Education in Many Forms

We shared some months ago a brief description of what has been called "The Nun Study" - an in-depth, ongoing project involving Alzheimer's research and the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The Global Sisters Report has published a fantastic article about how this study came to be, what the experiences of the sisters and the scientists have been like, and what has been learned! Well worth a read. 

http://globalsistersreport.org/news/educating-many-forms-school-sisters-notre-dame-committed-long-term-alzheimers-disease-study

Day 2 Listening to Life

Summer 2015 Book Discussion

Parker Palmer—Let Your Life Speak

In chapter 1 Parker Palmer talks about letting your life speak to you. Often our attitudes, life experiences, family, friends, body language, journaling…show us where our lives are meant to be but we don’t always take the time to listen or notice these life nudges. I could easily relate to several examples that Palmer made regarding not actively listening to our lives.

I can recall that in college I too would lie awake at night and question if I was making the right choices about my career path and relationships. I was a nursing student and working as a medical tech. I enjoyed my patients and coworkers, but I was mentally exhausted and often made myself so sick from worrying that I was too tired to work the early morning shift…was this normal? I experienced such energy in praying, serving as Chaplain of my sorority or volunteering in the community with my soccer team, and the mission trip that I had just returned from brought sheer joy to my life. I couldn’t help but think of the people I had met, or the welcoming response that I received when I met them at mass, prayed with them or simply made them feel human by acknowledging them.  

The section of the chapter that summed up how to best listen to life occurs on page 3.  “Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truth you embody, what values you represent.”

When I finally stopped wresting with what I wanted to do and let God and my life lead the way I noticed how free I finally felt. When I changed my major as a Junior I wasn’t worried about having to take two extra classes to graduate on time, I no longer missed work because I lay awake at night with my mind running. My migraine headaches became more sparse...it was like my body was saying “Thank you” for finally seeing it our way. Call me crazy but I even continued on to a Master’s Program without feeling the extra burden of juggling a job with Master level classes. I was free, happy, and eager to see where my life would take me.  

Questions to reflect on…

1. Are living a life that is not your own?
2. Have you stopped to listen for guidance from within? What was that experience like?
3. "Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening." (page 4) Are you listening to your vocation? Who you are? What you are meant to be?
   
   

The Power of One Life: "Why Sister Pat was so special"

I had the privilege of attending my local Catholic high school, Bishop Feehan, with the help of a scholarship and my father's hard work. I can say without any hyperbole that my experience as a student there changed the course of my life. I found a community of welcome and support during a difficult time in the life of my family, was introduced to the study of theology and thus was put on a trajectory towards my career in ministry, and even had the blessing of kind teachers whom I could trust with my inner struggles over discerning my vocation. One of the adults in the building who had a profound impact on me, though, was actually a teacher I never had. Sister Patricia Harrington, RSM, affectionately known as Sister Pat, was a pillar in the Feehan community. Everyone knew and loved her, and her presence in the classroom, in the halls, and at school events was a source of leaven and joy. She made God's love tangible by her kind, "Hello, love!" in the halls, her thoughtful gestures, and the witness of her life.

Sister Pat passed away last week, and her funeral was one week ago today. Attending this service with hundreds of other members of the Feehan family was an experience of profound grace, partly because Sister Pat's spirit was all over the liturgy (she had chosen the readings and music), and partly because everyone gathered there shared in common the experience of her love on their lives. If you are considering a life consecrated to God in religious community but have hesitated over concern that you would not have a huge impact, would not have children, or would not be remembered - read this editorial written after her funeral. (Or this article, or this blog post turned Huffington Post article from one of my classmates!)

A portrait of Sister Patricia Harrington painted in 2011.