FSP Formation Through a Wide-Angle Lens

One of the most exciting periods of a novice’s two-year formation as an up-and-coming Daughter of St. Paul is what we call her “apostolic experience.” It’s much like an internship. The timeframe for both our novices, Sr. Emily Marsh and Sr. Sywia Skonieczna, is five months, but the cities couldn’t be more different: Philadelphia and Warsaw.

A European assignment is not the usual, but seeing as Sylwia is on loan from Poland for her novitiate and is destined to return, it’s a must.



Novices Emily and Sylwia with Sr. Carmen

It requires a fair amount of soul-searching, both for each novice and their host communities. Can they live with each other? How do they grow together in the charism, that is, the way they are present to the Church and the world as Paulines? Does the mission flourish because of their collaboration? And especially for the novice, can she see herself faithfully living a life of consecrated chastity, poverty, and obedience?

From what we’ve heard so far, both novices are settling in very quickly. No doubt you’ll get to check in with them now and then through this blog over the next months.

So what’s their director doing meanwhile? Sr. Carmen Christi Pompei has flown the Boston coop, too…with the postulant director, Sr. Rebecca Marie Hoffart, from St. Louis! But wait. No time off for these two. They’re attending an intense, two-month course in Rome for “formators.” Topics in their syllabus are related to modern youth culture, evangelization in a world of globalization, and our communications culture today. Conferences on our Founder’s writings connect the heart of Pauline spirituality with the formative journey. Finally, the experience will be capped by a pilgrimage and retreat. We won’t be able to live with them!

Jackie Gitonga, Laura Nolin, Cheryl Galema, Theresa Noble,
and Erin Nolan with Sr. Rebecca

Joy, awe, gratitude, and renewed commitment light up Sr. Carmen’s e-mails back to us, and Sr. Rebecca is intrigued with the international makeup of the group of 32 formation directors. Both of them look forward to sharing all they’ve gleaned with the postulants (http://fsppostulants.blogspot.com/) and novices, as well as with other young women exploring a religious vocation.

There are 185 young women in the first stages of initial formation with us around the world in a congregation that numbers 2,600. Seven of them live in the U.S. In addition, seven junior professed sisters with temporary vows continue their discernment in our communities in the U.S. and Toronto in preparation for their perpetual, or “final,” vows after six years. If you'd like to contribute financially to their formation, why not send your gift online to the Daughters of St. Paul Education Fund: http://bit.ly/anoNcX.

Now, our formation directors aren’t the only ones going to Rome. Today Sr. Margaret Kerry and I leave to accompany several Pauline Cooperators on a pilgrimage to Italy, especially to the sites of our foundation. We'll meet up with Sr. Carmen and Sr. Rebecca there. Look for my next blog post Nov. 3, after I return. Ciao!

What Do Americans Give To?

It may be old news, but it’s still good news: Americans like to give, and to religious causes, at that.



By permission of the Non-Profit Times



     Am I presuming too much when I say, “like to”? No matter. The July 1, 2010 issue of the Non-Profit Times ran a special report on last year’s charitable giving in the U.S. While there were few surprises in the types of contributions made, the charities benefitted, and the sources of funding, the real surprise came in the amount donated—$303.75 billion. Despite the recession and the predicted plunge in donations, charitable giving declined only about 3%, it came mostly from individuals (75%), and it went primarily to religion and education (70%). Corporations kept their commitments, and bequests increased slightly. Charities had braced themselves for the worst as the year wound down, but philanthropy sprinted ahead the last two weeks of December, making the year far less bleak than expected.

     The full article can be accessed at: http://www.nptimes.com/01July/7-1-10%20SpecReport%20GivingUSA.pdf.

    For both the Daughters of St. Paul and our Pauline Books & Media Centers in the U.S. and Toronto, 2009 was a year of making do with much less. Fortunately, a few years ago the PBM Centers began trimming inventory and adopting strategies that enabled us to weather the onslaught of recession. We still had to close three locations, downsize another, and relocate a fifth, but data indicated that due to a significant decrease in walk-in traffic, precipitated also by major global changes in the book trade, those decisions would have been reached recession or no. They just came sooner than we anticipated.

    

     Conversely, other aspects of our mission are blossoming, thanks to the creativity and energy of sisters and co-workers, as well as the generosity of our donors:

¨          The Web store (www.pauline.org) is growing and is serving people all over the U.S., even where we have PBM Centers;

¨          the digital production arm of Pauline Books & Media was launched. It now offers music downloads from the Daughters of St. Paul Choir, and has produced two iPhone applications. Another app is in the wings, funded largely by a corporate grant;

¨          PBM publishing has incorporated new technology and has made 36 titles available on iReaders, like Kindle (http://www.amazon.com/) and iPad (http://www.ibookstore.com/);

¨          the J-Club school book fair and Web site were established and are in the process of providing children’s products and of developing into a highly interactive online learning experience for classes and families;

¨          sisters and Pauline laity throughout the US/ESC province are gradually being prepared to carry out media literacy projects for their local Churches;

¨          a long-range, collaborative mission between the Daughters of St. Paul in North and South America is in the planning stage.

     In the near future you’ll be able to access details about these projects on this blog. Clearly, funding is needed for them, and we’re grateful to those who've already recognized this, Americans or not, and who've made religion and education their priority for 2009 and 2010.

Fund Updates

In the blog post of Sept. 15, I reported that an anonymous donor had pledged $100,000 to the Education Fund for our novices and sisters, if we could raise a matching amount by Dec. 31. Now, three weeks later, the current totals are in: a few dollars shy of $29,000 given so far. However, that includes the income netted at the Afternoon Tea. That means that if contributions continue at this rate, we will reach only 53% of our goal by New Year’s Day.

Would you consider making a tax-deductible contribution, either by check to the Daughters of St. Paul at 50 St. Paul’s Ave. Boston, MA  02130, or on-line at http://www.daughtersofstpaul.com/ by clicking the “Donate Now” button, then “Education”?

Here’s another idea. You have friends and relatives online, right? E-mail address books? Facebook friends? Twitter contacts? Why not try a little mobile giving, inviting them each to donate something affordable via their phones: “Teach a nun. Donate $5 to the Daughters of St. Paul Education Fund: http://www.daughtersofstpaul.com/.”  Or if you prefer, you can invite them to “donate online like me” and give them the Web address. You and we will get to collaborate in sharing Jesus with a world desperately in need of Good News, by preparing some of his 21st century apostles for the task.

“Nowadays it seems that almost anyone can get up and speak on any subject; let us prepare ourselves so that we also can speak out….

And since we are people of our own time, let us make sure that women too are prepared for the new era.” 
Blessed James Alberione, SSP, Founder
From an essay written in 1911

A week later, I told you that I spent the day with the Holy Family Institute in Canfield, Ohio. We talked about the film apostolate in the history of the Pauline Family, as well as its future, and prayed together for the coming documentary on Bl. James Alberione. We interceded for those who are working on it, for those who will benefit from it, and for its donors. Last week Youngstown, Ohio’s, Catholic Exponent reported on the film project at http://bit.ly/dcHuBg. 



Interviewing Sr. Tiziana, PDDM

 HFI members banded together and gave $2,500 for its production and promotion. The film crew is aiming to finish its work by 2012, which means we need to finish financing it by the end of 2011—one year from now. So far, people have contributed $28,773.76, or just above a quarter of our $100,000 goal. And you’ve been giving for a year. Once the film crew returns from Italy, we will have spent it on their expenses and the interviews they’ve conducted since spring. That leaves a projected deficit of roughly $2,500. Happily, Sr. Helena has finished the first draft of the script, but funds will be needed to help her go ahead.

We’ve been able to secure some larger donations and are working with two HFI members to write grant proposals. However, we know we’ll need to expand the donor base.

What about you? Your family or friends? Have they seen the four-minute film preview? Why not send them this blog address and tell them they can do what you did— scroll down the right side of the page and watch it. If you want to, you can also tell them that the donate button is on the film’s Web site: http://www.alberionefilm.com/.

One HFI member asked if the film would be oriented toward encouraging priestly or religious vocations. Since Sr. Helena Burns, FSP, who’s writing the script, is also one of our regional vocationists, you can guess the answer to that. But it’s also meant to present Fr. Alberione as a role model for those who foster a media culture built on faith values and the dignity of the human person. The hope is that, by presenting this man and his mission as an antidote to polarization and fundamentalism, the Church will better connect with the world through the media.

Can you be part of that? Absolutely! Write to us or click on http://www.alberionefilm.com/donate.html and donate now.

“We need to put down the scissors of censorship and pick up the camera, [because] the power of the cinema surpasses that of the school, the pulpit, and the press and always produces greater results.”
Blessed James Alberione, SSP, Founder
March 18, 1938

Best Blog Day

Sr. Anne Flanagan, blogger of "nunblog" (see “My Blog List” at right) sent me an article that told us which times and days of the week are best to enter a blogpost…if we want a shot at having a popular one, that is: http://rww.to/haOg. It says that Thursday posts made after lunch or work are most frequently read. Doesn’t that boost our faith in the conscientiousness of the workforce?

     So instead of mornings, as I had promised you, I am entering my posts in the evening. But I’m pulling away from the pack and staying with Wednesday. That’s the day that the Pauline Family remembers together how Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus, imaged God’s care for them by providing for their needs. We say that if he did such a good job back then, he probably will do just as well by us. It appears he has teamed up with St. Paul the Apostle to meet our spiritual and mission based needs, but he seems to take charge of our prayers for our material needs and for our donors.

     So Wednesday it is. Make it popular by sharing it with a friend or two as you pray with Joseph for their needs: http://bit.ly/9wue9R.  

Read on….

National Catholic Development Conference, Chicago






 The National Catholic Development Conference drew hundreds of Catholic fundraisers from all over the country to Chicago, Sept. 19-22. Apart from the unique opportunity it gave me to learn and network, I was able to attend for two practical reasons. Sr. Rose Pacatte, director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, was the featured speaker the last day, so the NCDC board generously invited me to participate gratis; and a couple from San Antonio offered to cover my airfare, because they intuited how I could serve my community with what I gleaned. I stayed with our sisters who have a PBM Center and convent four blocks from the hotel downtown. It couldn’t have been more ideal.

I didn’t starve either, as you can see. I skipped the evening galas, though—the intense days started with 7:30 A.M. Mass, so I was beat. Monday, however, was different, because music maestro Riccardo Muti had just arrived from Italy to assume the podium of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and he was holding a free concert in Millennium Park, a few blocks from our sisters. What a treat, made extra special since my sister, Sr. Frances, another Daughter of St. Paul, is recently assigned to Chicago. Police estimates had the lot of us at 25,000.

I ended my stay with a trip to Old Town, where I did my eight dollar share to support the city economy. St. Michael’s Church had been gutted by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, but the outer walls still stood. So it was reconstructed and is staffed by the Redemptorists. By the way, a few years ago Mrs. O'Leary and her cow were officially exon-erated from responsibility for the blaze.    
     Besides serving as a rich learning experience, the conference led me into new, mutually beneficial relationships with other organizations, as we plan to work more closely with our sisters in Latin America and bring our own facilities into more stable condition. It opened my eyes to the challenges we all face in Catholic development, as well as to the potential for working together for the good of our world.

AlberioneFilm @ the Holy Family "Triduum"

Canfield, Ohio, near Youngstown is home to the priests and brothers of the Society of St. Paul. Every September, though, their bucolic, sprawling acreage is overrun by upwards of 250 members of the Holy Family Institute--and their offspring--for a triduum, or three-day retreat/conference/"fiesta." These married people, many of them couples, constitute one of the secular, or in this case, aggregated, institutes of the Pauline Family. That is, they are novices and professed lay people from all over the country, who make vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience in keeping with the purposes of their married life, growing in holiness and witnessing to the Gospel in their lives, often in or through the media.

The dates of their rendezvous this year were Sept. 17-19. A special feature was the visit of the crew preparing the new documentary on our--and-their--Founder, Bl. James Alberione, SSP. The videographers and Sr. Helena Burns, FSP, taped dozens of couples' testimonies about Alberione and the Holy Family Institute, along with interviews with several SSP members, two Sister Disciples of the Divine Master (yes, another Pauline congregation) and Fr. Michael Harrington, a recently professed member of the Institute of Jesus the Priest (you guessed it--another institute founded by Alberione, this one for diocesan clergy). Learn more: http://www.albahouse.org/paulinef.htm.

Couples renewed their marriage vows, two women entered the novitiate, and others either renewed temporary vows as HFI's or pronounced perpetual vows. What an inspiring witness!

It was my first time with them in such a large group. I knew some from Louisiana and one from California, and it was great to reconnect and catch up a little on old "news." I know, Facebook would really help here. That's my next move. To link up with the film experience they were having, I gave a 40-minute presentation on the origins of the Pauline film apostolate. Of course, I showed the preview of the documentary. (To watch it, scroll down this page and click on the photo of James Alberione toward the right side of the page.) My presentation 

is available at http://bit.ly/aYkw7W.

Afternoon Tea with the Daughters honors Dr. Mary Ann Glendon

The early autumn weather was perfect, the raffle baskets, enticing, and the antique table settings, exquisite. One glitch: In planning, we hadn't accounted for the New England Patriots' Home Opener the same day. That alone made the presence and jovial mood of our 110 friends even more impressive.
The members of our Boston community turned out en masse to park cars, register names, serve tables, sit with guests, and conduct tours of our chapel and publishing house afterward for those who could put in the extra 40 minutes.

    There was a dual purpose to the event. We honored Dr. Mary Ann Glendon with the first-ever Cordero Award, given to "Catholics who have striven to uplift the human spirit and to recognize the dignity of the person in or through the media." The award is named for M. Paula Cordero, who helped establish the Daughters of St. Paul in the U.S. in 1932. Dr. Glendon is the Learned Hand Law Professor at Harvard Law School and served as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. Her teaching, whether at Harvard or in her books and articles, provided us with the incentive to honor her with the award. Wikipedia describes her as a "pro-life feminist." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Glendon

     The event also launched the Education Fund for our sisters and novices. In proposing the idea for a fund raising event, Sr. Margaret Timothy, provincial superior, remarked, "I'm tired of having to choose between fixing the roof and educating our sisters!" She outlined  for our guests the purpose of our education: to meet the evangelization needs of a new generation using the modern means of communication. Today that means the digital world. So we work toward degrees in philosophy, theology, communications, administration, the arts, marketing, and languages. Scholarships accounted for, that requires about $75,000 anuually. And that's just to continue what we've been doing. How many more we could train if we had the resources!

    

 One man got the message. An anonymous donor pledged $100,000 if we could raise a matching amount by year's end. Well, seeing as we netted about $23,000 from the day, that leaves us with $77,000 to go. Cardinal Sean O'Malley wrote, "I am pleased to support this effort and encourage you all to do so." Here's how: http://dsp.pauline.org/SupportOurWork/HowtoGive/tabid/232/Default.aspx. Or contact me: margaretjo@paulinemedia.com. We join our prayers for you to those he promised to offer for you , too.

Welcome to the Daughters of St. Paul Mission Development!

Keep up with what projects the Daughters of St. Paul have in the making: Community news, mission and vocation initiatives, and funding projects.