Year of Consecrated Life: Sisters and Brothers speak for themselves

Here's a great little three minutes on consecrated life, courtesy of the Archdiocese of New Orleans (home, sweet home!); Sister Tracey has the opening shot!

"I was looking for love." Learn more about the lives of #NOLAReligious in our new video on religious life in New Orleans!
Posted by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans on Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Hypothetically speaking

Yesterday's contributions
came to $4000!

I don't really know why, but the "Webathon Novena" fundraiser going on this week (and into next) doesn't get into many specifics about the needs of our publishing ministry. Perhaps it was a deliberate (and maybe even idealistic) choice to focus on the overall goal of communicating the Gospel: inviting people to share our mission on a broad scale, while offering them a chance to focus that cooperation on one or another "departments." (Today, for example, the music/audio division is "hosting" the Webathon; donors might want to especially underline that aspect if their life was touched by music.)

Do not close this door! The community
cars will be trapped inside!

In reality, our needs are many and specific, but some are a bit overwhelming. Anyone who has ever counted the days until the next paycheck knows what this is like. What would it do to a fundraising effort to say ("hypothetically") that for years now, the sisters  lose thousands of dollars a month because of an obsolete computer system--and the only way to stop the hemorrhaging is to put in a new, up-to-date (and way more efficient) program that costs less than we are losing but requires an up-front payment (hypothetically, $30,000) that is completely out of reach? Or that two overhead doors (one can accommodate trucks) have been broken for months, and will stay that way until a couple of thousand dollars can be found to repair or replace them? What about a photograph of the moldy walls in one of the sound studio isolation booths? Just keep the door closed! Nobody has even tried to calculate the cost of replacing the drywall--much less of addressing the problem that caused the mold in the first place.

I would think that such concrete examples ("hypothetical" as they may be!) are important for a fundraiser. As it is, we don't have a lot of experience in fundraising, given our "bootstrap" tradition, so maybe our Webathon is reflecting that. In that same Pauline tradition, though, we have a prayer in which we tell the Lord that, while we'll do what we can, we expect all the effectiveness to come from him. "For our part, we promise and commit ourselves to seeking…only and always your glory and peace to all people. On your part, we trust that you will give us a good spirit, grace, knowledge and the 'means for doing good'" (the "media" and the ways to use them). That is my prayer today, too.

About our Webathon

Today (Feast of St Teresa of Avila--widely published author and doctor of the Church!), my community opened a nine-day "webathon." Kind of like the telethons you see on PBS, but marginally less entertaining (unless you really like listening to nuns!). This is our first-ever novena of prayer, mission and fundraising, so it is a little awkward right now.

We have traditionally made every effort to follow St Paul in supporting ourselves and our works  with our very own hands, asking special help only for particular projects (like the Theology of the Body classes* and the vocation video--both still in development). Meanwhile, though, instead of being supported by our work, we were using up the community's resources to sustain everything: not exactly a long-term possibility. So the sisters at the motherhouse (where I am for another week) decided to get creative. The goal is the most ambitious we have ever attempted, but we have sisters here still trying to work on twenty-year-old computers under crumbling ceilings. If we reach the goal, equipment can be updated, walls and ceilings repaired, and (best still) new projects taken on that will offer the Gospel clothed in image, ink and bits. (The mismatched furnishings will remain, but might receive a coat of paint.)

Every day of the webathon novena will be "hosted" by a sister representing a different aspect of our publishing ministry. (Today's hostess is Sr Donna, recently appointed "Editorial Manager" of the whole shebang.) Prayers and "mission moments" will be posted throughout the day, and (this is a fundraiser!) there is the  opportunity for a donation. (Feel free to share the prayer links with your friends from the Country Club!)

Start with today's prayer to begin the workday!



*The DVD series is being edited in the video department here in Boston.

Sr Helena and "Imagine Sisters"

In case you missed the broadcast last week, our very own Sister Helena Burns and seminarian Dan Rogers were on EWTN's "Life on the Rock" Thursday, talking about the "Imagine Sisters" movement. Dan is one of the "founders" of this social media vocational promotion fellowship. Since the broadcast, they've gotten hundreds and hundreds of new Facebook "likes" and one lucky individual even won a copy of Sister Helena's book (which is ideal for discerners)!

I watched it live, and live-tweeted about it, too. Other than the terrible make-up job on Sr Helena ("Malibu Barbie meets Sister Act"), I am bursting with pride over how well she did. Hopefully, that's not the last time Sister Helena will be called to Irondale, AL

Inside Look at Convent Life

Checked my stats today and found that I was included in an interesting conversation going on about nuns in today's world. Since someone linked to my blog, I had a huge uptick of hits yesterday while I was enjoying those oysters with Mom. (Sushi today with Mom and my sister, along with her son and her granddaughter.) So for those visitors, I thought it would be helpful to post a few links so they can see some of those "nuns in today's world" that they were talking about.

For example, here am I, here's Sr Julia (from when she was in Chicago last year), here is a group of sisters talking about books they were reading at the time (over a year ago). Here's Sr Tracey telling the story of her call. Remember when we were recording "In Paradisum"? (It's on sale now, don't forget, or download it!)

For more video, see our various online presences. Here are a few to start with (lots more in my sidebar links list):
SingingSisters (that's the YouTube channel I manage); on Twitter I am nunblogger
Sr Tracey's YouTube channel
Sr Helena's channel and blog (lots of movie reviews); don't forget her Twitter feed!
Sr Marie Paul's blog (beautiful and reflective)

Come back around in mid-August and watch us on the "choir cam" while we record a new album.







!)