Delegate’s Dialogue February – March 2013

Congratulations to the Sisters of Charity The Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, Convent Station, celebrated with a Mass of Thanksgiving the declaration of one of their own – Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich – being named “venerable” by Pope Benedict VI in May of last year. We rejoice with all of your Sisters in this distinct privilege.

Running the Race; Fighting the Good Fight This office has been notified of the following deaths: Sister Aloysia Helmstetter, O.S.B. St. Walburga Monastery Sister Mary Elfrida Zola, C.S.S.F. Immaculate Conception, Lodi

New to the Archdiocese of Newark We welcome in to the Archdiocese of Newark two new groups: The Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help who live and work at Madonna Parish in Fort Lee and whose charism is “Evangelization”—how appropriate in this day of the New Evangelization. Their principle work is that of the “Catholic Bible Life Movement (CBLM). The program is for adults and young adults who attend Bible study groups. Each course takes as many weeks as there are chapters in the Book being studied. There is reflection, meditation and practical application of the teachings in daily life. At present, the courses are only given in Korean but the Sisters are working diligently to be able to do the presentations in English. More can be found by “googling” the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. A second group recently approved for ministry within the Archdiocese is the movement, Bonds of Marian Love. Bonds of Marian Love is a private Association of the Faithful founded in Columbia in 1999. Their primary apostolate “is to give spiritual retreats of conversion, …to children, young people, and dating or married couples, with the purpose of having the participants experience a strong encounter with God and start to live their baptismal [promise] radically.”

The Apostleship of Prayer The Morning Offering of the Apostleship of Prayer is a significant part of our daily prayer life. If you’d like to deepen your prayer with the monthly intention, I’d suggest checking in on the website www.apostleshipofprayer.org Thanks to Sister Virginia Tomasiak for pointing out this website to us.

Sunday, February 3, is World Day for Consecrated Life The celebration will include Liturgy at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart at noon with renewal of our religious commitment by all Archdiocesan religious. A light lunch and recognition of the 2013 jubilarians, for religious, will follow in the Archdiocesan Center. Rev. Vincent Sullivan, SJ, pastor of St. Aedan’s, St. Peter’s University Church in Jersey City, will be the homilist with Archbishop John Myers celebrating.

Saturday, January 19 While in Chicago on business, I was, once again, privileged to attend the celebration for consecrated life in the Archdiocese. The day there is different from our celebration. This year we heard from young persons in some form of consecrated life. Their depth of spirituality, dedication and enthusiasm was tangible. There were 30 representatives acting as “presenters”, one at each of the tables. They were given 10 minutes to tell us about themselves and their vocation journey. Then followed 10 minutes in which we could dialogue with them. After this, the “presenters” moved to another table and the process repeated itself with a new “presenter”. We were able to hear and share with 3 persons in all. After a break we reassembled to dialogue at our tables as to “what we heard”, “what surprised us” and/or “what challenged us”. There followed a time “at the mic” for responses to these reflections. The general consensus that emerged was a sense of hope for religious life of the future. It may look different from what we call religious life today, but religious life will live on, endure and be present and vibrant in to the future.

National Conference for Vicars for Religious March 17 -20 will again find me in Chicago for the National Conference of Vicars for Religious. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn and share with vicars/delegates for religious from around the country. Please keep this meeting in your prayers and send me any suggestions you may have that we could discuss at our gathering.

Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth Celebrate 150 Years! Congratulations to the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth who will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of their founding. Founded in 1862 by Blessed Ludovico of Casoria and originally called the Grey Sisters, they soon changed their title to honor St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Founded to care for African children ransomed from slavery, the Sisters are now involved in education, parish work, care of the elderly and disabled, nursing and evangelization. In the Archdiocese of Newark, the Sisters have three pre- schools/child care centers in Jersey City, Nutley, and Ramsey.

National Religious Retirement Office As of January 28th, 2013 the collection for retired religious in the Archdiocese of Newark was at $388,933.23. I will keep you posted as the returns come in. Thank you to each of you who spoke on behalf of the retired religious. It made a big difference.

Carmel Quinn Concert Many of you will remember Carmel Quinn who got her start on the Arthur Godfrey Show in the 1950’s. Carmel is a parishioner at St. John the Evangelist Church in Leonia and has offered to do a benefit for the religious here in the Archdiocese. The benefit will help sponsor our celebration for Consecrated Life on February 3, 2013. Be sure to save the date and plan to attend the concert on May. Pass the word on to your relatives, friends and parishioners.

When? May 11, 2013

Where? Paramus Catholic High School

Time? 4 PM

Benefit? The religious of the Archdiocese of Newark Celebration of Consecrated Life