Does anyone else think that women religious should be issued superhero capes with their habits? Certainly Nicholas Kristof does after writing in the The New York Times over the weekend that nuns just might trump Superman, Batman and Spider-Man.
But you and I both know that sisters doing super things is just par for the course, as we see once again this week.
Have to get this right
It’s not every day that an American church hosts a beatification. But it’s going to happen on October 4 at Sacred Heart Basilica in Newark when a sister from north New Jersey becomes the first American to be beatified in the United States.
And if you think the organizers aren’t feeling the heat, think again.
“Rome does this all the time. In America, we’re a little new at it,” Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark, told The Daily Journal in Vineland, N.J., this week.
Sr. Miriam Teresa, who was a Sister of Charity in Convent Station until she died in 1927, will be beatified in front of a crowd that is expected to overflow the 2,000-seat cathedral.
The Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Amato, coming from Rome as a personal representative of Pope Francis.
Not to take anything away from the good Cardinal, but the most special guest that day will be Michael Mencer, Sr. Miriam’s “miracle.”
Mencer was 8 back in the 1960s when he was diagnosed with juvenile macular degeneration and told that he would be totally blind. But he got his sight back after his third-grade teacher gave him a picture of Sr. Miriam and a piece of her hair.
In a stroke of pure genius, organizers plan for him to carry the relic in the procession during the Mass.
Keeping watch
These are tense days for the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary as they worry from afar about two members working in an Ebola-stricken area of West Africa.
Sr. Ann Kelly and Sr. Bridget Lacey, of Ireland – two of about 400 Holy Rosary sisters working in Africa, Brazil and Mexico – have been in Liberia for the last eight years working on a literacy project. When the virus started to spread through the area the sisters, both started teaching people about the disease, too.
Mainline Media News checked in on the Pennsylvania-based order and found that the sisters might not be able to leave the area for several months because of a state of emergency and restricted travel.
“There is a military presence throughout the country. The whole commerce [network] is shut off,” Sr. Terry Shields told Mainline Media.
Friends are communicating with the two women by phone and email, so Shields knows that they are safe though the situation is dicey.
Even if they could leave, Shields said, her colleagues would stay because their work in Africa means so much to them.
“They are very brave, but they don’t see themselves as brave,” she said. “This is just what they do.”
Round 2 in the Hamptons
Last week we talked about this odd situation in New York’s tony Southampton, where the well-to-do denizens asked for the removal of a memorial sign honoring a deceased sister.
The sign commemorated Sr. Jacqueline Walsh, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while taking a walk in 2012. The driver fled and was never caught.
Southampton’s highway superintendent, Alex Gregor, put up the sign on the road where the Sisters of Mercy convent stands. Sr. Walsh lost her life in the area while visiting the convent for a retreat.
But some neighbors complained that it reminded them too much of the tragedy and whined that it made them uncomfortable. Gregor didn’t want to take down the sign, but the Sisters of Mercy asked him to when the story started spreading.
And boy did it. The brouhaha hit New York City newspapers and went national. In recent days someone started an online petition to get the sign reinstalled, reports 27East.com, which covers the Hamptons.
The MoveOn.org petition, called “Keep the Memory of Sister Jackie,” has more than 1,300 signatures.
“Sister Jackie was the most wonderful person in the world,” wrote one woman. “She was a true gift from God. Please don’t take away the sign.”
Ireland in mourning
What a sad story out of Ireland last week, where two women religious lost their lives during an evening swim off the Kerry coast.
The women got into trouble in the water and a heroic effort to save them failed after they were rescued from the water.
Sr. Imelda Carew, 67, and Sr. Paula Buckley, 70, were members of the South East province of the Presentation Sisters.
Sr. Buckley was preparing to celebrate 50 years of religious life with family and friends in early September.
Both women were teachers in southeast Ireland, reported The Independent in Dublin.
“We are all stunned and shocked by this tragedy,” said Sr. Mary Deane, congregational leader of the Presentation Sisters Union.
“Words seem inadequate to express our loss and sorrow as we come to terms with the tragic events that unfolded on a beautiful sunny evening.”
The sisters were on holiday when they mysteriously got into trouble while swimming in calm, shallow waters. Lifeguards rescued them from the water, setting off a valiant attempt to revive them.
CPR efforts lasted more than an hour on the beach as onlookers watched in horror, the newspaper reported. The sisters were airlifted by a Coast Guard rescue helicopter to a hospital in Tralee.
They were laid to rest this week in separate funerals that attracted hundreds of mourners.
Rest in peace, good women.
[Lisa Gutierrez is a reporter in Kansas City, Mo., who scans the non-NCR news every week for interesting pieces about sisters. She can be reached at lisa11gutierrez@gmail.com.]