January 23, 2007 — Vol. 6, No. 1

"Prayer: Pathway to Holiness" is the theme for the April 13-15 National Meeting. Read more below.

Read this on the IRL website.

CONTENTS:

• Bishop Thomas G. Doran Returns to Diocese After Cancer Surgery
• Sisters of St. Joseph Handling 'Press' of Business
• Candy Store with Nun's Special Confections Aids Franciscan Ministries
• Letters to Dominicans of the Future Encased in Time Capsule
• Her Own Abuse Led Nun to Counsel Other Victims
• Jesuit Coffee Company Brews Up Peace, Fair Trade, Stewardship
• Father Moreau, Founder of Holy Cross Order, to Be Beatified
• Priest Says Scouting Helps Youths Discern Vocations
• Nun Chaplain Devotes Herself to Work That 'Can't be Measured' in Prison
• Documentary on Nuns' Role in 1965 Civil Rights Marches to Air on PBS
• IRL's 2007 National Meeting Scheduled for April 13-15

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Bishop Thomas G. Doran Returns to Diocese After Cancer Surgery

Bishop Thomas G. Doran, Bishop of Rockford and IRL President, is recuperating in his diocese after an 11-day stay at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where he had surgery for lung cancer. "The bishop continues to make progress in his recovery but tires easily at this point," Msgr. David Kagan, diocesan vicar general, said in a diocesan news release Dec. 28. "He asked me to express his appreciation and gratitude for all the prayers and well-wishes he has received thus far." Bishop Doran, 70, was hospitalized after a routine annual physical examination in early December revealed two spots in his lungs. Additional testing revealed that the spot in the right lung was benign but indicated a malignant tumor in the left lung. In a four-hour operation Dec. 14 doctors removed the upper fourth of his left lung. They said the tumor was adenocarcinoma, one of the more common types of lung cancer, and there were no indications that it had metastasized. He left the hospital Dec. 23.

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Sisters of St. Joseph Handling 'Press' of Business

In the basement of the Sisters of St. Joseph motherhouse in LaGrange Park sits a hulking piece of equipment with a small wooden statue of St. Joseph perched on top. The Hewlett-Packard Indigo 5000 digital press is the centerpiece of St. Joseph Press, which produces booklets, greeting cards, calendars and newsletters for a variety of religious and nonprofit organizations around the country, and is the pride and joy of Sister Judy Sikorski. Sister Judy, press operations manager, has the no-nonsense manner of someone who spent 41 years as a Catholic schoolteacher and administrator. When she retired as a principal in 2002, Sister Judy never thought she would have a second career in the printing business -- a business in which her father worked as a typesetter. She took a 100-day sabbatical and had agreed to teach one more year, when she was told the sisters had decided to open a print shop, and they wanted her to take charge. She finished her last year as a teacher, then took her new assignment -- with little trepidation.

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Candy Store with Nun's Special Confections Aids Franciscan Ministries

If browsers were to peek into the windows of Poverello Delights in Highland, they wouldn't be surprised to find the candy store bustling with activity. What might be surprising is that the proprietor is a nun. Open since October, Poverello Delights is the realization of a dream that Franciscan Sister Evelyn Brokish believes to be the result of divine providence. Sister Evelyn has spent most of her 47 years as a religious sister serving as a professional liturgical musician in various parish communities, which often had no budget for the music program. "We used to collect aluminum cans to finance the music ministries," she said with a laugh. "Our pastor once commented that we needed to find a different means. All we needed was a little imagination." While she currently markets Poverello Delights through local chambers of commerce and word of mouth, she admits that she is hesitant to grow too fast. "I want to make sure I have a handle on everything and that there is a sufficient variety to offer my customers," she said.

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Letters to Dominicans of the Future Encased in Time Capsule

The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation linked their past, present and future in late December when they sealed a time capsule that will be opened in 100 years. Work on the time capsule began in 2003 when the Dominicans were in the midst of the renovation and expansion of their motherhouse. "We actually got the idea for a time capsule early in the construction process," said Dominican Sister Marian Sartain. As secretary-general of the congregation, Sister Marian is in charge of its historical records, so she headed the committee that planned the time capsule. Dominican Sister Rose Marie Masserano, the immediate past prioress general of the congregation, came up with the idea of a time capsule, Sister Marian said. "She has such a wonderful sense of history." The time capsule is 12 inches by 12 inches by 14 inches and contains three volumes of letters written by the current sisters to the sisters of 2106. The time capsule was sealed in a small vault in a room outside the new chapel at the motherhouse at the end of evening prayer Dec. 22.

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Her Own Abuse Led Nun to Counsel Other Victims

She knew something was wrong when she started to hyperventilate. It was 1986, and Dominican Sister Carol Davis, who had a flourishing ministry in counseling and leading retreats, had been thinking about contacting her biological father. Her parents were long divorced, and she had a different last name from her biological father's. But every time she thought about looking him up, she felt terrified and faint. Then the flashbacks started, and Sister Carol thought she was losing her sanity: She was remembering repeated sexual abuse at his hands during her childhood. "A flashback, for a survivor, is like being back in that war zone: reliving it in a visceral, emotional way, as if it's happening in the present," she told The Evangelist, newspaper of the Albany Diocese. Now her story has become a large part of her ministry. She started weekend retreats for sexual abuse survivors at the Dominican Pastoral Counseling Center in Niskayuna and travels around the country leading similar retreats.

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Jesuit Coffee Company Brews Up Peace, Fair Trade, Stewardship

It could be called the ultimate "green" bean -- a coffee bean that promotes peace, fair trade, education and organic stewardship. MadreMonte is a company that promotes 100-percent Colombian organic coffee and is linked with the Colombian Jesuits who have been helping Colombian farmers for the past 42 years. The U.S. company was co-founded by Jesuit Father Bill Watson of Portland and Jesuit Father Joe Aguilar of Colombia. To make it a for-profit company, Father Watson asked Joe Verschueren, the founder and CEO of the online printing company, ImageX.com, to give them financial backing. Verschueren is a graduate of Gonzaga University, the Jesuit college in Spokane, Wash. Father Aguilar has a doctorate in environmental studies from the University of California at Berkeley. MadreMonte sells its coffee -- highest-quality Colombian and completely organic -- for $11 for a 12-ounce bag. It is available only through the company's Web site, www.madremonte.com, to keep costs down and maximize profits for investing in programs that advance sustainability.

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Father Moreau, Founder of Holy Cross Order, to Be Beatified

The French founder of the Holy Cross priests, brothers and sisters will be beatified in his home diocese in September, the religious order announced. The Vatican Secretariat of State informed the order Dec. 7 that Father Basile-Antoine Marie Moreau will be beatified Sept. 15, 2007, in Le Mans, France. Beatification is a major step in the church's sainthood process. Born Feb. 11, 1799, he was a priest of the Diocese of Le Mans and a seminary professor. He established two societies of the Association of the Holy Cross -- one for men and one for women -- with a focus on educating young people and evangelizing. Members of the Holy Cross family continue to operate schools around the world, including the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

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Priest Says Scouting Helps Youths Discern Vocations

Participating in Boy Scouts is a great way for youths to meet people in all walks of life and help them discern their own vocations, says Msgr. John B. Brady, a 65-year veteran of Scouting. In an interview with Scouting, a family magazine published by the Boy Scouts of America, Msgr. Brady said jamborees -- nine-day national or international gatherings of Scouts and their leaders -- provide opportunities for vocational discernment "not equaled in any other environment." He said the "excitement, enlightenment, reverence and camaraderie" of a jamboree combine to increase youths' openness to thinking about what direction their life should take. Scouting interviewed Msgr. Brady after he received the National Catholic Committee on Scouting's 2006 Silver St. George award, given to Catholic Scouting leaders for "especially significant" accomplishments and service at the national level. A priest of the Washington Archdiocese, Msgr. Brady, 77, was archdiocesan chaplain for Boy Scouting, Girl Scouting and Camp Fire Boys and Girls from 1960 to 1984.

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Nun Chaplain Devotes Herself to Work that 'Can't be Measured' in Prison

At first glance, it wouldn't seem like a 64-year-old woman religious would possibly be able to relate to inmates at a women's prison. But that's not the case for Mercy Sister Natalie Rossi, a petite, gray-haired woman who works at the women's prison facility outside Erie, Pa. Sister Natalie has a natural camaraderie with the inmates because she has no shortage of empathy. For the past 12 years she has been a full-time chaplain at the State Correctional Institution for Women in Cambridge Springs, PA, a minimum-security facility primarily for women nearing their prison release. She coordinates programs with part-time chaplains from other faiths, supervises church-based volunteers, directs spiritual activities and deals with reams of paperwork. But the most important part of her job, as she sees it, is one-on-one time with the inmates, either in daily visits to women in the prison infirmary or pastoral counseling sessions in her office.

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Documentary on Nuns' Role in 1965 Civil Rights Marches to Air on PBS

A one-hour documentary featuring religious sisters who participated in the 1965 civil rights marches in Selma, AL, will air on PBS in February as part of Black History Month programming. The documentary, "Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change," highlights the involvement of Midwestern sisters who joined the marches. It also features the Sisters of St. Joseph from Rochester, N.Y., based in Selma, who provided housing for visiting protesters and treated marchers at Selma's Good Samaritan Hospital. Many of these sisters are now retired or working in various parts of the country. Independent filmmaker Jayasri Hart, who served as the film's director and producer, reunited them to show them previously unused news footage of themselves and the events of 1965. The comments they made while watching the film serve as a large part of the film's narrative. "Sisters of Selma" is a co-production of Hartfilms and Alabama Public Television. For broadcast times, viewers should check their local listings or visit the Alabama Public Television Web site, www.aptv.org/as/sisters/index.asp, for a broadcast schedule link.

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Benedict XVI Advises Capuchins on Vocations

Benedict XVI received the minister general of the Capuchin Franciscans, exhorting them to live St. Francis' charism. In his conversation on Friday with Swiss Friar Mauro Johri, the Pope offered suggestions to the order for their religious life and for the increase of vocations. Friar Johri, 60, has headed this religious family since last September.

"Be committed to living poverty both spiritually and materially and you will see that you will have more vocations," Benedict XVI said. "They will not be as numerous as in past times, because nuclear families themselves are smaller, but you will certainly have vocations."

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IRL's 2007 National Meeting Scheduled for April 13-15

The IRL's National Meeting has as its theme “Prayer: Pathway to Holiness.” The Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award, bestowed upon individuals and groups who manifest a strong love for the Church and a zealous commitment to the consecrated life, will be given to Rev. Thomas Dubay, S.M. Father is a retreat master and spiritual director for religious communities around the country and a highly regarded speaker.

Speaking at the conference will be Most Rev. Robert Baker, Bishop of Charleston, SC, Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, Bishop of Joliet, IL and other outstanding Church leaders.

A special feature of the conference will be a selection of the Vatican's exhibit, Eucharistic Miracles of the World, consisting of color photographs, artwork and text. A marvelous tool for catechesis on the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, this exhibit will deepen your love for Our Eucharistic Lord and your desire to serve Him.

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