Well Done Good and Faithful Servant

Obituary Tribute to
Sister Mary McCaffrey

1927 - 2014

“I have found heaven on earth, since heaven
 is God, and God is in my soul. My mission
 in heaven will be to draw souls, helping
them to go out of themselves to cling to God.”
Elizabeth of the Trinity, OCD

 

Sister Mary Teresa McCaffrey of the Redemptoristine community residing in the Monastery of the Incarnation, Beacon, NY, died on December 9, 2014 at Lourdes Health Care Center,  infirmary of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Wilton, CT at the age of 87 years following a lengthy illness. Sister Mary was the first of four children born to Teresa Alice Taylor and Daniel Joseph McCaffrey on October 6, 1927 in Brooklyn, NY. She is survived by her brothers Daniel and Gerard (Barbara) and a sister Kathleen (John Janny), twelve nieces and nephews, their fifteen children and eight nuns who shared vowed life with her in the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer.

Sister Mary first entered religious life in 1947 in the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, Long Island. After professing vows in 1949 as Sr. Teresa Miriam she was placed in charge of large classes of little boys in the parish schools of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Mary, Mother of Jesus in Brooklyn.  During 12 years with the Josephites she obtained a BA degree from St. John’s University.

Responding to a call within a call, she entered the contemplative monastic order of the Redemptoristine Nuns, located in Esopus, NY, in 1959. In humble obedience and with great courage she became a novice for the second time joining a young community creating a new monastic foundation on the grounds of Mt. St. Alphonsus Redemptorist Major Seminary.  There she professed Solemn Vows in 1961 as Sr. Mary Teresa of the Holy Family.

By middle age Sr. Mary was enduring ever increasing physical infirmity. Yet she remained faithful in devotion to God, her contemplative vocation and personal devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Always available to her community, she served as Council Secretary for numerous terms, presided over the monastery library and gave willing ear and wise guidance to many new members. The lay associates of the monastery also benefitted from her direction. On behalf of many friends and benefactors she exercised the apostolate of the pen in generous correspondence. Sr. Mary rejoiced in her experience of over 70 years association with the Redemptorist Congregation; as a child in their parish, a teacher in their schools, and as neighbor to their seminary in Esopus. She influenced many young boys considering the priesthood and later became friend, confidant, informal spiritual director or prayer partner to many Redemptorist priests and brothers. Throughout her life she was a golden thread woven into the fabric of her family where she remained a source of unity and wisdom and a model of faith and prayer. 

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Halvey Funeral Home  (www.halveyfh.com). The community will receive visitors at the Monastery of the Incarnation, 89 Hiddenbrooke Drive, Beacon NY on Monday, December 15 from 2 to 4 pm and from 7 to 8:30pm. A Vigil Service will begin at 7:30pm. Mass of the Resurrection will be offered on Tuesday, December 16 at 11:00am in the Monastery chapel. Burial will be at Mt. St. Alphonsus Cemetery (grounds of The Mount Academy) Route 9W, Esopus, NY at 2:30pm. In lieu of flowers it is suggested that donations be made to Lourdes Health Care Center, 345 Belden Hill Rd., Wilton, CT 06897 in support of their compassionate care for senior sisters.

Catching Up Again

View of pond and Mt. Beacon
from the front of the monastery

         Seems I spend much too much time   offering apologies on this blog, especially for not having written a post in such a long time. Seeing that my last post has a February date and thinking how I can fill in the gap is very daunting. So much has happened in these few months. The following is just and over view and will be written about in greater detail in posts to come.

 

 

 

 

April 17 - My father Helmut Eric Nimke died after one week in Kaplan Hospice Residence in Newburgh, New York. Both my sister and I were with him.

 

April 25 - Carmelite Nuns of Beacon, New York (a contemplative monastic community) extended an invitation for my community to share their monastery.

 

April 28 - My family begins the arduous work of clearing out my parents' home.

June 11 - Three of the sisters in my community moved to Meadowview Assisted Living at Wartburg continuing care retirement community in Mt. Vernon, NY

 

June 24 - Six sisters of my community moved lock, stock and barrel into the Monastery of the Incarnation, Beacon, NY.

 

July 14 - My mother hospitalized with pneumonia. This is followed by 3-week stay in nearby nursing home.

 

August 18 - Mom is returned to assisted living facility, The Promenade, Tuxedo, NY.

 

That is a very spare overview which allows lots of room for your imagination to conjure what was involved and required each step of the way.

 

As a means of providing our community story to all in our international Order I prepared an article detailing the entire saga. That will the next post to this blog.

Contemplative Nuns to Meet in Rome

Or....As If the Esopus Redemptoristines
Didn't Already Have
Enough on Their Plate!

The process of arranging for our move to a new location late in May goes on and on. Can't wait until we can unveil the whole plan. But now the lawyers are writing the purchase agreement, the finances are being contemplated and contractors are readying their bids. Each day more loose ends appear which we try to tie up as soon as possible. Stay tuned for further installments of the saga. And keep on praying.

For over a year, as all of this 'shock and awe' was transpiring locally, we have also been participating in preparations for a General Assembly of our international community, the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer. Since we are a contemplative order we do not have a general government riding herd over all the monasteries of the Order. Each contemplative monastery is autonomous as is the case with Carmelites, Poor Clares, etc. Autonomous monasteries may organize themselves into federations but these federation do not have real legal (juridical authority). 

It is a fortunate conincidence that earlier this week Sr. Julie Viera at the interactive blog "A Nun's Life" (highly recommended) described the recent General Chapter of her congregation, Sister Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHMs of Monroe, MI). One of the IHM founders was a Redemptorist so we have some roots in common. Note the difference of meeting title. The IHMs had a General Chapter and the Redemptoristines are going to have a General Assembly. There is a big difference between them. Here are Sr. Julie's words about their Chapter:

Although Chapter is part and parcel of our life as Catholic sisters and nuns today, it might seem like a secret event veiled in mystery for those outside of religious life! So, here’s a bit more about what Chapter is. I am drawing here from my brother Redemptorists who provide a great intro on General Chapter.

"The General Chapter is a visible expression of a fundamental sense of democracy that lies at the heart of religious life. This democracy is based on the radical equality of all the members by virtue of their baptism and their religious consecration, hence their common vocation to be prophets or spokespersons for God. In this sense, a General Chapter resembles more the gathering of Mary and the apostles at Pentecost than a modern parliament or congress. The participants in the General Chapter gather in the name of Jesus Christ, confident that his Spirit will help us to accomplish our work.

What are those tasks? The General Chapter must first take an honest look at the state of the Congregation… This examination should then lead the Chapter members to face honestly certain discomforting questions: are we faithful to our mission or have we slid into mediocrity? What is the Lord asking of us today? How are we being asked to change? The General Chapter will offer specific directives for the whole Congregation as it proposes a path to help [religious] live more authentically their … vocation. Finally, the delegates will elect the leadership of the Congregation for the next six years … "(Source - http://www.cssr.com/)

For our IHM General Chapter, we had a gathering of over 150 IHM Sisters and were joined for some parts of Chapter by our IHM Associates and others who could be of great help in our discernment and decision-making. One of the best parts was that we come together from across the globe, across ministries, across generations, across cultures and gather under one roof. It was a visible expression of the community we experience with one another every day of our religious life no matter where we are.

The Redemptoristine General Assembly will have exactly the same goals and function as the IHM General Chapter and the Redemptorist General Chapter as described here. However, a General Assembly does not have the same level of authority according to Canon Law. In a congregation such as the IHMs a Chapter is composed of all the professed sisters in its various houses and ministries. In a contemplative order a Chapter is composed of all the solemnly professed nuns in that particular monastery. When we have a community meeting atteneded by only the nuns in solemn vows we are having a Chapter meeting. Chapters elect leadership, approve or reject requests for vows and provide consultation for the superior.  A General Assembly does not elect leadership because, unlike a congregation, an order does not have a general government. Our Prioress, the elected superior has the same level of authority within our monastery as a major superior (mother general or father general).  This makes the fairness of monastery elections absolutely vital so by Canon Law those elections must be supervised by the local ordinary or his representative and the accuracy of the vote count attested to by 'scrutineers'. 

Nonetheless, our General Assembly will be an opportunity for Redemptoristines to "come together from across the globe, across ministries, across generations, across cultures and gather under one roof." The Assembly, its deliberations and discussions, the personal interaction afforded by the gathering will contribute to unity and energy for the apostolic work of the Order. But monastic autonomy will continue to defend the right of each monastery to interpret the Assembly's directives as suggestions subject to their own house statutes. However, a General Assembly, can by agreement, approve and adopt a RULE, the Constitution and Statutes, that will be used a  rule of life throughout the Order.

So much for the arcane features of Church law. Bottom line is that each meeting, at whatever, level, with whatever degree of authority, is at the service of the charism of that particular religious family according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and in the spirit of the Gospel  love of Jesus Christ.

The Story of One Redemptoristine

Her True Colors

Sister Angelina Celeste, member of the Redemptoristine Community in Legazpi, Philippines popped up in my "Google Alerts" this morning. Her story recently appeared in a newpaper there and provides inspirational reading. It details her life work dedicated to ministering to the poorest of the poor, a work which has, at times, been unacceptable to those in power wishing to maintain absolute control over the people.  Sister paid the price for being a community organizer at a time when to do so was to be labeled a Communist. After 30 years in that work she heeded the call to become a contemplative nun; to offer her contemplation and intense intercessory prayer for the needs of the poor and cause of justice in our world.

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20101106-301796/Her-True-Colorshttp://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20101106-301796/Her-True-Colors

Comfort in the Monastic Horarium

Joy in the Morning!

It is always good to get back home. How many vacationers, however much their time away was enjoyed, will say with gusto, "It is so good to be home"? As much as we may beg for respite from routine, there is something we find comforting in the familiar.

In the last month or so we have enjoyed some time for community recreation in which the regular monastic horarium or daily schedule was somewhat abbreviated. We also experienced our annual ten-day community retreat. This year the time was given to five days of hermit retreat within the monastery for all the sisters, followed by five days of directed retreat with a Jesuit priest. Those ten days were a special time. My mother always asks why contemplative nuns should need a retreat. "Aren't you always in retreat?" The monastic tradition encourages times of withdrawal from ordinary community life. The customs of our house provide for one day of retreat per month for each sister. Each of us also has an annual ten-day personal retreat. And then there is the community retreat. The abbreviated community schedule and fewer work hours provide opportunity for more and deeper silence and solitude. Every sister would say that these times of retreat are most welcome.

Yet, as special as these times are, we all agree that returning to regular community life feels so good and right - a sort of grand reunion with each other and as a community before our Loving God. Time apart is a blessing but our time together is a blessing too, especially as we pray the Divine Office and share in the Eucharistic banquet. There is a dignity in fulfilling our vocation to be a prayerful presence before God for the needs of the world. There is always joy in the morning when we come together again.

New Redemptorist Archbishop

On Saturday, October 9, former Redemptorist Father General Joseph Tobin was ordained as an archbishop at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Our community was thrilled to watch the entire Mass via live streaming from the Vatican. A slide show of that event can be seen at http://www.redemptorist.info/ .

On August 6, 2010 our dear friend, Father Joe, was appointed secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, colloquially known as the "Congregation for Religious." This Vatican office has responsibility for some 190,000 religious priests and brothers, and roughly 750,000 sisters, worldwide. It is also the office from which its chair, Cardinal Rode, launched the on-going Apostolic Visitation of active congregations of sisters in the United States.

Our monastery is on the grounds of the former Redemptorist major seminary where Fr. Joe was ordained. Some of the sisters here remember him as a student, especially his fall from a horse and his recuperation from broken bones. But all of us have enjoyed the pleasure of his company in our monastery. In the picture above he seems to be enjoying conversation at table with our sisters, especially our prioress, Sr. Paula Schmidt. This brilliant and modest man would share news of the entire congregation; its missionary work, its successes and its needs. In addition he would bring news of Redemptoristine monasteries around the world. And there would always be lots of stories about Rome.

We congratulate Archbishop Tobin and offer the sincere promise of our prayers for his new responsibilities as he follows in the footsteps of St. Alphonsus de Liguori.

"Don't talk of love's flaming desire, don't talk of love, show me." - My Fair Lady

Any Redemptorist priest or brother uses the initials CSsR after his name. These stand for Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in its Latin form. But they like to joke that it means "congregation of the same sermons recycled."  I don't think so. We are so blessed to have these fine priests gifting us with their presiding presence at Mass every day and with their inspiring homilies. Today Father Thomas Travers, whose homilies appear elsewhere on this blog, presented us with another gift which I share with you.  

                                                  

Profession of Love

by Father Thomas Travers, CSsR,

Rector Mt. St. Alphonsus Retreat Center, Esopus, New York

Jesus never has to profess his love for us...although he does profess his love and many times over...but he never has to do it, publicly with words, because his love for us is constant, consistent, faithful, without conditions. There is no need for words or professions. We just know that his love is there for us...and always there. We can sense it. We can feel it.

On the contrary, Peter had to profess his love for Jesus as he did in today's Gospel because Peter's love was not constant or faithful. It was a fickle love, a love that sent mixed messages. Peter said that he loved Jesus so much that he would always be there for Jesus, and then, when chrunch time came, he was the first to run away. "Though all these others abandon you," he said, "I will never abandon you." Oh yeah...tell me another one. (Or, as we used to say as kids: "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies. A man got hit with a bucket of bricks the night before he died.")

Peter's love was a hot and cold love and because of this, Jesus asked him to profess it openly, publicly and once and for all...with all his bravado and loud voice. It wasn't for Jesus' sake that Peter needed to do so nor for the sake of the other disciples. No...it was for Peter's own sake. He needed to hear his profession of love loud and clear and in his own voice.

I had a spiritual director in Puerto Rico and he told me that when I came to him I would tell him part of my story and the purpose was not primarily for him to listen to me and get to know me and my challenges. The purpose was for me to listen to me, to get to know myself and my challenges. He explained that each time you told your story or part of it, you had to put it together and you would see it better. He believed that telling your story to another or to a group (as they do in 12-Step groups) helps us much more than it helps the other person.

And so today, Jesus gives Peter a chance to tell part of his story, his story of love. He wants Peter to see that true love is not a one time affair, it is not a loud protestation of  "I'll never leave you," made after a little wine at a dinner table. He wants Peter to learn that true love is spoken out time and time again. True love is a consistent message from the deep part of a life.

And Jesus wants Peter to learn, too, that love is shown in deeds. And that is why he gives him the mission of feeding the community, the mission of tending to its needs, the mission of caring for its welfare. He is telling Peter that love is shown in deed and not just words.

And I think that Jesus could easily get tired of all our words, too. And I am reminded of the lyrics of the song from My Fair Lady: "Words! Words! Words! I'm so sick of words! I get words all day thourgh; first from him and now from you! Is that all people can do?.. Don;'t talk of love lasting thru time. Show me! Make no undying vow. Show me now!"

Jesus asks us today, as he did Peter, if we love him. He wants us to profess that love not so much so that he will hear it...but rather so taht we will hear it loud and clear in the depths of our heart and so that in hearing our profession of love clearly, this same love will move us to tend, feed and care for the rest of the communiyt, especially those in the greatest need of our love. AMEN!

Days of Solemn Recreation

Our Redeemer

 has risen from the tomb;

let us sing a hymn of praise

to the Lord our God,  alleluia.

Antiphon 2, Morning Prayer, Easter

Liturgically speaking, Easter Week is one long series of Easter Sundays, one right after another. This is the octave of Easter, eight days of profound rejoicing in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Mass is the same and includes the Gloria which is not usual for weekdays. The Liturgy of the Hours is the same each day with only minor changes in the Gospel canticle antiphons. In accord with this effort to underscore the meaning of Easter for eight days, we are singing the major offices of Morning and Evening Prayer each day. I love this week of singing and wish that I could communitcate to you the loveliness of the melodies with which we sing the great Easter antiphons. Wish my technological capacities would catch up a bit faster. Maybe one day they will.

It is also monastic custom to have days of "solemn recreation." That phrase may seem an oxymoron. How can one be solemn and recreate at the same time. The meaning of "solemn" here is "deep". We are to fully recreate, fully rejoice is the great gift that has been given us. In the case of Easter, two days of solemn recreation follow the feast. 

Here in the Husdon River Valley all is bursting into bloom as if perfectly timed to emphasize our new life in Christ Jesus. This certainly adds to our abiltiy to profoundly rejoice in the Lord; to thoroughly enjoy a day of solemn recreation.

A Lenten Reflection

The Tapestry of Life:

A Contemplative Reflection on Asceticism

for the Season of Lent

The quilt detail shown here is my personal effort at creating a tapestry - a wall hanging featuring fabric and color in pleasing balanced design. A tapestry  image was the gift I received in meditation a few days ago. The thought was framed by the notion of creating something beautiful for God out of the mystery of my life. It would be varied, bright and pleasing to the eye.

But yesterday, as  we prayed a version of the 'morning offering' that is part of our Office prayers, I was blessed with another understanding. The prayer reads: Lord Jesus Christ, I offer to your loving heart all the little annoyances, inconveniences, joys and pleasures, sufferings and trials which may come to me today. Change them into mighty graces, apply them to the spread of your kingdom, to the work of our missionaries, to the salvation of the most abandoned souls, (to which I add) and for family and friends most in need of prayer today.

In reading those words and speaking them in my heart, I was given another understanding of the tapestry image. I realized that my bright and colorful tapestry would not be created by holy, heroic, pre-planned devotional offerings and great acts. Rather, it would be a creation of the uneven and messy, not necessarily color coordinated, "little annoyances, inconveniences, joys and pleasure, sufferings and trials" of my life. This is what is real; this is what creates the tapestry. That may be the truth but it is not what my ego so much prefers, the bright, pleasingly designed and colored tapestry of my first image. Surely, only that perfection could be a fitting gift to present to God. However, I was graced with the realization that the highly idealized vision is merely the creation of a controlling ego. To allow the tapestry to take its own shape; to fall into place in the random fashion that is God's design; and to freely accept the colors and tones left behind only by the Spirit's grace, is to require a degree of surrender and letting go which continues to elude me. This is the central illusion; the illusion of personal control, of mastery, of perfection. To be truthful, letting go does not so much elude me as much as I remain resistant to it because my ego stubbornly clings to its own plan, its own vision, its singular perception of the way things ought to be. Perhaps the grace of these meditative experiences, this light of grace, is to accept the inspiration offered for Lenten asceticism; an acseticism of acceptance. It would be a surrender to the "little annoyances, inconveniences, joys and pleasures, sufferings and trials" of each day, just as they come. In surrender, acceptance and letting go they would be transformed into the materials of my tapestry in hues and tones, texture and weight expressly chosen for me by God alone. The finished product, truth be told, will be worn and threadbare in spots, even faded by the light of grace sought time and again in moments of human frailty; a testimony to perseverance.