The vows

Today Sister Lisa took her final solemn vows.  The vows in religious life are three: poverty, chastity, and obedience.  I will deal with each of these in turn at a later time. It was a great celebration and many people were present, sisters, Lisa's natal family, friends and coworkers.  Lisa looked serene and happy.  The Tiffin Franciscans have a great sense of family and are a very joyous group.

Sr. Lisa is on the right, and the Community Minister, Sister Sara is on the left.

Some older sisters maintain the habit.  This sister is actually from a different community that lives nearby.

This is at the beginning of the Mass.  They are not bowing to the priest, but to the altar which is a sacred space because the consecration of the bread and wine takes place on it.

Trying to upload a video for you, so you can hear the music that nearly blew the roof off the chapel.  Oops, sorry the upload is not working.  Will have to stick to pictures.

Please feel free to post questions or comments.  It's been pretty quiet out there.....

 

The call to service

For me, living the gospel, and living the Christian faith, is a call to action.  Action in the sense of service, to help others lead a life of greater dignity.  This can take an infinite number of forms.  It is not so much what you do, but how you do it that constitutes service through work.

 

I am attaching a profile of the Franciscan spirituality type, which pretty well describes me personally (and many others.)  It is somewhat different from a Dominican type, for example. 

 

Enjoy.

 

 

Your Spirituality Type: PATH OF SERVICE (Franciscan prayer)

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About 38 percent of the population is this spiritual type--but far fewer of this type come to church regularly.

Like Saint Francis of Assisi, those who follow the path must be free, unconfined, and able to do whatever their inner spirit moves them to do. They don't like to be tied down by rules. One thinks of Saint Peter impetuously jumping into the water to join Jesus as a typical action of this type.

Franciscan spirituality leads to acts of loving service which can be a most effective form of prayer. The gospel stories about Jesus have a special appeal, particularly the Incarnation of God in the life of Jesus, which is the center around which Franciscan life and spirituality revolve. Franciscan prayer is flexible and free-flowing making full use of the five senses and it is spirit-filled prayer.

Those on this path can make a meditation on the beauty of a waterfall, flower, meadow, mountain, or ocean—all of God's creation. There is more stress in payer on the events of Jesus' life than on this teaching Like Saint Therese of Lisieux, prayer is done with total concentration—as if this is the most important thing to be doing at this moment Therese did all tasks knowing that each was a part of the total harmony of the universe.

Single versus communal

The single life is a concoction of the late 20th century.  As Eberhard Arnold points out in his book, "Why we Live in Community," it is the nature of all created life to live in community, not alone.  Animals move in packs, herds, flocks, schools, and humans naturally form families.  The desire for family is strong.  Look at the current debate about same-sex marriage, which I will not delve into except to say that even among those living a very non-traditional lifestyle, the desire for permanent committed bonds to others is present.

Renowned author and Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister remarked in a recent retreat in Erie, Pennsylvania, that John Wayne's movie characters epitomized what has become an American value: that of rugged individualism.  His films glamorized going solo, living single, a solitary figure riding across the plains of life. Secular feminism does the same thing, essentially telling women to ignore  the emotional and spiritual need for others for the sake of self-seeking career success.  Certainly, careers can be satisfying.  But is this freedom and happiness?  Or the drudgery of loneliness, a solitude unbroken by the ability to share and celebrate the passages of life with others?  I am thinking of Meryl Streep's character in the film,  "The Devil Wears Prada," whose obsession with her personal success alienates her husband and drives away intimacy.  Is that what I wish to become?  Where is the sweet spot of work for the mind and sharing for the heart?

For me, I realized that being the maiden Aunt was losing its charm.  On a recent beach vacation I was supposed to go with one other friend.  The friend, who is currently in the dog house, bailed on me at the last minute.  I could not get out of the hotel reservation and off I went.  I envied the families I saw playing and relaxing on the beach, the women enclosed in the embrace of husband and children.  That for me has become the emotional reality of single life.

I am reasonably independent on a day to day basis, but for the long haul I much prefer the security of knowing that others will be there for me if I fall, in illness, in joy, and in my old age.  I have no children to visit me in the nursing home, and I have no spouse with whom to share a lazy Saturday morning.  

So, I thought, why suffer?  Hundreds of thousands of single childless women find joy in each other in holy community.  I will profile some of them for you in days to come.  I wish you could see their joy in the littlest and biggest moments of life.  They shower affection on the oldest members of their communities and some have known each other for years and years, sharing a deep history and a trove of memories.

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Photos from the convent campus

The Tiffin sisters own about 400 acres.  In addition to the garden there is a crop farm that raises soybeans and corn. This is one part of the farm.  Chickens in the foreground, and the house is constructed of bales of hay.  Power is provided by a solar panel.  The hay provides cooling in the summer and insulation in the winter.  The walls are plaster inside.  It is cozy and attractive.

Photos inside the main convent hallway, the chapel, and the sacristy, which is where Father puts on his garments and prepares for Holy Mass.

Nun Better

The sisters are all in a three-day meeting, and my classes (which I am teaching) at the University haven't begun yet, so this morning I was rattling around the house and the town by myself. 

I discovered a treadmill in the basement, which will be nice when we are snowed in and can't get out for a walk or over to the YMCA.  And another fridge, which was pretty well stocked with beer and a couple of bottles of wine.  Then I noticed a veritable bar on some shelving.  Someone here has a thing for Crème de Menthe and someone else enjoys her whiskey.  Not bad.  I am wondering if they will let me have a little cigar to go with that...

I had lunch, which is at noon and which is called dinner because it is the main meal--in the community dining room.  I sat with one very humble yet sharp sister who is the former "Community Minister," which they used to call the Mother superior.  Franciscans are pretty much opposed to hierarchy, and have gone back to this very Franciscan moniker. 

I told her how excited I was about the large garden, and commented that I had always wanted to cultivate grapes for wine production.  I explained that it would be nice for the community to have its own label.  Sister Jackie didn't miss a beat, just gave me a sideways glance and said, "We'll call it "Nun Better."

Honestly being an oenologist (go look it up, that is your vocabulary word for the day) would beat working in an office any day of the week.  I can't stand offices, and maybe that is why I have kind of run away from home. Too many offices in DC.

On another note, Pope Francis's nephew in Buenos Aires was in a car accident with his wife and two small children.  All were killed on the spot except for the nephew, who is badly injured.  Please remember all of them, including Francis, in your prayers tonight. ###

Rushing the convent

Rushing the Convent

A vocation discernment blog

By Kirsten Obadal

August 17, 2014

In the old days, the era that lasted a thousand years until the Vatican II council in 1968, a young woman just showed up at a convent, knocked on the door, and after some very cursory questions was admitted.  She had to be 18, and not to be an only child so there would be a sibling out there to take care of her parents in their golden years.  It was all pretty simple.

As a nun or vowed religious sister a woman would be able to undertake medicine, teaching, domestic work, or to further her education.  For a very long time, if she remained a laywoman, her options included working in the field, the home, and bearing and raising children.

As time went on, especially in the 20^th century, women’s options began to broaden.   Religious life continued to liberate women from the obligations of the role of child bearing to a variety of work if a woman was so inclined.  But it still wasn’t really until the late 20^th century that women could viable choose to remain single and pursue a career, and not until more recently that a woman could choose to both raise children, be married, and work.  So religious life began to seem redundant.  Vocations fell off dramatically after Vatican II, and many sisters left the convent.  but it is my contention that this had little to do with changes in the Church and more to do with societal and cultural changes in Western society.  The concept of remaining single was theretofore unknown and unaccepted; a woman might work a bit before marriage, but after that her obligations were considered to be in the home.

So what might be the attraction of religious life now, in the early 21^st century?  For most women seeking vows nowadays, the pull of community is strongest, as is the blessing of a shared and common prayer life, and finally the freedom to pursue worthwhile soul-filling ministries that might pay too little to sustain a person as a career choice.  Don’t be confused by the fact that some nuns are highly paid in their jobs—nurses, university professors, psychologists, etc.    They are clearly not in it for the money.   They are in it for love.

In religious life a woman can pursue almost any career of her choosing, and have the blessing of family even if she chooses  not to marry.

In my case, all of the above.  Although not marrying was not so much a choice as a fate.  After a certain age the pickings are pretty slim and what has once been perceived as the freedom of single life has become a drudgery of solitude and anxiety about loneliness in old age. To be perfectly clear, I do have some gentlemen friends who would make good husbands, and with a little indication of interest would do so; but there is something inside me that says, “I am  not passionately in love with this particular guy, but I am passionately in love with Jesus.”  This is true for me with the exception of one clueless guy, but I am trying to keep my personal options open while he may or may not ever get a clue. 

Meanwhile, I do know that I love, respect, and admire the sisters I have met in visits to various convents.  As I recently told a friend, “these women are just better than I am.”  They are more sincere, closer to God in holiness, and more deeply committed in their work than I am.  They truly care for others more.  It is to this that I aspire, whether  or not I join the convent. 

August 18,  2014

It is the process of becoming a nun that is possibly more complicated than getting into college.  It begins with a short weekend visit, usually called a discernment retreat, and then phone calls, emails, and perhaps a second visit, and more skyping, calling, and emailing.  There are psychological tests you have to take to see if you can handle community living.  Finally, the community just has to have a feeling that you fit in.  Essentially, it is like rushing a sorority.

I should make it clear that there are many different kinds of communities nowadays.  Some are cloistered, like the Poor Clares.  They wear a full length habit and do not leave the convent.  Their main work is prayer, broken up by chores, vegetable gardening, or studying.  These are called contemplative communities. 

On the other extreme there are apostolic communities, which do not wear a habit but rather a pendant or ring to show their affiliation.  The sisters in these communities may have jobs in catholic or even secular organizations, but usually maintain a ministry that in some way helps people to live lives of greater  dignity.  Thus, education, health care, and various types of social service are common apostolic ministries.

I am currently staying with the Franciscan sisters in Tiffin, Ohio.  Their prayer is inspirational, and during the songs they break out into spontaneous, unscripted harmonies. 

August 19, 2014 Wednesday

This community cultivates a garden that is several acres in size.  I went out with Sr. Barb for a tour.  We fed overgrown cucumbers to the chickens and ducks.  The garden is divided into three sections: some for the sister’s dining hall, some for the food pantries for the poor, and the rest are rented plots which are planted and harvested by shareholders who live in town.  There are snow peas, green beans, and tons of zucchini.  Barb has a touch with the asparagus.  There is also butternut squash, sunflowers, and peppers, to name a few.  A blight is killing the tomato plants, but there are still a few ripening.

This evening there was a social.  Among the games was Bible jeopardy.  My team got creamed.  We weren’t fast enough with the clappers to signal we had the answer.