REFLECTIONS ON JUBILARIANS July 10, 2010 by Sister Patricia Coughlin, O.S.B.

The five women who have just renewed their vows in our presence have chosen the scripture readings for today's Eucharistic celebration because they express the values by which they have lived 75, 70, 60, and 50 years of Benedictine life.

-Sr. Mercedes Moore: Sr. Mercedes has always been a seeker of wisdom, perhaps because she grew up in St. Thomas Parish in that fountain of knowledge, Hyde Park. As a high school teacher she was ahead of the times theologically. One of her students said, “When Sr. Mercedes teaches, it's as if God were right there on the lectern.” Sr. Mercedes' seeking led her first to Boulder, Colorado and then to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands-and hurricane Hugo-where she was a presence and a help to people suffering in its aftermath. Later, as a pastoral associate at St. Athanatius she was instrumental in the formation of the chaplaincy at Evanston Hospital. Sr. Mercedes is still a source of wisdom and spiritual mentor to many, sharing the gospel from the first day until now.

-Sr. Amy Campbell: Sr. Amy left her native and beloved Colorado to become a Benedictine Sister of Chicago. Hers is a heart that burns with care for others. She has taught in parish schools here and in Colorado, serving as principal at St. John Nepomucene in Bridgeport. Sr. Amy has been a presence in many ways at St. Scholastica Academy, Canon City, CO. She was the founder and teacher of the pre-school program there and is still recognized and remembered with fondness by her former pupils whom she meets in all sorts of places around Canon City. Sr. Amy continues to serve as alumnae coordinator of the school. In many ways she is the face and the voice of a place that was so significant to many women who learned and learned a gospel way of living there. She continues to serve her community in many ways, helping them to know God and each other in the breaking of bread.

-Sr. Joan Hentges: Sr. Joan claims that the story of her early life reads like The Little House on the Prairie. That's because she was born in Farmer, South Dakota even though she grew up in Canon City. Sr. Joan's life has been deeply rooted in her Benedictine community and for 33 years in Christ the King Parish in Pueblo. Perhaps it is this rootedness that has allowed mind to move into the future and its possibilities. Sr. Joan has not been slow of heart to believe the prophets of today and reminds all of us of the need to pay attention to God's call in the signs of the times. Sr. Joan has a heart that burns with the love of life and of friendship. One of her favorite says is, “Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing.” I think that it is this quality of hers that students from Colorado and Chicago and parishoners, some of whom are here today, remember over the years.

-Sr. Callista Kaley: Sr. Callista comes from the north side of Chicago. Most people know her as a prodigiously gifted musician and teacher of music who shares her gifts generously. Day after day, year after year, she animates the liturgical life here through organ and keyboard playing as well as directing the Schola Cantorum, community's singing group and enlivens us with her keen sense of humor. (Occasionally she gets to share her talent with a wider audience through performing.) Sr. Callista loves beauty in many forms: like film which she shares with the community in her Friday evening film series, and in decorating community spaces-like the jubilee tables. Sr. Callista has walked with this community on its journey of life. She began her good work many years ago and has seen it, not to completion yet, but through all the changes of the past 60 years has opened her heart more and more so that it overflows with knowledge and insight.

-Sr. Patricia Crowley: Sr. Patricia Crowley would have been among those first women at the tomb on Easter morning. She is nationally recognized for her leadership in the effort to provide housing for women who are homeless as well as for serving the poor in the North of Howard neighborhood here in Chicago. Sr. Patricia's heart burns with the desire to see justice realized for the marginated the world over and has a special place in her heart for Latin America and Haiti. And more than most of us, she has translated that desire into action for the many groups with whom she works. In the past few years Sr. Patricia has become involved in a different kind of leadership-in the Ignatian Spirituality Project which offers retreats for men and women who are or have been homeless-She works on women's retreats-and, of course, the leadership of this community, balancing our long monastic tradition with the demands and realities of today. The urgency of her heart, thankfully, shows no sign of dying down.

We rejoice with these five women who have, each in her own way, has brought to completion 50, 60, 70, and 75 years of living these gospel values. The lives of everyone in this assembly have been enriched by them. May you know our gratitude and love today and every day.

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