Franciscan Sisters March Communigram

Communigram

West Point, NE ― At the February 21, 2010, West

Point Chamber of Commerce: Partners In Progress

Banquet the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

were awarded the Community Service Award for their

long and outstanding service to the Community of

West Point. Sister Louise Hembrecht, Community Di-

rector accepted the plaque which reads:

West Point Chamber of Commerce: Partners In Progress

Recognizes the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

In Appreciation of Your Outstanding Service

To The Community of West Point.

The Community Service Award

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity have served the people of West Point since 1885 with the opening of Guardian Angels School. Over the years numerous members of our Community have served at Guardian Angels Elementary School, St. Francis Hospital, St. Francis Home Health & Hospice, St. Joseph's Retire-ment Community and Central Catholic High School.

Other awards given by the West Point Chamber of Commerce went to: Jill Tietz, winner of the Young Contributor Award, and Harlan Vandergriend, re-ceived the Chamber President's Shining Star Award.

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

“How I Long to Love You” Retreat Manitowoc, WI ― Boarding a plane with final destination a convent for February 14? On a weekend tradi-tionally focused on love, young women truly arrived at the Francis-can Sisters of Christian Charity’s Motherhouse for a discernment re-treat entitled: How I Long to Love You.

Apart from a totally cool Valentine theme, Friday’s Opening Ceremo-

nies for the 2010 Winter Olympics was a jumpstart for sharing introduc-tions. Even simple refreshments and sharing carried this focus. A candlelit night prayer beginning with an awe-somely vivid flame picturesquely moved souls to reflect on the pas-sionate love of God.

A pilgrimage prayer on Saturday morning acquainted retreatants with

As part of the retreat, young woman joined the Music Outreach group to sing at St. Peter the Fishman Parish in Two Rivers, WI on Satur-day evening, February 13th.

Continued on page 4.

The Sisters present to receive the 2010 Community Service Award: Left to right: Sr. Sharon Paul, Sr. Mary Beth Prinz, Sr. Andrene Flasch, Sr. Louise Hembrecht, Sr. Joellen Kohlmann, Sr. Mary Ann Tupy, Sr. Laura Wolf Sr. Doris Jurgenson, Sr. Adrianna Schouten, and Sr. Annette Kurey.

March 2010

Volume 44, Issue 3

FSCC Receive 2010 Community Service Award

Sister Margey Schmelzle gives

greetings from God’s country in the North—that is, from Republic, Champion, and Michigamme, MI where she, along with Sister Lois Risch, serves as Pastoral Coordina-tor of St. Augustine Parish in Re-public and Sacred Heart Parish in Champion. Sister Margey had the distinction of being appointed the first pastoral coordinator from our FSCC community way back in 1985 when she ministered at Sa-cred Heart Parish in DeTour, MI and St. Florence Parish on Drum-mond Island. That appointment by then Bishop Mark Schmitt was the beginning of what Sister would call her “second life”—a life filled with many, many blessings.

Sister Margey spent her “first life” teaching music and ministering in liturgy in Chicago, IL in the Fox Cities—Neenah, Kaukauna, and Appleton, WI—and finally in Ma-nistique, MI. In the mid-70’s she began to hear God’s call to work in pastoral ministry. However, at that time, there was no such thing as sisters working in pastoral ministry in positions of leadership in par-ishes, and no one quite understood what she was asking to do. But the Lord’s call would not be silenced. Sister began working at more ‘parish’ activities as the years went on—taking census at two parishes (which ended up being a short course in every kind of human ex-perience), visiting with the grieving and offering church support, working with a senior citizens’ group, ministering at a small hospi-

tal—anything that would prepare her for the ministry she felt called to. She completed her work for her Master’s in Pastoral Studies at Loyola University in Chicago.

“Just what do you do?” “Are you teaching in the school up there?” are questions that she has been asked many times over. There is quite a detailed job description from the Diocese of Marquette for being a pastoral coordinator. But the simple answer is—a pastoral coordinator is one who ministers in a parish or parishes where there is no resident priest pastor. So that means a pastoral coordinator would do everything a priest pastor would do with the exception of saying Mass and conferring sacraments. A pas-toral coordinator is the “go to” person for all aspects of parish life—the one who does the prepa-ration for the sacra-ments, the one who

sees that liturgies are planned and all liturgical ministers are prepared, the one who meets with families when there is a funeral, the one who leads Bible studies―and much, much more. Then there are all the day-to-day activities—keeping the finances in order, maintaining buildings, shoveling the walks, organizing fund-raising activities.

“What do you do in a normal day?” is another question fre-quently asked. Sister says, “And that answer is relatively simple as well—there is no normal day! Each day brings its scheduled ac-tivities—which may or may not be accomplished—and then there are the many unscheduled things that may change as fast as it takes for a phone call to be received.”

The real job description means that pastoral coordinators are privileged to walk the journey with many faith-filled people who are facing challenges in their lives. It means that a sister in pastoral lead-ership gathers all the gifts of the people so that the church of God can be built up. Sister Margey also

Communigram Volume 44, I ssue 3

By Sister Kay Elmer

adds that “in small towns such as Repub-lic, Champion, and Michigamme, the peo-ple from those towns think we are a part of the towns as well, and that we are ‘there for them too,’ which ex-plains involvement in community affairs such as the Memorial Day celebrations, the Republic Heritage Garden, and the fa-mous July 4th parade in Michigamme. The Sis-ters actually took lst place for each of the three years they entered their Moose character in the parade—much to the joy of their people!

The greatest challenge came for Sister Margey 12 years ago when she was asked by the Diocese to close the beloved little mission church of St. Agnes in Michi-gamme. The people’s grief and sadness were overwhelming. But there were many one-on-one meet-ings, town hall meetings, prayer gatherings and finally meaningful rituals that helped move people from one stage of grief to the next. Sister said at the time, “I have worked in death and dying for many, many years, but this was such a challenge because each per-son in the parish was in a different place in their grief.”

At the same time the consolidation of parishes was happening, the Sa-cred Heart Church community un-dertook a huge renovation project. The church building was updated from top to bottom—new roof, siding, plastering, and painting. A

beautiful gath-ering space was added to fur-ther enhance the spirit of hospitality and welcome, and a Blessed Sacra-ment chapel was added. All of this came to a total of $275,000 and the challenge was to get that amoun t o f money together from a small community. “It

was truly a walk in faith and trust in our God who never left us in the process.” The final payment on the loan was paid off nearly two years ahead of time because of the generosity of the people and an-other church in the Diocese, as well as a grant from the Catholic Extension Society.

In the end, all the people, except for two parishioners, moved to the newly renovated Sacred Heart Church in Champion. What made their coming together a little easier was the fact that many of the peo-ple’s beautiful liturgical articles were brought to the “new” church and incorporated into the new de-sign. The newly renovated church was no longer “my church” or “your church,” but it now became “our church” and the spirit of wel-come and hospitality became much stronger than either of the parish communities had before. Although the process brought about many blessings, it was an experience that Sister Margey would not like to repeat again!

For the past four years Sister has served as one of the chaplains for the Upper Peninsula Home Health & Hospice Service. Her many years of experience with death and dying bring new insights into the work of Hospice and has been a source of richness for her as well. “It is a privilege to walk with those who are on their way to meet the Lord.”

One of the things that brings life to Sister Margey is working in the three gardens during spring, sum-mer, and fall. Sacred Heart Parish has a beautiful park with many flower gardens, including the one that surrounds the parking lot—about 200 feet of hillside with many flowers that were given by the people from their own gardens. The garden and its surrounding park are home to two outdoor Masses held during the summer. Many people in the area also come to “sit and be at peace.” Sister Margey says, “Sister Lois and I thought we didn’t have enough to do with our time so we volun-teered to help create a new garden in Republic called the Heritage Garden.” It was an attempt by some of the local gardeners to bring a little more beauty into the town of Republic which is an old depressed mining town. The gar-den has been in existence for three years and is really becoming a thing of beauty. The gardens at St. Augustine are beautiful as well. Spending time in the gardens nour-ishes the spirit and brings joy and happiness.

Sister Margey summarizes her min-istry and her life as . .“having one blessing after another.”


The new gathering space has a

window from both churches.

News from Greenwood, MS


Valentine Weekend Retreat (continued from page 1) the wisdom of St. Bonaventure’s The Tree of Life center-ing Jesus as the goal of all things. After a dramatic tell-ing of St. Francis’ conversion experience with a leper, all reflected on readings from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Eucharist, a true gift of love from Christ. For those without Wisconsin winter ex-periences, there was time to get feet wet in new fallen snow.

Saturday evening music outreach’s destination was St. Peter the Fisherman, Two Rivers. Father William O’Brien and a full church of faithful welcomed the visiting troubadours as they shared their musical gifts. Franciscan Sisters serving in the parish arranged that the musicians and singers enjoy pizza before returning to the Motherhouse for other weekend retreat action.

Saturday evening, February 13 from 8:00 PM - 1:00 AM marked the annual Mardi Gras Celebration held by St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Green-wood, Mississippi. Plans for this fund raiser start early in the year, including a Little Miss & Mr. Mardi Gras Pag-eant in the fall of the year to raise money for the live band. With the Civic Center decorated with purple, green and gold helium balloons, lots of beads, confetti, and other Mardi Gras decorations, the environment turns into a festive atmosphere where those attending can enjoy New Or-leans style food, dancing and visiting. Sister Carol Seidl spent many hours in the planning as a member of the com-mittee. Along with the Mardi Gras Committee, Sisters Judy Norwick,

Kathleen Murphy and Mary Beth Kornely helped with the decorating on Saturday morning and the clean up after the event.

As a side event, the St. Francis School Board, under the direction of Brother Andy, organized a silent auction. Sis-ter Kathleen did much to help this group and prepare the room for the items collected.

90TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

Saturday, February 20, 2010 marked the 90th birthday celebration of Jane Sample, a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lexington, Missis-sippi. Joining her are Sisters Mary Beth, Judy, and Carol. Jane is still very active in all areas of her life. She con-

tinues to play the organ for the parish Masses and is busy with family activi-ties. St. Thomas Parish, one of the mission parishes of St. Francis of As-sisi, which is located 45 minutes south east of Greenwood. To drive there, you travel on rolling and curvy roads with patches of kuzdu covering most everything along the roadside.

Submitted by Sister Mary Beth Kornely

Tucson Diocese Celebrates Jubilees

Present at the Tucson Jubilee Celebration, Feb-ruary 14, were Sisters (l-r) Elizabeth Binvie, Mary Gabriel Van Dreel, Ann Mary Hart, Delores Vogt, Charleen Acker, Ellen Pach-mayer and Carla Riach.

Tucson, AZ ― On Valentine's Day all of the jubilarians serving in the diocese of Tucson gathered at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Tuc-son. The celebration included a late morning Mass with Bishop Gerald Kicanas as the celebrant, followed by a luncheon in the par-ish hall. This was a joyous occa-sion for those celebrating 25, 50, 60 and 60 plus years of faithful

service to God and the Church. Bishop Kicanas noted that the sum total of these jubilarians’ years of dedicated service was 1250 years. Sister Ann Mary Hart was among the golden jubilarians in attendance. The Sisters from San Xavier Mission and two Sis-ters from Yuma joined Sister Ann Mary for this wonderful day of jubilee.


Perhaps it has come to our attention during this

month that February is Black History Month. Dur-

ing these weeks we remember the history of a peo-

ple who were brought to our country of freedom

for the express purpose of serving as slaves. It is a

good time for us to consider the manifestations of

this same social blight as it shows itself today in the

form of human trafficking. What is human traffick-

ing? It is:

• the illegal trade of human beings for the pur-poses of commercial sexual exploitation or

forced labor;

• a modern-day form of slavery; • the fastest growing criminal industry in the world and is tied with the illegal arms industry

as the second largest, after the drug-trade.

Trafficking victims -- called "survivors" by advo-

cates -- are considered modern-day slaves by law

enforcement officials and outreach workers alike.

For the traffickers, the motivating factor is money.

For the trafficked, the dream is a better life, but it

never becomes so.

Worldwide trafficking networks involve systems

where individuals are recruited for an honest wage

for an honest day's work as they pursue financial

independence and freedom. Once in place, usually

outside their home country, victims end up under

the control of one individual, with their freedom

restricted and their safety usually threatened.

What is the church’s response to this injustice?

Agencies provide case-management services for the

victims. Social workers arrange counseling sessions,

find housing, transport victims for court appear-

ances and accompany victims through the process

of becoming a U.S. citizen.

What are some of the statistics that describe this

issue?

• Women and girls make up more than two-thirds of victims.

• Slightly more than one-quarter of victims were involved in sex trafficking while two-thirds were

brought to the U.S. and placed in abusive labor

settings, including domestic housekeeping and

child care, factory work and janitorial services.

• Victims have been identified from 83 countries, most commonly from Southeast Asia, West

Africa, Eastern Europe, Mexico and Central

America.

During Vatican II, the Catholic Church reaffirmed

its historic concern about forced labor, stating that

“slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and chil-

dren, [and] disgraceful working conditions where

[people] are treated as mere tools for profit, rather

than as free and responsible persons are infamies

and an affront to fundamental values. . . values

rooted in the very nature of the human person.”

As many as 700,000

persons are traf-

ficked globally each

year—men, women,

and children. Let us

pray that Christians

everywhere will have

the courage and

know the means to

identify these slaves

of our own day, that

they may be empow-

ered, freed and cher-

ished as children of

God.

Ad ment By Sister Kathleen Murphy

Social Justice Commission

February 16, 8:30 a.m. -

Sister Marie Bernadette

Dorn took this picture near

the garage of St Theresa

Convent , Kekaha, HI.

Celebrating 125 Years of Catholic Education

Inside Story Headline


West Point, NE ― Guardian Angels Grade School and Central Catholic High School began their 125 year celebration with the hilarious com-edy of Saints and Sinners with a Social Hour in their Auditorium. They were the first co-ed school in Nebraska. Here is a thumb sketch of their history.

• March 5, 1885: GA opens with 90 students & staffed by Francis-can Sisters of Christian Charity.

• September l, 1918: New building constructed. It had 222 students in Grades 1 to 12.

• 1921: First High School student graduates.

• 1955: The old gym on the top floor of GA converted into 6 classrooms. The new auditorium located across the street is dedi-cated.

• 1963: A new high school, Central Catholic is completed.

• 1970's & 1980's: Nearby towns close their Catholic Schools which increases GA enrollment.

• 1980's & 1990's: Enrollment of more than 350 students.

• 1981: Kindergarten begins at Guardian Angels.

• 1988: Guardian Angels becomes an accredited school. External visitation teams on site in 1996, 2003 & 2009.

• 1996 GA one of 12 schools on an In-Vision Grant, designed to help students learn Spanish through the use of technology.

• 1997 to current: Renovation Committee formed and improve-ments continue.

• 2002: A preschool added.

Father Gerald Gonderinger, Pastor of St. Mary's Church, said: "Bringing the FSCC to West Point has forever changed our future for the better. So much of what we have now as a spiritual treasure has flowed from their decisions and commitment. Their service is greatly respected by the whole community and they have great respect among the Protestant churches. I believe that the great involvement of the people in this community is due in no small part to the example and training given by the Franciscan Sisters of Chris-tian Charity of Manitowoc, Wis-consin."

He also said: "Our ancestors sup-ported this school through two World Wars and a Depression. I can't believe that the challenges any of us have today are greater than the challenges they faced and overcame."

Thank you to all those who have contributed in any way past, pre-sent and future to Catholic Educa-tion in West Point, Nebraska!

Submitted by Sister Sharon Paul

The two principals at the opening of the 125th,

Celebration of Catholic Education in West

Point, Nebraska are Matt Richardson, Cen-

tral Catholic High School and Sister Mary

Ann Tupy, Guardian Angels Grade School.

Athena Abadilla, far right, a sixth grade student at St. Theresa School, Kekaha, HI, is shown with her teammate Marcus Pereira and teachers Sister Hannah Johnecheck and Tiffani Tumbaga after Athena won the 2010 Kaua΄i district Spelling Bee on January 28.

www.fscc-calledtobe.org

FRANCISCAN SISTERS

of Christian Charity

SONG OF THE MONTHSONG OF THE MONTHSONG OF THE MONTHSONG OF THE MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Free Music

Download

The Way of the Cross with St. Francis


Yuma, AZ ― Immaculate Concep-tion School celebrated Catholic Schools Week with a variety of ac-tivities. Among the activities that week were a luncheon for parents and students, crazy hat day, a spe-

cial Mass, a book fair throughout the week, a spelling bee, and the week concluded with a field day. Everyone had a most enjoyable week celebrating as a school fam-ily. Submitted by Sister Elizabeth Benvie

A Week of Celebrating Their Catholic Schools

Greenwood, MS ― St. Francis of As-sisi School had a weeklong celebra-tion for Catholic Schools Week, January 31-February 6. We began on Saturday with our annual cat-fish dinner fundraiser. Because of 28 degree weather, a special heater had to be used this year to allow the Knights of Columbus to fry our fish outside. The hands of the

Knight who breaded the fish were turning purple. The catfish plate consisted of: fried catfish with Louisiana hot sauce on the side, spaghetti, creamy cole slaw, a slice of white bread, pound cake and soda. On Sunday the school’s choir sang at the 11:00a.m. parish Mass. To celebrate our excellent Stanford Achievement Test Scores in the

60th-65th percentile an all school bingo was held with free ice cream sundaes. At Wednesday’s school Mass the classes congratulated our Franciscan Deacon who was just ordained to the priesthood, Father Jason Welle, ofm. Each class pre-sented cards and a gift. It was a great week of celebration.

Submitted by Sister Carol Seidl

Every Lent we are reminded

anew of Jesus’ great love for us

as expressed in His passion, cru-

cifixion and death. St. Francis of

Assisi had a great love and devotion

for Jesus crucified. Francis was so

identified with our Lord's sufferings

that he was gifted with the marks of

the Passion, the Stigmata. Ever

since, this devotion is dear to the

heart of Franciscans.

At our Motherhouse (Holy Family

Convent) in Manitowoc, WI, we are

privileged to have in St. Mary

Chapel paintings of the Way of the

Cross by one of our Sister-artists,

Sister Victoria Masil. Sister por-

trayed Francis in each of the four-

teen inlaid, wooden, bas-relief

paintings she designed. The orange

arrow in the picture on the right

points to the figure of Francis in the

eighth station where Jesus meets the

women of Jerusalem. During the

penitential season may we all be-

come more mindful of our part in

His sufferings and death.

Family Visits Being retro is really a lifetime movement when it comes to family. Franciscan Sisters of Christian Char-ity are not alone in needing quality time of just hanging out with parents, grandparents, siblings, and other rela-tives. So just how often can a young woman expect to see family in the process of becoming a Sister? Here are some short, simple responses. Feel free to ask for further clarification.

During the first year of becoming a Sister (called postu-lancy), you can ex-pect to ‘hang out at home’ with family at Christmas time and for a couple of weeks in May. Your family may choose one day each semester which is most convenient for them to visit you at the Motherhouse. When families come from a distance, they are welcome to use our guest houses that are on our Motherhouse property for overnight accommoda-tions.

The novitiate (a time of learning to be a woman religious with an intense study of the vowed life) extends over a period of two years beginning for us on the feast of St. An-thony of Padua, June

13. As a novice you may visit your family home once a year. You also invite family to see you at the Mother-house twice during the year. The Community’s Novice Directress assists in setting these dates.

As a professed Franciscan Sister, we may enjoy a two-week annual visit with our family and relatives. The times may be broken up to allow several visits each year or attendance at some spe-cial family event, providing the traveling distance is rea-sonable.

Franciscan Sisters March Communigram

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