Franziska Notes March 2010

Anyone who becomes familiar with the life of Mother Franziska is struck by her devotion to the saints, especially St. Joseph. When she purchased the new mother house on the Jacquingasse in Vienna she might have been overwhelmed by the work needed to make it a suitable convent home. Her solution was to carry a statue of St. Joseph from room to room showing him the renovations and repairs necessary and reminding him that her purse was, as usual, empty.
Aside from the fact that he is a favorite of her homeland, St. Joseph is honored by the Church as its patron. The humble carpenter of Nazareth was given the care of the very beginning of the Christian era, the virgin Mary and the tiny baby who was the Son of God Incarnate. Very much was asked and very little human status accorded him.
I am sure that Mother Franziska would approve of our assigning today to St. Joseph the protection of children and young people, especially women. Everything in our culture seems designed to destroy their moral innocence and even their physical integrity. How many children and women are abused in our time! All of us must oppose this trend with our prayers and action. We must become friends of the women and children in our environment and pray for those who are beyond our circle. Let us never join in the laughter or comment that demeans women and children. Let us have the courage to become involved when we have a chance to help someone in need.
St. Joseph believed the unbelievable and took the pregnant Mary into his home. He showed a wonderful courage taking his wife and child to Egypt in the night when powerful forces were searching for them to kill the child. Let us pray to St. Joseph for the vulnerable both near and far and ask for his wisdom to know when we should do more. Let him also teach us the unselfishness of humility when we are overlooked and unrecognized. St. Joseph pray for us in March and always.

www.godslovefdc.org

A Cup of Tea in Trieste

It was winter and cold in the railroad station and there was a significant stopover for the group of nuns going to Zagrab. One of them was using the time to do some people watching. She noticed an old lady in shabby clothing going through the waste bins. It seemed there was one particular thing the woman was looking for. Finally she found it ... a styrofoam cup with a used tea bag still inside. She went to the water fountain and filled the cup and drank the "recycled tea". The sister noticed that she resumed the search and found another cup which she refilled and drank. Later when one of the nuns offered to get something to eat for the group, the observer asked for two cups of tea. When she got the hot liquid with the fresh tea bag she went to offer it to the poor woman. Her smile seemed to light up the cavernous railroad station. Maybe she hadn't eaten that day, but now she had the wonderful luxury of a fresh and hot cup of tea.

There are gourmet teas and coffees served in valuable porcelain cups but maybe the one warm cup of the day in a styrofoam container was more delicious than all of them. Also, that day perhaps many checks were written for large organizations who help alleviate human suffering, but maybe the small act of a cup of tea which was the loving response to an immediate need was worth more than they. If we believe the Gospel, we know that it was Jesus himself who enjoyed the cup of tea in the railroad station in Trieste.

What is a habit?

Very rarely does one see a religious sister, or as common language calls her, a nun, in a religious habit. Older people have a nostalgic memory of the varied and imaginative habits worn by the religious congregations and each graduate of a Catholic school was sure that the sisters who taught him or her had the most sensible and all the others were "strange". More than a half century ago Pope Pius XII asked religious to modernize and modify their religious dress. Many were shocked because they considered the design of their habit as sacred as their unique spirituality. Times have changed. Many habits have become like modern dress and many have become modern dress without any particular religious sign.

Looking over some old family pictures I found a photo of my Grandfather, Joseph Schweizer with his mother in Germany. Her clothing was very familiar. It was very similar to what I wore when I first made my vows in the fifties. Not wanting to post my own photo I choose to place our Foundress, Mother Franziska Lechner who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity in 1868 Vienna--just about the time that this little boy posed with his mother. We can see that the habit which became stylized over a century, was really the dress of the ordinary woman of the nineteenth century.

Ash Wednesday Reflections

Why do we receive ashes? Penitents in the past had to wear robes of a kind of burlap and walk around with ashes in their hair instead of their customary perfumed pomades... but how do we explain the ashes to the kids of today with their i-pods in their ears and their latest Nike footwear.

Google tells us that all living things contain carbon and that ashes are almost pure carbon. In science fiction movies the aliens from outer space call us the "carbon-based life".

So the carbon that the priest placed on my forehead this morning is the most basic of life elements. This sacramental calls me to "get back to basics". I am using much more of the earths riches than most of the inhabitants of our planet have. I must cut down my artificial needs so that they can fill their most basic wants. After a week in Uganda, I almost wept with gratitude for my first hot, running water shower. For a long time every shower was an occasion of grateful humility to God for an unearned simple fortune of being born in the wealthy northern hemisphere. Time passed and now it is again taken for granted.

The ashes, though, remind me that the greatest gift of all was the life that joins me to every other human being -- all the beloved children of one Father. I am reminded that ashes, the dust to which we will return is the great equalizer. Kings, presidents, and beggars will all come to the end of this life and begin an eternity of perfect justice. We stand before the Father of us all and beg the grace to be truly loving children.

FRANZISKA NOTES February 2010

Franziska Notes
No.7/2 February 2010

In the German edition of the History of the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity we learn that Mother Franziska lived in a time of significant social transformation. The industrial revolution brought many inexperienced persons from the country to the large cities of Europe. These men and women, some very young, were exposed to much possible exploitation. The Bishops of these cities asked women’s religious orders especially to meet the needs of the young women. In Vienna alone there were about 75,000 servant girls. Mother Franziska, with experience as a teacher and hoping to educate children to be good Christians and citizens, could not ignore this call of the Church. A few years before she died Pope Leo XIII issued the famous encyclical Rerum Novarum to provide guidance for a Church entering the age of industrialization. I noticed in this document a thought that seems especially relevant to our own day and this season of the Church year. The Holy Father reminds us that perfect happiness is achievable only in the next life in heavenly glory. Though it is a human right to seek a better life, he warns of making the escape from suffering a priority over all other values and efforts. Pope Leo reminds us that Jesus, by willingly taking on the sufferings of daily life and of his salvific sacrifice has transformed them into motives of virtue and occasions of merit. “Christ's labors and sufferings, accepted of His own free will, have marvellously sweetened all suffering and all labor. And… by His grace and by the hope held forth of everlasting recompense, has He made pain and grief more easy to endure”.
Mother Franziska’s motive was always a personal love of the Crucified. As we enter the Season of Lent, the patience with which we willingly accept the unavoidable irritations and sufferings, as well as the penances we impose on ourselves will help us understand the meaning of suffering and make us more compassionate toward all those who suffer anywhere in the world, increasing our readiness to help according to our means.
www.godslovefdc.org

St. Joseph Hill Academy Park

Come take a winter walk through our lovely park

Even a blizzard can be an occasion to praise the Lord!

Still Dreaming Christmas

Before the Lenten season puts Christmas totally in the past I would like to introduce you to some beautiful you tube presentations by our sisters

http://www.youtube.com/user/sranamaria#p/a/u/2/1kVPqxgXxqw

Be sure to check the other videos and enjoy......