A Reflection on Vocationby Mary Harnden, Luminaries, Lake Jackson, Texas Google says, “Vocation in a religious context is how God calls you to serve Him in the world. God calls you through Baptism and Confirmation to serve Him in a specific way of life. You can follow God's call as a single person, married person, ordained priest or a vowed religious.” We live by Five Dimensions in the Theresian Way of Life. I will share my reflection on the Vocation Dimension. In summary, l love and feel very blessed to have the opportunity to share my passion and vocation as a physical therapist. I was fortunate to find my calling at age 16. I was a student athlete frequently in the training room with injuries. I knew at that age I felt called to help people and I was looking into the medical field. Through lots of prayers of discernment being a Physical Therapist became my passion and I still love it 41 years later. In our practice, we provide heart to heart care and hand to hand contact. In helping one person at a time, we change the world. We have no idea the power of a smile, a hug, listening, and being the facilitator of God’s healing. I have been so fortunate to love what I do and being able to be of service to others and share God’s love. Some would say, that is your career, but a vocation is more than a career. Through my vocation as a physical therapist God invites me to love and give myself to others. As Theresians we have many vocations: mother, wife, teacher, professor, lawyer, doctor, musician, artist, engineer, counselor to name a few. Theresians are responding to God’s call in their multiple vocations as we live out Gospel values. Our community’s name is Luminaries. I love the image it reflects of people with lights of Christ inside them, glowing with love and compassion for others. Sometimes our light is super bright with joy and encouragement or a shining light of God’s love as an active listener. At other times we need the Paschal light shared to reignite the fire of the Holy Spirit seen at the Easter Vigil when they light the Easter Candle and we share the light with each other. In our community, I feel so close to God with the circle of love, the dialogue or sharing, and learning and the prayers and support we feel as we gather. Yes, we share our spirituality and are educated in community, and through our experience we minister to each other through our vocation. We are all called most deeply to share God’s love through service in our unique vocations. We have a special opportunity this September to share our gift of Theresians at our International Gathering in Houston. Go out and witness the gift of Theresians in your vocation, your church, your family and friends, and the strangers you meet at the grocery line. I pray we are blessed by your efforts with abundance of attendance to the International Gathering.
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My Journey into Ministryby Sharon Sproat, Journey Community, Austin, Texas Way back in 1986, I felt the first calling to Ministry as a Eucharistic Minister of Holy Communion and for the past 38 years have been blessed to serve in that capacity in three different cities. That Ministry was not my first calling; I have sung in various choirs and choral groups including liturgical, contemporary, classical, and barbershop over my lifetime starting in elementary school. While some may not be classified as “ministry,” each provided a way to bring joy to others, be it spiritual, emotional, or physical. Music is what speaks to my soul. It is sometimes difficult to read the bible without a song popping up in my head. When I became a Theresian 15 years ago after moving to Austin, Texas, I was looking for spiritual growth. Little did I know how being a part of Journey Community would begin a new shaping of my spiritual life. I had never met a group of women who were so faith filled. There was always some program or book that was asking “what more can you do?” One year I decided for Lent that instead of giving up something I would go outside my comfort zone to do service work. I chose a homeless community called Community First! Village, a village (at that time) of over 200 tiny homes, trailers, and RV’s. I worked in the convenience market on the property that allowed the residents to have access to food and cigarettes. The village has grown to nearly 500 homes in support of the homeless. I volunteered for two years until the pandemic struck and we were unable to serve during that time. As always, when God closes one door, He opens another. I began my journey as a lector both on Sundays and weekdays. I also began singing with the Austin Diocesan Choir which sang for the Chrism Mass, Transitional Diaconate, Permanent Diaconate and Priestly Ordination Masses. And then seven years ago, our Deacon asked me to join the RCIA Team (now known as OCIA) and be a sponsor. That ministry has continued, and I am humbled to have acquired three Godsons and one Goddaughter and have also sponsored three other women. My latest ministry came unexpectedly three years ago when the pastor recommended me to be one of his seven sisters. This ministry, Seven Sisters Apostolate, is a group of seven women each taking one day of the week to pray a holy hour solely for our pastor. I struggled to pray a holy ten minutes (!) but when I asked the pastor why he recommended me, he simply said, “You’re an intercessor.” And so began another ministry. I never know what God is going to call me to next…but with the love and support of my Theresian sisters, I pray I can continue to say “Yes!” WHATEVER IS TRUE: A Reflection on the Education Dimensionby Toni Hare, Agape Garden Community, Lafayette, Louisiana As a forty-two-year veteran in the field of education, I have always been a proponent of life-long learning. As a Catholic, I believe also in the importance of living a life which is reflective, discovering the lessons presented to us each day, the decisions made and perhaps, the consequences of our wrong choices. St. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” I propose to you that to confidently know the truth, the purity, the graciousness of the life which has been given to us by our Creator, we must be exposed to quality Christian writings, Scripture, and the deposit of faith. The Theresian experience offers opportunities to develop an informed conscience and allows women to live out their fullest potential. On the Theresian International website the definition of the Education dimension is a “continual formation leading to spiritual maturity.” “An upright and true moral conscience is formed by education and by assimilating the Word of God and the teaching of the Church. It is supported by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and helped by the advice of wise people.” (CCC 1799-1800) When I was a Religion Administrator of a Catholic elementary school, I would tell my students that each of them had a puzzle piece in their heart which showed God’s love in a special way, given only to them. As a child of God, it was their responsibility to show others their puzzle piece by the way they acted and treated others. Only then, when their puzzle piece was joined to those of others, could the world see the entire beauty and love of God. “When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child.” (1 Corinthians 13:11) In the chaos and challenges of life today, a childhood vision of faith would not serve women well. My mother Flossie taught me that it is the woman in the home who teaches love. Women carry the responsibility of teaching their children and loved ones the love and mercy of God. To do this properly, faith formation must continue into adulthood. The Theresian community is a perfect avenue for women to continue to develop a mature and informed knowledge of faith and to share their life lessons, their puzzle piece, in an intimate and profound way. Theresian communities that avail themselves of the wealth of good Christian and Catholic literature, prolific authors such as Scott Hahn, Richard Rohr, Bishop Robert Barron or the numerous Scripture studies available in text or video, allow their members to grow in their faith and knowledge, sharing experiences and lessons of life. Whatever is true to one is valuable to another. In this way, Theresians can live their motto, “Women in support of women, reaching out with Christian values.” Sunday Scripture - Reflection for March 31, 2024Scripture Reflection: March 31, 2024 - Easter Sunday John 20:1-9 He has risen! Yes, Christ is risen! He has risen indeed, Alleluia!! Come, let us all celebrate Jesus' resurrection in 2024 in a very special way. This is the day the Lord has made, so we will rejoice and be glad in it. Can we all visualize what went on in Mary of Magdala's mind about the events leading to what we celebrate today? Yes, with mournful hopes, she rushed to the tomb and saw the stone removed. I can only imagine how terrified she was, and I know we all would be, too, if we had been in her shoes. She went to inform the men, Simon Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved. "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him" (v 20:2). The men rushed to the tomb and saw everything as Mary of Magdala had said. Jesus' burial site was empty, with the burial cloths separated from those that covered His head, which was rolled up at a different place within the tomb. From my search, folding the cloth was a cultural sign that the user intended to return. It was especially used at meals to indicate to the servants that the dinner was not finished. Hence, Jesus was indicating that He would come again. What a miracle! A wonder never to be repeated because our risen Lord Jesus Christ lives and reigns forever! May love and mercy always rule and defeat everything in our world. Today, we are a new creation because death has been defeated; Freedom is here! So let us all embrace it to God's glory, Alleluia! Christ in His humility and self-emptying has given us a new dispensation and we need to be humble to benefit from the wonder of His resurrection. May our resurrected Lord transform us to be always merciful, humble and loving to enable us rise with Him on the last day. Just as the other disciple believed, let us all strive to also believe in our risen Lord! AMEN. Esi Ametoxe Banful Little Petals, KNUST, Kumasi Sunday Scripture - Reflection for March 24, 2024Scripture Reflection: March 24, 2024 - Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Mark 14:1-15:47 We have heard this reading of the Passion and death and burial of Christ so many times. We tend to miss the impact of every word. My theology professor helped us understand this gospel writer. When St. Mark wrote the first gospel he gives us the essentials. There is no time to lose in telling the story of Jesus. He paints a picture of Jesus as a Man on a Mission. Literally. Jesus is Rambo-like because He is a man of few words, moving quickly from scene to scene with clarity, purpose, passion. No disrespect. I am just helping us follow through a lot of different events that are packed in these verses. We can easily miss the importance of the message. Jesus was a Man on a Mission. From before time began the Son knew that his purpose was to reach into our humanity at the right time and save us. In this gospel it is the final time he had on earth. He knew exactly what mattered and what did not. He moved with passion, purpose, clear focus, firm resolve, and no turning back. He shared his last meal with his apostles and gave them himself in the Eucharist. He suffered died and was buried. There is that awful final verse of the tomb and then the waiting for Easter. We finish up Lent and we need to be on mission, too. We must have that same type of determination. This Lent was an opportunity to look at what matters most to us. Did we get some clarity? We have met Christ in the Mass, received Him in the Eucharist, spent time with Him in prayer. He longs to have us continue reaching out, witnessing His life and Love. Let’s not zone out when we hear these words this Sunday. We continue His Mission. Wake up! Listen up! Let’s roll up our sleeves. We are on a Mission! Jet Booth Luminaries, Lake Jackson, Texas Preparing for Holy WeekBy Tammy Townsend Denny, TI Executive Director As we approach Holy Week, I am at a loss for words. What can I add to all that has been written through the millennia about a horrendous, torturous death and a miraculous resurrection? Are there any other words to add? Is there anything more to say? When my words aren’t there, I turn to others, like Catholic author Brian Doyle, to say things better than I ever could. In his essay “The Terrible Brilliance,” he writes of his wife, “an art teacher for kids who are really really sick.” One day, he finds that his wife is “sad to the bottom of her bones” about a little girl who is “being crucified… Everything they do to her hurts. All those needles are nails… She gets crucified every day.” Doyle’s essay brings to mind questions that theologians and believers have grappled with, prayed about, and screamed to the heavens about for centuries. How do we make sense of our loved ones’ suffering, of the most vulnerable among us hurting, of all the illnesses, untimely deaths, and violence around us? Where is God in all of that? Perhaps among the suffering is where we find “the haunting human genius in the marrow of Catholicism” to use Doyle’s words again. He explains: “A mother watched her son be tortured and crucified and she held him in her arms and there are no words for what she felt. A mother watched her daughter be tortured and crucified and she held her in her arms and there are no words for what she felt. It happens all day every day everywhere… The terrible brilliance of our faith is that there isn’t one Christ, there are billions, and each one suffers for and saves the rest, in ways that we will never understand.” Among our Theresian sisters are those who have recently lost children and spouses. Others are journeying with gravely ill loved ones. You won’t read about them in our Wednesday Prayer Requests. You may not even hear their stories in your community meetings because the grief and suffering they carry are too personal, too big, too mystifying to put into words. As we begin Holy Week, let’s hold this suffering that exists beyond words in our hearts and prayers. And let us trust in the redemptive hope of the Great Mystery. Sunday Scripture - Reflection for March 17, 2024Scripture Reflection: March 17, 2024 -- 5th Sunday of Lent John 12: 20-23 As I began to reflect on this Gospel passage, I struggled to understand its meaning, which is necessary for reflection. After some additional reading, I came to learn what Jesus meant by “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” The significance lies in “who” is asking to see him. It is the Gentiles. Jesus has learned that those He has preached to have indeed spread his word and that these Gentiles, non-Jews, have listened and now wish to come to know Him. Additionally, Jesus himself realizes that this event signals it is time for him to die so that others may gain life. He says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” This analogy I readily understood: By returning the wheat seed to the ground, it will multiply. It will allow others to live. Jesus is explaining that he must die to allow us to live and flourish by putting our trust in Him. We are called to be renewed and to flourish in our faith as we follow these Gospel truths. Carol Landry Journey Theresians Austin, TX Sunday Scripture - Reflection for March 10, 2024Scripture Reflection: March 10, 2024 - 4th Sunday of Lent 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23 Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 Eph 2: 4-10 Jn 3:14-21 Reading 1 History lesson – our sins continued mounting – we disgraced the temple. God was patient and warned us, and we disrespected the warnings. We ignored the warnings and our enemies destroyed the temple and took us captive until Persia came into power was charged to build God a house in Jerusalem and gave us back our freedom to be with our God. Responsorial Psalm Reflection on the history lesson when we were captive in a foreign land. We must not forget this lesson. Jerusalem is ahead of my joy. Reading 2 God gives us unending mercy and love despite our sins and transgressions. He has saved us through our faith. Let us gracefully accept our gift from God, the promise of Heaven. Gospel What a joy to read! Probably the first verse I learned as a child – God so loved the world… He gave us His Son, not to condemn us, but to bring us light and eternal life despite our sins and transgressions. This is our promise and our faith we must not ever lose. Remember the glorious Love we constantly receive for our Lord. Millie Foster Still Waters Community Fort Bend, Sugar Land, Texas By Tammy Townsend Denny, TI Executive Director This week in the office, Jenny, TI’s member and donor manager, noticed the unusual necklace I was wearing. I shared with her that it was a necklace I bought from an organization in Beijing that rescues women from human trafficking. I visited the organization when I was in China in 2013 and met some of the women who create these beautiful jewelry pieces. A casual observer would never know that some of the women had been sold into prostitution by their families, some had been lured into Beijing on false promises of work, and others had been dumped on the streets by families who could not afford to feed them. After explaining the necklace’s story to Jenny, she asked in that kind-hearted, humorous way that only friends who’ve known you for a lot of years can ask: “Do you ever associate with organizations that aren’t depressing?” (For clarification, she was referring to organizations that I have supported and volunteered with through the years. She didn't mean Theresians -- she loves all of you!) I thought about her question for a moment. Do I wallow in the ugliness of life? Perhaps, at times. Am I attracted to despair? Maybe. But I believe there is more to the story that I didn’t realize until she asked the question. “The necklace for me is a symbol of hope,” I finally explained. “It’s a reminder that, yes, there are horrible, awful, hideous things in this world but there is also hope.” The women who made the necklace are hope. The organization that helps them rise above a life of prostitution is hope. There is hope as the women take computer classes, learn to care for themselves, and address the traumas of their lives. Brian Doyle, in his book Grace Notes, writes that “the very essence of our common belief, the polestar by which we steer our lives, is the fact that a thin young Jewish man two thousand years ago insisted that life defeats death, hope defeats despair, light defeats darkness.” In that comfortable, clean, and safe space in Beijing over a decade ago, I saw the life, hope, and light of Christ radiate above the death, despair, and darkness of the women’s former lives. And isn’t that what we are invited to experience and contemplate in these days leading to Easter – a conversion of heart that leads to a new life of hope? Doyle goes on to write, “It may be that the human capacity to hope, to dream what might be, to have visions, is finally the reason we are here, the reason we evolved to this point, and our greatest responsibility as creatures of the Lord.” Then, he asks us to “chew on” some questions like: “Could our genius for hope be the only tool that in the end defeats suffering?” I don’t know but I hope so! Sunday Scripture - Reflection for March 3, 2024Scripture Reflection: March 3, 2024 - 3rd Sunday of Lent Ex 17:3-7 Jn 4:5-42 Our human bodies are comprised of sixty percent water. Doctors recommend that we drink six to eight glasses of water each day. It is no surprise that Scripture places such an emphasis on the necessity of water in both the first reading and in the gospel this Sunday. Stories of the Israelites complaining to Moses that they would die of thirst, and Jesus offering the Samaritan woman Living Water, reminded me of a recent sweet occurrence. Carson is the newest member of our family. His new parents sent out a video of one of his first baths. Carson was a bit fretful as his mom ever so gently lowered his head under warm tap water. An amazing thing happened next. As the warm liquid washed over his precious head, his body relaxed, and he smiled. There was complete trust and no fear. This ritual was a foreshadowing of his Baptism, where the Living Water of the Holy Spirit will initiate Carson into God’s family, where we find trust and no fear. Yes, water is crucial to life. The Israelites, the Samaritan woman, and Carson teach us that we cannot enter Eternity without Our Lord’s Living Water. Toni Hare Agape Garden Lafayette, LA |
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