March | April 2022
What Challenges Us During Lent?
by Cheryl MaryTeresa Teeling, OSSM
Our Most Sorrowful Mother Community, Portland, OR

    What do we feel that perhaps really challenges us when we go deeper into our own lives during Lent? We can certainly feel disturbed by our own sins when meditating on the Stations of the Cross and the sufferings of Jesus, knowing that we have sinned and He has done THIS, this ultimate Gift of Sacrifice for our salvation! How do we feel about suffering and sacrifice in our own lives? Do we think that we are willing to suffer, to make sacrifices, to join Jesus and bear our crosses and do whatever He asks of us? Or do we secretly pray that it not be THAT sort of suffering and then inject several scenarios that we fear the most?
    We somehow want to retain a sort of control over suffering, over our lives, our death even. What control do we really have? Our egos imagine much in attempts to be little gods. What if we shift our fear and our imagined control over to something simpler? What about an attitude of radical and complete surrender! Suffering is inevitable and fear is useless. Surrendering; becoming paradoxically powerless, (as we are) requires an act of Faith, exactly the key that God is waiting for us to use. Faith is a Gift from God, it’s free for the praying, the asking. It does, however, require a bit of practice, if for no other reason than to convince us that it really works!
    How many times does Jesus keep saying, “O ye of little Faith!” when we resort to everything else… and fail? No one likes suffering, and God doesn’t either. We don’t really understand or know why He allows it, but we can see by the example of Jesus, that it is an act of Divine Love. Suffering somehow puts an end to itself as we move through it and the Power of God uses it to bring about His Holy Will which is Love and Mercy for us. God invites us to not just be resigned to suffering, and even death, when we say we accept His Will. He invites us to participate in His plan of Salvation. By Faith, we are able to surrender ourselves and thereby become a willing sacrifice to God, a true follower of Jesus. Surrender is a challenge! Yet when we turn our attitude from control to surrender, we go beyond those fears, that desire for control. We become simpler when we surrender.
    By Faith we can see beyond, we see God is in control and everything is His Love and Tender Mercy. In surrender, we can give ourselves as a gift to God and be free of our useless efforts to try to “work out something else.” Simplicity, openness, Faith through surrender, is what God desires from us. This is part of why He allows suffering and pain and death; His act of Divine Love invites us to walk with Jesus through these things and participate in The Gift. Let us pray for the Graces to arise to the Challenges we find in the Season of Lent.
    Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us… that we may be made worthy of the Promises of Christ. Amen.
GATHERING TOGETHER
by Sue Weigand, OSSM
Mary, Queen of Servants Community, Palm Bay, FL
    On Saturday, April 30th UNIFAS-USA will be Zooming again as we gather together in fraternal fellowship. Look for the Zoom invitation to be sent out in mid-April. Also, save the dates for the Gathering Together Zoom Events all scheduled on Saturdays at 10 am PT - 11 am MT - 12 noon CT - 1 pm ET, on July 30th and a very special New Year's Eve Livestream Event on December 31st. The October 29th Gathering Together event will be incorporated within the Virtual OSSM/UNIFAS Joint Conference later this year in October (see article below.)
Mittens To Motivate
by Mary Ann Anderson, OSSM
Source of Our Joy Community, Chicago, IL
     Source of Our Joy Community in Chicago, IL was excited to send mittens to the residents of Zacchaeus House. These mittens honoring Team USA Olympics have been dubbed “Mittens to Motivate,” honoring Maura Murrihy’s niece, Tatyana McFadden. Considered the fastest woman in the world, Tatyana has 17 Paralympic medals (including seven gold medals), 23 World Major Marathon wins including four consecutive Grand Slams. She has also broken five world records in track and field.
    There are very few athletes who have achieved so much, considering Tatyana’s unique beginnings. Born with spina bifida, Tatyana spent the first six years of her life in a Russian orphanage with virtually nothing -- not even a wheelchair. Paralyzed from the waist down, and with no other way to move, she learned to walk on her hands to keep up with the other children. Little did she know that the powerful arms and hands she developed as a small child would someday carry her around the globe as one of the world's greatest athletes. Reflecting on Tatyana’s journey from her Russian orphanage beginnings to her more recent Paralympic medals, these mittens which sport “Team USA” are truly motivational.
    So many have suffered hard times and setbacks, especially during the current pandemic. Yet, there is never any reason to be defeated. We can all learn to walk on our hands and achieve greatness. So, to our friends at Zacchaeus House, use your Mittens to Motivate: “When you are having a bad day, just put on your mittens and know that you too can be a champion.”
    Zacchaeus House is a not-for-profit, non-treatment home for men, providing a safe, supportive, and spiritual home to those in transition and in need of healing and God’s grace and mercy. They emphasize spiritual development and acceptance of the fundamental dignity and self-respect of all people. Please keep the men from Zacchaeus House in your prayers. 
Communications Committee Welcome its Newest Member
 by Cheryl MaryTeresa Teeling, OSSM
Our Most Sorrowful Mother Community, Portland, OR

     The Communications Committee welcomes Cheryl Teeling to our team. As we welcome her to our committee, we wanted to get to know her a little bit, so here’s a short biography she wrote . . . Becoming a Secular Servite was a blessing that came quite unexpectedly at a pivotal point in my life some 12-13 years ago. Having been born in a Protestant family, my journey began as a child when I became determined to become a Catholic. That was accomplished at age 24 but it was the 1970’s and poor… and in my case, non-existent catechesis was the norm. I didn’t know how to live or defend my Catholic faith. I fell away in hard times.
    By God’s grace and the intercession of my new-found devotion to Mother Teresa, I was introduced to Our Lady in ways that shook my soul right back into Holy Mother Church! Looking for a way to express my re-conversion and make it a lasting experience that I could share with others, more intercessions came my way and I found the Servite Order at the National Shrine of Our Sorrowful Mother just across the river in Portland, OR. Our Mother took my hand and literally guided me into the beacon of Light that was the OSSM. I had no doubt that this was where I would be nurtured and formed into the kind of Catholic disciple of Christ through Mary, that my soul was longing to be. It was an unmistakable vocation. Ave Maria! 

Virtual Conference Coming in October
by Sue Weigand, OSSM
Mary, Queen of Servant Community, Palm Bay, FL
 
    After the 2015 OSSM Conference in Sierra Madre, CA, it was decided that the Secular Order Conference and the UNIFAS-USA Congress which are usually scheduled every four years should be held jointly as opposed to the UNIFAS-USA Congress following the Secular Order Conference one year later. The rationale for the joint meeting venture was to save travel expenses of attending two meetings, as many of the attendees were the same and because of the age factor of the UNIFAS-USA attendees and the increasing problems associated with travel far away from home. It was decided that the Secular Order, being both larger in numbers and younger in ages, would probably be the majority of attendees for an in-person conference as it was planned at the time.
    In 2020, as you know, the conference was postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then, in 2021 Techny Towers, our venue, cancelled all conferences and refunded our deposit. Scrambling to find another venue and with the pandemic still looming, the planning committee was forced to cancel the conference for yet another year.
    Earlier this year both the OSSM National Council and the Executive Council of UNIFAS-USA have decided to hold the joint conference virtually, this year in October. Plans are being finalized and registration will begin this summer for the 3-day event scheduled for the weekend of October 28th, 29th and 30th. It is planned to last approximately three hours each day beginning at 11 am PT, 12 noon MT, 1 pm CT, and 2 pm ET.
    Preliminary plans are to have a keynote speaker, a day of sharing, and a full day of Secular Order meetings. Mark your calendars to save the dates and look for more information coming out soon.
Servants of Mary, Faith Resources
This video, Chapter Five and the eighth in the series on the Legenda of the Servants of Mary, takes us into the life of Br0. Alexis Falconieri during his nearly 77 years in our Order. Twenty-four minutes of beautiful music and stunning artwork frames his life of humility, service and devotion to Our Lady. This video includes some stunningly mystical experiences and visions. Where did the name 'Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary' come from?

The next issue will feature Chapter Six, part 9 of the 20-part series. Videos range from 10-20 minutes each. Enjoy!