Special People In Our Lives: Our Retired Sisters!

We all have special people in our lives and for our congregation some of those special people are our sisters who live in our retirement residences. Retired? Yes--from active ministry. But when one of our sisters moves to one of the retirement residences, they are missioned to prayer ministry. And believe me, they are power houses of prayer! Of course, as you will see in the following photos, they are busy with other activities as well. One of the sisters who used to live at our convent and who now lives in Assisi House is a member of the liturgy committee (planning liturgies and serving as a lector), a member of the food committee (meets with and makes suggestions to food services), keeps track of and schedules Mass requests, meets with a group of our companions for faith sharing, writes to prisoners, and remains a member of our congregation's theology committee. Sounds like a really busy schedule to me.

A group of our retired sisters at Assisi House cut and sort stamps which are later sold. This fall they had an all-day Stamp-A-Thon and the sisters who served the greatest amount of time were treated to a trip to the Hagley Museum in Delaware. They toured the 250 acres of the DuPont Estate and gunpowder mills and enjoyed lunch in the Hagley Restaurant.

Srs. Mary Rita, Regina Anne, Helen, and Regina were the winners of the Stamp-A-Thon and, together with Assisi House volunteers, enjoyed the trip to Hagley Museum.

At Thanksgiving the sisters in Assisi House put on a play (with several performances) called "Seeds of Kindness," the story of Wilbur, a grumpy old man whose proverbial cup is always half empty until he is touched with acts of kindness performed by others.

 

Sr. Helen Veronica played Wilbur who eventually allowed the many seeds of kindness to take root in his own heart.

At Christmas a group of the sisters from Assisi House performed an international Christmas Chorale--again with several performances. They traveled--in song--through Austria, Germany, France, Mexico, England, Jamaica, and the U.S.

The Assisi House chorus showed through their rendering of international Christmas music that it is, indeed, a small world after all.

December also found a small group of Assisi House residents traveling to the Christmas Museum in Lancaster County to explore the many examples of Christmas lore.

Sr. Rita Francis and our Assisi House volunteers enjoyed a visit with Santa at the Christmas Museum in Willow Valley.

And, of course, our retired sisters, like all joy-filled Franciscans, enjoy parties. New Years was no exception. They welcomed in 2010 with an early evening celebration complete with games, noise makers, horns, and music.

Sr. Michael Joseph, 101, was on hand to welcome in 2010 and to rejoice in the new year ahead.