August 13, 2018

Happy hot August Day.  It was 90 degrees at noon! And will get warmer as the day goes on. “The corn should grow good.”

At Mass yesterday we had the Commissioning of the 5 Franciscan Community volunteers. Such a nice group of young people who are dedicating a year of their life to doing volunteer work. I am including their pictures and a bit of information about each of them.

We have a retreat going on here this week until Friday afternoon so it is very quiet around here these days. The retreat director is Sister Sandra Schneiders, IHM.

Peace and blessings on your day and on your week.

Sister Mary Lou

January 30, 2017

It’s almost the end of January.  We have very little snow on the ground at this time…but I think some is forecast to come in the next couple days.  Thursday is Groundhog Day.  Regaurdless,  if the creature sees his shadow or not, I think we’ll still have 6 more weeks of Winter.

Yesterday afternoon, St. Francis Music Center presented the Honors Concert, a program featuring 16 of their most accomplished students.  Wow!  Are they every good!  We heard piano, violin, flute, cello, and vocal presentations.  I praise God for the talents of these youth and their willingness to share them with us.  Sacred Heart Chapel was nicely filled with an appreciative audience.

Last Tuesday, 24^th, we had our Appreciation dinner and celebrated the 16 employees who have worked here for 5, 10, 15, 25 and 30 years.  We have such wonderful employees!  Thanks to each of you for your faithful service.

On Saturday, the Franciscan Community Volunteers, who live and work in the Saint Cloud area, came for a few hours in the afternoon to play BINGO with the Sisters and then served us a treat, too.  These young men and women give a year of their time to volunteer at a non-profit facility.  God bless them for their dedication.  They live with the  Sisters at the Welcoming House in Saint Cloud.

We have a new employee here on Second Floor (the Care Center).  To welcome Trevor, Sister Maurita wrote words to a song that we sang for him:  God bless dear Trevor/  Keep him well and true./ Stand beside him and guide him/ Through the ups and downs of the job/ Through the good times and the hard times/  But we’ll pray for you./ God bless Trevor, Our newfound friend. God bless Trevor in his new found job.

Monthly we have what we call “enLUNCHment.”  It is a time for Sisters to share about their life and ministry. (It’s great to hear the information while they are still alive rather than at their Wake Service!)  Last Wednesday Sister Therese Furnstahl, Franciscan Sister for 73 years, shared her story.  She had interesting stories from her years in health care and home care work.

God bless you.  Make it a great week.

Sister Mary Lou

October 31, 2016

My little reflection book today talks about this day of Halloween.  It says: “Halloween’s origin date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, the eve of their new year on November 1.  Celts believed that on the night before the New Year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, and the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.  Ghosts came to the doors of the living asking for forgiveness.  Until they were forgiven for harm they had done, they would never be at rest.  I have never forgiven that image of the spirits of the dead utterly unable to repay the living, begging for forgiveness,”

As I type, I am listening to the radio and they are talking about the big snowstorm 25 years ago when we got about 25 inches of snow in the Halloween Blizzard.  Do you remember it?  I remember.  I had gone to a Halloween party and had 6 plus inches of snow on my car three hours later.

The other day the little white posts with red tops were put along the driveways so the snow-plow-ers know where the edges of the roads are when the big snow fall comes.

Here are a few pieces of information that you probably don’t need to know.  What are baseball pitchers scared of? (Bats)  What’s a boxer’s favorite part of a joke?  (The punch line.)  What is a battery’s favorite football team? (The Chargers)   Why did the golfer wear two pairs of pants? (In case he got a hole in one.)

The Music Center’s Halloween Recital on Sunday was lots of fun. Forty plus pianists and violin players entertained us for an hour.  Most of the musicians are in the beginning of their musical careers and the pieces were quite short…but easy to listen to.  Some of the players were dressed for the perfoirmances.

The Franciscan Community Volunteers were at the Motherhouse last weekend for a couple days of retreat.

The Grotto is very beautiful right now with all the plants in full bloom.  Thank you, Bev, for your work in caring for the flowers.

Last week about 30 volunteers got the Christmas Appeal envelops all stuffed and ready for mailing about Thanksgiving time.  I think they set a record by doing the job of readying 15,000+ envelopes in 2 ½ days.

Allen really got into the Halloween spirit when he came dressed for work today.  And some Sisters decorated cookies for lunch this noon.

I got my copy of the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer last week.  The cover is a picture of a lone fisher-person on a big lake trying to catch the big one.  Many years ago when the Sisters from Africa came to the United States, they were surprised to hear about ice-fishing.  I believe someone took them out one time.  All the clothing to keep warm was another surprise.

November 1^st is the Feast of All Saints—a time to remember those ordinary holy people who we know are Saints.

November 1^st is the 125^th anniversary of the creation of the game of Basketball in1891 by James Naismith in Springfield, MA.

November 1^st is also World AIDS Day.  Let us pray for all those people who have the disease.

November 2^nd is All Souls’ Day.  We pray for those who have died, that they may soon be admitted into heaven and have Eternal Life with the Lord Jesus.

Don’t’ forget to set the clocks back one hour Saturday night.

God bless you.                                                                                                                         Sister Mary Lou

Bring on Fall!

We had nearly 1½ inches of rain Friday and last night…and I heard the word “snow” for Thursday. I guess it will come anytime, but I’m never ready for it. I don’t mind snow, it’s the ice that can happen with snow that I don’t like.

The Blood Drive happens Tuesday (1 to 7 p.m.), Wednesday (1 to 7 p.m.) and Thursday (8 a.m. to 2 p.m.) this week. God bless all who will come to donate blood and to share the gift of life with others.

Hooray for Volunteers! Last week with the help of 35 volunteers approximately 16,000 Christmas Appeal envelopes were stuffed, sealed and had address labels applied in one and one-half days! That is record time. God bless each person who helped. We are most grateful for your help.

Most all the trees on campus have dropped their leaves but, the Little Leaf Linden Tree is is still fully dressed!

On Sunday three of us went to Brainerd to see the Geritol Frolics. Cast members are all over age 55—and one is in her “upper-upper” 80s. Singing, dancing, some Berma Shave walk-throughs and stories made for delightful entertainment and lots of hearty laughs. Those 30 singers, seven dancers and five-piece Orchestra really know how to make good music. The songs were mostly from the ‘50s.

Kelly is a “Master Stacker.” What takes the UPS delivery man three or four trips to get the boxes to the mailroom, Kelly gets all on one dolly!

I had a nice surprise this morning. Andy and Shannon came to show off their 13-day-old son, Noah. Three years ago Shannon was one of our Franciscan Volunteers (CFV) and I was her Praying Sister.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Let us pray for those who have died and who we celebrate on ALL SOULS Day. And Let us celebrate ALL SAINTS DAY...and living saints in our midst.

Day Light Savings Time ends on November 1st. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep.

Peace and all good.

Sister Mary Lou

P.S. 9:05: I just got home from the Concert at St. Mary’s Church. Father Kevin Anderson sang and played guitar for many of the songs he wrote and are on his new CD, HOPE. The music was GREAT. I feel like I was on a 1 ½ hour retreat. Nate, the pianist, uses his talent very well, too. Thank you, both of you.

There will be no blog next week.

Hello June!

How did we get to June? By the end of the month, the year will be half over. They’ve told me, “Time goes faster as one gets older.” I’m beginning to believe it. I really like this time of the year…few mosquitos and so many colored shrubs, bushes and trees. Our Bridal Wreath is in full bloom and ever so lovely. The other day one of the Sisters said, “When I was a novice, Sister sent me out to get some Bridal Wreath. ‘I asked where is it?’ The Answer; ‘Right outside the door.’ I looked and couldn’t find any.” She knew those flowers as “Spirea” and never heard them called Bridal Wreath.” I’m sure it is that way with other things, too.

The other day Sr. Christelle sent out a memo that we would no longer be hosting Marriage Encounter Weekends. The Saint Cloud National Marriage Encounter leaders said they would no longer be having them due to low participation. For the past 34 years we’ve hosted Marriage Encounters three weekends per year. The Marriage Encounter team leaders were easy to work with and were great examples of committed partners in their own marriages. We will miss you.

Last evening the Franciscan Community Volunteers spent an hour plus time sharing with us Sisters their experiences as Volunteers the past ten months. What I heard is that is has been a time of wonderful service and many learnings for each of the six of them. They lived with the three Sisters at our St. Cloud convent named “Welcoming House.” Each worked at non-profit business: several that work with children. Interviews are underway for next year’s Volunteers. It is quite a gift to give a year of one’s life volunteering and making a difference in the lives of others.

Thursday (4th) we are having a Bilingual Eucharist. Fr. Tony Kroll will be the presider.

Sunday was the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity. With my camera, I walked around our Chapel and found so many symbols of the Trinity. Here are a few of them.

Next week (June 9—11th), we will have our Girls’ Camp for girls finished with 4th, 5th and 6th Grades. They set up their tents in Assisi Park. In case of rain, they camp-out in St. Francis Hall. We are hoping for nice weather this year.

Blessings on your days and be safe.

Peace, Sister Mary Lou

Spring is busting out all over

“Spring is busting out all over.” I’m amazed at how green the lawns are…even without very much rain. This morning I read three interesting articles in Jim Gilbert’s book, Nature Notes.

First: Arbor Day was started by J. Sterling Morton, a journalist in Nebraska, 143 years ago. Each time we plant a tree we give to the world a new source of beauty, shade, oxygen and habitat for creatures of many sizes. We plant trees to celebrate our hope for the future. A Greek proverb says, “A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.” The two trees we blessed last week are now in their out-door homes

A second thing I read was that tulips are native to the Mediterranean region and Asia. (Tulip is the Turkish word for turban.) The Dutch have been in the tulip business for more than 400 years, but tulips did not originate there, or from Turkey where they got theirs.

And I also read an article on loons. These lovely birds are about two feet long and weigh 8 to 9 pounds. The common loon was designated the Minnesota state bird in 1961. The name “loon” means lummox or awkward and refers to the bird’s on-shore movements and perhaps it inability to fly from the ground.

Last Wednesday, about 15 of us former Sister Teachers were guests at St. Ben’s for Breakfast with the Bishop. It was a fund-raiser for the Catholic Foundation. The Sisters are responsible for the Catholic School system in the United States. I am very grateful for having been part of Catholic School education for so many years.

On Friday, we had a tour group of about 70 students, teachers and parents from St. Katherine Drexel School in St. Cloud. They learned about our Chapel, St. Francis and the making of altar breads, which was a ministry of ours for over 100 years.

The St. Francis Music Center had their Choral Concert at 2 p.m. yesterday…and a reception followed. They are a wonderful group of singers who like to sing and sound so professional! Thanks for sharing your talents with a grateful audience.

During the intermission the Franciscan Earth Citizen award was presented to: Sister Ade Kroll, OSF, a Franciscan Sister of Little Falls, Minnesota and living in Berkeley, CA,; Patty Keeling, Franciscan Associate who lives in St. cloud, MN; and Ignacio Lopez, Franciscan Associate Applicant, a fruit and tree farmer in Condega, Nicaragua. Thank you to each of you for your tender care of Mother Earth.

St. Francis Music Center has a number of recitals these ending days of April and into May. Yesterday Room 242 was filled with students and family members listening to the accomplishments of musicians, young and older.

Tonight the fund-raiser for our Franciscan Community Volunteers, known as The Taste of St. Cloud, will be held at Territory Golf Course Coyote Moon Grille in St. Cloud from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Come hungry!

Tonight and tomorrow 35 Directors of Nurses will be coming for their in-service meetings here until Thursday noon. Some will stay here in our third floor rooms. Marcia had an Open House last week and again today for those of us who missed the first date, so we could see the re-decorating that has been done in those rooms. It is lovely—a real touch of art at work.

This is a photo from Sister Lillian Kroll's art show. It was a delightful event.

Saturday, May 9th, will be a very special day for one of our employees. We will have a special 10:30 Mass at which time Lisa will be Baptized. Welcome to the Catholic Church, Lisa, and congratulations.

Wednesday is the Little Falls Day of Caring. High School students, teachers and others will be raking lawns, washing outside windows and cleaning up yards for elderly and handicapped home owners. Thank you folks for your generous service.

That’s all I know for now.

Peace and blessings,
Sr. Mary Lou

Let us be grateful for the many blessings that are ours every day

My eyes almost popped out of my head when I went past the rain gauge this morning. When I came past it last night after supper we had 2 inches of rain in it. This morning it had 4 inches. I am sure many plants are smiling in thanksgiving for this great gift from God. Lots of people were happy about the rain, also. I am thanking God for the rain. We needed it.

Tuesday noon several of us were invited to have lunch on a pontoon ride on the Mississippi River. What a peaceful, relaxing way to spend a couple hours on a perfect-weather day.

Last Wednesday was the Green Fair Folk Festival on the west parking lot of the Convent. Care of Creation is important to the Franciscan sisters, therefore, in 2007a Campus Green Committee was formed with a mission to educate on environmental issues and “green” the campus in every way possible. So, some interesting points to remember: We sold 550 slices of peanut butter and jelly bread. We used 30 pounds of popcorn, 200 gallons of water were given away and we used 6 pounds of peanut butter and 6 pounds of jelly, The campus tour on a horse-drawn wagon was VERY popular. There were 7 U-Rock bands (28 students participated.) There were more education vendors letting us know how to better care for the earth. The “face-painter” was outstanding. Designs were intricate and beautiful. I’m sure some kids didn’t want to wash their faces before going to bed! We had about 1,200 guests for the evening. The weather was perfect and the necessary clean-up was finished before 9:30 p.m. With lots of people helping, clean-up goes fast. Next year’s date is August 9, 2015.

Last Friday we had the Commissioning Mass for the new Franciscan Community Volunteers: Breanna Wegner is from Wells, MN and will be working at St. Benedict Sr. Center/STRIDE Academy, Kevin Trettel is from Jordan, MN and will be at Place of Hope Homeless Program, Kristen Wall from Rochester, MN and will be working at Casa Guadalupe, and Shaina Lawrence, from Tehachapi, CA., will be working at the Boys and Girl Club-Southside. We wish you well in your volunteer services and thank you for your service to these non-profit programs. Three pillars of the program are: Community, Spirituality and Service.

Sister Joel Bieniek celebrated her 97th Birthday on Sunday, the 10th, and Sister Bernarda Sanoski will celebrate her 98 Birthday on the 15th. Congratulations, Sisters. You’ve influenced a lot of people in those many years.

We celebrated the 25th and 50th Jubilarians on Sunday, the 10th: Sister Mary Hroscikoski, Sister Mary Dumonceaux, Sister Beatrice Eichten, Sister Sharon Fitzpatrick, Sister Carol Virnig. It was a wonderful celebration, congratulations to each of them.

On Sunday, August 24th, we will celebrate Sister Marie Theis’ 75th Anniversary as a Franciscan Sister and Sister Fabian Schneider’s, 80th Jubilee as a Franciscan Sister. Again, Congratulations.

We have a one-day blood drive scheduled for august 28th.

Peace and blessing. Let us be grateful for the many blessings that are ours every day.

Sister Mary Lou

You're a blessing!

Welcome back. So many things to write about again this week. So let’s get started. Last week we had Memorial Day on Monday. God bless all our Veterans.

Tuesday until Friday noon we had our Community Meetings. It is so good to see all the Sisters and have everybody home for a few days. Now most of them have returned to their missions and continue on with their activities. And life around the convent is going on as usual with lots of activity, as always.

For the next couple days we have a group of young people from Owatonna visiting us during the day. They are helping with some volunteer work, but also learning about Sisters and our vocations as religious women.

Last evening our six Franciscan Community Volunteers visited with us and told us of the good works they have been doing the past 8 months and of their learnings and challenges. The many places where they have been working really appreciate the services they have given. They are living our Franciscan Values and will continue to carry them on whereever they are.

After our meetings here last Friday, I journeyed to Buffalo, MN for the Queen of Peace Region Annual Ministers Meeting. For the past nine years, I have been the Regional Spiritual Assistant for this group. It has been a wonderful journey. I have met so many wonderful Secular Franciscans, have had so many good experiences, met many of the National Secular Franciscan Leadership people and learned so much in these nine years…and done LOTS of travel for Visitations and meetings. My term of service is now up. I will not miss all the travel…especially in the Cities area. But I will miss the Secular Franciscans. I will continue to assist those whom I’ve been working with to get their certification as Spiritual Assistants. And I will continue with my Local Fraternity in Brainerd.

Anyway, Saturday evening they had a very nice thank you party for me. What we didn’t eat of the big cake, I brought along home and we served it for supper on Sunday. (And there was one piece left Monday noon, so I ate it!)

Before the party we had a prayer service remembering all those Secular Franciscans members who died in the past year. I lit one candle and read the names of the 13 of our Sisters who died since June of 2013.

Between Saturday and Sunday we had a bit over 3 inches of rain in our rain gauge. Some places in the area got 4 to 7+ inches. Now we need things to dry out and let the crops grow. To and from Buffalo, I saw only a couple corn fields where one could see the little corn plants in rows.

Yesterday a crew of 7 or 8 agile, young men started removing the old shingles from the Chapel roof and will be putting new ones on. One of them said it should take about two weeks depending on when it rains. I am most grateful for folks with those talents. No way would I want to do that job—even in my younger years.

Except for the Russian Olive Tree outside my window, all the trees are fully leafed out. The little leaf linden tree is such a perfectly shaped tree. We all enjoy looking at it.

Pictured below, is the CEC Graduating Class of 2014. Their program takes place in St. Francis Center. It is a wonderful educational program and I am so proud of the work the teachers do with their students. Next week they begin Summer School classes for 3 weeks. ( I am a little prejudice, but I think it is the best program the district offers.)

This afternoon we will have a Farewell Gathering for Pastor Damen Heitmann, Pastor of First United Church (the Church across the highway from us.) He has worked with us Sisters in many issues for the Common Good, Social Justice Issues and joined our Green Fair Committee. Members of his Church assisted with recycling at the Green Fair in August. Thank you, Pastor Damen, for sharing your values and talents with our Community. We wish you God’s Blessings as you begin your new ministry in Ohio. You have been a blessing to the people of Little Falls.

Sunday, June 8th, is the Feast if PENTECOST. May we all remember to call often on the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the decisions we make.

Pax et Bonum (Peace and all Goodness),
Sister Mary Lou