“P.S. Please write more books”

That is the response of the self-proclaimed “biggest fan” of Sr. Maria Grace Dateno’s Gospel Time Trekker series. Isn’t that the response we all want when we write?

Here is Sr. Maria Grace as she’s re-reading the letter on video. (She is doing this for our fundraising webathon. (You can help our sisters’ mission of communicating Christ with the media–including great Catholic stories for kids–by visiting our webathon!)

Visit our webathon and take part in the New Evangelization with your prayers, offerings, and support for our Pauline mission!

Sr. Maria Grace has done an amazing job writing an exciting series for kids that they not only enjoy tremendously…but also discover more about Jesus in each book. (I can say that because I’ve read most of the series–4 out of 6 books.) This banner captures Sr. Maria Grace and our mission so well!

 

Love, foundation of all true communication

Last month (June 18th) I mentioned that, to prepare for our centenary year of the foundation of the Daughters of Saint Paul, I wanted to share a bit more about our communication spirituality and how it’s transformed my life.

Chosen and loved in Christ Jesus, together we communicate the Gospel to everyone.

These words were the theme of one of our recent General Chapters, and they have really stayed with me as a way of understanding and expressing what it means to be a Daughter of Saint Paul. At the same time, in a general way, these words apply to everyone who has been baptized!

Chosen and loved
The basic foundation of life is love. We are created by a God who loves us so much that he chooses to create us (not one of the other countless possibilities God in his infinity could come up with). As Saint Paul uses this phrase, though, it means even more than our being created by Love. “Chosen and loved” also means that we are chosen for a special reason, a unique purpose that only we can fulfill.

In The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien describes creation as God’s beautiful symphony. Each of us has our unique part to play in God’s universe-sized orchestra. Sometimes we carry the melody, sometimes we might play harmony, sometimes we provide back up or “depth” to another instrument, and sometimes we may simply be silent (or turn the page of the score for another player). But always we are interweaving with others, offering our unique “sound” to the symphony of beauty and purpose that God has designed.

Being chosen means that God gives us the joy of being special, of being needed, of having purpose in this world, of making a difference in others’ lives, of giving ourselves fully in love–which is the deepest joy we can experience as human beings.

in Christ Jesus
This phrase totally captures Saint Paul’s spirit, and I hope that someday, it totally captures the whole of my life experience. Because of the gift of my Baptism and God’s grace, all of my life is in Christ, whether I realize it or not.

But it’s not enough for me to simply know this. I want to respond to his loving invitation to “remain in him” (John 15:4) and completely dedicate every moment of my life to Christ. I want all my efforts and motives to be focused on seeking the kingdom of God; I want my every thought, word, feeling and action to be fully his.

I am still far from my goal of belonging completely to Christ, but my comfort is that he knows that my desire for this is growing, and it is his grace that will transform me so that one day–in heaven if not on earth–I will belong completely to him.

This real, passionate, “total” relationship with Christ becomes the foundation of all my actions and choices, as I hope to post about further next week: together we communicate the Gospel to everyone.

 

Praying with Saint Paul

The sisters are posting up a lovely Novena to Saint Paul, which started several days ago. You can join in now, or start from the beginning today and continue on after Saturday!

You can follow the entire novena here (click on subscribe so you receive the daily notifications), and you can also post your prayer intentions so that we can pray for you as we continue the novena!

 

Media Nuns: Who Are the Daughters of Saint Paul?

Sr. Kathryn Hermes

One of the delights of my week is taking a solid chunk of creative writing time with Sister Kathryn Hermes, who manages the pauline.org website. We rise, pray, and then leave for a nearby coffee shop where we hunker down for the next three or four hours, drink coffee or tea, and write. Sometimes this is my only truly creative writing time for the week, and it’s definitely the most uninterrupted time. Occasionally we exchange greetings with others who come in for a cup of tea or coffee; usually they stop to ask us for prayers. I love writing in the midst of the very people whom I’m hoping will read what I write.

Last week while Sr. Kathryn and I were out together, a woman stopped and said in a surprised tone, “I’ve never seen a nun with a laptop before!” (Those who know me well will laugh at this! The laptop that I use is practically another limb, because I take it everywhere with me.) Since the woman was so taken aback,  I explained that I was a Daughter of Saint Paul and that our mission is to communicate Christ with our lives and all forms of media. She seemed to want more of an explanation, so I tried to capture in a sentence what I do and how it connects to our mission. I failed miserably, as that’s too hard to do in one sentence.

We are preparing to celebrate June 15, 2015 as the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Daughters of Saint Paul. To “kick off” the centenary year on this blog, I thought I would return to my initial inspiration for Windows to the Soul and share with you a little about how Pauline religious life, writing, media, Eucharistic adoration, and Saint Paul all fit together so wonderfully in my life. For me, several phrases really “capture” what life means for me as a Daughter of Saint Paul, and I’d like to share these over the next few weeks.

A Daughter of Saint Paul contemplates the longing of humanity that drives so many to the mall.

Contemplatives in action:
“Listening to the heart of the world with the heart of God”

Religious life–with its single-minded focus on God through the vows, and significant daily prayer–makes us Daughters of Saint Paul “tune in” to the media culture in a special way. My three hours of prayer each day allow me to bring the light, joy, and depth of my relationship with Jesus into my daily life…including the people I meet and the media I use. Every Daughter of Saint Paul is called to be a contemplative in action: to see every aspect of our lives with the “lens” of the Gospel. Without spending that loving time of adoration each day, I would never have written the books that I’ve written, and perhaps I never would have been inspired to create this blog.

In Windows to the Soul, I try to see each film, book, website, song, or app as a window to the soul–both of its maker/producer/writer, and of our culture as a whole. Media are not created in a vacuum. What are the beauties and gifts to discover in the latest popular novel? What are the limitations, longings, emptiness, or sinfulness that humanity struggles with today as revealed in the top-grossing film? Only in really getting to know others am I able to offer a perspective that may allow them to draw closer to Christ. Our Founder called it “reading the signs of the times.”

Eucharistic adoration, a prayer that focuses on Jesus-with-us, offers a unique perspective. In the Eucharist, Jesus walks with us on our journey, just as a Daughter of Saint Paul is called to walk with humanity. Under the form of bread and wine, Jesus offers us astounding proof of his love. Using the forms of words, image, light, music, and movement, the Daughters of Saint Paul offer to the world proof of God’s love for humanity, and an invitation to respond to that great love.

Before I start writing any project, I always bring it to prayer. The bigger the project, the more prayer time it gets. I’m not praying so much for the project itself as for the people who will see and listen to it, and for myself that I am open to God’s inspiration (which usually comes in the form of a whisper that I need to be really quiet to hear). When I’m deeply immersed in writing something, my interior resistance falls away and the writing itself becomes a prayer.

Every Daughter of Saint Paul seems to be passionate about communicating Christ. Some of the creative sisters that I’m surrounded with: Sr. Maria Kim Bui tweets; Sr. Rose Pacatte reviews films; Sr. Helena Raphael Burns is making a film and gives TOB talks (in-between watching hockey games, which is one way she gains followers on twitter); Sr. Anne Joan Flanagan tweets haikus on the day’s Gospel reading; and dozens of Daughters of Saint Paul are eager to help you find the resource to help you to grow in your faith at one of our Pauline Book & Media Centers.  (Next time, I’ll blog about the New Evangelization and the mission of the Daughters of Saint Paul.)

Quick Facts About the Daughters of St. Paul

Founded: June 15, 1915 by Blessed James Alberione and Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo
Mission: To communicate Christ through our lives and all forms of media; evangelizing with the media.
Spirituality: Pauline, based on Saint Paul’s motto, “For me to live is Christ”; shared with the other nine institutes of the Pauline Family
How many & where: About 2400 Daughters of Saint Paul in 52 countries
In the USA & Canada: About 120 Daughters of Saint Paul in 14 communities
Founded in the US: June 28, 1932 by Mother Paula Cordero
Lay Associates: the Pauline Cooperators
Marian devotion: Mary, Queen of Apostles
Patron saint: Saint Paul

Key elements of the Pauline Charism

• Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life in the Eucharist
• Eucharistic adoration
• the Word of God
• evangelization
• Pauline; to be Saint Paul living today
• technology at the service of the Gospel
• Galatians 2:20, Philippians 1:21, and John 14:6

 

Inspiring Nun Stories–Daughters of St. Paul Around the Globe!

While I’m getting back from a week mostly offline, here are a couple of inspiring reads/videos that I’ve enjoyed about or from sisters in my community, the Daughters of St. Paul. As we are approaching our 100th anniversary of foundation of the Pauline Family (August 20, 2014) and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Daughters of Saint Paul (June 15, 2015),  it’s really exciting for me to share stories of our sisters from around the continent and the world!

Yesterday’s A Good Catholic Life Radio Show centered around the Pauline Family and the ten institutes who make it up. You can join us in celebrating our centenary by listening in!

“The Voice of Constant Motion”  is an inspiring article about Daughter of Saint Paul Sister Anne Kiragu, a missionary in Juba, South Sudan, and how she seeks to help bring peace to the lives of those torn by war and violence–through the radio, her words, her outreach to refugees, and helping people to find hope.

Sr. Rose Pacatte is a prolific Daughter of Saint Paul as an author, film reviewer, and director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles.  In March, she received the Daniel J. Kane Award from the University of Dayton. Her acceptance speech  is a beautiful reflection on her journey of becoming an always better communicator of Christ:

“Sr. Helena Is on a Media Mission” is a fun article recently posted up by NBC News Online about media nun Sr. Helena Raphael Burns, who has 15,000+ Twitter followers, is making a documentary film about Blessed James Alberione, and whose Twitter tagline is: “media nun tweets God.” (And she also shares her love of hockey in her tweets.)

“Go Tweet It on the Mountain” offers ideas and insights about using Twitter to share our faith in Christ. (And yes, the writer joined Twitter because of Daughter of Saint Paul Sr. Anne Joan Flanagan’s inspiring tweets! Sr. Anne @nunblogger tweets a daily haiku from the Gospel of the day.)

Finally, Daughter of St. Paul Leads Life of Peace and Quiet Bravery is a recent article about Sr. Evangelina Canag, a Daughter of Saint Paul in the Philippines whom I have been privileged to meet and speak with when I visited our sisters in Manila.

 

Pauline Webathon: Help #fundthenuns

Pauline Books & Media, the “mission arm” of the Daughters of Saint Paul, are hosting a novena-long “Webathon,” to help raise money for our mission of evangelization. Some cool stuff will be going on at http://www.pauline.org for the next nine days–come on over and visit if you need a little inspiration!