Serving the Poor: Sr Liz Sjoberg's TV Appearance
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Sara Groves is able to say what my soul cannot. I recently re-discovered her throughout this year, the year that led to becoming a prepostulant with the Daughters. So many of her songs epitomize my spiritual and discernment journey. The song "I Saw What I Saw" is no exception. It expresses my feelings about seeing poverty firsthand, from experience in Appalachia to the Hispanic community in Baltimore City, but especially in Bolivia. She sings:
I saw what I saw and can't forget itMany people can come back from a mission trip and think "wow, that was wonderful" and continue their everyday life without a second thought. Which is fine in a way, but I knew as early as high school that I couldn't do that. From that first mission trip to a coal mine town in western Virginia, there was something about serving the poor that cut me to the core. Something told me that this wasn't a temporary thing, that it couldn't be, my soul wouldn't allow it any other way. All I know is that I was compelled...not out of some obligation to "help" as if I were the better one, but out of love. That compulsion took me from the hills of Appalachia to the Hispanic community in Baltimore to dusty rural Bolivia and now to the heart of Georgia.
I heard what I heard and can't go back
I know what I know and can't deny it
Something on the road cut me to the soul
It was God compelling me - not a "something" - and way back when, as a 16 year old, I wasn't able to explain it. The motto of the Daughters of Charity is, and has been since the 1600s, "The Charity of Jesus Crucified Urges Us!" And perhaps that's just it. I know now that it is a compulsion of vocation, that it is a compulsion to imitate Him in His love for the poor, that it is less of a obligation against my will and more of a drive towards my own true happiness.
I couldn't imagine the path that would take me on. Throughout the years, despite the rough days, I grew to love them and see the face of Christ more and more in them...in families in coal mine towns, in kids stuck between two nationalities, in girls who had been abused and neglected in every way imaginable, and lately I've seen it in my students, whose parents pay the bare minimum of tuition because it's all they can afford, in their problems, in their curiosity, in their enthusiasm and in the Hispanic community here, in their love for one another and their hope.
One of the last verses of "I Saw What I Saw" is:
I say what I say with no hesitationNine years ago, I had no idea that serving the poor for life meant giving up so much...but it also led me to the utter joy of saying what I say with no hesitation and doing what I do with deep conviction and giving it all up with pleasure, not thinking of the costs.
I have what I have but I'm giving it up
I do what I do with deep conviction
Serving the poor does not mean "helping". For me, it simply means loving my brothers and sisters and my Christ, and doing what I can to show them my love. "Helping" seems to have the air that I am their superior, when if anything, they are mine.
After all, how could we claim to be "helping" Christ, the son of our God? We are His servants. And likewise, we are servants to His face in the world.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Prepostulancy has officially begun! Nerves have subsided for the most part. For those discerning religious life, the nerves I talked about in this previous post do go away! Thank God...because they give you so much stress! That being said, in all honesty, I'm still nervous...but about teaching, not being a prepostulant. I'm sure when the kids come in next week (yes, they start school next week), things will get back to normal.
Anyway, I've only been here a few days and every now and then it hits me, usually when I'm turning my key to open the Sisters' house: "oh my gosh, I actually live here". It just feels unreal. I know that I've said this a million times now, but I still can't believe I'm here. A year ago, I would barely have imagined living as a prepostulant in Georgia with the Daughters of Charity. The Sisters here are wonderful, the community is wonderful, their ministries and spirituality are wonderful - it's exactly what I was looking for and more. God is so good.
When I think of His goodness, I am reminded of a memory that every morning at the hogar (orphanage) where I worked in Bolivia, we would blast music through the speakers to wake up the girls. Sometimes it would be the soundtrack of High School Musical, sometimes Hannah Montana (luckily, I left before it became Justin Beiber), and sometimes a mixed CD of Jesus Adrian Romero, a Mexican Christian singer, and Daniel Calveti, a Venezuelan Christian singer.
When I got nostalgic, I would listen to their music again - to pretend I was back in the hogar or in our rural church at Mass. But now that years have past, I listen to them to connect with my own current spiritual life...combining my present spirituality with my missionary one. One of my favorite songs is "La Niña de Tus Ojos" by Daniel Calveti and illustrates perfectly the merging of my Bolivian past with the current spiritual status I find myself in now.
"Niña de tus ojos", literally translated as "the girl of your eyes", is actually an expression in Spanish. The English equivalent is "the apple of your eye" (which may make even less sense linguistically than 'the girl of your eyes'!) Anyway, the song speaks of God's love for each one of us, how each one of us are the apple of His eye.
The chorus says (see how much more beautiful it is in Spanish?):
Anyway, I've only been here a few days and every now and then it hits me, usually when I'm turning my key to open the Sisters' house: "oh my gosh, I actually live here". It just feels unreal. I know that I've said this a million times now, but I still can't believe I'm here. A year ago, I would barely have imagined living as a prepostulant in Georgia with the Daughters of Charity. The Sisters here are wonderful, the community is wonderful, their ministries and spirituality are wonderful - it's exactly what I was looking for and more. God is so good.
When I think of His goodness, I am reminded of a memory that every morning at the hogar (orphanage) where I worked in Bolivia, we would blast music through the speakers to wake up the girls. Sometimes it would be the soundtrack of High School Musical, sometimes Hannah Montana (luckily, I left before it became Justin Beiber), and sometimes a mixed CD of Jesus Adrian Romero, a Mexican Christian singer, and Daniel Calveti, a Venezuelan Christian singer.
When I got nostalgic, I would listen to their music again - to pretend I was back in the hogar or in our rural church at Mass. But now that years have past, I listen to them to connect with my own current spiritual life...combining my present spirituality with my missionary one. One of my favorite songs is "La Niña de Tus Ojos" by Daniel Calveti and illustrates perfectly the merging of my Bolivian past with the current spiritual status I find myself in now.
"Niña de tus ojos", literally translated as "the girl of your eyes", is actually an expression in Spanish. The English equivalent is "the apple of your eye" (which may make even less sense linguistically than 'the girl of your eyes'!) Anyway, the song speaks of God's love for each one of us, how each one of us are the apple of His eye.
The chorus says (see how much more beautiful it is in Spanish?):
Y me diste nombre (and you gave me a name)and then, my favorite part of the song....
yo soy tu niña (I am the apple)
la niña de tus ojos (the apple of your eye)
porque me amaste a mi (because you loved me)
te amo más que a mi vida (I love you more than my life)
te amo más que a mi vida (I love you more than my life)
te amo más que a mi vida (I love you more than my life)
Don't forget you are the niña of God's ojos....or the apple of His eye. He loves you even more than you could ever imagine.And what He has planned out for you is even more wonderful than you could ever imagine. I know because I am constantly amazed by Him and His love...
Saturday, July 16, 2011
If there ever was a song that summed up St. Vincent de Paul's spirituality and the charism of the Daughters of Charity, it would be this one ("The Face of Christ" by Chris Rice):
Sr. Denise used this song after a reflection at our young adult meeting, in which we visited a house of the Daughters of Charity. The whole reflection, led by another Sister, was on Matthew 25: 31-36, which was essentially the basis for St. Vincent de Paul and consequently St. Louise de Marillac, the founders of the Daughters of Charity, the first successful religious community to live outside the cloister. This is the whole Vincentian charism - to see and serve Christ in the poor.
The Constitutions, almost 400 years later, continue to echo this sentiment - the poor are our masters because their face is the face of Christ's - not just as an afterthought, but rather as the theme and foundation of the whole community and the reason for their unique fourth vow: complete service to the poor.
"The King will reply: 'Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'" - Matthew 25:40
Sr. Denise used this song after a reflection at our young adult meeting, in which we visited a house of the Daughters of Charity. The whole reflection, led by another Sister, was on Matthew 25: 31-36, which was essentially the basis for St. Vincent de Paul and consequently St. Louise de Marillac, the founders of the Daughters of Charity, the first successful religious community to live outside the cloister. This is the whole Vincentian charism - to see and serve Christ in the poor.
The Constitutions, almost 400 years later, continue to echo this sentiment - the poor are our masters because their face is the face of Christ's - not just as an afterthought, but rather as the theme and foundation of the whole community and the reason for their unique fourth vow: complete service to the poor.
"The King will reply: 'Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'" - Matthew 25:40
Monday, July 4, 2011
I love the Daughters for being international, as I've talked about before when I mentioned their missions in the former USSR and a comment left by a British Daughter of Charity. I love it even more for the fact that I can find videos about them in Spanish that aren't simple translations. Sometimes translations can be iffy (especially with the use of online translators), sometimes they can be absolutely fine grammatically and orthographically...but either way, something gets lost in the translation. The sentiment, the enthusiasm of the original language is just not there. And usually, unless the translation is really really good, you can always tell that it's a translation. This isn't to discourage anyone from translating an important document into another language, especially if it serves the people (after all, how else could I read writings from St. Louise and St. Vincent de Paul...I know very little French!), but somehow the original language is always better and more beautiful.
Recently, I went searching for YouTube videos to show the Sisters I worked with in Bolivia. I wanted them to know even deeper the congregation I was joining. Writing about it is one thing, showing it in photos and videos is another. I didn't have to look far - I just typed in "Hijas de la Caridad" and found a multitude of videos about them that WEREN'T translations - rather original videos, mainly from the province in Peru.
Here is a promotion video that they have for vocations:
And yet another about the Sisters in Trujillo....
Recently, I went searching for YouTube videos to show the Sisters I worked with in Bolivia. I wanted them to know even deeper the congregation I was joining. Writing about it is one thing, showing it in photos and videos is another. I didn't have to look far - I just typed in "Hijas de la Caridad" and found a multitude of videos about them that WEREN'T translations - rather original videos, mainly from the province in Peru.
Here is a promotion video that they have for vocations:
And yet another about the Sisters in Trujillo....
UPDATE: The Daughters of Charity have a YouTube channel - FILLESDELACHARITE. They are the same videos posted in various languages. They take turns making the videos, so it's never obvious what the first language is!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
but at least it's not like this!
A great example of some Catholic humor! (from a Spanish humor TV show)
A great example of some Catholic humor! (from a Spanish humor TV show)
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Today, in France, the Catholic Church put another Daughter of Charity closer to sainthood. Sister Marguerite Rutan (1736 - 1794), a dear servant of the poor, was a martyr of the French Revolution, guillotined by her countrymen for refusing to sign the national oath that would betray her faith. Sister Marguerite is one of the many Sisters, Daughters of Charity and others, martyred during the bloody time of the French Revolution. Blessed Marguerite Rutan, pray for us!
Below is a video about her, in French with English subtitles:
UPDATE: The Vincentians have some awesome pictures of the beatification here.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
A few nights ago, our local young adult group hung out with the Little Sisters of the Poor in their home in Baltimore. It was overall a great visit and one thing that really struck me was the Rosary we prayed in their chapel with their Sisters and the elderly.
In the spirit of World Youth Day, Sister had us do the mysteries in different languages. The person leading the mystery would say it in a foreign language, the rest would respond in either English or the same foreign language (if they knew it). I led the first in Spanish, a Sister led the second in Polish, another the third in Italian, another the fourth in Korean, and the fifth in French.
After I got over the butterflies of speaking Spanish into a loud microphone for the first time in years, I really saw how neat praying the Rosary like this really was. I suddenly felt connected with the world, knowing that even though I don't know Polish, Italian, Korean or French, I could still respond in English because, while the words themselves are different, the meaning is all the same. Just think - right now, somewhere around the world, someone else is praying the Rosary...just like you!
Here is a great video about youth and the Rosary:
What about you? Do you pray the Rosary? Have you ever had moments in which you felt the worldwide connection of being Catholic/Christian?
In the spirit of World Youth Day, Sister had us do the mysteries in different languages. The person leading the mystery would say it in a foreign language, the rest would respond in either English or the same foreign language (if they knew it). I led the first in Spanish, a Sister led the second in Polish, another the third in Italian, another the fourth in Korean, and the fifth in French.
After I got over the butterflies of speaking Spanish into a loud microphone for the first time in years, I really saw how neat praying the Rosary like this really was. I suddenly felt connected with the world, knowing that even though I don't know Polish, Italian, Korean or French, I could still respond in English because, while the words themselves are different, the meaning is all the same. Just think - right now, somewhere around the world, someone else is praying the Rosary...just like you!
Here is a great video about youth and the Rosary:
What about you? Do you pray the Rosary? Have you ever had moments in which you felt the worldwide connection of being Catholic/Christian?
Monday, May 23, 2011
One of the blogs I follow is "Voces Vicentinas" written by Fr. Aidan Rooney, an American Vincentian priest, who lives in the Altiplano in Bolivia. I read his entries with nostalgia, although I lived in a different city hours away. Today, he posted an entry on schools in Bolivia that I have to share because it almost completely echoes my own experience in Cochabamba:
His blog entry: Having What You NeedIf you'd like to donate to Fr. Aidan's many ministries, click here. Although I've never met him personally (though I've heard great things about him from Sisters!), I have no problem saying that he's a great example of the whole Vincentian mission. The Vincentians were founded by St. Vincent de Paul and are the "brother community" of the Daughters of Charity. The two have always been intertwined, sharing a common history and supporting each other - their Superior General is also the Superior General of the Sisters, for example.
On a lighter note, check out this video of the Superior General of the Vincentians, Fr Gregory Gay (a Baltimorean!), during his visit to Bolivia. The hilarity starts around 3:00. (By the way, I'm really impressed with Fr. Gregory's Spanish!)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
This video is so awesome that it doesn't even need an introduction:
Thank you, Sister Liz, for your amazing contributions to YouTube!
Thank you, Sister Liz, for your amazing contributions to YouTube!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Why I Love the Daughters of Charity Reason #15: It takes a good almost 8 minutes to simply list missions founded from 1991-2011 in the former USSR and show a few pictures.
Ever since I met the Daughters so many years ago, I knew they were an international group. But for some reason, it never occurred to me that they aren't solely missionaries, that there are thousands of native Daughters of Charity working in their own homeland (outside of the US). Of course, I knew that in the back of my head but it never really clicked.
That is, until I wrote a blog entry for Sr. Denise's blog (see first entry of this blog) and a British Daughter of Charity commented on the post. It was a moment that really made me smile. I imagined her...thinking in a British accent as she wrote her comment...and, just as I had seen around Emmitsburg and Baltimore, there were pictures of St. Vincent and St. Louise around her desk, photos of the Superiors on the walls. Okay, so I really have no idea if she actually has a British accent or if there are those pictures around her desk. BUT I did know that here was a woman halfway across the world that still was intimately connected with the group of women I knew, even if they may not have never met before. Here was a woman thousands of miles away that had a devotion to St. Vincent de Paul, St. Louise and the rest; that read (and followed) the same Constitution I read; that shared the same joy of being Vincentian.
As I watched this video, the same thoughts went through my head. First of all, I was amazed by how many there were, founded in just a 20 year timespan. Not only that but some had been founded just this year! But second of all, I had the same feelings I did when I think about the British DC that commented on my post. I imagined myself in those pictures with them...the Sisters chattering away in a Slavic language I didn't understand and in a country I couldn't even find on the map, yet despite that, I felt an utter connection with them. I saw in them the same devotion to the mission I see in the Daughters of Charity here in the United States.
I know not every discerner out there is looking for a huge international community. But I am the kind of person that finds things like this fascinating. And how lucky am I that God would lead me to this community - the Daughters are in over 90 different countries in the world! So many different languages, so many different cultures...yet one mission! (Reminds me of "Lord of the Rings"...."one mission to rule them all!")
Ever since I met the Daughters so many years ago, I knew they were an international group. But for some reason, it never occurred to me that they aren't solely missionaries, that there are thousands of native Daughters of Charity working in their own homeland (outside of the US). Of course, I knew that in the back of my head but it never really clicked.
That is, until I wrote a blog entry for Sr. Denise's blog (see first entry of this blog) and a British Daughter of Charity commented on the post. It was a moment that really made me smile. I imagined her...thinking in a British accent as she wrote her comment...and, just as I had seen around Emmitsburg and Baltimore, there were pictures of St. Vincent and St. Louise around her desk, photos of the Superiors on the walls. Okay, so I really have no idea if she actually has a British accent or if there are those pictures around her desk. BUT I did know that here was a woman halfway across the world that still was intimately connected with the group of women I knew, even if they may not have never met before. Here was a woman thousands of miles away that had a devotion to St. Vincent de Paul, St. Louise and the rest; that read (and followed) the same Constitution I read; that shared the same joy of being Vincentian.
As I watched this video, the same thoughts went through my head. First of all, I was amazed by how many there were, founded in just a 20 year timespan. Not only that but some had been founded just this year! But second of all, I had the same feelings I did when I think about the British DC that commented on my post. I imagined myself in those pictures with them...the Sisters chattering away in a Slavic language I didn't understand and in a country I couldn't even find on the map, yet despite that, I felt an utter connection with them. I saw in them the same devotion to the mission I see in the Daughters of Charity here in the United States.
I know not every discerner out there is looking for a huge international community. But I am the kind of person that finds things like this fascinating. And how lucky am I that God would lead me to this community - the Daughters are in over 90 different countries in the world! So many different languages, so many different cultures...yet one mission! (Reminds me of "Lord of the Rings"...."one mission to rule them all!")
