Palin out!

Very surprising news…I wonder what is really going on… Can’t imagine that quitting like this would bode well for a future in elected office…I bet she ends up on talk radio or Fox News…

Alaska’s Palin is leaving office this month – Kansas City Star

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska rattled the political world Friday by abruptly announcing that she will resign from office at the end of the month.

However, Palin — a Republican — left open the possibility she would seek a run for the White House in 2012.

Road trip to Cincinnati?

How about another “nunly”  topic?  The traveling exhibit on Catholic Sisters in America is on display in Cincy until the end of August. Here an excerpt from a brochure on the exhibit’s web site:

WOMEN & SPIRIT: Catholic Sisters in America reveals the mystery behind a small group of independent American women who helped shape the nation’s social and cultural landscape. First arriving in America nearly 300 years ago, throughout periods of struggle and controversy, sisters established schools, hospitals, and colleges, and provided other social services that have served millions. Through their enduring legacy and persistent vision, the nation’s promise of equality and opportunity continues to be extended to all Americans, regardless of faith, color, nationality, or economic status.

The exhibit will also be traveling to other cities over the next couple of years, so if you can’t make to Cincinnati before it leaves there, you are not out of luck… I’m thinking it might be a nice stop to break up my trip to North Carolina for vacation next month…if my traveling companion agrees, of course.

Thanks for your support and kind words

From Bryan Cones in a June 12 U.S. Catholic article…

Above and beyond the call | USCatholic.org

It must be hard being a Sister in America. You spend a century creating a hospital system from scratch and educating generations of Catholic children of every race and class on a shoestring. Not only are you barely paid for your efforts, you occupy a decidedly second-class position on the Catholic totem pole.

When invited by the Second Vatican Council to rediscover your roots, you charge forth in service to the poor and marginalized, explore new ways of thinking about God, and reach out to people of other faiths. Even as the number of those joining your way of life shrinks and some question your new directions, you persevere. Your reward for a lifetime of service? A Vatican investigation.

Such were my thoughts when I heard in January that the Vatican, on its own initiative, had begun a study of the “quality of life” of U.S. women religious and then in February announced a “doctrinal assessment” of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which represents about 95 percent of the country’s nearly 60,000 sisters and nuns.

Bryan goes on with a touching testamonial to the Sisters who helped to form him in his faith. Thanks, Bryan, and all those of you who speak kindly about the Sisters you have encountered in your own lives. It means a lot to us as we face a bit of uncertainty in the face of a process that is decidedly not all too mutual…keep the prayers coming.

A profound experience of mutuality

So, if you’ve been following my Twitter or Facebook updates, you know I’ve been running from one thing to the next the past several weeks, the latest of which was the big Silver Jubilee celebration at the mothership in Baden, PA on Saturday. There is a lot to blog about, but for now, let me just share with you one aspect of my experience of the day. As I was praying about and planning the liturgy for that day, I was very aware that I wanted this celebration to be a gift for our community and all the friends and family in attendance; I didn’t want it to be about me. Of course, that couldn’t be completely avoided, but all in all, it really seemed to me like it was a grand celebration of God’s great faithfulness to all of creation.

And as I was reflecting this morning about my wanting this celebration to be my gift to those in attendance, I was also very aware of how in so many ways that others were doing their part to make their participation in the celebration a gift to me. Special kudos go to the singers and musicians who worked very hard to learn some new, and in at least one case, challenging music. Also to my brother Kevin, who brought his DJ/karaoke gear to provide entertainment and music for dancing at the party after the liturgy. I could go on and on…the kitchen staff, the motherhouse administration and staff handling arrangements, from decorations in the gym, to flowers in chapel, to printing the programs, to God knows what else…

The kind of mutuality I experienced in this celebration seems to me to be what the reign of God is all about. I am grateful for the presence of all those who were able to be there that day, as well as the prayers of all those who couldn’t be there in person, but whose presence was no less real. Many reminded me that a jubilee celebration is meant to be a year-long event, so in a sense, the party is just beginning.

I’m taking today off work (well, mostly, anyway…), just to rest and savor the blessings of these days. I’m around for 2.5 weeks before my next trip…maybe I’ll manage to figure out where things like band-aids, cold medicine, etc are packed from the move before I take off again.

Busted…

Welcome to any new visitors from the ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) conference who may be seeing my blog for the first time!

Ok…so the ASEE camera caught me in the act of dancing at Stubb’s BBQ. Thanks to National Instruments and Freescale for hosting a nice party…here’s hoping I win the drawing for the Kindle or Lego Mindstorm…(hint, hint)

Now a picture of me riding the mechanical bull might have been more surprising to my nuns back in PA, or maybe not…in any case, I’m guessing my spinal surgeon would not have approved of me taking a turn in the saddle, so I resisted the urge to tame the “wild beast.”

Check out the ASEE conference blog at: http://blogs.asee.org/annual2009/

Reject fear…

From Nicholas D. Kristof’s Thursday column in the NY Times…

Op-Ed Columnist – This Time, We Won’t Scare – NYTimes.com

Rick Scott, a former hospital company chief executive, leads a group called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights. He was forced to resign as C.E.O. after his company defrauded the government through overbilling and is now spending his time trying to block meaningful health care reform by terrifying us with commercials of “real-life stories of the victims of government-run health care.”

———————–
… Mr. Scott’s public relations initiative against health reform is led by the same firm that orchestrated the “Swift boat campaign” against Senator John Kerry in 2004. These commercials are just as false, for President Obama is not proposing government-run health care — just a public insurance element in the mix.

No doubt there are some genuine horror stories in Canada, as there are here in the United States.

But the bottom line is that America’s health care system spends nearly twice as much per person as Canada’s (building the wealth of hospital tycoons like Mr. Scott). Yet our infant mortality rate is 40 percent higher than Canada’s, and American mothers are 57 percent more likely to die in childbirth than Canadian ones.

So it seems that higher expenditures on health care do not guarantee better outcomes. Read Kristoff’s entire column to get the story he tells of an American living in Canada and her experiences with both Canadian and American health systems…

It seems to me that the scare tactics being used by groups like Scott’s hearken back to the “red scare” theme of the Cold War. The strategy: call anything proposed by the federal government that threatens the huge profits of big corporate interests “Communism” and hope that politicians will be cowed into submission. I know, that may be an oversimplified take on it, and the “big corporate interests” would surely publically deny this, but in my bones, I feel there’s more truth than fancy in this notion…what do you think?

More on the apostolic visitation

The sister heading up the process for the apostolic visitation of women’s religious congregations in the U.S. asked the leaders of the congregations to propose possible candidates for the visitation teams.

U.S. women religious study raising new concerns | National Catholic Reporter

Millea’s letter noted that those who take part in the work “will be acting in the name of the Apostolic See” and for this reason “they must be willing to make a public profession of faith and take an oath of fidelity to the Apostolic See.”
——————————————-

The profession of faith involves the recitation of the Nicene Creed followed by three paragraphs add in 1989. These read:

“With firm faith, I also believe everything contained in the Word of God, whether written or handed down in tradition, which the church, either by a solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal magisterium, sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed.

“I also firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the church regarding teaching on faith and morals.

“Moreover, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the College of Bishops enunciate when they exercise their authentic magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim these teachings by a definitive act.”

The oath of fidelity reads, in part:

“With Christian obedience I shall follow what the bishops, as authentic doctors and teachers of the faith, declare, or what they, as those who govern the church, establish.

“I shall also faithfully assist the diocesan bishops, so that the apostolic activity, exercised in the name and by mandate of the church, may be carried out in communion with the church.”

It will be interesting to see how many candidates come forward. I’m curious, also, to know if those who are asking for this oath expect that it supercedes the vows to God taken by the religious who do volunteer to serve as visitators.

Home, sweet home, an ongoing saga

I have a very good reason for not writing a post in so long…in fact, several good reasons….two jubilee celebrations, seven out-of-town guests this past weekend, packing/moving to a new residence…

So, since I am still not done with the move, and I’m still making some arrangements for the June 20 jubilee celebration, I’m going to let a picture say a thousand words for now. This is my new house in Detroit – I live on the first floor and a Sister of Mercy lives in the upper flat. Last night was my first night there, but I still have things to pack and move from my previous place…hopefully most of if will be done this week…

I hope I can keep up with work at the office in four hours a day for a little while…

Let the partying begin!

A friend who works for the Archdiocese of Detroit told me this past Sunday that the article on religious celebrating jubilees appeared in the Michigan Catholic. Next Wednesday, the Archbishop is hosting a liturgy/dinner to celebrate the lives of all these women and men who have served so faithfully over the years. For me, this is the first of three celebrations of my Silver (25th) Jubilee.

I was asked to give a 50-word response to finish the sentence, “Celebrating  25  years of Religious Life has been…” I share it with you all, because it is so true that I take courage and hope from the depth and beauty and variety of all of your responses to God’s great and abiding desire for you and for all of creation. I trust that even though I may not know the details of many of your lives, you are committed to seeking and fulfilling your highest purpose in life, and that inspires me – greatly!

So here is my end to the sentence, “Celebrating  25  years of Religious Life has been…”

The Official Web Site for the Archdiocese of Detroit

… a tremendous reminder of God’s faithfulness over many years. Thanks to all those who are similarly committed to following God’s call, whatever your walk in life. Knowing that you seek to live out God’s desire for you gives me great hope and courage for our shared journey.”

Blessings to all of you, and for all of you in the U.S., have a safe and restful Memorial Day weekend!

A speech to remember

My prayer tonight as I reflect on the speech Pres. Obama gave at Notre Dame on Sunday is that this nation will experience a moment (make that MANY moments) of clarity and recognize that we have so much more in common than not. And that on issues that are particularly troublesome and divisive, we might grow in genuine mutual respect for each other, even while acknowledging that there are some differences that may be irreconcilable. Even if we cannot agree, can we at least refrain from demonizing those who thoughtfully come to different understandings?

There are many good commentaries out there on the speech, but I’ll leave you with a brief excerpt from Sr. Joan Chittister’s column:

It was a ‘face-up-to-the-life-you-have-just-inherited’ speech | National Catholic Reporter

The speech was not about abortion at all. It was about lots of Catholic things — if Catholics will only remember them — but it was not about the morality or ultimate moral meaning of abortion at all. It was, in fact, more about the model of a Jesus who could talk to Roman soldiers and Samaritan women, to Pharisees and to adulterers with respect and with care. It was a recall of the Jesus who refused to condemn either the Roman emperor or his soldiers. It was also a call, at least indirectly, to the next generation to “put down their swords,” to stop calling their opposite numbers — those who seek to make abortion unnecessary than to criminalize it — “murderers” and to listen to one another.

On a side note…I have a gown just like that…. and yet another side note…we could have used him on our Bookstore Basketball team, “Nuns on the Run,” back in the mid 90’s…