1 Franciscan Way

Hi! I’m Sr. Mary Gianna. I just started working in our hospital as an x-ray tech in September. My apostolate is still very new and I have a lot to learn practically. That is to say, I’m just learning how to do my job. In the midst of feeling inadequate and often needing help from the other techs I’ve had some moments when I’ve experienced why I am in our x-ray department. Our Constitutions say that our first witness is always our consecrated life- i.e. before anything else people need me to be a Sister. It’s who I am and not what I do. As an x-ray tech I go into surgery periodically. If a doctor is putting in metal parts or just needs to see what’s going on inside as he’s repairing fractured bones he’ll ask me to take an x-ray there in the surgery room. I was in one surgery that happened to run during the time that our community prays midday prayers. Since I wasn’t able to leave the surgery I sat down on a stool in a corner and prayed. The doctor teased late...

My sister recently had a baby, a beautiful little girl; and I was reminded that the expectation of pregnancy can teach us so much about preparing for Christmas. The baby’s room is prepared and decorated. Parties are thrown beforehand and gifts given for the new baby and the baby's parents.   This one little person is the largest part of the new parents’ lives.  For my sister, the experience was added to by the fact that the little dear was six days late. Each day the baby waited to come added to my sister’s sense of expectation. I’m sure she could have written her own version of the “O antiphons” although they may have been more along the lines of “Oh my belly is sore” and "Oh none of my clothes fit”. She couldn’t make any plans, not knowing when the baby would come. The house was ready with newborn clothes, diapers and other accessories waiting. Her whole life was one of waiting, on the verge of this great event but not yet there. It is like holding a breath and waiting ...

He is coming. There is a song that has a line "Someday, I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying." It's a short, popular, funny sort of song, but the reality can be incredibly profound. We are granted one life, filled with experiences that are pleasant - or not; we do not know how long it will last; we do not know when the last moment will come. And we are given the choice: shall I live it with love - or hate? With gratitude - or bitterness? How shall this day be spent? It could be my last - shall I end what may be my last day with a smile or a complaint? That, to me is what Advent is - a reminder to live like I am dying. To make certain that, should the Lord return tonight, I can hand him a day (and a life) in which I chose to live in love for Him and for people. It's all in personal freedom; circumstances only provide the grist, my will, my choice makes the statement. - Sister M. Luka, FSGM

This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday, that is "rejoice" Sunday. We are halfway to Christmas and your excitement is building. Or is it? What if instead of excitement and joy you are experiencing sadness and emptiness? Joy and sorrow can co-exist, they can meet and embrace just as mercy and truth meet in Psalm 85. True and lasting joy comes from freedom, interior freedom. Christ has come to set us free so we have claim to this freedom. This doesn't mean we will never suffer or grieve, but that He has redeemed even our sadness. He became small and weak, an infant, so that we would dare to approach Him, unashamed of our own weakness. So if you do not feel like rejoicing, offer Him your heart now (in all truth), right where you are at. He knows your weakness, he has experienced your poverty and wishes now to fill you. "Everyone offering himself to God must offer the glory of life in himself, whether it be through giving it up or rejoicing in it; t...

“God indeed is my salvation; I am confident and unafraid. For the LORD is my strength and my might, and he has been my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2 Mary would have been very familiar with the Psalms and I can imagine her praying these words as she traveled in hast to visit her cousin Elizabeth. I am sure it would not have been an easy journey, but Mary’s faith in God sustained her. Mary had the privilege of carrying her salvation in her womb. I can just picture her praying these words with a hand on her stomach in utter awe of the mystery within her. In reflecting on this I thought “Wait a minute, I get to do like the same thing!” Every day my savior comes to me, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. He comes to dwell in me, that I might take Him in haste to others also. As I go I too should have the confidence that Mary had because Her Son dwells in me as well. Mary knew more than anyone else that she needed a Savior, even though she was sinless. This Advent I have been reflecting...

             As the Season of Advent approached, I asked the Lord how He desired to draw me to Himself. My thoughts turned to contemplation of Our Lady, as she spent this time in expectation of her son, and Messiah. Much to my surprise the Lord then placed His cross before my eyes, as if to say that He wishes to prepare me for His coming by drawing me to the Cross. In my human weakness, I wanted to cling to the idea of spending Advent with our Lady. It sounded safer, easier, more consoling. The Lord gave me to realize that what better way to be prepared for His coming at Christmas, than to enter into the Mystery in which He comes to us every day! The Paschal Mystery, which is made present at Mass. Entering into His death, we are drawn into His birth. Entering into His death, we find ourselves made new, born again. So may the Lord find in us a dwelling place, swept clean by His Precious Body and Blood. May He find in us new wineskins (Mt. 9:17), rea...

The Lord is coming. He is near. Advent is a time when we prepare our hearts to celebrate the Birth of Christ, when God took upon himself our humanity and entered into human history. In His Love, He willed to come down to dwell with us. What is amazing is that this did not end with the single act 2000 years ago that we remember. He desires to draw near to each of us today. Pope Francis speaks often of this intimacy. He says that it begins with an encounter, a look, a gaze that reaches into the core of the person and this encounter must be founded on Mercy. “Only one who has been embraced by the tenderness of Mercy truly knows the Lord. The privileged place of encounter is the embrace of Jesus’ Mercy regarding my sin.” Here lies the great struggle. I want to present to God something worthy of His greatness. My imperfections, weaknesses and shortcomings just don’t fit. And yet there is this paradox: He wants to enter into my weakness too, because for Mercy to be present, ther...