July - August - SSpS Bulletin
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Transcript of July - August - SSpS Bulletin
July-August 2010, Vol. XXX, No. 6
Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters
Convent of the Holy Spirit – Techny, Illinois 60082-6026
We are the petals of the daisy of
love and in connecting
with one another, we find our
ultimate connectedness to God.
Dr. Richard Johnson
WWWW hat are you doing this Summer?
Here we are in the embrace of
summer. Summer is a happy
time—nature tells us so. The sun
shines abundantly, the flowers and trees blossom,
the ducks swim and care for their young, the crops
grow and bear fruit. Typically we also enjoy more
leisure and time out in nature. Summer is for more
than just work. We take our vacations, make our
retreats, celebrate jubilees, and reconnect with
family and friends. Summer is more than a happy
time; it is a space for renewal, wholeness and
balance. It is meant to refresh our attitudes and
bring more color and vitality back into our per-
sonal and communal journey.
Hopefully, whatever we are doing this summer, it
is lessening the strain and increasing our connect-
edness with the important people in our life.
Lessening the strain: All work and no play can
make us very dull people. We need to carry our
attention away from our work and de-stress our-
selves. We live best from a balanced perspective
and it is here that we also find God. When we are
stressed we are disconnected and ignorant. We
forget our breath and think everything, including
ourselves, is overly important. The Chinese
proverb says it well: “Tension is who you think
you should be, relaxation is who you are.” Taking
some leisure time gives us back balance: it helps
us stand straighter, gives us a truer sense of self
and reconnects us to the positive flow of energy
within and without.
(continued on page 2)
2
.
(continued from page 1)
Increasing your connectedness: Summer is also a time of rebuilding ties with family and
friends and enjoying others. This gives a sense of wholeness and meaning. When we are
deeply connected to others we realize how much love and goodness there is in our world and
we look for it and find it more and more. It drives away fear and self-absorption. Connected-
ness creates all kind of life giving energies to flow in and through us. Dr. Richard Johnson
uses the daisy as a symbol of connectedness. In the daisy all the petals overlap and form a
perfect circle of connectedness as they connect to the center. “We are the petals of the daisy
of love, and in connecting with others we find our ultimate connectedness with God.” ( Dr.
Richard Johnson).
So let’s enjoy the summer, lessen our stress and strain, increase our connectedness and then
return to our communities with enthusiasm and vitality for one another and for mission.
Sr. Carol Welp, SSpS
Once again, the Holy Spirit Missionary
Sisters and the Divine Word priests and
brothers gathered together to celebrate their
jubilarians. This year, the annual event was
hosted at the Holy Spirit Convent by the
Sisters. A moving and spiritual liturgy was
celebrated in the chapel. It included music
by Fr. Ed Peklo at the piano and cantors Sr.
Leonette Kaluzny and Fr. Adam
MacDonald and was enhanced by the beauty and grace of liturgical dancers. Following
the renewal of vows, the Provincials blessed
and distributed to the Jubilarians colorful
crosses, which were made in El Salvador and
bore the inscription on the back, “Precious is
the life given for mission.” After Mass, all
those present were treated to wonderful dinner,
during which there was much camaraderie
and laughter. A good time was had by all,
especially we hope, by those who were
celebrating the special occasion of their
significant years of vowed and priestly ministry.
Joint Jubilee
July 17
Above, scenes from the Jubilee
liturgical celebration.
3
Sr. Xavieriana Ngene returned from Indonesia
full of new vitality on July 25. Sr. Edel Deong
will follow on August 15 and Sr. Yuliana Meno
on August 20. Sr. Graciela Castro will return from Argentina to St. Kitts on August 4.
Sr. Dinah Marie Aguirre left to begin her prepa-ration for final vows in Australia on July 9. The
tertianship is in Sydney and Sr. Dinah Marie has
five companions also preparing for their final
vows.
Sr. Gretta Fernandes left for India for a month’s leave on July 8.
Sr. Pat Snider was able to return to Antigua after recuperating for seven months from her crushed
heel. She and Sr. AnnIta Walsh left on July 15.
Sr. Miryan Inés Céspedes Cañete sends loads of greetings from Steyl. She is enthusiastic for the
Spanish Tertiate experience and finds it renewing
and helpful. Her group has chosen for its motto:
“Drink from my own well and feed myself from
my SSpS roots.”
After months of planning for redoing the old house
in Rogers Park, we started packing, moving and
selling things some six weeks ago. July 22 was
the final moving out date for us. With the big
storage unit filling our yard and a crew of six
young and strong men transporting the furniture
out of the house, starting on the third floor, I
scrambled to clear out my room on the first floor.
We are camping out in Grayslake for the time
being, trying to bring order into the chaos of boxes
and bags and more boxes. We hope to feel at home
soon, even if some disorder remains, since the
house is so much smaller than our former living
space. Soon we will call the new house "home"
and we hope to spend a good year there in peace
and harmony!
Sr. Agathe Bramkamp
Sr. Marcina Stawasz has been transferred to the Techny community. She will continue to live
and study at CTU
Sr. Angelica Chavol has been transferred to the Techny community. She and Luciana Namgung
Hyeju from Korea will be studying ESL at Lake
County College.
Sr. Maria Burke has been assigned to the Techny community.
Sr. Rose There Nolta has been appointed Juniorate Directrress as of September 2010. We
thank her for accepting this assignment and Sr.
Yuliana Meno for her love and accompaniment of the Juniors over the last three years.
Three new local leaders will be installed in
August: Sr. Graciela Castro in St. Kitts on
August 15, Sr. Kristina Jawa Lajar in Epworth
on August 17 and Sr. Margaret Hansen in Techny on August 19.
Sr. Leonette Kaluzny will not be going to Memphis. She will be helping at Franciscan
Outreach, where she is urgently needed.
Sr. Stela Maris Martins will join the
community in Grayslake while Sr. Uloma Akpa
does her novitiate apostolic experience in
St. Kitts.
The address in Grayslake is:
350 Mitchell Drive
Grayslake, Illinois 60030-1432
Telephone: 847-223-6007
Comings and Goings
Moving Event (cont.)
New Address!
Transfers, Appointments and
Installation
Moving Event
4
Joal Dasilva Kefi, Sr. Genoveva da Costa
Amaral’s grandfather, died in Timor at the ripe old age of 103 years and left 53
grandchildren.
Fr. Ken Feehan, our SVD confrere, died July 26 at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in
Boston. Ken had been struggling with
cancer for some time.
Howard Tranel, brother of Sr. Betty, died also on July 26. He had been longing to be
together with his deceased wife, Lillian.
They are both happier now.
Srs. Mary Antonia Rademacher,
Angelinda Stoetzel, Dolores Marie Kuhl,
and Arnolda Chang were all hospital
during the past month and Sr. Martha Fass
was taken to the emergency room. They
are doing better and are in Techny.
Sr. Terisse Zosso suffered from a hematoma. She was hospitalized and
now is in Abington for rehabilitation.
Sr. Rose Martin Glenn had foot surgery and is still recovering patiently in her
wheelchair in Maria Hall.
Sr. Catherine Mueller has a hairline fracture in her upper leg. She will need
three months off her leg in Maria Hall and
then some therapy.
Sr. Mary Winkler had a heart attack on July 31and was taken to the hospital where
a stent was put in. She is hoping to return
to the Convent soon.
Sr. Marie Celine Clarkin fell and broke her hip and wrist. She is scheduled for
surgery on her hip August 4.
For Your Prayerful
Remembrance
Heavenly
Gathering
Sunday, July 25, residents from Fox Meadow
joined the Sisters at the Convent for what has
become an annual get-together. A casual
supper of pizza, salad, wine and soft drinks
was served in the courtyard, buffet-style, with
ice cream sundaes for dessert. The weather
can’t always be counted on to cooperate for
this event, but this year it was exceptionally
nice — warm, but not too hot, with plenty of
sunshine. Residents and Sisters are always
delighted to see each other and to catch up on
news of the neighborhood. A committee of
residents assembled by Sr. Leonette
provided the food, while the Convent
contributed the drinks and dessert. Lively
conversation took place at the outdoor tables
and all agreed it was a lovely afternoon.
Some of the Fox Meadow residents and Sisters
who came to the courtyard to enjoy the food and
good company, including (top photo)
Sr. Leonette and the committee who organized the festivities.
The Congregation of the Missionary Sisters
of St. Charles Borromeo – Scalabrinians and
the Lay Scalabrinians held an open Confer-
ence on Migration on July 20, 2010, at Stone
Park, IL. This day was attended by Sr. Carol
Welp, Sr. Aprilia Untarto, Fr. Vince
Ohlinger (pictured below) and Sr. Rose
Therese Nolta. Migration was presented in various ways with the following topics: The
World Crisis: Impact on Migration;
Immigration in the United States: Post 9/11
and Economic Recession; Climate Change
and Migration: A Global Perspective and
Human Trafficking: A Global Concern,
Asian Experience. There were many
opportunities of discussing with participants
from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Singapore,
India, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the
Philippines.
On July 24, 2010 a group including Srs.
Betty, Aprilia, Stela Maris, Elwira, as well
as postulant Salud Osornio and Eva
Weisser, our lay volunteer, went to Forth Wayne, IN to get ready for the Vacation
Bible School in St. Patrick Parish. The next
day, we took turns making final announce-
ments and reminding parishioners of the
upcoming week activities. We had about 55
children age 5 through the 5th grade whom
we divided into four groups according to
age. We also were blessed to have some
volunteers from the parish community to
help us with the children. Helping with the
Vacation Bible School was beneficial to the
lay volunteers because they will be the
future religion teachers in the parish. It was
a good experience for each one of them to
learn the different styles and ways of
teaching children about parables and the life
of Jesus. Each day we reflected on one of the
parables such as the Sower and the Seeds,
the Lost Son, the Hidden Treasure, the Good
Samaritan and the Light of the World in four
different ways, through music, arts and
crafts, drama/role playing and prayer. Thank
you for giving us the opportunity to make
the Good News of God more evident in the
hearts of so many young people.
The Vacation Bible Staff
Sr. Aprilia Untarto made her second vows
on June 24 and Sr. Dinah Marie Aguirre
made seventh vows on July 4.
5
Conference on
Migration
Renewal of Vows
Vacation Bible School in
Fort Wayne
YES to Civil Rights and Respect and NO to Racial Profiling and SB 1070
On July 29, 2010, community, business, labor, and religious leaders, along with youth and families,
joined local elected officials to say NO to Arizona and YES to civil rights. Sr. Rose Therese Nolta
was among those gathered at the City Hall to support comprehensive immigration reform. During the
Press Conference, city leaders revealed details on the strongest City Council resolution ever introduced
in the state of Illinois to respond to Arizona’s SB 1070.
Participants included community leaders with family members in Arizona who spoke about the effect
of SB 1070 on families and the impact of our broken immigration law. After the press conference, a
delegation delivered a scroll of 2,000 signatures asking Tom Ricketts to move the Cubs spring training
out of Arizona and to tell Bud Selig, president of Major League Baseball, to move the 2011 All-Star game out of Arizona.
Youth leaders spoke about their participation in non-violent sit-ins in D.C. at several Congressional
offices last week.
People’s Resource Center Tour
On July 19, 2010, Br. Brian McLaughlin, Fr. Vince Ohlinger, Sr. Aprilia Untarto and Sr. Rose
Therese Nolta visited the People’s Resource Center in Wheaton, IL, in order to get a better idea of
what others are doing in service of immigrants. Mary Ellen Durbin, the former Executive Director, led us in a tour of the Center where we saw that the following services are provided: food pantry,
clothing connection, emergency rent and mortgage assistance, family connection, computer skills,
computer technology, adult and family literacy, job assistance, PRC Arts Studio and holiday help. It
was helpful to see how the People’s Resource Center community lived out their mission statement "to
respond to basic human needs, promote dignity and justice, and create a future of hope and opportunity
for the residents of DuPage County, Illinois, through discovering and sharing personal and community
resources."
6
JPIC Issues in the News
JPIC
SSpS
USA
7
Remembering My Work
at Memphis’ Shelby
County Health Department
By Sr. Dinah Marie Aguirre, SSpS
Monica Echols, RN shared with me via
e-mail an interesting update about Mary
Down, one of my first clients at the Health
Department. Monica wrote: “Mary
continues to take her HIV medicines and is
doing very well with her life, health and
work. She is currently engaged and
wedding plans have been set for June
2010.” I remembered Mary very well. This
is how I met her.
Mary is in her mid-40s and has
been HIV positive for six years. I met her
after she was discharged from THE MED
and I was assigned to work as her case
manager to monitor her continued treat-
ment for serious opportunistic infections
including histoplasmosis (fungus native in
the Mississippi delta). Her health prognosis
was very poor.
Mary’s CD4 count or T-cell count
was down to 4. A count less than 200
qualifies as AIDS. Her bone marrow was
infiltrated with fungus and had all but
stopped producing blood products.
July-August 2010
She needs a round the clock medications to
fight different kinds of infections that her body
is incapable of resisting. She was dying. She
had lost her appetite, and daily diarrhea
reduced her to skin and bones. Though she
knew about her illness and the possibility of
treatment, she had never been willing to go to a
public HIV clinic. Her reasons were varied and
a complex combination of shame, denial, and
personally rooted distrust of the medical estab-
lishment.
Over a series of
clinic visits to the
Health Department
and regular house
visits I made myself,
I was able to break
through Mary’s
defenses. We
mutually established
a certain degree of
trust and then
initiated the life-
saving anti-HIV
medications. By God’s grace the medications
worked quickly and powerfully. After three
months of intensive treatment, Mary’s appetite
returned and her diarrhea left. Over the next
year, she gained 50 pounds. Most importantly,
the HIV in her blood system was suppressed to
levels below “detectability.” Surprisingly, her
T-cell count steadily rose until it was safely
back within the normal range of 200. Finally,
our attending physician was able to stop some
of her protective antibiotics because her
immune system slowly regained its power to
protect her from common infections such as
pneumonia. Though it seemed impossible to
see her remarkable recovery in a matter of two
years, she finally returned to her work as store-
keeper at a convenient gasoline station on
Poplar Avenue.
8
I will never forget the day a year after I met
her, when Mary brought in her new boy-
friend to the Health Department to meet
me. She was so happy and the ray of life is
so evident from the smile on her face. Both
Mary and I are in our 40s but when we
recalled how far she’d come, we hugged
and cried like babies. I felt so blessed to
have met, worked and developed a friend-
ship with Mary Down. (Name changed.)
According to Africa Action, at the 18th
International AIDS conference in Vienna, Austria, July 18-23, heads of UNICEF,
UNAIDS, and the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, TB and Malaria committed them-
selves to ending HIV/AIDS forever.
Unfortunately, as the severity of HIV/AIDS
crisis only advances across African nations,
the international community is failing to
respond to the crisis with the strong
urgency that is needed. (See http://www.
aids2010.org/ )
Currently, sub-Saharan Africa holds 68%
of the world's HIV-positive people but
only receives 1% of the global expenditure on health.
The good news is that with the concerted
efforts of activists lobbying and advocating
for new legislation that addresses HIV/
AIDS, Congressman Stark introduced a
new bill, The Investing in Our Future Act
(H.R. 5783), that would impose a small tax,
0.005%, on currency transactions. The
Multilateral Global Health Trust Fund
would receive 40% of the revenue and it
would be distributed to Global Fund to
Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to support
improving medical infrastructure and
disease prevention and treatment.
Please take action by contacting your Representatives and asking them to
co-sponsor H.R. 5783 and help save
millions of lives. E-mails have been sent to
your communities regarding this bill.
HIV/AIDS remains the greatest global
threat in the world today. Most of those
affected by the disease to date are poor and
black -- reflecting a global system of apart-
heid where access to wealth and basic
human rights is dictated largely by race and
place. Africa suffers
most with this
pandemic holding
almost two-thirds of
those living with
HIV/AIDS in the
world. Since the
discovery of the
disease, over 20 million Africans have died
and UNAIDS has estimated that around
75% of all women with HIV in the world
live in sub-Saharan Africa. With this,
mother-to-child transmission is high and
pediatric HIV/AIDS worsens. Of the nearly
3 million people on treatment, only 6% are
children. Just last year 330,000 children
died of AIDS.
Prayer: Loving God, we lift up all people with HIV/AIDS. We pray for those
involved in the discovery of treatment.
Lord, protect the families of the patients and
provide finances to fund the discovery
endeavors and medical aid needed. We ask
this through Christ our Lord. Amen.