Sister Barbara Jean Laughlin was recently interviewed by Ed Langlois, longtime reporter for the Catholic Sentinel, to tell her vocation story and reflect on her 10 years as Superior General for the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. As the newly elected Leadership Team prepares to take office in June of this year, the Catholic Sentinel takes time to learn more about this amazing woman of God. You can read the article here.

During the week of Jan. 18-22,  the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon held a series of “Chapter Meetings” which happen once every five years, to determine their goals, develop a Commitment Statement and discern which women among them are most fit to lead the Congregation up through 2015.

This SSMO Commitment Statement will provide a focus and direction for the Congregation for the next five years:

Responding to Jesus’ mandate to love one another
and prompted by our charism,
we commit to using our gifts, skills and resources
to work for justice
as we journey in solidarity with the vulnerable, particularly the immigrant,
and as we care for God’s creation through sustainable practices.

The Catholic Sentinel recently published biographies for each member of the new Leadership Team for 2010-2015.

THE NEW SSMO LEADERSHIP TEAM WILL SERVE THE CONGREGATION JUNE 20, 2010 THROUGH THE SUMMER OF 2015
	Superior General	Sister Charlene Herinckx
	Vicar General & Council Member	Sister Catherine Hertel
	Council Member	Sister Krista vonBorstel
	Council Member	Sister Joyce Barsotti

Having you ever wondered what Christmas in the Convent is like? In most ways, it is probably very similar to your celebration. One of the first signs of preparation is the appearance of the Advent wreath in chapel. Each week one more lighted candle reminded us that we were that much closer to welcoming the Savior of the world into our world and our hearts once again. This symbol of Advent was eventually replaced with an eye-catching Nativity scene which was the creation of many generous hands as the entire chapel was transformed with two lighted trees, many poinsettias artistically arranged, and two large wreaths hanging on high! Throughout the motherhouse, many seasonal floral arrangements appeared along with a Christmas tree on each floor.

Another means of preparation for Christmas is reaching out to those in need. One example was the massive effort of the staff at St. Joseph Shelter coordinated by Sr. Marrcella Parish. In collaboration with the local parish and other groups in Mt. Angel, the staff and volunteers at St. Joseph Shelter prepared 160 boxes of food and bags of gifts which were individualized for the families. Sr. Thuy and Rosina Pham volunteered on “delivery day” to assist with the final steps of adding perishable food items and loading the items into the vehicles.

What would Christmas be without the seasonal treats? Several Sisters prepared their favorite cookie recipes and one evening was spent baking sheet after sheet of cookies. Some were used as gifts for employees and others for the post-Christmas Eve Mass celebration with our friends and family who came that evening. A Christmas choir is assembled annually and once again this year their voices lifted our minds and hearts to the glorious events of Christmas Day.

Sr. Rose Mary and Sr. Thuy created eye-catching placemats for our dining room tables.

Taking time to be with family and friends is one of the greatest gifts of Christmas. Seeing a movie, reading the numerous Christmas cards sent to the Community, playing cards, welcoming the New Year with prayer and ping-pong, celebrating the Solemnity of the Motherhood of Mary with Archbishop John Vlazny presiding at liturgy are but a few examples of our ongoing celebration during the twelve days of Christmas.

This morning a number of our Sisters woke up to the sound of our fire alarm. Thankfully there was no fire. The wind blew dust into our house and set off the alarm. Unfortunately, this has continued to happen throughout the day. The alarm blared every two minutes throughout the entire Mass this morning. Many of us found this distracting, but I am grateful that I found a delightful way to look at our plight.
I am currently taking a class on the Catholic Mass and have been assigned to write a paragraph about my observations on how the Holy Spirit is at work during Mass. Often the Holy Spirit is described as a wind, and the wind today was setting off an alarm that kept us alert, and prompted some people to action. We may have been distracted, but we were sharing an experience in common with one another that united us in a sense. Being attuned to the present moment and living in unity seem to be two goals of prayer that we were privileged to experience because of the wind this morning.
This reflection prompted me to notice how many times throughout the Mass we were called to be alert or called to action. For example, we prayed that God would help us to provide for others and to proclaim the Good News. Additionally, we had a visiting priest at Mass who said things a little differently which also kept us alert. I appreciated the fact that instead of saying, “The Lord be with you,” he would say, “The Lord IS with you.” This seemed to imply the dynamic nature of God through the Holy Spirit, and reminded me that God is present (with us and in us) in the moment and is calling us to be alert, to be ready this advent season, and to put our faith into action.

They call it a “work party” with the emphasis on party! Several elves (Sr. Alberta, Sr. Marilyn, Pam Coussens, and Pat Culligan) have been busy for many weeks making various ornaments for the Maryville Christmas Gift Bazaar scheduled for Friday and Saturday, December 4 and 5 from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Stop by, enjoy the refreshments, and win a prize!

Although a seasoned chaplain, Sr. Josephine is always ready to learn more about her ministry to the dying. She currently serves as the Director of Pastoral Services at Maryville Nursing Home. Recently she attended a workshop titled “The Sacred Art of Living and Dying” at the Salem Community Hospital. Sister Josephine appreciated the opportunity to connect with people who also assist others at the end of life. She resonated with the suggested value of being a listening presence.

While other groups provided an opportunity to make an Advent wreath or to create other crafts with an Advent theme, Sr. Charlene and Sr. Diana Jean participated in the St. Juan Diego Advent Fair by providing handouts describing the Old Testament characters who prefigured the Savior. They also had a display of a Jesse Tree, using the wonderful ornaments created by Sr. Rose Mary. As noted by Kathy Yee, pastoral associate: “When I ask one Sister for help, I get the whole Community.”

What would you do with a large supply of socks? Given Sr. Anna Evers’ talent and creativity, she is in the making “monkey-business”. She has made at least ten monkeys and only has a couple on hand for sale ($10) at the moment.

Last summer Sr. Barbara Rose received a grant from ExxonMobil to participate in a seminar for teachers on teaching Science. Recently she received another invitation from the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy. She was invited to a seminar to learn how to score applications for the programs offered by the company. Sr. Barbara Rose spent the weekend of November 20-22, in Dallas, Texas with nineteen other teachers. During the Christmas break, Sr. Barbara Rose will be busy scoring approximately 120 applications for the grants offered next summer.

While in Dallas, Sr. Barbara Rose visited the Women’s Museum to view the Women and Spirit exhibit which features the contribution of religious Sisters in the areas of education, health care and social services throughout the history of the United States.
To visit the website of the exhibit: www.womenandspirit.org.

Sister Juanita always wanted to be a missionary. She now gets the chance to be one along with Sister Barbara Rose Sohler. The pair will be going to Mexico in the summer of 2010 to investigate how women religious live convent life in the country. To prepare for this exciting time away from home, Sister Juanita set up a blog to share her thoughts. In the individual entries, Sister talks about her life and upbringing as well reflecting on how her migrant blood has given her a great desire for traveling and the love of other cultures and people.

Follow her blog here.