September 9, 2013

How I heard my call to religious life

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

Lately I have had a number of people ask how I knew I had a call to religious life. Boy, I always find this hard to explain. I can explain how I chose this particular community. It felt like home; I was comfortable. But the call itself? That’s hard to articulate.

Michael Casey’s book, The Road to Eternal Life, helps. He says, “First of all, we are invited to ask ourselves, ‘Am I the sort of person who is truly seeking the fullness of life and happiness?’ and to hear what answer to this question resounds in the depths of our hearts.”

Wow, he’s right. But how do we get there? How do we hear the answer? Continue Reading

September 6, 2013

A look at some real Women and Spirit

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

This weekend, we took a group of women looking at religious life to the local Women and Spirit exhibit. We – and they – had a wonderful and interesting time! Here’s what the Women & Spirit website says about the now-complete national exhibit:

“‘WOMEN & SPIRIT: Catholic Sisters in America’ was a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in association with Cincinnati Museum Center.

“It revealed the mystery behind a small group of innovative American women who helped shape the nation’s social and cultural landscape. Continue Reading

August 28, 2013

Not letting routine dull our realities

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

Routine and habit can so control our lives that our perception of ultimate realities can become dull. We can miss important moments when we don’t expect them. We can miss clues … to problems … to questions … to opportunities to change our lives.

To some extent, we all crave routine. I have taught young children for 15 years now and can confirm their need for routine. I can also confirm my own need for routine: as a former single woman, I sank into a routine that didn’t vary much from day to day.

Continue Reading

August 16, 2013

The mystery of a religious vocation

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

In today’s society, we do not deal well with the mystery. Mysteries are to be solved, not accepted and even – the horror! – embraced.

We read and watch mysteries with great excitement (sometimes we skip to the end to find out who done it). Scientists explore mysteries to get to the bottom of why. Our culture demands to know … everything.

Sometimes, though, we forget about the importance of faith. No matter what invisible-to-the-naked-eye particle we discover, we simply must take the why of it on faith. And that’s true of our path in life as well. Continue Reading

August 9, 2013

A Vision of Hope and the Courage to Persevere

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

Perseverance forges character, and character, hope; and hope does not disappoint. Romans 5:3-5

This Bible passage hangs on the wall in the large meeting room at Notre Dame in the building for the Alliance for Catholic Education. (I saw it while at the Latino Enrollment Institute for school; although this photo is actually of our Sisters down in Nauvoo.) Continue Reading

June 30, 2013

Focus on "I can"

By Sister Stefanie MacDonald, OSB

Perseverance forges character, and character, hope; and hope does not disappoint. Romans 5:3-5

I’ve been at Notre Dame learning strategies to improve Catholic schools’ outreach to and success with Latino children, and the program has been quite helpful. But lots of what we’ve learned is applicable to other things … including, in this case, religious life.

Consider this line: “I can think of all the reasons of why I can’t … or I can do all the reasons that makes it I can.” Continue Reading