1 Franciscan Way

This past weekend, October 21-23rd, God poured out His grace on many young women!  Twenty-nine women from around the country joined us for the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, prayer, talks, recreation, silence and time with the Sisters.  Veni Si Amas means "Come if you love" and these women came to love and be loved by Christ.  May their time with us bear great fruit in their lives.  You can view more pictures on our website.

During our second year as novices, we each go on “mission” for six months, living with professed Sisters in one of our other convents, and putting into practice what we learned in class last year about living out the vows. For my mission, I am working at the House of Formation in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The young women (called “aspirants”) who live and pray here with us are discerning whether God is calling them to the religious life, and if so, to which community. My role can be summed up well by the words of our foundress, Mother M. Anselma: to be “simply ready in obedience.” No one day is quite like the next one, other than the constant of the Holy Hour that I get to pray each day for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in this diocese. A large part of what I do is show the aspirants who live and pray with us the joy and the reality of a life lived for and with Christ. While I have different projects that I’m working on, being simply ready in obedience also means that I’m...

More thoughts on the pilgrimage ... Lauren:   It was a time of renewal.  A renewal of my devotion to the Blessed Mother, which ultimately led me closer to the Most Sacred Heart of her Son. Sister Teresa Maria:   During our pilgrimage, particularly our time at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, Mary reminded me not to remain idle.  We should each always spread our love for Christ and the Church. Sister M. Alexandra:   During our pilgrimage Jesus inspired me through our Mother M. Anselma that "For my Lord, nothing is too hard."  As we know the greatness and compassion or our Lord, we think less and less or ourselves. Sister M. Caterina:   Our pilgrimage was a reminder that we must put our desire to totally serve Christ into action by imitating the  Blessed Virgin Mary, especially in her humility as the "handmaid of the Lord." Sister Mary Francis:   During my pilgrimage, I really felt like I deepened my understanding of the Church as one,...

What motivates you? What moves you to act or not act? To speak or not to speak? To serve or not to serve? What fills your heart? Do you not have a deep desire for Love? Does your heart and soul long for It? Today we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Francis! This saint was motivated by love. His actions, his words, his prayer, his tears, were motivated by Love. He knew Christ so intimately that he cried because Love was not loved. When we have tasted the Love of Christ, we know peace, we know joy and we know our dignity as a child of God. And our heart longs for even more of this Love, yet it will not be satisfied here on earth. May the same spark of Love that enflamed the heart of St. Francis ignite your own heart to love more each day. May our own hearts cry with the same anguish as St. Francis that "Love is not loved!"  How does this happen? Let us look upon the Crucified One. As we spend time at the foot of the Cross, we will come to know the Love poured out for us – f...

W.A.S.A.B.I. "With all small actions, big impact." This is the theme for our school year at St. James Academy in Lenexa, Kansas. The theme comes from Mother Teresa's message that God doesn't ask big things from us, but rather, small things done with great love. So, when KCTV 5 showed up at our school on Wednesday afternoon, then again on Thursday morning, we knew that our small actions of that day were going to make a much larger impact than we had ever imagined. Thursday, September 29th was our annual All School Serve Day. Every year we go out and serve the greater Kansas City community for a whole day, sent out by Houses (similar to homerooms) to bring Christ to those we meet and to grow as a House in the work we do for others. So on Thursday morning when a Junior boy asked me why KCTV 5 was at school saying, "But Serve Day is normal for us," I could only respond, "Yes, it is normal for US , but it is not normal ." Most high schools do not send ...

The Novitiate was very blessed to have the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to Wisconsin September 25-29, 2011.   We arrived at our Mater Redemptoris Convent in La Crosse , WI , in time for evening prayer and supper with our Sisters there.   The next day, we went to Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse .   We walked up the hill to the Shrine in the rain, but by the time we emerged from the Shrine, the rain had stopped and we were able to pray the Stations of the Cross outside and go on a rosary walk.   The next day, we embarked on a journey across the state of Wisconsin which took us through beautiful farmland areas.   Our first stop was in DePere, WI, at St. Norbert Abbey to visit the National Shrine of St. Joseph .   We then went on to Champion, WI, to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help , which is on the actual site of an approved Marian apparition.   The whole atmosphere there was very peaceful and prayerful.   On the final full day o...