Living the Exodus

I have to admit, when the Sisters told me that the novitiate would be a nice, quiet time, I was expecting something other than a double dose of classes four days a week, along with chores, grocery shopping and ministry… But I cannot deny that I am constantly learning something, either through prayer, class, or experience, and I am so grateful for the insight I’ve gained thus far.  In fact, why don’t I share some of it with you now!

To refresh your memory, I am a newly invested novice with the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Felix of Cantalice of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis – or for short, the Felician Sisters.  I am 48 days old in Sister years and feel as though it’s already been 48 months.  So, what have I learned that I can offer you?  Well, this weekend I went to a healing Mass where Father Bob Lombardo, C.F.R., explained that healing doesn’t mean we ask for change in another person, it means we ask for change in ourselves.  If we want healing, it has to start with the Lord first and take root in our own being before it can ever take place in another.  “Situations hardly ever change,” he said, “but what is it that changes instead?  You.  God changes you.”  When in your life have you asked God to change a person or a situation, but instead, the change ultimately took place in you?

My T.O.R. Friends!

I have a story about that.  We are currently reading the Book of Exodus – “Let my people go” –  I’m sure you know it.  Well, each time Moses requests this of Pharaoh, Pharaoh refuses.  Sometimes we become Pharaoh and our souls cry out as Moses did: “Let me go to worship my Lord!”  And what happens each time we say, “No, I need you to do MY work, not the Lord’s, forget about worship”?  Just as in the case of the Exodus, Pharaoh is inundated by plague after plague, so, too, do we experience darkness and storms and death when we deny ourselves the privilege of giving our lives to God.  The story I have, which relates to this, is one I heard from a friend who is a Franciscan T.O.R. Brother studying for the priesthood.  “I have a really good friend who paints with his mouth,” he began, “He’s actually paralyzed from the neck down.  He was an alcoholic, had a wife and kids, but was always in and out of bars.  His license was revoked for DWI, so he would ride his bike instead.  While riding his bike home one day, he was hit by a car and ended up in rehab.  He had intense physical therapy, even though the therapists weren’t sure if he’d ever walk again.  ‘If you give me my legs back,’ my friend prayed, ‘I’ll never drink again’.  Well, he walked out of there with full use of his legs and soon returned to his old ways.  His wife left him, but not even this changed his behavior.  Now he walked to and from the bars, so when he was on his way home one night, completely drunk, he climbed over a fence, fell, and broke his neck.  He’ll never walk again, but he says it’s the best thing that could’ve happened to him.  Now his art and his life are dedicated to the Lord.”  Like Pharaoh, who refused the freedom for worship, this man brought plague after plague upon himself – the car/bike accident, his wife leaving, paralysis – until finally he handed his life over to God.  For some of us, it takes that much; how much will it take for you?

Remember, God's grace, love and mercy are infinite – they could never possibly run out! 

Love always,

Sister Desiré Anne-Marie

Through what desert will you wander?