Love and Presence
Spring 2021
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A newsletter for and by Associates of the School Sisters of St. Francis |
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BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD…
By Associate Kathleen Kovatovic
Watching the PBS News Hour has become a nightly habit for me. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the program ends each night with a short biography of people that have passed due to Covid-19. These are not famous people but rather ordinary people —
grandparents, spouses, brothers, sisters and friends — leading ordinary lives. But for the grace of God, these losses could be mine.
This past year the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating affect on all of us. Yet none of our experiences are exactly the same. Knowing this, I have reached out to a few associates to see the reality they are living.
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MINISTRY FROM A DISTANCE
By Associate Mary Ann Dunn (Wimauma, Florida)
Mary Ann had to adapt her ministry to provide hope from a distance. (Mary Ann is pictured on the right)
Before my retirement I was a Lay Pastoral Minister for 30 years at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Tennessee. I visited the sick and the dying in homes, nursing homes and hospitals.
Upon retirement, my family moved to Florida and I became a volunteer member of the Pastoral Care Ministry at St. Joseph Hospital. As such, I visited patients weekly offering them the Eucharist and praying with them. I would then leave them a homemade blessed rosary and a holy card of the Blessed Mother and child Jesus. The patients were always very appreciative. In fact, one woman when receiving the holy card held it up in front of her face and started to pray the Hail Mary. The patients were happy just to have someone willing to listen to them. A smile would come over their faces when they were offered communion and I saw peace in their faces after the prayer. Knowing the Lord has touched them, has always been a great joy and blessing for me.
During the pandemic, the volunteers were not allowed to visit patients. So I spent my time making rosaries that will be blessed and given on my return. During this time of visitor restriction, we are sending cards and notes to the patients. For the children, I make pictures of rainbows with sunshine and flowers. I also send them blessed Miraculous Medals attached to a prayer card explaining the medal and the symbols on it.
To cheer the nurses and staff and to let them know we appreciate them, we provide lunches and goodie baskets.
Now after my two Covid-19 vaccines, I am waiting for the day I can return in person to continue my hospital ministry. I look forward to providing some comfort, hope, peace, joy and love. Until that day, they are remembered in my prayers.
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MOVING FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT
By Associate Nancy Kline (North Aurora, Illinois)
Nancy is an essential worker licensed as a Professional Clinical Counselor, certified as both an Alcohol and other Drug Counselor and a Mental Health Counselor in the state of Illinois. She works with mandated court-ordered substance abuse clients who have been arrested for various charges such as domestic violence, DUI, murder and possession of illegal substances. (Nancy Kline is pictured on the left)
Even prior to the pandemic, most of my clients have been isolated. They experience loss of family, ending of relationships and unemployment. Many live either in cars or homeless shelters. The Covid-19 pandemic has only added to their stress and further increased isolation. We have been following CDC regulations holding groups and individual appointments via Zoom. What was lost in this process was spirituality, along with the connection they desperately need. Two weeks ago we began slowly returning to our offices one day a week, keeping Covid-19 precautions in mind.
In recovery from addiction, a client must accept the loss of their drug as a self-medicating agent to alleviate pain (physical and/or emotional) and build a bridge to a new life. As a healer, I watch and pray for that transformation. It is in the narratives of the firsthand accounts of the traumatic experiences that my clients, as wounded souls relate to me, that I experience what is called “secondary trauma." For some, the healing journey never happens. This is when I, the healer, experience another kind of trauma, that of “anticipatory grief." This is the experience of knowing that some clients are not able to stop using substances. The addiction is too strong. In a period of two weeks, I lost four clients to heroin overdoses. These deaths hit hard. Then I began looking at those clients who, without change, would be the next to die. I found myself with a roller coaster of emotions just waiting for the phone call of yet another overdose.
When I received the email asking me to contribute to this newsletter, I was in the midst of a workshop on compassion fatigue. The workshop was to help me learn to survive both the secondary trauma of my client’s narratives and the anticipatory grief of those I cared for. The goal was to learn the art of self-care and learn to detach in a caring way. As a therapist/healer, it is my goal to sit with these wounded clients as each emerges and transforms from darkness to light. I am reminded of the transformation and resurrection of Jesus from His death on the cross to His resurrection to new life on Easter Sunday. There is an enduring hope that I cling to of my client’s transformation and resurrection.
This reflection I’m sharing with you was written after the loss of four clients to heroin overdose deaths and an attempted suicide, all within two weeks. In the loss of these young people, who had so much to live for, I found myself doubled over in grief and vulnerable to the process. I wrote the following to survive and to self-care so that I may move from darkness to light.
Finding Meaning in Connection and Hope
by Associate Nancy Kline
I want to hole in,
To cozy under an afghan of safety
Reminiscent of childhood,
A cup of milked tea, a soothing, silkened, wisdomed hand
stroking my brow.
The feeling?
Drowning in an ocean of saddened fear.
I scramble for resilience to fight the tidal waves of death that
seem to come from nowhere; yet, I know they are coming,
One by one.
I said what I could say,
Did what I could do,
Sat for hours' length listening, encouraging, parenting what I knew
Choices,
And now,
Learn to step away,
Wait for the conveyor belt to bring the next, and the next, and the next.
Such wounded souls
No arms for reaching out
Society's Lepers
Until my day is done, I embrace with all my earthly care these,
these, hurting souls who struggle to know to believe the simplicity of I can, I will, I am. Before I am consumed
By this smell of death,
I practice gratitude,
How much was learned from the struggle, theirs, mine.
And now, I lean back breathing in calm…breathing out tired sadness…breathing in peace..
Breathing in acceptance…Breathing in hope…
Finding meaning, connection, hope…new life…choice
Yours and mine.
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Remembering Alyce Kyle
May 23, 1936 – February 9, 2021
By Sister Joneen Keuler, SSSF
I first met Alyce Kyle in 1985 at a Worship Committee meeting at St. Cyril of Alexandria parish in Tucson, Arizona. Alyce was a lector and I was in music ministry. Curious about the School Sisters of St. Francis and who the other six sisters in Tucson were and where they ministered, she and her friend Harriet Blakely soon became regulars at our monthly SSSF gatherings. The southwest Area Community, Sierra Francisca, was formed in September 1986, and Alyce and Harriet were among its first new Associates in 1987. (In the picture: Alyce, sitting and Sister Joneen, standing)
Alyce very much resonated with the Franciscan charism she witnessed being lived out in the lives and ministries of sisters and associates. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, she knew segregation and racism, and supported the community’s ministries that promoted equality, justice and peace-building. Her visit to Milwaukee, specifically to see the motherhouse and St. Joseph Chapel, was a highlight of her 33 Years as an Associate!
Alyce was very supportive of the May 2020 U.S. Province Public Stance on Climate Change, and our efforts to care for all of creation, in response to Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. She was proud to tell friends about our solar project on the roof of Sacred Heart. As a docent at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Alyce especially enjoyed teaching children what they can do to care for the earth and protect the animals and plants that are native to the deserts of the southwest.
From the time Alyce moved to Tucson in 1982, she developed a deep respect for and love of the Native American people of Arizona, especially the Navajo and Hopi women and men artisans. She made numerous trips to their reservations, becoming friends with potters, weavers, Kachina carvers and jewelers. She was allowed to attend festivals and ceremonial dances not ordinarily open to non-tribal members. Alyce studied their works, sold them in several different Tucson shops where she worked, and frequently shared her love of native art with civic and religious groups.
As physical limitations increased over the last several years, Alyce embraced a more simple life. With her engaging smile and contagious laugh, Alyce found goodness in everyone, and she never hesitated to tell you she’d seen it. Such a simple affirmation that speaks volumes about who Alice was to all who met her!
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In Memoriam
We remember and pray for our Lay Associates who went home to God:
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Deacon Frank Zammuto Became an Associate 1984
Went Home January 6, 2021
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Frank was an associate for 37 years. He was ordained a permanent deacon in September 2016. He felt called to live his associate life in the Franciscan spirit as reflected in Response in Faith. He lived in Rockford, Illinois.
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Helen Dorin Became an Associate 2014
Went Home January 11, 2021
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Helen operated her family religious supply store for many years. She lived her commitment through her daily interactions with her customers by giving them personal attention. She lived in Crown Point, Indiana. |
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Donna Barth Became an Associate 2000
Went Home January 31, 2021
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Donna was an associate for 21 years. She became a Lifetime Partner of the School Sisters of St. Francis in 2018. Donna was very passionate about social justice, she worked with victims and/or survivors of sexual abuse conducting weekly meetings for many years. She lived in Chicago. |
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Alyce Kyle Became an Associate 1987
Went Home February 9, 2021
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Jan Barone Became an Associate 2006
Went Home March 23, 2021
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Sister Rita Mary Phalen wrote on Jan, "Jan's ministry is in the way she lives her life. Jan is such a witness of presence. Jan has transformed her life experiences into words of wisdom." Jan became a Lifetime Partner of the School Sisters of St. Francis in 2019. She lived in Rochelle, Illinois.
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GOOD READS
Walk in a Relaxed Manner: Life Lessons from the Camino
Author: Joyce Rupp
In this inspirational book Joyce Rupp presents her adventures on a 47-day pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain. At the age of 60, she took this arduous journey of 450 miles with Tom, a retired pastor and close friend.
Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone
Author: James Martin
A Pilgrimage teaches anyone to converse with God in this comprehensive guide to prayer.
The Mill River Recluse (Mill River Series #1)
Author: Darcie Chan
A comforting book about the random acts of kindness that hold communities together.
The Mill River Recluse (Mill River Series #2)
Author: Darcie Chan
Estranged sisters try to work together to earn their inheritance in this novel from Chan.
VIDEOS OF INTEREST
Each month, they focus on a social issue and explore how it intersects with racism, migration and climate in a thought-provoking and engaging conversation. Each panelist offers unique perspectives, notable achievements and invaluable insight on their particular topic.
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PRAYER IN CLOSING
A Prayer to the Creator
Lord, Father of our human family
you created all human beings equal in dignity:
pour forth into our hearts a fraternal spirit
and inspire in us a dream of renewed encounter,
dialogue, justice, and peace.
Move us to create healthier societies
and a more dignified world,
a world without hunger, poverty, violence, and war.
May our hearts be open
to all the peoples and nations of the earth.
May we recognize the goodness and beauty
that you have sown in each of us,
and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects,
and shared dreams. Amen.
Pope Francis - Fratelli Tutti
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I would like to thank all of those individuals who contributed to this newsletter. This is a platform for associates and I welcome any ideas for upcoming editions. Please forward all ideas and comments to:
Kathleen Kovatovic, Editor
kkovatovic@gmail.com
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