, father of Fr. Roger
Schroeder, SVD, who is in hospice care.
Ellen Burke, sister-in-law of Sr. Priscilla
Burke, who has serious medical problems
and is having a hard time dealing with them
Mary Jilk, sister of Sr. Marie Louise Jilk,
who has serious back problems.
Halloween
On October 31, 13 SSpS celebrated with our
SVD brothers at their residence. We had a
lovely afternoon playing bingo and enjoying
each other, as well as the hats and costumes.
We ended with a delicious meal together.
Thank You!!
Joe, nephew of Sr. Jeanne Blie, who is
suffering from serious heart problems.
6
JPIC
SSpS
USA
November
2012
Immigrant Welcoming Congregations
Michael Gosch, CSV and Colleen Dille
They put some daily needs inside of packs to
distribute when a detainee is released.
Detainees are also in need of financial
donations to help with the bus or train
tickets, food and other expenses. This is part
of the accompaniment work of the Interfaith
Post Detention Response Network who do a
good job in helping those in need.”
On October 14, nine Holy Spirit Missionary
Sisters took part in the celebration of the first
anniversary of the Immigrant Welcoming
Congregations held at the Iglesia de Unida in
Berwyn. Representatives of the founding
communities, two new congregations and others
interested in immigration were welcomed for the
event. Three informative workshops on immigration were offered. The first workshop on
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival gave an
overview of DACA, resources for congregations
who would like to provide good information
about eligibility, risks and benefits, required
paperwork and information about reliable legal
help.
Sr. Monica Zhang attended the second workshop
on the Training for the Post-Detention Accompaniment Network and she wrote “that the coordinators who gave us a talk showed us support packs.
Sr. Rebecca Chaan David attended and
wrote about the workshop that dealt with the
necessity of working for driving licenses for
immigrants. The case was made that driving
licenses can help stop the deportation, can
provide insurance, ID and reduce arrests. It
was stressed that it is more an issue of safety
than it is an issue of immigration. As part of
the presentation some told their stories of
being arrested because of minor car trouble.
The personal fear and powerlessness of the
individual was not the only problem; it also
had consequences for all the members of the
family.
Sr. Margaret Hansen wrote “I was
touched in hearing about all the efforts to
reach out to the immigrants who leave the
detention center. How sad to think that
people can be treated so heartlessly and how
wonderful that others are doing all they can
7
to help them find food, shelter and friendship.”
Sr. Xaveriana Ngene represented the Holy
Spirit Missionary Sisters by receiving the
mission candle that expressed our commitment to work with immigrants.
Sr. Xaveriana holds the candle
Several leaders gave talks calling us to do
something for the immigrants. Sr. Rebecca
named some of the actions being done on
behalf of the immigrants:
Learning new things about oneself, acting
with nonviolence as individuals; and inviting
people to the deportation center so they
might feel the pain of families being separated, etc.
The following reflection was written by Sr.
Dorota Piechaczek on the transforming
experience of the afternoon. “When we
entered the small and already crowded room,
a young Chinese woman spoke eloquently
about the process of obtaining a driving
license by the undocumented. At first, I had
difficulty understanding why it would be
such an important issue. Soon however, I
realized the enormity of this seemingly small
privilege. Ultimately, it is not about driving,
but about existing, about having an identity
not just an ID, being an equal user of the
road and not the one selected to be pulled
over for inspection for no other reason than
one’s face. As I listened to this revealing
information, I became angry about the
meanness of people who do racial profiling,
and the system that punishes instead of
forming, that exploits the weakest under the
banner of legality and order.
“I kept asking myself where and how can
law and justice meet the needs of immigrants and their families? I thanked God
for the many dedicated people who make
others aware of the problems faced by
undocumented people, who make efforts to
knock on legislators’ doors, mobilize the
migrants and the communities, and
welcome with compassion those who had
been arrested, fined, detained or deported.
I am proud to belong to a community that
has in its midst members from many ethnic
and national backgrounds and is willing to
engage actively in the process of making a
difference in the lives of the migrants.”
Sr. Rebecca shared her insights in the following way: “It is an oppressing situation
which isolates one from the other; it creates
division. I believe that in facing these human tragedies and injustices that we do to
each other, we must convert our own hearts
to non-violence in thinking and acting.
Truly, only the God of Peace can convert
the human heart to act with kindness and
respect toward all. When many faith Congregations work together, they give hope to
immigrants. It is truly our responsibility to
look after our brothers and sisters. It is
there that we meet Christ.” (Thanks to Sr.
Monica Balbuena for the pictures and for
the contributions of those who attended.)
Sr. Rose Therese Nolta
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