Healthy Chocolate Banana Cupcakes and Faith Sharing Groups - Finding Companions in Life's Journey

Faith sharing groups - finding companions in ones life's journey

Life is good as the LG commercial states .  But it is even better when one has wonderful companions in ones life's journey.  

When my teaching schedule permits, I attend one or more of the three faith sharing groups that are composed mostly of the Associates of the Sisters of St. Joseph-Baden who live around the Monroeville, Pa area.  When all groups were still meeting, each group gather once a month at different weeks and locations.

The members offer each other support and fellowship as they pray and study various readings that enhance their knowledge of God and His or Her unconditional love.  The goal of each group is to achieve a deeper union with God, each other and their dear neighbor.  The format of the meetings is very similar for all the groups with slight variations.    

The meeting starts with prayers and sometimes music or some singing.  This is followed by readings of passages from a particular book.  The members then share their thoughts gleaned from the readings during the discussion.   The faith sharing ends with prayers for any intentions the members might have.

The St. Bede's group met for the last time this summer at the rectory of the parish of the same name after faith sharing  under Sr. Paula for 30 years.  In each gathering, Sr. Paula based the day's reflection from passages in the bible that she read before a 20 minute silent meditation set to music. 



Sr. Paula reading a passage from the Bible as Natalie and Rose listen.

During this meditation  period, the members of this group could also use the one page handout that Sr. Paula prepared for that day which featured quotations as well as beautiful pictures or artwork.  This paper also had suggested bible verses which coordinated with the theme of the day or the season we were in. 

These beautiful  handouts (some are shown in the pictures below) are such a treasure to have and to go back to for future guidance and inspiration.  Most members have kept them in not only one but several binders.   After 30 years of meeting every month they have collected at least a couple of hundreds of these highly informative and artistically crafted handouts. 

      

Sr. Paula, thank you so much for faithfully and lovingly guiding us through these past 30 years.  Congratulations on your Golden Jubilee as a Sister of St. Joseph. 



This picture above shows the members of the St. Bede prayer group which met for the last time this summer at the rectory of the church. Sr. Paula's group has met for 30 years at different locations including Holy Rosary in Homewood, Madonna del Castello in Swissvale and Charles Lawanga rectory in Penn Hills. Shown in the picture from left are:  Lulu, Rose, Sr. Paula (the facilitator for 30 years), Linda, Dorothy, Mary and Natalie.

The Monroeville group meets at the Convent of the Sisters at the St. Bernadette Parish in Monroeville.  Sr. Ursula used to lead the group up until she retired at the Baden Motherhouse.   The discussion under her had a structured format which featured questions she prepared based on the book we have chosen for that year.  When she retired, Sr. Cynthia took over for a short time before she transferred to another state.  Right now, the group members alternate facilitating the discussion part but most of the time Natalie or Kathy has done it.  We are glad to have Sr. Bernadette join us lately.  


We are grateful to the other sisters at the convent headed by Sr. Carol for their hospitality in letting us use their convent to meet through these years.   We would like to thank Srs. Ursula and Cindy for the time and effort they put in when they led the group.  I would like also to thank Sr Marguerite for starting the group way back in the early eighties.

This is the Prayer Group that met with then facilitator Sr. Ursula, CSJA at the Sisters' Convent at St. Bernadette Parish, Monroeville Pa. In this picture above , Sr. Ursula is shown conducting a discussion of a book we have chosen for that year. Clockwise the persons shown are: Sr. Ursula, Mary Cay, Chris, Kathy, the backs of Rose, Linda and Emma.



The picture above shows the members having coffee and goodies brought by the members after the meeting. The sisters at the convent headed by Sr. Carol, the principal at the parish school, are always very hospitable to us. The person on the left of Sr. Ursula is Sr. Mary Cordia, Sr. Ursula's sister.

Standing from left to right are:  Chris, Dottie, Sr. Ursula, Kathy, Lena and Marie.  Seating from left to right:  Natalie, Linda, Emma, Donna, Mary Cay and Marilyn.

In Sue's group which meets at her house, Sue usually starts the meeting with breathing exercises which she conducts.  This is then followed by the opening prayer, readings and discussions of passages from the book or video we chose for that year.   Natalie, an associate, has led the sharing for most of the past years.  Guests speakers have also been invited on occasions.  Thanks go to Sue and her husband for providing us a beautiful and serene place to meet all these years and to Natalie for leading the discussions.

People might wonder how we are reminded about these three meetings.  It actually takes a village. Rose sent emails to the members with regards to the St Bede's group while Kathy or Linda keeps everyone updated on the meetings in the convent.  Sue's group makes it a point that everybody assumes no changes.  We thank everyone mentioned for their conscientious reminders.




The discussion follows the breathing exercise and prayer which are done at the beginning of the meeting.  From left clockwise above are: Donna, Sue, Emma. Dorothy, Elaine, Mary, the backs of Roberta, Linda, and Rose.

 Sue's group gathers for lunch after meeting during the Christmas season.  Front row, left to right:  Dorothy, Donna, Linda, Elaine, Lulu, Lena, Kathy, Rose, Mary and Natalie.  Back row, left to right: Abigail, Roberta, Sue, Emma and Jo.

We have gone through so much together as members through good times as well as difficult ones. The sharing and praying sessions keep us grounded and strengthened especially during trying times that unexpectably pop up in our lives including health issues. We have also rejoiced in our children's milestones including their graduations, weddings and birth of their own children, our grandchildren. 

After reading how many prayer groups we go to, you might think of us as the stereotyped version of a holy person. We are more what Fr. James Martin, SJ, describes in the bookmark below. We are just women helping each other be who we are. 

Crowd Pleasing Healthy Cupcakes

Depending on the group meeting, goodies are shared either before or after we have gathered for the faith sharing.   I have brought these chocolate cupcakes to all three groups and they have been a crowd pleaser. Since they are so good, the members could hardly tell they were healthier versions of the usual chocolate cupcakes.  No eggs nor oil were used in the preparation of the cake batter.  This healthy version is very moist and delicious.

The pictures I show in this post, were the cupcakes I brought for Sr. Paula as a belated birthday present, during the quarterly board meeting of the Associates of the Sisters of St. Joseph two Sunday's ago . I frosted them with the Vegan Chocolate Frosting featured in this blog on July 21, 2014.

Healthy Chocolate Banana Cupcakes

 Cake Batter:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree not pie filling
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 devil's food cake mix or you can use white or yellow cake mix to which you add 1/4 cup cocoa)
• 1/2 -1 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line two regular sized muffin pans with liners.  (The liners are necessary since this recipe does not have any oil and the batter cling to the pans which make cleaning them difficult). 

Mix the first three ingredients and then add the cake mix into the mixture.  Add the mini chocolate chips at this point if opting to use it.  Fill the muffin pans about 1/2 to 2/3 full depending on what size of muffins you prefer. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and frost using the Vegan Chocolate Frosting or any frosting you like. 

Vegan Chocolate Frosting, Spread or Topping

See the ingredients and instructions for preparing this frosting in this blog, July 21, 2014.

This recipe makes approximately 24 muffins. 

Note:  I used the Martha Celebration cupcake set which came with 24 liners and 24 toothpick flower decoration. I bought the set at Tuesday Morning, Wilkins Township.

The cupcakes ready to be transported to the meetings.