Pathways: Spring 2003
A Consecrated Life
By Juli Caron, CSJ
" As an infant, my parents brought me to a
small Catholic Church in Southern Minnesota. It was there
that I was baptized. It was there that "Yes" was said for
me, yes to the call of God within me.
Actually, it was at the moment that I was conceived that God
placed his hand on me, and began calling me to himself. Baptism
sacramentalized that call. It was at this moment that the
call to live a consecrated life began. As an adult it is my
responsibility to continue to say "Yes" and live out my baptism.
It was some years ago that I had a dream and in that dream
I was told that the way I was to live my life was Micah 6:8,
"to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with my God."
The question before me was: how was I to do this? I knew that
for me to live out my baptismal call, I needed to give my
all. I had given my heart to God, as a single woman, but that
did not seem to be enough. I needed more, I wanted to live
my life totally for Jesus, and to live the vowed life was
the only way I knew I could live out the call of Micah 6:8.
On September 23, 2000, I made my final vows as a Sister of
St. Joseph of Medaille.
Living a life set aside for God as a consecrated woman, what
does that mean? What do I do all day? I have always enjoyed
life for the most part. I am usually able to find meaning
and purpose in all I do, but since I have made my vows as
a Sister of St. Joseph, I have found a new journey that has
taken me deeper into the life of Jesus. Living a vowed life
is a life of freedom and growth. Obedience calls me to live
a life of prayer and discernment, poverty calls me to live
a life of simple dependence on God and others, a life of humility
and vulnerability, and chastity calls me to a life of compassion,
fulfillment and joy.
I minister as a chaplain at Roger Maris Cancer Center and
MeritCare Health System in Fargo, North Dakota. Please, allow
me to share a story or two. I happened to enter into a patient's
room one day and he and his wife asked how they could get
their marriage blessed. I guided them to their priest who
gave them the information they needed. Due to the patient's
illness they were not able to get the paper work done. I visited
this patient nearly every time he came in to the Cancer Center.
One of these times, he told me he knew he felt he was dying
and wanted to be able to receive the sacraments with his wife,
so I contacted a priest and he and his wife were able to have
their marriage blessed and to receive the sacraments together.
One day I was called to the lobby of the Cancer Center to
visit with a family whose father and husband had been told
that he had a very short time to live. He had always wanted
to be baptized Catholic but had not gotten to it. He asked
to be baptized with his family present and he was not able
to go to the church. I looked around the lobby and decided
"why not?" I decided to bring the Eucharist as well, so there
in the lobby of the Cancer Center I baptized him and he and
his family received the Eucharist together.
I could go on and on telling you story after story, stories
of holding infants as they die, or stories of being with families
as their loved ones die. This is my journey as a consecrated
woman and a Sister of St. Joseph, bringing God's great love
to all and living totally for God.
My Call to Ministry as a Sister of St. Joseph
by S. Janice Miller, CSJ
Parish ministry in rural northern Minnesota is a delight to
my soul! There are so many moments of grace and so many opportunities
to behold the face of Christ, up close and personal! How do
I respond to this call as a Sister of St. Joseph in today's
Church? Where to begin?
Letis start with today! It is Sunday and my first responsibility
is to see that proper preparations are made for the Eucharistic
celebration. I unlock the doors of the church, turn up the
heat and check to see that the bulletins are out for the taking.
Usually I check the church both morning and evening to see
that all is wellomore than once all the electric breakers
in the church have been mistakenly turned off so that there
is no heat or electric power, dangerous in sub-zero weather!
The choir arrives an hour before Mass and begins its practice.
The sacristan also comes to set up all that is needed for
the celebration. As families begin to find their pews and
spend quiet time in prayer, some seek me out to share some
news or ask for help. Today one woman is especially concerned
about an elderly brother and sister in the parish. I have
been to their home several times. They have neither electricity
nor running water. The dirt floor of the home has planks in
strategic places to hold the table and chairs from sinking
into the dirt in the summer and to raise the beds off the
frozen ground in the winter. This past week a relative found
both the man and the woman wrapped in quilts in their individual
beds at 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon because they had no fire
to keep them warm. Always, there is an abundance of firewood
available (they live in the woods surrounded by all kinds
of firewood) but the relative found NONE anywhere. It sounds
simpleoget them some firewood! But it is not so simple! The
man and woman do not want to accept charity and be beholden
to anyone, so they have refused help in the past even to the
point of ordering people off the property at gunpoint! It
is not safe to intrude upon their privacy so we need to strategize
and get other agencies involved in this sub-freezing weather.
Another gentleman needs to talk AND BE LISTENED TO, he says!
There is not the privacy he wants so he will come back later
this week. I know from others that his son has a malignant
brain tumor and the prognosis is very dismal. I do not know
if that is what he wished to share with me so I must wait
and be prepared to listen.
Two families have prepared the coffee and sweet rolls for
the regular after-Mass-parish-fellowship. They need a few
things that I have in my cupboard in the parish house so I
scoot across the driveway to the large four-bedroom home where
I live. Itis well equipped and most of the utensils belong
to the parish so, of course, they can use whatever they need
that is there.
There is a good deal of commotion when Father Dennis arrives
from his parish 15 miles away. Father is from Wisconsin and
the Green Bay Packers lost their bid in the playoffs recently,
so consequent teasing MUST take place. One cannot tease too
vehemently when the Vikings never even made it to the playoffs
though!!
Then all is ready. We enter wholeheartedly into the sacred
moment of holy liturgy. There is an in-breaking into eternity
and most of the participants seem to know it. The gathering
here is small enough to be intimate and faith calls even the
children to attentive reverence. I love this experience of
the power and presence of God in our midst!
But, this is only a matter of a few hours of the first day
of the week! Someone asked me recently what hours I worked.
I had to answer that I donit operate on a number of hours
but that when the phone rings, I answer it. When someone is
at the door, I open it to attend to their needs. I jump in
the car when the request comes for help. And besides the spontaneous,
I do the planned ministry of leading the Scripture/Communion
Services during the week. I lead wake services for the deceased
and have done funeral and burial services when a priest was
not available. The folks gather as I facilitate regular scripture
study and spiritual input for both this and the neighboring
Park Rapids parish. I also visit the Nursing Homes and participate
in ecumenical ministerial projects. On Thanksgiving Day, Father
was on vacation so he asked me to do the Thanksgiving Communion
Celebration. The church was packed. Even though they knew
I was not able to preside at Mass, they were grateful that
I was there. Part of my little homily was the reminder that
a good Jew attempted to thank God for the various gifts of
life at least one hundred times a day, every day, not just
on Thanksgiving Day. So they left church counting!!!
One of the most sacred and significant aspects of my ministry
is being present to the sick, the suffering and the dying.
Over and over, I know how privileged I am in just being still
in their presence! I have a small vial of aromatic holy oil
from the Poor Clares and signing the cross on a patient's
forehead often produces a calm and peacefulness that signifies
their faith and surrender. This is a gentle reminder that
some day I will be needing this very ministry myself as I
surrender all that I am to the One I call Beloved.
This little parish has a most interesting environment. It is in
the remote off-the-main-highway part of a wooded and hilly
terrain dotted with numerous lakes. A ireduced speedi sign
is all that signals the approach to the church and a little
country store. Thatis all there is! One pastor made a pilgrimage
to Lourdes in France and returned so enraptured with his experience
that he organized the parishioners to erect an exact duplicate
of the Marian shrine. Later, he planned out-door Stations
of the Cross using matching stones from the area to keep the
mode of retreat grounds visible to the passer-by. Another
pastor with a devotion to the rosary proposed expanding the
grotto to include a large rosary with 12 inch beads designed
for a living, walk-about rosary. There is a Pieta, crucifixion
scene, shrines honoring Mary, St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart
on different parts of the parish grounds. Besides all of the
religious reminders, there are slides, a merry-go-round, a
volleyball court, a baseball diamond and a basketball court
for recreation. Itis one of the good tourist attractions in
the area for those who have a spiritual bent.
It has been almost ten years since there has been a resident
priest living in the parish house. In fact, it has been that
long since anyone has lived in the parish house! The parishioners
express often how grateful they are that I have come to live
and minister among them.
You can understand now, maybe, how ideal this "out-of-the-way"
spot is for ministry. This is where I am grateful to be at
this time in my life! Thank you, gracious God! May we all
be one in You!