May 24, 2010

May the Holy Spirit guide and direct you throughout this Pentecost season. In the Church Year we are back into Ordinary Time.

I am grateful that we have been protected from damaging storms, though the strong winds over the weekend knocked off lots of leaves and small branches, and a tree on the next block. It sounds like we will have lots of heat and humidity the next few days. Two weeks ago we had a temp of 35 degrees! Only in Minnesota…!

Saturday, I drove past the Community Gardens, on the south end of the Convent grounds.
Lots of the garden plots already have nice looking vegetables. There are 41 gardeners. Eleven of these are new this year. There are only four plots left. Jim and Donna Waldvogel are the persons to contact if anyone wishes a plot. Their phone number is 632-8522.

St. Francis Music Center was very busy these past four days. They had a dance recital Thursday evening and music recitals Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Now there is a little lull before their summer program begins.

Last week I talked about our porcupine visitor. Here is a picture taken by Judy Welle.

Tomorrow afternoon is an Appreciation Tea for our Senior Sisters—that’s most of us around here. May is Senior Citizens Month. Thank you Senior Citizens, for all the wisdom you share with the rest of us.

And on the 26th is a plant sale of both indoor and outdoor plants. Sr. Ruth has been selling tomato and other plants already the past week. (I drove past Sr. Ruth’s gardens the other day, too. They really look nice.)

Thursday, May 27th, is the graduation ceremony for 36 CEC students. CEC is the alternative school for our local public school system that happens at St. Francis Center. This is a most wonderful education program. The teachers are fantastic and have great care for their students. Congratulations to all graduates.

Established May 30, 1869, Memorial Day officially commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in military service. At our 8:30 a.m. liturgy on Sunday, May 30th, we will remember and honor those who pledge their lives in service to others. Our Sister Cornelia Lee (1893-1943) served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War I both in France and England. She was discharged from the Army in 1921 and entered the convent in 1923. Also, our Sister Marcella Schuller served as a nurse during the height of the Vietnam War. And our Sister Mercita Pipp served for 11 years with Project Hope, a peace-time hospital ship bringing medical care to the people in the South America waters. Thank you, Sisters for your service.

Mark your calendars for the Green Fair Folk Festival on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 (4 to 8 p.m.) This is an evening of ecological awareness will feature lots of family fun, interesting displays, fantastic music, vendors, food and much more. Free and open to the public. More information later.

God bless you. Have a safe Memorial Day weekend.
Sister Mary Lou

May 18, 2010

Praise God for the 2½ inches of rain last week. ..and now we’ve had four days of sunshine and warmer weather. The grass is really growing. And I can hardly believe how full the leaves are on the trees. I covered many miles this past weekend for Secular Franciscan Order (SFO) business and saw only two farmers working in the fields. The poppies in my flower bed at home are starting to show many heads, so soon we will have lots of red flowers.

We have enrichment programs during lunch hour that we call “enLUNCHment” programs. Our speaker last Wednesday was Andrew Jilani who was originally from Pakistan. He is a Catholic and currently lives in the United States and has a USA passport. He holds a doctorate in International Education and social Justice. His talk was titled “Understanding the Taliban and Developing Strategies for Peace.” It was a most informative program. He worked four years with Amnesty International. Last year he was teaching at St. Cloud State University. He speaks several languages: English, Punjabi, Hindi, German, Spanish and Urdu. Most of us would have enjoyed listening longer to him. And we will be able to do so when he gives a two-hour presentation, Tuesday, June 8 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Many sisters do many kinds of fancy-work. Pictured here we have Sister Julien with the quilt she made. It has the state name, bird and flower for the states of the USA. It is beautiful and a real treasure.

I will close with a blessing of St. Francis: May knowledge become clearer in us that we may know the breadth of God’s blessings, the length of God’s promises, the height of god’s majesty, the depth of God’s judgments.

Peace and blessings on you and on those you love.

Have a good week.
Sister Mary Lou