Life Is So Unfair!

Hello, gentle readers. It's Sister Patricia Owens O'Flannery, OP. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a member of a local religious order, and LarryD allows me to post from time to time.

My, it's been a dreadfully long time since my last post. I've been busy...well, maybe occupied is a better word for it. I volunteered to answer the phones for the American Catholic Council that's scheduled for 2011 - a complete waste of time. I did it for three weeks straight, and I received only four calls. Three wrong numbers, and one from the motherhouse asking me if I knew where the copy of Sr Chittister's "Called To Question" had gotten to. I suggested they pray to St Anthony - to which they said "What for?"

Anyway.

I'm secretly praying the ACC gets canceled. Can you imagine? All those progressive Catholics shuffling into Detroit to pray a new Church into being....remember how Minneapolis was smacked with a tornado when the ECLA was voting for gay clergy, and how that church steeple was knocked off? I mean, if God did that to the Lutherans, I shudder to think what He might do with a group of forward-thinking Catholics. I don't think it's worth the risk. We should hold a Web meeting instead.

Listen to me, prattling on! I haven't even gotten to my point yet!

Okay - I saw a most depressing article online the other day. It has cast a pallor over the motherhouse, let me tell you. It's gotten so bad, we had to cancel the liturgical dancing for today's Mass - who wants to dance when you have the blues, right?

Here's the article, from Spero News: Nuns Sprouting in Ann Arbor Michigan

Though the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor are celebrating the completion of the construction of their Motherhouse, they are already near capacity, with 17 new sisters entering at the end of this week. The community has grown from four sisters to 99 in less than 13 years and shows no signs of slowing down.

The community of sisters, which has an average age of 26, was founded in 1997 by four Dominican sisters responding to John Paul II’s call for a new evangelization.

Though their primary apostolate is Christian education, they are open to other areas of evangelization as well, a fact evidenced by their new catechetical show on EWTN called “Truth in the Heart,” the multiple summer catechesis camps they host each year and their frequent vocation talks.

CNA recently spoke with the sisters’ vocations director, Sr. Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, OP, who credited the community’s tremendous growth to “God’s goodness and mercy” in providing “spiritual mothers” for the world. She also pointed to the example of John Paul II who “embraced all the world” and gave witness to truth, joy and suffering.

See why I'm so distraught? My hands are shaking so much right now, I can barely type (Thank God for spellcheck!).

17 new sisters? 99 in all?? In only 13 years??? Average age of 26???? So unfair!!

And what's a "vocations director" anyway? I should call and offer her space at our motherhouse, since they're so close to full capacity (again! grrrrr). We have plenty available rooms...

I'd print more of the article, but it's so depressing, I might cry into the keyboard and short out the computer.

Okay, maybe another paragraph.

The Dominican Sisters of Mary consist of women from 32 states as well as Canada. Sr. Joseph Andrew explained that the sisters are drawn to the community because they are real, faithful and joyful. She added that women come because the sisters share a common, clear vision, place emphasis on the Eucharist and use Mary as the example for their spiritual motherhood. Finally, said Sr. Joseph Andrew, women are drawn because the sisters are “on Fire with the Love of Mother Church and all her children!”

I know I ought to rejoice that God has blessed this order. I know that being envious is sinful. I realize that Sophia distributes Her gifts as She wills. But this is soooooo unfair!!! Our order is real, faithful and joyful too! That's what makes me so angry! We're really REALLY JOYFUL!!!!! CAN'T ANYONE SEE THAT WE ARE REALLY JOYFUL!?!? And when women become priests, we will be even MORE joyful!!!
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I apologize for that outburst - I think I'll go walk the labyrinth and calm down.