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Trust your Driver!
By S. Janet Gildea
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On a trip to Hong Kong, mainland China, South Korea and the Philippines this summer, much of my travel was via public transportation. Riding on buses, vans and an occasional motor tricycle with sidecar down congested streets and through treacherous mountain passes, I frequently found my fingers (and my jaws) clenched while my foot pressed an imaginary brake pedal on the floor. I caught myself wondering if we were on the right road, in the correct lane, going too fast or too slow. Did we have the Express Pass for the toll road? Did we have enough gas?
Reflecting on these adventures I see how much energy I used trying to protect myself, control my environment and calm my nerves. The fact of the matter was that I was the least capable of managing the many variables of the journey. Almost any other passenger was more experienced with that kind of travel in every country I visited. I observed them playing games on their cellphones, engaging in conversations, even nodding off to sleep! Eventually I decided to sit back and enjoy the ride.
What made the difference? For me it was deciding to trust the driver. Even if a computer was controlling the starts and stops of the subway, I could surrender to a metro-plan that was so much more sophisticated than my travel-weary tourist brain.
Now at home and behind the wheel of my own car again I have reflected on these experiences as a metaphor for the journey of discernment. The strong desire to be in control, to know the highway and its rules of the road, to keep myself safe and secure … all these can get me where I want to go. But when I let myself surrender and trust the Driver with my life, as the story says, “Oh, the places you’ll go!” So ask for the grace to sit back sometimes, look out the window of your life, enjoy its scenery and wonder at where the Driver is taking you. It could be a great adventure!
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Future of Charity Blog
“Mary of Magdala: 2016”
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Online Discernment Retreat:
September 25-29, 2016
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A different kind of discernment weekend will take place at the House of Charity in New Orleans, Louisiana, Sept. 2-5. The anniversary of Hurricane Katrina offers an opportunity to combine service and spirituality, the heart and soul of the charism of Charity. Working with the St. Bernard Project, Sisters and participants spend Saturday helping people who are still trying to rebuild and come home all these years since Katrina. The rest of the weekend is time for prayer, input and sharing about vocational discernment. If you would like more information contact Sister Monica, 513-504-5592 or mgmarie53@gmail.com.
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My Mentors
By S. Mary Caroline Marchal
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When thinking of my mentors, I keep thinking back to high school at Holy Angels in Sidney, Ohio, and the people that influenced me there. There were three Sisters that stand out to me particularly: Sisters Teresa Vincent (Marian) Schroder, Rose Aquinas Sennrich, and Mary Berchmans Straub.
Being from a small town, I don’t know that I had anyone else as a teacher for the whole 12 years of grade school and high school. It was only Sisters of Charity, and those are the three that always stand out in my mind. They were great teachers, but there was a wholesomeness about them that really attracted me to becoming a Sister and wanting to be like them. Their commitment to their students, their joy, and their humanness made the lifestyle very attractive to me. I always joke and say that what initially drew me to their lifestyle was when we would come home on the school bus after a game on a Friday night, and every window in the convent went up and they were yelling out “who won, what was the score, who played well?” They always knew what was going on; they were never distant from us. They were simply very approachable, very easy to be with, and happy. So I wanted to be like them.
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Aug. 3-6, 2016
Catholics on Call Young Adult Conference, Chicago, Illinois
Aug. 20, 2016
Opening of Canonical Novitiate, vespers service for Romina Sapinoso, 4 p.m., Motherhouse chapel
Sept. 2-5, 2016
Come and Serve weekend, New Orleans, Louisiana
Sept. 25-29, 2016
Online Discernment Retreat
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Sisters Mary Ann Flannery, Annie Klapheke, Andrea Koverman, Louise Lears and Margaret Mach joined hands with more than 2,000 others during Cleveland’s Circle the City with Love event in July. Shoulder-to-shoulder, hand-in-hand, participants lined both sides of the Hope Memorial Bridge in silent reflection rooted in love.
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E-vōc is the electronic newsletter from the Vocations Team of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati for single women wondering what new thing God is calling forth in their lives.
If you are interested in learning more about life as a Sister of Charity, visit our website at
www.srcharitycinti.org or contact S. Monica Gundler at 513-504-5592.
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