September 2010, Vol. XXX,

No. 7

Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters

Convent of the Holy Spirit – Techny, Illinois

IIII n early August the Vatican announced the appointment of a U.S. Redemptorist

priest, Fr. Joseph Tobin as the new secretary for the Congregation of

Institutes of Consecrated Life and Apostolic life. Joseph Tobin was the former Superior General of his order and gave an address to the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in the USA as they met in August. In this address he asked the question “Are we missing something?” and then went on to sug-gest that some disturbing factors in our cultural and religious reality may be so noisy and dominant that they become the lens through which we view our call to follow Jesus in mission. I would like to call attention to two of these “noisy realities” which Father Tobin mentioned and ask you to reflect on ways they apply to us as a province: Diminishment and Professionalism. Declining numbers and increasing average age of religious women are certainly aspects of our reality in the U.S. and as a province; however, if this is the main focus through which we see ourselves in mission in the U.S. and the Caribbean it can certainly lead to discouragement and center our thinking and planning on diminishment. But do aging and decrease in numbers necessarily lead to less mission and less discipleship? We are mission-aries as much at 90 years as we were at 30 years and probably even more so. As missionaries we make God’s love visible through our lives and see God’s presence in the people around us. Missionary witness is much more about how we live our lives and interact with others than what we do. And certainly a province of 80 members who are always creatively looking for and seeing around them ways and opportunities to live out their missionary charism here and now may be more abundantly

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What is your vision of What is your vision of What is your vision of What is your vision of

mimimimisssssionsionsionsion————that which that which that which that which

motivates and guides motivates and guides motivates and guides motivates and guides

your thoughts, choices, your thoughts, choices, your thoughts, choices, your thoughts, choices,

and life?and life?and life?and life?

He went about doing good, He went about doing good, He went about doing good, He went about doing good,

being Light, Hope, being Light, Hope, being Light, Hope, being Light, Hope,

Reconciliation, Reconciliation, Reconciliation, Reconciliation,

proclaiming the proclaiming the proclaiming the proclaiming the

dignity of all. dignity of all. dignity of all. dignity of all.

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(continued from page 1)

fruitful in the Kingdom than a province of 200 focused on diminishment. Young people, who are willing to commit themselves to our mission charism, need our sense of mission while at the same time they need our respect for their religious and cultural needs. They don’t need to be clones of ourselves in order to be SSpS, but they do need a great passion for sharing God’s love and hope in our world. How blessed we are as an international Province with the oppor-tunity of cultivating intercultural mission communities as a living symbol of the Kingdom. Fr. Tobin said professionalism is another noisy reality that can distract us from our consecrated life and the “one thing necessary." Certainly professionalism has an appropriate value in all our ministries in the province, but when its centrality causes us to focus mainly on comfortable salaries and working schedules rather than on the needs of the poor around us, we have missed the point of our missionary calling. We all need to question our motivation for the ministries we choose and open our imagination to how we can show our option for people living on the margins and excluded from their dignity as sons and daughters of our God. Whereever we are missioned and whatever our age let us look around and find the many possibilities of exercising our SSpS missionary-religious charism. (Fr. Tobin’s talk is available—just e-mail Judy Cates at sspsusa@msn.com and ask for it.)

Sr. Carol Welp, SSpS

From July 18-24, Fr. Lloyd (Sam)

Cunningham, SVD, M.A., Psy.D., gave a retreat at the Convent of the Holy Spirit in Techny to some 60 SSpS participants. The theme of the retreat was Finding God in All Places, All Things, in All Circumstances.

Bringing psychology, spirituality and scripture together, Fr. Sam moved through human development and daily events to discover God’s presence in life as missionaries on a journey and a mission. The topics included: Finding God, Trusting in God, Basic Trust vs. Mistrust, Initiative vs. Guilt, False Senses of Self vs. Who We Are, Initiative vs. Guilt, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, Integrity vs. Despair. The presentations were through Power Point, guided reflections, liturgies, music, movie sessions, personal reflection and personal consultation.

~Sr. Anita Marie Gutierrez

On Wednesday, August 25, our Sisters in the Chicago area enjoyed a ‘Caribbean’ afternoon

Retreat which nicely coincided with Sr. Margaret

Hansen’s birthday celebration. Ms. Renate

Schneider, the coordinator of the NGO, the Haitian Connection, gave a presentation from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Convent of the Holy Spirit at Techny on the current situation in Haiti as the people rebuild their country and their lives after the devastation of last Janu-ary’s earthquake. Renate also gave an update on the housing and sanitation projects to which our province donated funds. It was a special joy to see how well our funds are be-ing utilized, not just to construct houses and latrines, but also to provide employment and to bring hope to the local people. Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a selection of Caribbean music and song provided by the Steel Pan Orchestra and the parish choir from Holy Family Cathedral in Antigua where our Sisters minister. It was a delight to experi-ence the unique sound of the steel pan drums and the distinctly Caribbean calypso beat. We concluded a delightful afternoon with a Caribbean style picnic.

~Sr. AnnIta Walsh

Caribbean Afternoon at Techny

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Sr. AnnIta Walsh, after a delay in plans due to hurricane Earl, left on September 4 to try again to return to Antigua. In the spring, she planted five sunflower seeds in the courtyard of Hickory Grove. The seeds came from flowers growing in Steyl. Only one of the plants sown here survived and

reached an admirable height outside of Sr. Carol

Welp’s window, with many buds, but no full blooms. On the Tuesday after Labor Day, Sr. Carol

and Judy Cates arrived in the morning to find the smiling face of one lovely sunflower bloom! Since Sr. AnnIta wasn’t here to see the results of her work

in the garden, Sr. Veronica Marie Mikkelsen was asked to take a picture so that Sr. AnnIta could enjoy it. Below is the photo of the sunflower. Unfortunately, it will have a short life, due to the construction work currently being done on the grounds. Sr. Carol and Judy are thankful to Sr. AnnIta for enhancing the courtyard, even for such a short time.

Province Assembly and Chapter: Our Province Assembly-Chapter will be held from April 26 through April 29, 2011. We want to challenge ourselves to make compassion central to our life

and ministry. We hope to build on the message Fr.

Michael Crosby presented during our Province Days: “From Control to Compassion.”

2011 Common Retreat: Dominican Fr. Donald

Goergen, noted author and speaker, will conduct two common retreats next summer. The first will be at the Holy Spirit Convent July 18-22. The second will be at Techny Towers from July 24-28. SVD

and SSpS are welcome at either retreat. Sign up in January 2011.

2011 Joint Jubilee: Saturday, July 30, 2011, is the date. Techny Towers is the place. There will be a 10:30 a.m. Mass and noontime banquet, and socials on Friday and Saturday evening. Every-one is invited.

On September 8, Salud Osornio will be received as a novice into our Congregation. This takes place at the Techny Convent and Salud’s parents will be present. Sr. Salud brings the

count in our novitiate up to three: Sr. Sara

Juarez with the Pan Am Novitiate in Paraguay; Sr. Uloma Akpa, a second year novice about to head for St. Kitts for her apostolic experience; and our new novice, Sr. Salud Osornio.

Comings and Goings

Photos: (top, from left) Srs. Salud, Agathe Bramkamp and Sara; (bottom) Sr. Uloma

Novitiate

Save the Date!

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For Your Prayerful

Remembrance

Deaths :

Sr. Marie Celine Clarkin, who died on August 9 at the Holy Spirit Motherhouse in Northfield at the age of 88. The Mass of Resurrection and burial was celebrated on August 14.

Normita Albina, the sister of Lisa Aragon

who works in Maria Hall, who died in the Philippines on August 18.

Our Sick:

Sr. Terisse Zosso, who is still in Abington for therapy. Her hematoma is not healing well.

Sr. Maria Burke, who is home from the hospital; they are working on controlling her pain.

Rick Janz, Sr. Margaret Hansen’s uncle, who has been hospitalized with a serious blood infection.

The mother of Mark Kelly, who is hospital-ized in Ireland.

Andrew, a grand nephew of Srs. Marguerite

and Engratia Gales, who is suffering from a rare disease.

The father of Sr. Maria Joseph Nguyen,

who had been taken to the emergency room for stomach problems. He is now doing better and thanks the Sisters for their prayers.

Bernice Brown, Sr. Mary Helen Sullivan’s

sister, who is recovering from pneumonia and back in a rehab center.

No one would ever have crossed the

ocean if he could have gotten off the

ship in the storm. - Charles Kettering

Irmina Holthaus, Sr. Lucille Hackenmuel-

ler’s youngest sister, who is hospitalized for blood clots.

Sr. Rennee Walsh, RSC, sister of Sr.

AnnIta, is still very sick and could die at any time.

Anita Scarf, sister of Sr. Priscilla Burke, who is now nearing the end of life.

Sr. Margaret Simon, who had a TIA stroke and went to the emergency room. She is now back home and doing well.

Sr. Agnes Marie Crabb, whose Alzheimer’s is claiming more and more of her.

Sr. Marcina Stawasz has officially changed her name back to her baptismal name because of the document con-fusion for school and traveling. She

would now like to be called Sr. Mariola

Stawasz.

Sr. Dolores Marie Kuhl has been admitted to Emmaus House for rehab and treatment for depression. It would be good to send her a card and some news from time to time. Emmaus House 21 Main Avenue Ocean Grove, NJ 07756

JPIC

SSpS

USA

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STAND UP AND TAKE ACTION AGAINST DEBT & GLOBAL POVERTY!

There is a High Level Summit on the Millennium Development Goals from September 20-22nd at the United Nations in New York. World Leaders will review the MDGs as part of the second 5 year review of the 15 year commitment made by the Nation States in the year 2000. When world leaders gather at the United Nations for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Review Summit in September, the voices of their citizens will follow them, tell-ing them, loudly and clearly: “We will no longer stay seated or silent in the face of poverty and the broken promises to end it!" Last year 173 million people stood up to demand that world leaders keep their promises to end poverty and inequality. Once again this year we are inviting you to join with the UN Millennium Campaign to hold our leaders accountable.

In 2000, the leaders of 189 countries including the United States committed themselves to implement a set of development targets termed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Leaders pledged to "spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumaniz-ing conditions of extreme poverty...and to free the entire human race from want.”i

These broadly supported goals are:

* Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger * Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education * Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women * Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rate * Goal 5: Improve maternal health * Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases * Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability * Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development and address unsustainable debt.

Where Do the MDGs Stand 10 Years Later?

Some important progress has been made on achieving the goals. Halving extreme poverty is within our reach.ii Yet, ten years after the Millennium Summit, the world is still decades behind.

September 2010

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The global economic crisis has challenged much of the progress that has been made. According to the World Bank, "about 53 million people in developing countries will remain poor because of the world economic slowdown .” iii On top of this, 200,000-400,000 more children a year could die due to the persisting crisis and delay in progress towards reducing child mortality. iv Even the 2008 food and fuel price increases "pushed another 130-150 million poor people into poverty." v

Impoverished countries continue to pay more than $100 million in debt service payments every day. New infusions of aid cannot be effective unless the drain of debt payments is stopped.

Debt Cancellation: An Essential Component to Meeting the MDGs

It is clear that there is no magic bullet to achieve the MDGs. A combination of more and people-centered aid, debt cancellation, trade justice, and an end to harmful economic conditions must all be employed alongside new and innovative sources of financing. Debt cancellation is a critical tool because we know it works. There is now a ten-year track record of debt cancellation freeing up resources to fight poverty. * Zambia has increased investment in health by $54.3 million and in education by $121 million in 2007 and 2008. vi * Ghana has seen the development of 268 new classrooms, 36 new clinics, 10 new hospital wards, and 87 water boreholes thanks to debt relief.vii

Debt cancellation provides direct and predictable budgetary support to impoverished countries, avoid-ing the costly processes that accompany the application for, as well as granting and monitoring of overseas aid. Likewise, money saved from debt cancellation can be used to plan for long-term projects as it is not subject to the whims of annual funding cycles and political will in donor countries.

How Much Debt Must Be Cancelled to Meet the MDGs?

It is becoming clear that it will be impossible to meet the MDGs without 100 percent multilateral debt cancellation for impoverished nations.viii Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown estimates that 67

countries require 100% debt cancellation in order to meet the MDGs. However, only a few dozen countries have had their debt cancelled so far. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing – at least 53 million additional people have been forced into poverty due to the global economic crisis. Mean-while, the world’s poorest countries send $100 million every day in debt repay-

ment to the world’s richest countries and financial institutions. We have the power to change this! Let us act September 17-19 and let us pray for the success of the MDGs meeting. For more informa-tion visit www.jubileeusa.org Prayer: God of the Poor, we lift before you those who lack access to clean water and education, for those who do not have enough to eat, and all who lack shelter and clothing. Bring them out of their suffering. Gracious God, hear our prayer. i Anup Shah, "G8 Summit 2005", July 10, 2005, Global Issues; http://www.globalissues.org/article/541/g8-summit-2005. ii http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml. iii Steve Schifferes, "Crisis 'to trap 53 m in poverty' ", February 12, 2009, BBC News; http://www.stwr.org/poverty-inequality/global-financial-crisis-pushing-millions-into-poverty-in-2009.html. iv Ibid. v Ibid. vi Statement by Secretary of State for International Development, House of Lords, UK, May 21, 2008; http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldhansrd/text/80521-wms0001.htm#80521-wms0001.htm_spnew0. vii “HIPC Funded Projects (2002-2005). What IMPACT? An Assessment of the Impact of the First Generation (2002-2005) HIPC Funded Projects in Ghana.” SEND Foundation, September 2007. P. 11, Annex Tables 2, 4, and 5, p. 27-28.