28+1--OR--25+4--Either way...it's the Annual Birthday Blog

A comment about the photo, just in case any of you think that I've gone all Lucky Charms on you with my birthday and St. Patty's Day...there's a connection, but you're going to have to read the WHOLE entry folks.

Just under the wire, but I'm here...with the annual Birthday Blog--the reflect on the past year and where I'd like to go in this next year of life! It seems like every time I do this review there's been "big stuff" (new life, new formation stage, new jobs, new careers, etc). I am not fond of uncomfortable transitions (I find change energizing); yet my last few years seem like it's my other-other full time job; this year was no exception!

I usually post with the image of the shamrock fields. I have a lovely photograph of a rainbow which I took in Ireland when I was there in 2001, but unfortunately in those days, ahem, we didn't have those digital cameras that these young folks carry today...and I'm too lazy to go through the boxes in the basement, find the album, and scan it...So thank you web image searches.

A few days ago, I had some time and space to "gear up" for my thoughts about my upcoming special day and was journaling a bit. The image of a rainbow kept creeping into my thoughts and I don't know that I connected it until this evening.

We all know the faith symbolism of the rainbow in the biblical tradition of Noah, the ark, God's covenant made in the symbol of the rainbow. I also think the folklore of rainbows is fascinating; with the leprechauns, pots of gold, and luck at the end of the rainbow--if you can find it. Finally, from the logical science Sister Katy--refracting visible light (which is truly the color white) through a prism to create an allusion of the visible light spectrum to break apart the various colors which make up "white light" is amazing to me as well.

So some themes emerged for me:

**God's covenant of love and the hope (or relief) Noah must have felt when he could experience this presence of God.

**Luck at the end--IF you can find it.

**refracting what one can see normally, breaking it apart to see the many "colors" which make up the whole.

What sealed the deal for me to use this image...was the fence. The short of it...the Book of Wisdom has come up in different aspects of my discernment journey in many different contexts. Sr. Mary Ann created this wonderful Wisdom Retreat (created around Wisdom literature) for women discerning which I was able to help her with a couple times. One of the activities which I always appreciated was when we drew our "gates" (where Wisdom is found) from Wisdom 6:14.

This image said...the only way you're going to get to that rainbow, Lady...is if you go beyond that fence. And as much as I'd love to say, "Oh...too bad...that fence is there." I can't conceive being "fenced in" either...so move through the gate, Lady.

In many ways some of the things I have had the opportunity to reflect on this past year have much to do with a covenant of love. My vowed commitment seems get deeper within me, causes for greater reflection on what these vows mean to me, how I live them, and am challenged by them. Situations, reflections, and relationships have caused me to see how my vowed commitment is deep within me, in my spirit, and passion for where I am called--in ways I never predicted or could have imagined! And none of those profound moments of saying, "Oh crap...that's what obedience is," have been easy...in fact on some levels the challenges have been greater than anything I've experienced in my life. My commitment to God and growing more and more aware of God's love is what gives me that hope and relief that this is what I need to do with my life. In that respect...I can see a rainbow fitting for my symbol of hope as I move forward with my personal journey.

The science piece makes me laugh because of course I needed some logic to have a reflection to write. Then that got me thinking...of course. Refracting light--light passing through a medium in which it bends to create multiple dimensions and view points. And of course knowing that "white light" (pure visible light) is made up of many colors...UGH. I hate it when life lessons are that cliche and obvious. So yeah yeah...rainbow shmainbow...allow "stuff" to pass through a "refractor" (and I'm not going to define that because I know that just asks for "I told you so's" and this coming back to me) so that you can see what many factors make it up. The cynic in me says, "And then it goes away!" The "reflective I enjoy growth and insight" me is saying, "Oh...and you can still find beauty in acknowledging the multi-facets." That would be end-of-year 28's bow of insight (groan groan...bad pun)

So for year 28+1...I had dinner tonight with one of "my people". She gave me a beautiful journal that has artwork, quotations, excerpts from poems, etc...scattered among the journaling pages. The images are serene and peaceful. So I came home...knowing that I wanted to do my annual blog and I opened up the journal and on that page was this excerpt of a poem entitled: This Ecstasy by John Squadra...

All that matters is what you love

and what you love is who you are

and who you are is where you are

and where you are is where you will be

when death takes you across the river.

You can't avoid the journey but

you can wake up...now

and see where you've been

and where you are going.

Now that is the spirit speaking to me...that's a good place for 28+1 to look toward at this moment. (Thanks, Lady)

That's that. Easy breezy last year--renewing covenant, hopeful sign, God's love, oh and the let your stuff refract so you can look at it thing too.

Even smoother new year--what you love is who you are...you can't avoid the journey...

And lest I forget my fence...I guess I have to go through another gate to hear my Wisdom...who is sitting there waiting for me to pass through. Piece of cake...ha!

Sr. Katy on Living our Faith

Hey everyone...

Two weeks ago I moved into a new community house (in case you were wondering what happened to me and my blogging efforts). I am now living with one of our Sisters near Alverno College. As I get settled, I'm sure I'll have more to share.

A couple of weeks ago I was on our Archbishop's television series: Living our Faith. Two Marquette students did the interviewing and filiming of it. I was so impressed with their skills and professionalism. The two students really produced a nice segment. I just heard that they won a scholarship for this piece too! I'm so proud of them.



Enjoy!

C'mon Fill out our survey...ya know ya wanna!

Hey blog readers...

Here's the low-down:

I'm the co-chair of a committee for my religious congregation called: Engaging Young Adult Women. We're trying to hear from young adult women (imagine that?) what would be some good programs, events, faithy, service type things that would generate some energy and attendance. It's all about engaging people in our mission...and we want to hear from YOU!

So...especially if you are a young adult woman...or you know a few...would you fill out our survey..please? Also...invite friends, students, etc...to come and fill it out too. I'll keep my readers updated on what the results are.

There are two ways you can take the survey:
I have a link posted on the side bar under "linkage" just click and go! OR--

If you'd rather have the survey e-mailed to you, send me a "comment" with your e-mail address (I won't publish the comment).

Thanks for helping me out!

Month of January--GIVING VOICE!!

This is really the "S. Katy Talks about Giving Voice" Installment, but I need to include some of the Christmas concert photos from my school, because they are too cute for words...then it'll be down to business!

A couple things to note in the photos:

1. CUTENESS factor (you totally forget what they did a few hours earlier...ha ha).

2. Any Nativity should always be done by people under 7--they take their roles very seriously (even the child who cried because he really wanted to be Jesus and said how he was "jipped" when they told him they were using a doll.).

3. The lady in the red jacket, waving her hands around--she hadn't conducted a thing since 1999 when she took a semester of conducting and picked a Sousa march for her final (an infant trying to grab for mom's hair is essentially conducting a Sousa march) exam--co-conducted two songs with the music teacher--240+ kids in a 2 part chorus--sometimes a principal disciplines, sometimes gives out ice packs, sometimes conducts during a concert.

"Responding to the needs of the times" is one of the School Sister Foundress sayings...OH YEAH...Take that Mothers Alexia and Alfons! (and I was so stinkin' proud of my kids...they really struggled with this song and they NAILED it. I don't know if I was happier or if they were.)

4. Two people with green papers--one is my 4th grade teacher the other is a 5th grade student who is an extremely talented little singer. Yeah...Sr. Katy had the worst case of laryngitis ever (like was not AUDIBLE AT ALL) and was supposed to sing a song with all of the kids at the end. Yeah, not happening...so my teacher and student subbed for me--they were great. :-) Takes many hands to make this community work!

Okie dokie...I just couldn't resist...

GIVING VOICE--20's and 30's Young Religious Gathering

(or the gathering of the other "Fun Nuns" in the US)

I've written about GV (Giving Voice) tons of times. It is the organization for Women Religious who are under 50. We have a National Conference (At Alverno College, MILWAUKEE, this June 11-14th) every 2 years and a gathering of the nuns in their 20s and 30s every MLK weekend.

The weekend is such a great balance of prayer, sharing, support, and socialization (with people who know who Punky Brewster is, probably listened to Pearl Jam, and get Wii's and Rock Band for final profession gifts). It's always re-energizing for me. These women are my good friends in religious life around the country. We're intercongregational, ensuring the future of religious life and supporting each other--us crazy cats who have responded to the call of the Sistahood. We were in Tampa, FL, at the Franciscan Retreat Center--niiiiccceee. (When Sr. Vicky, CSA and I left Milwaukee the piolet announced that without the windchill it was -20 degrees with windchill it was -60; school was cancelled two days! It was an 80 degree difference when we landed in Tampa.)

We had 21 Sisters together, 7 of whom were Giving Voice 1st timers! Sarah (a Dubuque Frannie), one of my novitiate girls came too! That was awesome to be with her!!

This year, my friend Jeannie (an Ursiline from the Bronx) and I were the planners. We decided to preface our June conference with prayer, reflection, and sharing centered on our experience of community life. For our process, we used an excerpt of a piece called The People Gathered by Sr. Mary Fran, an IHM sister. We opened Friday night with sharing of symbols and a bit about our congregations to create the space of: "we come from our individual communities to form community with one another." The discussion was profound and energizing. Many insights about our unique challenges, how important it is to support each other as peers, and where we see community life going for the future.

There was a retreat going on of Young Adult Catholics at the same time as us and they enjoyed playing football in the yardspace. Saturday night, after Mass we walked over to them and said, "Ya wanna take on the nuns? There are 12 of us and 10 of you!"

They accepted...and much laughing ensued...with some "I can't believe they are nuns" comments and although we lost, we gave a good showing. Crazy enough, there were people from Milwaukee there who recognized my Alverno College T-shirt. Small world...great times...Witness to the call of religious life, one completed pass at a time. (Our team was the one that didn't have guys on it, in case you had trouble figuring it out. ha ha)

We played two really awesome games tool, well into the night on Saturday. One was called, "My Family" and the other "Mafia"--both thinking/strategy group games. I've played Mafia before (we used to play in the intercommunity pre-novitiate) that was way funny. My Family was cool too, I think my nuns at home would like that game.

Both teams...pose for a picture. :) There was one injury...Lisa came out as QB for one play, stepped wrong and her knee went out. We have the before and after shots (before the ER and after the ER...imagine the retired sisters faces when I came to the door asking if we could borrow a wheelchair from the retirement home! Yeah...we're the young nuns.) The backpack was a bonus...Lisa needed a backpack for her laptop for the flight back home. Maria and I debated between My Little Pony or Little Ms. Giggles...it's dangerous when you send your friends into Target and say, "I just need a cheap backpack, I don't care what it looks like." Let's just say...Little Ms. Giggles is still entertaining us.

Once again, I came home renewed and revitalized...in my own spirit and the spirit of my call to this life. I love connecting, seeing, and meeting new friends. I miss them already, but I get to see them in a few short months at MY COLLEGE!

By the way...If you are a YOUNG RELIGIOUS (Under 50) or you know some Young Nuns...please encourage them to come to GV in June...it will be an awesome conference! Just visit the GV website for more info!

The Month of January (With a Christmas and New Year Bonus)...in Three Installments

Installment 1: Christmas and New Year's

Ok...my life since Christmas has been nuts, wonderful, but nuts: Christmas, New Year's, back-to-school, make-up concert, Confirmation retreat, Giving Voice, and now this week is Catholic Schools Week! All good...just a lot on one month! So I thought I'd share a bit about these days and some pics to catch ya'll up on the life of this "fun nun". (This one is really the "photo album" installment)

I had a few good Christmas Celebrations (which have some photos to share!)...the family one, my White House group one...just to name a couple.

My grandma and grandpa always put on such a great celebration on Christmas Eve!

Here's my mamma...opening her gift from me! Yay for Jill!

And there's me with two of my most favorite people in the whole wide world: my grandma and Judeen. (after the gift opening, if you couldn't tell by my accessories)

I also spent my Christmas vacation with Judeen at the White House; the other Sisters were visiting their families for the holiday! We had a really nice time together. Judeen's sister Jeanne, from Arizona came to visit too...another great time. It was nice to have some time off of school to relax and slow down a bit.

Judeen and Jeanne were making this nostalgic meal "slicker noodles", (sounds gross, tastes pretty yummy!) and I had the pleasure of photodocumenting it. Jeanne to the left...Judeen to the right! (Stand up, sit down, ...oh wait...nevermind.) For me it was entertainment, watching those two go at it in the kitchen (I think it would be much like my sisters and me in a few years).

For New Year's Eve, I was in Chicago with two of my other most favorite people in the whole wide world! We had a very relaxing time. I made a New Year's dinner for them. They requested Vodka Pasta (yum!), salad, and chocolate raspberry mousse. The mousse didn't turn out like I had hoped, but like Mary Ann said, "I guess you'll just have to practice on us some more!"

Now, my dear friend Mary Ann...she is all about goals (for OTHER people). So I decided to make my 2009 goal right away and get it over with. I am not a fan of the fish-type foods and neither is Mary Ann. She does take a walk on the dark side by eating herring on New Year's for prosperity.

I've watched people eat herring for years and just can't figure out why cold, scaly, fish in cream sauce on crackers is a good idea. So my goal for 2009, was to try herring! Mary Ann took the opportunity to make sure there was photo documentation (I was happy she was taking them for proof that I set and met my 2009 goal). She claims that the best faces occur ed in between shots, don't believe her...these are good enough!

Sr. Katy Sets and Meets 2009 Goal

Operation: Herring

Here's the play-by-play: Does she like it? Will it become a "fun nun tradition"? You be the judge!

Katy, slightly apprehensive, picks up the jar and says,

"Herring? Really? What is this stuff?"

Peering into the jar, hesitantly, she calls out,

"Here fishy, fishy, fishy! Oh...my...they have scales!"

"Buck up skippy! Put it on a cracker," Mary Ann calls out from behind the camera. "Ok, ok...I'll do it. Just let me ease into this...I don't know that I've ever accomplished my yearly goals in 7 minutes before, geeze."

Glancing sheepishly toward the camera, Katy puts herring a la cracker into her mouth. Recognizing the familiar look when Katy stops breathing, Mary Ann cries out, "Breathe! Chew! Swallow! Get a grip! Gotta have goals!"

Is raising those eyebrows in delight? Is she making a kissy face because she's just recently joined PETA and realized that fish are people too? Is she grimacing because she has a slimy, scaly, cold fish in her mouth? Dun...da...dun.....What will be next? What will she do?

Oh...she's swallowing, but it looks painful, folks. Poor herring? Poor Katy? Was it worth the prospect of prosperity? Is she internally joyful that she met her goals? Should canoes be made out of wood? Or Aluminum? (Veggie tales anyone?)

Well, Katy of course never walks away from any experience and challenge without the opportunity for growth. This is what she learned from Mr. Herring and Sr. Mary Ann:

Sometimes you set goals and when you achieve them it's like waiting for the right moment and then enjoying a tender, medium-rare steak; can't have it all the time, but when you do, wow.

Sometimes it's like eating herring on New Year's: short, sweet, over...but still a mouthful of YUCK.

All in all...you did it and there's the sheer glory of just doing it and meeting the challenge...and there's always the opportunity for chocolate afterwards.

Stay tuned for Installment #2!