Praise be to God for the rain

Praise God for the 1¼ inches of rain we received over the weekend.  Things were starting to look pretty dry.  I am amazed at how full of leaves all the trees are already.  I have two outside my window that always take a long time to get started, but they are catching up really fast now.  I can’t imagine living in a place where there are few or no trees.

Last week was a busy week.  Monday evening our Franciscan Community Volunteers shared with us some of the activities they have been involved in the past 8 months in the St. Cloud area.  These three women and two men have been a great blessing for our Church and the areas of their volunteer labors this past year.  Now they are taking applications for next year’s group of volunteers.

Tuesday, the Feast of St. Isidore, we had the blessing of lawns, gardens, fields and the orchard.  We gathered outside the east convent door after Mass where Fr. Dalseth blessed the water and lead the prayers.  Then, Sisters Ruth and Helen took the water to sprinkle the lawns gardens and orchard.  Lord, give us a good growing season and protect us from violent storms. 

Tuesday evening we had a great Volunteer Appreciation party. Kathy did a marvelous job of making us believe we had taken a trip to Hawaii.  St. Francis Hall was decorated as I’ve never before seen it decorated.  Beautiful!  LOTS of Volunteers and Sisters ate Hawaiian foods, listened to Hawaiian music, enjoyed a skit and the dancing that followed.  Thanks, Kathy to you and your helpers for making it such an enjoyable night.

We had two gatherings to show our appreciation to two employees who will be leaving us.  On Tuesday it was for Jennifer, who will be moving to Colorado.  She’s been a blessing for all she’s done in both our Volunteer and Health and Rec Departments these past 8 years.  Thank you, Jennifer.  As a gift Jennifer received a set of St. Francis pictures drawn by Sister Jean.

Wednesday we honored Sandy.  We will all miss Sandy, too.  She’s been with us for 21 years taking care of our sick and elderly Sisters.  She got a pack of balloons—one for each year she’s been employed here.  Sandy will be receiving a statue of St. Francis for her garden.  Thank you, Sandy for being a faithful and loving friend.

Thursday evening several of us Sisters went to Maple Island Park (a few blocks north of the Convent) for the Take Back the Night event honoring the many women, children and men victims of sexual and physical abuse.  They had a garden of little paper flowers to represent the 305 victims the Hands of Hope group helped this past year.  Patty Wetterling  was the speaker.  She speaks from her heart as she tells of the many programs in place now that were not there when her son Jacob was abducted 23 years ago, and never found.  Then, 65% of abducted victims were found.  Now it is 97%.  For the 3% it is still an awful thing.

May is Senior Citizens Month—that includes almost everyone living here at the Motherhouse in Little Falls.  Wednesday afternoon we will celebrate us “oldies” with a Banana Split Party.

The puzzlers finished another hard puzzle of coins.  It took quite a while to accomplish the task.

This coming Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.  May the Holy Spirit guide and direct you in all you think, do and say.  Wear red, too.

Peace and blessings, 

Sister Mary Lou

God is Always Here Watching Over Us

These weeks come around so fast. And it was another busy week. I took this picture of the shadow of the cross over the front door of the Convent at noon the other day. We know that God is always here watching over us.

Our Sister Margarita Weiner went to heaven late Thursday night. I was scheduled to sit with her 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. and she died at 11:23 p.m. (But my angel woke me up at 12:40 so that’s when I found out she had gone to heaven.) When a Sister is dying the Sisters hold vigil with her. We welcomed her body back to the Motherhouse with a short prayer service at 3:30 Sunday afternoon with a Franciscan Wake at 7 p.m. Her Funeral is today at 11 a.m. The Archives staff does a very nice display of her life and ministry.

Our retreat with Sister Joanne Meyer, OSF, was a good one. The Testament of St. Francis was the topic. I had read the Testament many times. Now it makes such good sense to me. There were about 40 of us in the retreat.

On Sunday we celebrated five of our Sisters who have been Little Falls Franciscans for 60 years. That’s a long time. Each has done such great works of ministry. The picture shows them at Mass renewing their vows.

For several weeks now we have been eating apples from our orchard. They are so good. The trees are heavy with an abundant crop.

The other day the dietary department celebrated Texas with appropriate foods and a counter display. Menu items included: Texas Chili, corn bread, country fired steaks, Texas cut potatoes and cake with pecan frosting. A couple weeks ago we celebrated California. I’ll have to wait to see which state is next.

Next Saturday the class of 1961 from St. Francis High School is coming for a class reunion. The girls always enjoy visiting with one another and coming back to see where they lived and went to school. It is always good to have them come, too.

Our new group of Franciscan Community Volunteers will be welcomed and commissioned nest Sunday. More about them next week.

The Red Cross Bloodmobile will be here Wednesday for a one-day blood drive from 1 to 7 p.m.
God bless you.

Sister Mary Lou

Snow on the Roof Tops (in Spring), But I'm Not Complaining!

What a surprise to see snow on the roof tops yesterday morning. But I’m not complaining. We have not had our homes blown away and people killed by destructive tornados. I am sure farmers are concerned about getting their crops planted.

St. Francis Music Center presented two marvelous concerts in our Chapel the past few days. On Friday evening the St. Francis Community Chorale directed by Barb Stumpf, and the Sestri Choir directed by Celo V’ec sang their hearts out for our entertainment. These groups are sooooo good. Thank you, singers, for sharing your talents with us.

Saturday evening we served delicious spaghetti to about 360 hungry eaters. It was a festive evening and I am happy that we had such a fine turnout. Thank you.

Last night we had another wonderful group of friends and supporters for the Second Annual Taste of St. Cloud fundraiser for the Franciscan Community Volunteers dinner.

There were 15 participating restaurants serving delicious foods. I asked and found out that the Cold Spring Bakery brought 42 dozen little cupcakes for the event. That’s a lot of cupcakes! There were also 25 Silent Auction items. I think everyone was pleased with the evening activities. The event happened at the Territory Golf Course--Coyote Moon Grille east of St. Cloud.

This week the Housekeeping Department is being recognized and honored for their wonderful services. We started the week with a morning coffee break and fresh, still warm caramel rolls. What a treat. We commend this department for all their hard work in keeping our house clean and for all the set-up and take-down for the many activities we have going on at the Motherhouse every week—for example three big events Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Values and Activities Committees sponsor these recognition gatherings.

Thursday, April 5th, and the first Thursday of every month, we have a quiet hour of prayer, Taize Prayer, at 6 p.m. in Sacred Heart Chapel. Come and experience this contemplative prayer time.

Saturday, May 7th, the singing group From Age to Age will give a concert at 7:30 p.m. in the Chapel. We are so fortunate to have these great opportunities available to us.

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers, living and deceased. We are blessed with the gift of life because of you. Thank you for the love and sacrifices you’ve made for us. God bless you now and always.

A blessing for you “May knowledge of God 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.”

Have a wonder-filled week.

Sister Mary Lou

December 28, 2010

This will probably be one of the last times I will write “2010.” It seems not so long ago that we started writing “2000.” On January 11th we can write “1/11/’11”

I hope you had a great Christmas. (Folks stranded in airports and other places had a hard time of it.) I have some nice pictures from around the Motherhouse…lots of poinsettias in Chapel and around the building. I counted 20 plants in Chapel. Two families donated ten plants just before Christmas. We are grateful. Thank you.

Many friends and neighbors joined us for the Christmas Eve Pageant and Christmas Eve Mass on Friday. I was pleased at how many people joined us after Mass in St. Francis Hall for cookies, hot chocolate and other goodies. Thank you.

On the 23rd, Sr. Julien and I spent four hours at Coborn’s “Making a Joyful Noise” as part of the Food Shelf fund-raiser. Total collection from the 14-day’s work was over $5,000. Thank you, generous donors and all volunteers who sat near the green collection box. You help make life easier for a LOT of needy folks.

On Sunday we celebrated Sister Sylvia’s 90th birthday. Many family members and friends joined us Sisters for cake and ice cream, etc. Congratulations, Sister Sylvia.

At 6 p.m. on Thursday, we start the 24-hour Vigil of Prayer/Fast for Peace. Individuals are signed up to pray every hour for 24-hours for World Peace. May the Lord hear and listen to our prayers. May peace start in our own hearts.

I want to share with you two blessings from our prayer book. It is my prayer for you.

“May God bless us all with peaceful homes and loving communities.”

“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.”

May the Lord bless and continue to care for each of us in the New Year.

Sister Mary Lou

February 2, 2009

Feast of the Presentation—Jesus presented in the Temple…and also the blessing of candles. We use candles in so many ways. And because of our Baptism we are expected to be lights to all around us. Let us strive to make the world a better place, one person at a time starting with ourselves.

Last Friday we had a blessing service for those being deployed to Iraq. Relatives and friends of employees and Sisters were invited for this prayer service. Four men were present for the blessing, but I included all those being deployed in my prayers. May they come back safe and sound.

Yesterday I attended the thirty-sixth annual l Pro-Life dinner at the Falls Ballroom. They were expecting four to five hundred for the dinner. As full as the Ballroom was, I believe there were that many present. The guest speaker was a local lady, Laureen Witt. She spoke on the blessings and challenges of raising a Downs Syndrome child. God bless all families who live with any challenges especially in this time of a tough economy.

Well, we didn’t have a January Thaw. I think I heard that you have to have two days in a row with temperatures over freezing to make it a January thaw. January ran out of days before the second day of warmer weather. It was 40 degrees above zero on the 31st and into the 30s on February 1st. So was it a January ½ thaw? And the Groundhog saw its shadow today. Even without that I believe we will still have another six weeks of winter!

Our Community Newsletter recently carried the following article submitted by Sister Gloria Haider. I hope you can relate to it.

On the sixth day God turned to the Archangel Gabriel and said:
“Today I am going to create a land called Minnesota. It will be a land of outstanding natural beauty; a land of 10,000 beautiful lakes—each one full of fish.’

It shall have tall majestic pines, peacefully flowing rivers, landscapes full of buffalo, tall grass, and eagles, beautiful blue skies, forests full of bear, elk and moose and rich farmland.”

God continued, “I shall make the land rich in resources so as to make the inhabitants prosper and they shall be known as a most friendly people, people who practice being Minnesota Nice every day.”

“But Lord,” asked Gabriel, “don’t you think you are being too generous to these Minnesotans?”

“Not really,” replied God. “Just wait and see the winters I am going to give them.!”

The remodeling project in the Convent kitchen started in earnest today. The workmen were there in full force. This past week there has been much activity in moving some of the needed cooking items to the small kitchen in Hurrle Hall across the street where meals will be prepared the next three months while the kitchen is being fixed up. A temporary bakery is set up in the storeroom across the hall from its usual home. So again we will have the mess of reconstruction going on for a little while, but it will be so nice when it is all finished. The remodeling projects in the other areas of the Motherhouse are so beautifully done. Now the last project is under way. May the work proceed without accident, injury or without unforeseen delays.

Peace and blessings,
Sister Mary Lou