Christmas Retreat

The novices then attended a retreat in New Jersey. It was the first retreat in a series which will be for the North American Province. The theme was the Franciscan values of minority, poverty, contemplation, and conversion. Each day we read about a saint that lived that value in a particular way, and then at night, we met him/her! One of the team members, in costume and speaking as that person, told us more about the saint. Each day there was Adoration, sharings from our sisters and the Franciscan priest presenter, and opportunities to dialogue with each other about how God reached out to us that day. It was a time for community bonding, as well as private reflection.


Then Sister Heather Marie, the first-year novice, returned to Enfield, Connecticut to continue her canonical year. I will be away until mid-March, on my apostolic experiences. During the second year, the novice goes to different small convents and ministries of the sisters. I will be able to experience the daily life of an active, professed sister. My first place will be Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where I will help at an inner-city Catholic school, while living with three sisters who minister in that school. I don't know too many details about the work yet, but I do know that I will be teaching French to the eighth grade twice a week. I am looking foward to the experience, which I think will be of great help to my discernment of my call to be a sister. I have fond memories of being in small convents as a postulant. I go there tomorrow!