Sisters of St. Benedict St. Mary Monastery Rock Island, Illinois

onnectingCPoint

“For me, Holy Leisure is time to reflect on the presence of God,” Sr. Ruth says. “I really know I need it when I get scattered and can’t seem to sort out priorities. I’m out of balance. Taking leisure restores that balance.”Types of LeisureThe church Fathers often spoke of Otium Sanctum, “holy leisure.” It refers to a sense of balance in life, an ability to be at peace through the activities of the day, an ability to rest and take time to enjoy beauty, an ability to pace ourselves. Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

Despite our culture’s propensity to equate leisure with recreation, the former – for monastics – tends not to include a lot of powerboats, snowmobiles or theme parks.

God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation. Genesis 2:3

Ever since Time magazine pronounced stress “The Epidemic of the Eighties” in 1983, Americans have grown even more stressed. Studies over the years (including an annual Stress in America study by the American Psychological Association) report a nearly-constantly rising level of stress, and primary care physicians see the result: up to 90% of visits to their offices are for stress-related problems. We all know stress can damage our health. Countless studies have implicated it in disorders from heart disease to digestive problems and headaches to mental health disturbances. Yet what do most of us do about it … besides worry even more? Apparently we eat, drink and smoke. A 2007 online survey from the American Psychological Association says four in ten of us overeat or drink, while 19 percent of us smoke because of stress. We watch lots of TV, too, when we’re not playing video games. And then we lie awake at night. What’s a person to do? Nothing!A Quiet StrategyThe love of truth seeks a holy leisure. Saint Thomas Aquinas

Since the dawn of monasticism millennia ago, monks have pursued a form of leisure that is grounded in God. Holy Leisure seeks to quiet and rest the soul in the presence of God. Unlike massage and yoga – wonderful relaxation

tools – Holy Leisure helps create interior silence that is restful, nourishing and accessible even during busy times.

“We have a do this and go there kind of mentality,” Sister Ruth Ksycki, OSB says. “Our culture is so full of noise. We always turn on the radio in the car, turn on the TV at home. We’re

always doing. We need to experience the richness of silence, and just be.” Quieting the noise without must be followed with a quieting of the noise within. For some, this comes more naturally than others. But the rewards are worth the discipline.

All Stressed Out? Stop Talking and Do ... Nothing!

Spring 2011

Continued next page

Although we live in a “do this and go there” world, everyone needs time to connect with the Divine in the quiet pursuit of nothing. Monastics call this Holy Leisure.

Sr. Ruth Ksycki

All Stressed Out from page 1

2

Practicing Hospitality with Oneself

Sr. Phyllis McMurray OSB

LetteR from the Prioress

Benedictines practice Lectio Divina (holy reading) which really provides balance,” Sr. Ruth says. “Also activities like gardening, walking, enjoying nature and listening to music provide ways of stopping that re-energizes you. The key is to be present to the moment. Present to God.”

Not that recreation is bad for you. It’s just not going to rest you in the same way as Holy Leisure.

“When you come home exhausted from vacation, that’s understandable,” Sr. Ruth says. “But you have to give yourself time to rest and reflect on it. Otherwise you may end up more stressed than you were before you left.”

Sister Mary Jean Feeney, OSB agrees. “People go to the mall on their day off,” she says. “That’s fine, they need to pick up supplies. But they also

need to enjoy quiet. I enjoy a good book, visiting with a friend, walking, watching children play in the park. You need to renew yourself.”

Sister Marlene Miller, OSB says Holy Leisure recharges your batteries. “I’ll light a candle and read,” she says of her own leisure. “If I have enough time, I’ll listen to soft classical music. Time is always an issue, but Holy Leisure is a priority, even for 10 minutes.”

Whether you begin a daily practice of Lectio Divina, solitary meditative walks or companionable cups of tea, you’ll experience a growing sense of peace and calm within. And you may see a drop in your blood pressure too!

How can we be more hospitable to ourselves? That is a question I have had to deal with the last few years.

In June of 2007, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. After chemotherapy and radiation, I did well. Then in March of 2011, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

Chemotherapy has become a bi-weekly treatment for me with no end in sight at present. I am doing very well. In fact, if I didn’t tell anyone, no one would guess I am in treatment.

I am able to function as usual…except for a daily rest after lunch. As a “doer” and one who was always full of energy, I have learned that I must allow myself the luxury just “to be.”

Is resting or leisure really a luxury, or is it something necessary for all of us to practice in order to have an integrated balance in our life? As Benedictines, one of our most important values is hospitality. It has taken me a long time, but I am learning that hospitality also applies to me.

Sr. Mary Jean Feeney

Sr. Marlene Miller

3

How Parish Nursing Changes LivesLorraine and Chuck Beckingham had been looking forward to a rare afternoon outing, but the January snow and ice looked treacherous. In their mid-80s, they couldn’t risk falling. So they were sorry, but would have to cancel.

Not so fast, thought their parish nurse, Jenny Henderson, RN. They had been looking forward to getting out, and it would be good for their spirits. So she found someone to shovel them out and drove to their Moline, Ill. home to pick them up herself. She expertly maneuvered the couple – one uses a cane and the other a walker – in and out of the car. And she delivered them on time.

The Beckinghams’ appointment was to meet and be photographed with Sr. Sheila McGrath, OSB, co-founder of the Parish Nursing program they credit with helping keep them in their home. As Sr. Sheila watched Lorraine and Chuck arrive - with effortful steps but broad smiles – she felt grateful for her role in bringing the program to the Quad Cities more than 20 years ago.

Parish Nursing HistoryParish Nursing was innovated in 1984 by Chicago-area pastor and chaplain Granger Westberg. Designed to bring preventive health care into faith communities, the program developed partnerships between hospital systems and churches, placing nurses on staff in the latter. The goal was to create a holistic approach to healing, body, mind and spirit.

It was a success. The parishioners loved having a nurse in their church to check their blood pressure, answer questions, and visit with about a wide range of concerns. The medical community – which often helped with the funding - benefited from having a nurse available to

follow up with discharged patients. It was a win-win program.

The Quad-CitiesBy 1987, Parish Nursing was catching the eye of pastoral care administrators across the country. In the Quad-City area, Sr. Sheila and co-founder Harriet Olson, RN, were working to implement the program in several area churches.

“As a hospital chaplain, I saw an urgent need for Parish Nursing,” Sr. Sheila says. “Patients were being discharged before they were ready to care for themselves. They were often elderly, with no children in the area. A parish nurse could explain their discharge instructions, fill their prescriptions. She could ask the church ladies to deliver meals.”

Bridging hospital-to-home care has been one of the hallmarks of the program from the beginning. Other important duties include educating, listening to and connecting parishioners with helpful resources. While the spiritual results of the program may not be measurable, the health results are: studies report reduced cholesterol and blood pressure levels and an increased use of preventive screenings.

Moreover, although the program does not include direct patient care, nearly every parish – and there are more than 50 of them in the Quad Cities now - can recount a time where a quick-thinking nurse saved a life.

Trinity Health Foundation President Berlinda Tyler-Jamison shares such a story in a newsletter to donors:

A few months ago, a man was attending a church service when he began to experience symptoms of a heart attack. The parish nurse was sitting nearby and – despite the fact that he was trying to avoid attracting attention to himself – spotted his growing distress. She called an ambulance, began CPR, and saved his life.

A Real BlessingThe group has settled into comfy living room furniture at Calvary Lutheran church, where they are visiting and posing for their photos. The Beckinghams discuss their

medical problems with surprising cheer. They don’t always feel terrific, and must juggle – between Lorraine’s heart trouble and Chuck’s osteomyelitis and cancer - dozens of appointments in a month, but they feel fortunate.

“Having Jenny in our lives has been a real blessing for us,” Lorraine says. “She is knowledgeable and kind. She makes sure we get wherever we need to go. We couldn’t stay in our home without her.”

Jenny beams at them as they smile at the camera. “They are a blessing to me, too.”

For Sr. Sheila, the afternoon is gratifying. “I’m happy to have been part of this. People need the support, and parishes are the place to provide it. It’s a blessing for everyone.”

Sr. Sheila McGrath, OSB enjoys a laugh with Lorraine and Chuck Beckingham. Lorraine and Chuck are beneficiaries of the Parish Nursing program co-founded more than 20 years ago in the Quad Cities by Sr. Sheila and Harriet Olson, RN.

4

Keeping Death Daily Before Our Eyes: Lessons from a Stroke

Sr. Catherine Maloney began to notice something was wrong last November at Sunday Mass. Words didn’t seem to be forming properly in her mouth. By the time she tried to tell

Sr. Marlene as they walked to the dining room for brunch, Sr. Catherine’s speech was unintelligible. They detoured to the hospital.

Sr. Catherine was having a stroke.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. Fortunately for Sr. Catherine, she not only survived, she survived without serious disability. More surprising than that, the 80-year-old sister says she wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

The lessons learned are too precious.

Lesson #1: Hope

“So many wonderful things happened because of that stroke,” she says. “When I arrived, I was aware but unable to open my eyes or speak. Apparently my heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds. At first I was frightened. Then I felt a caring presence and touch which overcame my fear and gave me great hope.”

That hope has stayed with her.

“I can truly say I don’t fear death anymore,” Sr. Catherine says. “I’ve had so many loving experiences, so many times when God has spoiled me, I’m not afraid of going to Him. At night when I go to bed I spend time praying in gratitude for giving me a new day every day. For the first time I understand what St. Benedict meant when he said, Keep death daily before your eyes. Death is a wonderful teacher.”

Lesson #2: Good Enough

Although Sr. Catherine didn’t suffer serious, long-term disability, she still struggles a bit with speech and memory. In the first few weeks, though, she struggled mightily.

“My physical state was fine,” she says. “In fact my physical therapist said, Slow down, I can’t keep up with you! But speech therapy was difficult. I knew what I wanted to say but the words wouldn’t come. They still don’t always come. I substitute other words a lot.

“I also had to learn my prayers all over again,” she says. “I’d lie in bed and practice. I’d pray the Glory Be to the Father. When I got that, then I started on the Hail Mary. But I learned

5

something about prayer. I learned that when we try to pray – even when we can’t – that is a prayer. I know that now.” Sr. Catherine says she knows now that not only is prayerful intention good enough, her speech is good enough as well.

“My doctor said my Sisters will begin to realize that I just speak thoughtfully and slowly, and they do,” she says. “They’ve made me comfortable about it. I also feel more accepting of myself. Now I can laugh at myself and relax. I couldn’t do that as well before.”

Lesson #3: Gratitude

Whether walking down the hall or strolling along a monastery path, Sr. Catherine says she now notices the beauty in everything.

“We are likely to notice and be grateful for the big things in life, but the small things are important too,” she says. “I now know it’s important to smile at each person I meet, to let them know I’m aware of them. Sometimes I’ll get on an elevator and another person won’t respond to me, but I don’t take it personally. I think, She’s got lots of things on her mind.”

In the computer lab, Sr. Catherine is sometimes the one who needs the patience and understanding of her Sisters.

“I have a tremor. Some days I can’t type except for with one finger. Sister Andrea is so willing to help me. That’s what Benedict meant when he said, Receive all as Christ. I have Christ within me as you do within you. We need to remember that.”

We need to enjoy the smallest gifts.

“Dandelions were everywhere yesterday,” Sr. Catherine

says. “I remembered picking bouquets of them as a child. They really are beautiful. They are a good example for me of how to appreciate the positive. I

appreciate their beauty, I appreciate the memories from my childhood.”

Lesson #4: Give it Away

“I wouldn’t trade my stroke for anything. It brought me fully alive and grateful. I seldom ever think in a negative way anymore. I think God said, I’m going to keep you on this earth a little longer, and change you for others.”

Change how?

“I’m not sure. But I’ve been remembering meeting Mother Teresa years ago. I asked her what I should be praying for. She said, The lonely and sick, the people on the street, the people we care for in Calcutta. She held my hand as she spoke. I’ve never forgotten that. It reminds me to offer up my own pain for those in need.

“I experienced a death and life situation and this is the aftermath. God allowed me to live for a purpose. I’m not sure what it is, but I thank God. Each day I think, What did I do to make someone joyful today?”

Sr. Catherine Maloney celebrated her 60th jubilee this year. Having served in education and pastoral care, Sr. Catherine says she has had a wonderful – if surprising – life in community. Her advice to those discerning religious life: Enjoy the joy and wonder of your vocation, and don’t take things personally.

Laptop? Check. Cell phone? Check. Self? Hmmmm. For many of us, the notion of taking our whole selves – body, mind and soul – to work is ludicrous. We reserve our souls for home and church, and not for the loud, chaotic and profane workplace.

But theologians, spiritual writers and psychologists agree that it’s better to live an integrated life – even at less than perfect jobs - than to try to maintain a work persona that is all business and no soul. At the very least, we will live a cramped and limited life for 40 hours a week. And at the worst, we will fail to be of real service to others or even to ourselves.

Psychotherapist and author Thomas Moore offers a telling anecdote in his book, Care of the Soul, about a client who hated his job. The client had grown depressed after years of working there, but had been unable to leave.

“Have you ever thought,” I asked him one day, “of being where you are, of entering fully this job that you’re putting your time and energy into?”…

“You’re saying,” he said incredulously, “that I should go to this stupid job as if my heart were in it?”

“You’re in it, aren’t you?”

He came back in a week to say that something had changed in him as he began to take his “stupid” job more seriously.

Spirituality at Work

The fact is, we spend too much time in and at work to leave our hearts and souls at home. If we restrict our spiritual selves to home and/or church – seeing work as somehow fundamentally different from real life - we leave the best part of ourselves behind. We watch the clock. We grow bored and impatient. We become unhappy. We drift away from who we are meant to be to ourselves, to others, to God.

The noise escalates as 23 three- and four-year-old students tumble into the preschool room of Our Lady of

Grace Academy, talking, laughing and even, sometimes, crying. They mob Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB (above), a quiet and gentle Benedictine Sister who loves peace and quiet … but loves the children even more. She takes a deep breath, prays Cassian’s words – “O God, come to my assistance: O Lord, make haste to help me” – and throws her arms around each of them, listening, smiling, wiping their noses and tears.

“One of the most important things I do for myself is recognize that I am not in control,” Sr. Stefanie says. “God is. That helps me be ready to recognize the little joyous moments throughout the day, from the first time a little girl zips her own coat to when a little boy asks another boy if he’s okay after a bump. There are many amazing opportunities to thank God for the world God created. I really can see God working here in these ‘wow’ moments.”

And as Sr. Stefanie sees the blessings surrounding her, she finds herself, to borrow from the poet Yeats, able to bless.

Sr. Helen Carey, OSB, agrees. “Our deepest values call us to certain practices, actions, attitudes and dispositions,” she says. “Whatever we do, we have the opportunity to be good Christians. Whether we are at our job, on a walk, at a bar or at home, we are called to do good and worthy work.”

But is “good and worthy work” always possible?

6

Taking Yourself to Work

Sr. Charlotte Sonneville and Novice Jackie Walsh confer at Benet House Retreat Center.

Sr. Stefanie MacDonald takes her preschoolers on a tour of the monastery chapel at Christmas.

7

“There’s a lovely story in A Reader in the Spirituality of Work by a supermarket cashier named Maxine,” Sr. Helen says. “She says compassion is the most important tool of her job. She makes her job good and worthy. She makes it her ministry.”

Creating Our Ministry

Making our job a ministry is, perhaps, easier said than done. Wherever we work – at home, in the garden, on the job – it can seem like drudgery. But we can change our attitude.

“The job might seem like just a job, but it’s what we bring to it that makes it a ministry,” Sister Mary Core, OSB, says. “When we are aware of God’s presence we will bring something more. When we say, How can we see God? How can we be Christ for others?, we begin to change the way we speak, the way we use tools. It becomes ministry. It becomes sacred.”

Imagine working in a commercial-sized kitchen for 40 years, as did Sisters Anne Newcomer and Norberta Vandersnick. Despite the long hours and hard work – Saturday was butchering day, summers were spent canning fresh produce, and every morning, noon and night meant preparing another meal from scratch - they loved and viewed their jobs in the monastery kitchen as their ministry. Why?

“We’ve talked about it many times,” Sr. Anne says. “We both enjoyed cooking because we knew if we

fed the Sisters well, they would teach better, and if we fed the students well, they would learn better. We loved serving them that way, although it was hard work.”

At the End of the Day: Justice, Charity and Peace

Bringing our spirituality to work is work. It requires both attention and intention. It requires practicing our spiritual values even when inconvenient – say, turning the other cheek when insulted by a bar patron, or taking the time to tie yet one more small shoe. It requires remembering who we are and who we are not, so that we can, as Pope John Paul II said, assist one another to lead holier lives.**

“I have a prayer on my desk that I love to begin my workday with,” Sister Sheila McGrath, OSB, says. “It says, Good Morning! This is God. I will be handling all of your problems today. I will not need your help. So, relax and have a great day! It helps remind me of my place. That God is God and I am not. I can extend myself and my hospitality to all I encounter throughout the day. I can offer peace, joy and calmness that is, I hope, contagious.”

Benedictine Novice Jackie Walsh says awareness of God is key to her job at Benet House, her volunteer work at a local food pantry, and her monastery assignment as a community room housekeeper.

“Each personal encounter is an opportunity to use the gifts I’ve been given to help make the world better, one person at a time,” she says. “Sometimes I’m more successful than others, but I have to keep trying. The effort helps me be more compassionate, understanding and patient. I may never see the fruit of the seeds I plant with my words and actions, but I must keep planting to help God’s plan unfold, for me and those I meet.”

At the end of the day, the effort is, as Sr. Sheila says, contagious. “In this way the world will be permeated by the spirit of Christ,” Pope John Paul II wrote, “and more effectively achieve its purpose in justice, charity and peace.”**

* Connecting Point, Summer 2005** 1981 Encyclical on Human Work, Laborem exercens (quoting from the Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium)

Sr. Helen Cary presents a lecture on the spirituality of work at St. Ambrose University in March.

Srs. Claudia Scharf and Cabrini Rael work together in the monastery vegetable garden.

When Ingrid Gordon arrived at Benet House Retreat Center last month, she had no clue what to expect. A nurse from Portland, Oregon, she had found the Benedictine Sisters on Facebook, struck up a virtual friendship and decided to fly out for retreat. She agreed to share some of her thoughts with us.

I knew from Facebook how gorgeous the grounds would be and they definitely are. I saw 12 deer last night around the statue of St. Scholastica.

I also knew how early the Sisters pray Lauds. I had thought How romantic, praying in the dark. Getting up to get there on time was hard. Not romantic at all!

The chapel is fabulous. Even in early spring when everything is still brown, the beauty outside the windows is amazing. You hear the geese flying overhead, the font trickling. Sr. Mary Jean Feeney sat next to me to make sure I knew where we were in the prayer book.

I felt so welcomed. I haven’t seen a newspaper in four days and you know what? It doesn’t matter. This is such a place of peace.

I feel like I’ve become more open to other people’s spirituality. I can get very judgmental, especially when people try to force

their political and religious beliefs on me. No one ever even asked about my religious affiliation.

Sr. Catherine Cleary helped me open up. I went to both her Lectio and Centering Prayer groups at her invitation. I’m not a religious person, but I’m probably having a spiritual awakening. I expect more will be revealed to me over time. And I hope to come back soon.

8

Monastery NotesThoughts from an Oregon Retreatant

Ingrid Thorngren didn’t know what to expect during her retreat, but ended up wanting to come back.

Caring for the Land and Creatures that Roam ThereWe care for our prairie by burning it ... well, experts (rather than the lightning of yore) conduct the burn. It promotes seed germination and flowering of native plants, suppresses weeds, and helps create good, healthy soil. By mid-summer, we’ll enjoy these glorious native blossoms, tall grasses and hundreds of happy butterflies!

9

As we prepare to welcome Novice Jackie Walsh as a First-Professed Sister in June, we celebrate the de-cades of devotion and service of three Jubilarians. Sr. Benita Reavy is honored for 70 years, Srs. Catherine Cleary and Catherine Maloney (see story Page 4) for 60 years each. Why did they enter? Why did they stay?

“I came from a faith-filled family,” Sr. Benita says. “I admired my Sister teachers, and wanted to be able to help others as they helped me.”

She did. Teaching for 42 years in schools throughout the Peoria diocese, she gave to others throughout her education ministry. Then she came home, obtained a nursing degree and worked for the Benedictines.

“I give thanks for my 70 years of serving others and being served by them on the way to the Kingdom.”

Sr. Catherine Cleary’s ministry has taken her from education to community administration, and family therapy to spiritual director and retreat presenter. When asked how she found her vocation, she replied first with a quote from John 15: It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.

“My parents created a space for us where we could be joy-filled and creative,” Sr. Catherine says. “They val-ued conversation and friendship and fun. They held wonderful parties. They opened many doors for us, but we were encouraged to find our own path.

“At dinner one night – I was about 11 and apparently had given up my earlier plan - my father asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. My siblings all said they wanted to be of service, as lawyers, doctors, social workers. I had changed my mind about teaching and said I wanted to be a ballet dancer. But I started to think about that later on. Was that really what I wanted to contribute?”

After dinner, young Catherine sometimes retreated to a special spot within shouting distance of the house to watch the sunset alone. Although she didn’t realize it at the time, those contemplative moments were a clue.

By the time she was in high school, Catherine had begun focusing on friends and fashion. Although she always went to daily Mass and had friends who planned to enter religious orders, Catherine had another plan for herself.

“I thought if I just had the right friends and the right clothes and went to the right college, I’d be satisfied,” she says. “I went to Marycrest in Davenport. I loved it.”

At the end of her freshman year, Catherine traveled to Chicago for a friend’s wedding. “What a great party,” she says. “It was lovely. But I came back realizing it didn’t quite do it for me. Something was missing.”

As Catherine began to consider religious life more seriously, she thought with a pang, I don’t want to leave my family. And those ugly shoes! But the quiet voice of God would not be silenced. Catherine finally said yes. She told her family.

“My mother stopped the washing machine and looked at me. She asked if I had told Dad. Dad suggested I go to a different col-lege. My brother Mike said, You’re kidding aren’t you? I wrote to my college friends to tell them, and they threw me a farewell party.” The only trouble was, Catherine hadn’t yet discovered where she was going to enter.

“We visited an apostolic community – I didn’t know what that meant at the time – but I didn’t like it at all. It was much too big. I had experience with many orders that had taught me from grade school on, but wasn’t attracted to them either. Finally my par-ish priest suggested I try a smaller family-oriented community because of my own family values. I visited the Benedictines and entered two months later.”

Jubilarians Celebrate Anniversaries as Benedictines

Sr. Benita Reavy, left, celebrates her 70th jubilee with Srs. Marlene Miller, center, and Phyllis McMurray.

Sr. Catherine Cleary

Continued back page

10

Every day another alum visits the SMA Blog and writes a bit of news, shares a memory or asks a question of her classmates. Check it out: www.smmsisters.org/blog3/wordpress!

SMA News1980 Hannah Breheny works as a certified Medication Tech in a residential home in St. Louis. For the second time, she was chosen to attend a state-wide competition. On the weekends, she cares for a small community of aged nuns.

1981 Sandra Mistretta works in the insurance industry in Kansas City, Missouri, and lives with her children on a ranch with horses, chickens, goats and dogs.

1982 Kellianne Nuellen Melnick lives with husband, Anthony, and their youngest child in Westchester, Ill. She enjoys working in a rehabilitation center.

1982 Lisa Spalding lives in Barrington, Ill., and would love to hear from old friends: h20lilypad@comcast.net. She notes that is a zero in her email address!

1983 Mary Christine Barnett teaches nursing at a technical college in Washington State.

1984 Veronica Burse Mann lives in Country Club Hills, Ill. and is looking forward to the college graduation of her triplet sons next year.

1984 Jacqueline Blue lives in Matteson, Ill., and would love to hear from friends at j2blue@sbcglobal.net.

1985 Valerie Hammond Mena and husband live with their six children in their blended family in Coral Springs, Fla.

1941 eileen Feeney enjoys keeping in touch by reading Connecting Point!

1945 Rita Shaughnessey Downing thanks the Sisters “who guided me and instilled values that I passed on to our sons.”

1951 eleanor Bradley Lloyd will always remmeber her years at SMA “with joy, love and pleasure.”

1958 Marianne Barnes Walker writes from Texas that wishes she lived closer to Rock Island so she could spend time at the monastery.

1962 Veronica Hecks Minnaert is cel-ebrating the birth of two great grandchildren.

1965 Shirley Pecharich Mcelvain and husband Mike are still raising sheep when they’re not work-ing at his law office in Hayworth, Ill.

1965 Cathy Hines Warren and husband will celebrate their 25th anniversary at the U.S. Open.

1968 Rita Ross Connolly enjoyed a wonder-ful reunion last October with the Class of 1968 in Nashville.

1970 Marlene McCloskey Zmia enjoys living in an old school house in the country.

Reunion Announcements

Class of 1965 ReunionWhen: May 4–6, 2012

Where: St. Mary Monastery

Class of 1952 ReunionWhen: June 29–July 1, 2012Where: St. Mary Monastery

Class of 1962 ReunionWhen: September 14–16, 2012

Where: St. Mary MonasteryContact: Veronica Hecks Minnaert

lazym@mchsi.com or

Nancy Kelly Platt813 Canal Shore DriveLeClaire, Iowa 52753

(563) 289-3001

Visit www.smmsisters.org/

blog3/wordpressfor more Reunion info!

onnectingCPoint

Spring 2011

Published three times a year by the Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary Monastery, Rock Island, IL 61201

Phone: 309-283-2100Fax: 309-283-2200

editorSusan Flansburg

sflansburgpr@smmsisters.orgwww.smmsisters.org

11

In Memoriam ...Bill Cambron, husband of Ruth DeDecker Cambron ‘52, died Dec. 6, 2010.

Jennifer Peterson ‘96, died July 6, 2009.

Rebecca Mapes Wancket ‘58, sister of Julianne Mapes Puentes ‘61, died recently.

Micki Logsdon, father of Carol Logsdon Watson ‘71, died Feb. 19, 2011.

??Mary Sharon Palmer, daughter of Joanne Barnes Palmer ‘52, died Jan. 12, 2011.

Miriam Delaney, daughter of Rosie Johnigk Delaney ‘48, died in March, 2011.

Nancy Fogarty O’Shea ‘54, sister of Sheila Forgarty Goss ‘56, died Dec. 1, 2010.

Regina Henseler ‘45, died Feb. 26, 2011.

Charlene Nelson Johnson ‘41, died recently.

Sisters of St. Benedict St. Mary Monastery Rock Island, Illinois

onnectingCPointNon-Profit Org.

U.S. PostagePAID

Permit #29Rock Island, IL

Sisters of St. BenedictSt. Mary Monastery2200 88th Avenue WestRock Island, IL 61201-7649309-283-2100 • 309-283-2200 FAXwww.smmsisters.org

Jubilarians continued from page 9

Return Service Requested

Sixty years later, Sr. Catherine remembers feeling comfortable with the Benedictines imme-diately.

“I often thought – still do – this community is a lot like my family,” she says. “We have meals and prayers together. We enjoy friendships. I keep up with my college and even high school friends. We promote learning in the home and in the greater community. We are encouraged to find our path.”

For those today whose path may well be to the convent, Sr. Catherine has several thoughts.

“It was hard to put on those ugly black shoes, but I didn’t think about it again after I did it. We don’t wear a habit anymore. Today’s women won’t experience that.

“You give up other things today. Your credit cards. Your car. Your house.

“You read about life in a monastic community, but you really must experience the ambience and dailyness for yourself.

“In the inner recesses of your heart, if you find that all this material stuff cannot satisfy your hunger, that you have a great desire for God, that you are seeking for something, that college and friends and career aren’t enough, those are great clues.

“It’s a very good life. I never had a regret. For me, the call had been lurking around my heart for years. I had to acknowledge and trust it. It is the pearl of great price. I sold everything to attain it, but it is the real treasure so I lost nothing. Come see for yourself.”

Sisters Claudia Scharf, Stefanie Mac-Donald and Catherine Cleary pray Lauds with the community.

Join us on our Facebook page at “Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary Monastery”!