Last evening, I had a kind of wild shift in St. Mary’s (our infirmary unit). Around 9 p.m., one of the Sisters told me that the big lights were on in chapel.
There is a balcony there, we call it the choir loft, which overlooks the chapel. I had noticed the lights a little while earlier, but had kind of assumed that our chaplain was doing something in there. Being busy, I hadn’t checked back on the situation. The concerned Sister told me that she had called out: “Is anyone in here besides Jesus?” I had to chuckle. It was a dear, but practical witness to Our Lord’s Eucharistic presence. She knew He was there. What she wanted to know was if anyone else was there, explaining for this use of the lights. I told her that I would take care of it and hurried down the stairs to turn off the unused lights in the chapel. As I entered the chapel, I could here her call out her question again. I turned off the lights and went back upstairs. Sometimes, something as mundane as conserving electricity can remind us of Christ’s love, His constant presence with us. Thanks be to God for these reminders and for the wondrous gift of the Eucharist in which He is always here!
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Just a few days ago, I found myself reflecting that I haven’t been asked to help in the kitchen for a while. I regretfully wondered if those days were over. Although it’s a lot of work, these duties are kind of fun, too. I like to be helping and don’t enjoy twiddling my thumbs. My musings were soon put to rest when Karen, our retreat center coordinator, asked if I could help out on Monday and Tuesday. I was happy to do so. Appropriately, I had recently come across the following passage from Colossians, which is a wonderful inspiration to direct my steps: “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” On Monday, after making apple bread pudding and serving breakfast, I had decided to make chili for supper the next day. When I shared this with Karen she kind of chuckled and informed me that chili was, in fact, already on the menu for Thursday when the team would be here for the upcoming retreat. At this point, I already had a 5 lb. package of hamburger thawing in the fridge. I quickly decided to make meatloaf instead. Remembering the abundance of already-peeled potatoes in the cooler, I decided upon a cheesy potato casserole for a side dish. For dessert, I made a family favorite, pistachio pudding. I had been given several boxes, first from my aunt and then from my mom when she visited last month. This was the perfect opportunity to use a couple of them. Things went well, and I was also happy to be able to use some oregano from my plant in the windowsill of our hobby room. Today, now, I’m back to some of my other duties, helping in St. Mary’s (our infirmary unit) and working in the library. One never knows, though, what the day might hold! The next time I find myself musing about not having done something for a while, it may just be a little nudge from above preparing me to reenter this area of service. This past week, I wrapped up some projects here to preserve and digitalize pieces of our history, interviewing and videoing two of our older Sisters about their experiences. Since then, I’ve begun helping our nursing home across the street with some communication work. Another task I’ve been given is doing some housekeeping here. The person I worked under in that department as a postulant is actually still here and is now the coordinator for the retreat center. It was fun visiting with her about my new duties as it called to mind times past working with her. In the course of all this, Penta-P privileges were mentioned. This stands for Perpetual Professional Porcelain and Plug Purification (aka cleaning bathrooms) and is a term I invented when working with her before. Perhaps this warrants a little explanation: It was perpetual in that I did it every week. It was professional in that I did it for my work. The porcelain referred to was the toilets and sinks. The plugs were the drain covers in the sinks. Purification was the cleaning of the above-mentioned bathroom components. My current housekeeping duties, along with two bathrooms, will include vacuuming, dusting, and mopping floors in a certain section of the building. We will meet next week to discuss more of this as they may need me to help in other areas as well. Another development for me this month is that I’m going to be working several shifts in St. Mary’s, our infirmary unit. Last evening, the aide on duty gave me a little orientation, which was nice. I will continue helping out with communications-related projects for the retreat center and wherever else I’m needed. It seems that the phrase “variety is the spice of life” is ringing true for me. I’m sorry that it’s been so long since I’ve posted here. Life gets busy and time gets away from a person!
This past week, I worked close to 40 hours in the kitchen, filling in for one of the cooks who was out. During my time preparing meals, St. Martha and our Blessed Mother are always my special friends and intercessors. I’m so grateful for their help which enabled me to make meals that people mostly enjoyed rather than starting a fire or putting cumin in my bread pudding again instead of cinnamon (that’s another story - you can ask me some time.). This week, I made turkey rice bake; chili with twice baked potato casserole; corn and potato chowder soup served with calzones, sloppy joes, green bean casserole, and cole slaw; sauerkraut, sausage, boiled potatoes and dumplings, and warmed up leftovers a couple of times. We had several visitors, so it was a little bit of a challenge guessing how much food to make. I was grateful this morning for the chance to sleep in a little and enjoy a slower-paced day. This evening, I went with Sr. Donna to see the Canadian Pacific’s “Holiday Train” as it made a stop in Hankinson with its colorful lights and musical entertainment. We weren’t able to hear much as the streets were so crowded that there was no place to park and get out to watch. When we got back home, I made popcorn for the young people attending Sr. Mary Ruth’s “Youth Night at the Convent.” I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but one thing on my list is practicing the organ for Sunday Mass. Since it will be Gaudete Sunday, I tried to pick hymns with joyous undertones and cam up with: “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates” and “O Come Divine Messiah.” I hope and pray that your Advent, short as it is, is going well. God bless you all! It’s been a most unusual summer (and year, for that matter). I find myself, now, trying to settle in to new surroundings and a new routine. I spent the day yesterday unpacking suitcases of items I just brought back from Grand Forks to our provincial house in Hankinson. I was surprised and almost embarrassed by how much “stuff” I’ve accumulated over my fourteen years there. I try to live simply, and take my vow of poverty seriously but, somehow, time marches on, and with it comes any number of items. Some things I had forgotten I even had. They sat quietly on my bookshelf while the hours, days, weeks, months, and years passed by. The strangest item I found on my shelf was a big saw! Rather than bring it with to Hankinson, I offered it to our maintenance man in Grand Forks. I had been gifted it several years ago by one of our apartment residents for the purpose of “butchering” pumpkins. I have since learned an easier technique of using a hammer to push the back of the knife down into the hard flesh of these orange cucurbits. Anyway, yesterday as I unpacked and put things away, St. Francis’ example of poverty was in the back of my mind. I tossed some useless items, brought unneeded notebooks down to the common office supplies area, etc. I’ll have to do more sorting, organizing, and tossing, though, in the days to come. Satisfied with yesterday’s progress and having other things on my mind, I haven’t done any more of this today. I have been thinking, though, of Sister Rebecca, whose birthday was today, and remembering the chocolate zucchini cakes I used to make for the double celebration of her birth and Order’s founder. As I write this, I am grateful for the many blessings that surround me, for community, family, friends, faith, and the wondrous fall afternoon outdoors, to name a few. I’m also very pleased with the new arrangement of the room here, which is so cozy and homey. I’ve felt like I’m still playing ‘catch up’ after helping lead a women’s retreat this past weekend.
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Last night, when I was training a worker for aide work, I met one of our residents. I asked him to bring his bathrobe down with him for Bible study in the morning. Strange request, you might think, but he had been anticipating, for some days, his role as “Boaz” in this morning’s activity. I told the group last week that we would be studying the Book of Ruth, and had discussed role playing the events with this individual. We had arranged that he could be Boaz, and he was looking forward to it. We had lots of fun! Earlier, I had made name stickers for each cast member (Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, Boaz’s relative, and two servants), but hadn’t realize that Ruth’s sister-in-law had a speaking part, too. At the last minute, I ended up casting myself in that role as well as being narrator. Thanks to terrific help from our activity director, the whole cast was quickly dressed and in order for our “St. Anne’s Production of…Ruth.” I had pulled out the costumes from my office closet which had been put together for our Christmas pageants in previous years. Even as adults, we haven’t outgrown the joy of play-acting. It continues to be a powerful way to help scripture (or any stories/events) come even more alive. A little humor sprinkled in adds to the fun as well. |
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