Paula’s Handout, October 2019 Monroeville Prayer Meeting on Maxims 97, 98 and Updates

This blog post will cover a) the handout given by Sr. Paula during the prayer meeting held in October at Sue's house. b) Maxims 97 and 98 discussed during the Monroeville Prayer Group Meeting at Dottie's house also held in October and c) photos and updates on the associates and a sister who have journeyed with us.

a)  Below is a copy of the beautiful Handout provided by Paula and shared by Natalie who attended the prayer meeting with Paula this past October at Sue's house.

b)  Monroeville Prayer Group Meeting at Dottie's house this past October covering Maxims 97 and 98.

With Natalie facilitating, the meeting started with Paula's handout shown above followed by a song about Jesus by Paul Koleske.

We then tackled two challenging maxims, 97 and 98.  To help us understand the maxims, I have given the students' interpretation of the maxims in poster forms.  

Maxim 97. When you meet contradictions, strengthen yourself against human fears, continuing to hope when everything seems to throw you into hopelessness regarding the success of your undertakings.

Below is a poster on how the students interpreted Maxim 97.

Maxim 98. Furthermore, when burdened with great crosses, do not let your heart yearn for death.   Let it be enough for you to be crucified with Jesus Christ, as much as and in the way that it is pleasing to God; and, regarding every circumstance of

your life and death, let him decide.

Below is a poster on how the students interpreted Maxim 98.

c)  Updates

1)  Sister Bridget James O'Brien recently passed away and her obituary can be found in the CSJ Baden website. We fondly remember her as the hospitable person who greeted us with her bright smile every time we saw her in the Baden cafeteria or along the corridors of the motherhouse. 

She gave a talk on charism with me during one of the orientation meetings.  As part of her talk, she gave a compelling testimony to an important part of her life, a family tragedy that killed her brother and his family in a fire. She has likened her life as a Divine Symphony with this tragedy as one of its four movements.  Below is the quote of this beautiful metaphor of her life from her obituary.

"Sister Bridget once described her life as a “Divine Symphony” in four movements. She said it opened with the delightful singing violins of her Irish family full of love and laughter, moved into the somber beat of a family tragedy, rose to the sound of a full orchestra at St. Andrew’s, and finally moved into the soft rhythmic melody of ever-deepening faith and love for God. Each day, she prayed to know God’s will for her".

Below are photos I took from the array of pictures displayed during Sister Bridget's viewing at Baden.

2, Janice Paul's husband, Peter Paul, recently passed away.  When Mary Cay and I went to the viewing, Janice expressed her gratefulness to the Lord that during his last moments on earth, Sr. Bernadette, Sr. Mary Fran and Sr. Natalie were with him by his side at the Baden nursing home. She considered their presence a blessing that gives her peace that Paul is resting  in peace. Below are photos I took of the pictures of the family as well of them during the viewing.

I mentioned to her three daughters that their mom is a prolific writer.  I told them of her piece on the consensus statement that appeared in the CSJA Baden cookbook published in 2008.  Here is a copy of her beautiful thoughts.

3) I saw Abigail, an associate that made the promise the same time I did in the early nineties, at Red Robin Restaurant.  Below is a photo of her and her son Nathan.  Seeing her with her son brought back memories of our days in the Mothers Group at St. Bernadette Parish moderated by the late Sr. Ursula Grimes.  She had asked for prayers about her problem with her eye and she told me to update every one that it is getting better.  She thanks every one for their prayers and to continue praying for the complete healing of her eyesight.

4)  Last but not least, I would like to share the photo I took of Mary Cay as she celebrated her birthday at the Bravo Restaurant on our way home from Janice Paul's husband's viewing.  To her and all birthday celebrants, Happy Birthday, Life is good especially sharing it with the Lord and all of you as we journey through life with all its ups and downs. Thanks to Sr. Paula, Sue, Natalie and Dottie for helping us grow in our faith during our faith sharing group meetings.