Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal: A Day in the Life

so we follow the footsteps of Saint Francis he founded the first Franciscans back in the 1200s and we follow the rule of st. Francis the first order rule our friars were a parallel community to the Franciscan friars of the renewal and our friars they started in 1987 and there were eight of them and then from that group one of them father Andrew Apostoli is our founder he really had the vision that there would be a sister's community and we began in 1988 just a year after the Friars we live a contemplative active way of life so what that means is we pray about five hours a day we're very contemplative our prayer is very much from the heart and very much preying on the Gospels the role of st. Francis is really really living the gospel that's what drew me to live as a Franciscan sister of the renewal and we're also active so our apostolate takes form in two ways so Saint Francis he serve the poorest of the poor the lepers of society and today the lepers of our society are really the poor and the outcast those who are homeless those who are mentally ill be addicted those on the streets and so we live amongst the poor and serve the poor we have houses in New York and here in New Jersey I'm in Atlantic City right in the heart of the the city of the casinos st. Francis also he simply preached the gospel by living the gospel by his life but he also preached it by just simple preaching of the gospel from his heart and we also as Franciscan Sisters of the renewal as well as our friars we travel far and wide in whatever capacity were able to go and bring the gospel to different parts of the world so the sisters wake up and have our office of readings at 6 a.m. and then after that office of readings we then have an hour of private prayer and then after that hour of private prayer we then come back to they're in our Chapel for morning prayer we then have mass and so that that foundation for our day helps to be a springboard of which to give from through the rest of the day and then after that we do the work of the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays we serve an Atlantic City what's called the father Benedict house it's a drop-in for the homeless and the poor we have about 80 200 people that come every Tuesday and Thursday many of them wit of which are homeless most of which I would say maybe 80% are suffering from some form of addiction and so we simply welcome them into the father Benedict house where we serve them a cup of coffee a bagel and a doughnut who doesn't want a fresh doughnut and for free and then we have a chapel there with the Blessed Sacrament and they can light a candle write their intentions and oftentimes they leave crying and touched by God's love so we come in as spiritual mothers to simply love them and to show them their dignity so then usually after our work of the day so it's not always the father Benedict house for me as vocations directress in our community it oftentimes is also speaking to vocation interests on the phone and walking with them and it's a great joy and that's another part of my spiritual motherhood and then we stop every day for midday at noon and then lunch and we have lunch together whoever's in the house we then enter into the work of the day of the afternoon so that time might be answering the door at the convent we're serving the very poor in our neighborhood and they come for more than a sandwich and a cup of coffee but to be recognized for their dignity as a human person and for that smile and that prayer and to know that they are loved and remembered and then we maybe go for a walk we're privileged here in Atlantic City to be able to go to the beach and enjoy a nice sunset we then have holy hour every day at five o'clock in the convent and which i think is brilliant because five o'clock is rush hour so how wonderful to be in holy hour when the rest of the world is in rush hour I think everybody could use those extra prayers including myself then after Holi are the sisters we actually take turns cooking our dinners in the convent and we then sit down together for a meal so our fraternal life is very much like our family we live family life by eating all of our meals together breakfast lunch and dinner we share at the table about our day and it's really like our recreation we keep it light and lively so after dinner we then come together to do dishes together this is also part of our recreation so we actually don't have dishwashers in fact we elect not to have dishwashers except to have the sisters and this is our time of laughing and sharing a little kibitzing together just enjoying one another and really a joyful time so we do the dishes together and then we set up for breakfast for the next day and then after that we usually have some free time at that point where we might do some study or more chores maybe some phone calls as well as maybe go to give a talk somewhere often times were invited to give talks either to the Knights of Columbus or maybe to a youth group or a young adult group to share about vocations to share about our life or our ministry so we'll give maybe a talk somewhere and then we conclude our day with our Blessed Mother as she really always brings us to Jesus and we end with her as well ending our day with Jesus where we pray our evening rosary at 8:40 interceding for the people we serve and our seating for our families all those who have asked for our prayers interceding for the poor that we serve and then we end with complan night prayer at the very end of our day and I'm one of five children I I grew up in a Catholic family and I grew up playing tennis since I was 8 years old and I went to college actually on a tennis scholarship and I'm a very intense person I actually my my freshman year in college I was playing tennis a challenge match with one of my opponents and I won the first set and then she won the second set and the very next point I was such a spoiled brat I threw my racquet into the fence can you believe that I really needed a conversion and the very next point I tore my ACL my knee popped and I went to the ground and I knew something had happened and they rushed me to the sports medicine room and I found out I tore my ACL now to tear an ACL playing tennis you have to be a pretty intense tennis player to do that that's typically a football injury contact sport injury but I did it playing tennis so I guess you could say kind of an intense personality and it was through that knee injury that I realized that I was filling the void in my heart that's really meant for the Lord with people friends the college scene and things and sports and I just was so empty and because I wasn't filling it with the Lord and while I'm going to school I actually got very involved with the nondenominational Christian athletic group and I fell away from my Catholic faith even to the point of becoming anti Catholic so it's really the mercy of God that I sit before you right now as a sister I am actually told my parents one day my mother I'm not going to Mass with you because I don't believe everything we believe is Catholics and it was their prayers and their patience that brought me back to the church is specifically the Holy Eucharist and to be honest I never thought about being a sister until one day a sister came to our young adult group and there I was in my jean skirt and trendy flowered blouse sitting there and she shared about being the Bride of Christ and sweeping the chapel for Jesus and I began to weep thing thinking that is so beautiful I want to do that with my life but I also want to be married Laura what do you want me to do with my life and then I began discerning for two years but I did what you should not do in discernment which is I would date and discern at the same time I don't recommend that and at that point I consecrated myself to our lady I prayed a 54 day rosary novena and I left for a pilgrimage to Our Blessed Mother and it was on that pilgrimage on Divine Mercy Sunday that I knew without Adele with deep peace that the Lord wanted me to give a year to really enter somewhere and see if this is what he was calling me to to be his bride it was when I came to New York for five weeks that I met our sisters and I knew without a doubt that that's where he was calling me to be his spouse so if I had to give some advice too so in discerning I would probably give the same advice that was given to me when I was first discerning by a Dominican sister she said to me pray pray pray and I think that's so important because it's all about a relationship so it's about being loved and loving the beloved and it's in that relationship then that you know what your call is and who you are being called to be

Channel: Vocations Outreach: Religious Life & Discernment

Views: 21,315

Rating: 4.9868636 out of 5

Keywords: religious life, discernment, nun, sister, catholic religious sister, a day in the life, catholic, vocation, religious life vocation, vocations outreach, day in the life, cfr, cfr sisters, franciscan sisters of the renewal, cfr friars, new york sisters, franciscan sisters, sr. agnes, catholic religious life

Id: nN5254JVdwI

Length: 10min 25sec (625 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 13 2020