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An Unexpected Religious Experience Touched me to the Core

Sr. Krista von Borstel 6 Comments

I spent the past three days on the campus of the Mercy Sisters in Burlingame, California where Religious leaders and Vocation Directors from 55 religious communities around the country gathered to talk about religious life.

I was not expecting the “touched to the core” experience I came away with after spending a few days working together listening, sharing, experiencing, visiting, praying, joining in the Eucharist, morning and evening prayer, and looking to the future of religious life.

The event was planned and executed by the National Religious Vocation Conference under the Direction of Executive Director Brother Paul Bednarczyk C.S.C.

I know that the entire group was moved by the experience and recognized that we have some work ahead of us to prepare the way for the future of religious life.

Why was I touched to the core?  I have tried to sift that out these past several hours having returned home and these are the reasons I found it to be life-giving:

  • Religious women from very diverse walks of life entered into the experience in a positive, life-giving manner giving a wonderful witness to what it is we are called to be
  • Together we listened as Sr. Mary Johnson spoke to us about her work in the Church as it relates to Religious Life and pointed out trends and possibilities.
  • As a group, we prayed, shared, offered ideas, worked with one another for the good of all and genuinely affirmed one another.
  • Through the experience, I found hope that religious communities could  lead the way in healing a polarized nation beginning with ourselves.

While it would be impossible for me to infuse you with the deep feelings, experiences, joy and hope I experienced during these days, I am happy to share that it was an exciting experience for us and one that I believe will be life changing for all of the communities involved.  A second, similar event will be held on the East Coast for those unable to attend this one.

I am including a short 3 minute clip from the “sending out” ceremony from the Chapel of the Sisters of Mercy (which I filmed with my iPhone) as we ended the three-day experience.

Local Catholic School Girl Set to Marry Prince in February!

Sr. Krista von Borstel 3 Comments

Seton Catholic High School is presenting their very first musical production CINDERELLA February 22,23,24th at the Royal Durst Theater in Vancouver, Washington!  My niece, Cheyenne Cunning, will be playing the wicked step-mother!  I would like to ask YOU to join me at one of the performances and help this new school by attending and lending the support of your good nature!

I will be helping at all three performances as a volunteer working on the production.  I have to tell you, it is not easy starting a new school.  Things we take for granted at our established schools are hardships for students in a new school without a theater for example.  The entire production is being produced by volunteer efforts including the rental of the local theater.

Madeleine Hunter, a senior at the school, with hopes of pursuing drama as a career choice following high school, will be playing the title role of Cinderella in this exciting musical production!  Prince Charming will be played by John Tomassi, also a talented actor and founding member, along with Hunter,  of the popular “Setonotes” a school a cappella  singing group.

You are in for a treat as this talented group of young people lend their talents to the production of the play.

Tickets are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students.  Your attendance and generosity are most appreciated!

cinderella poster pink

It is Cold at Camp Howard! Things are Happenin’

Sr. Krista von Borstel 2 Comments

A couple of trees have blown down with the high winds.  One near the basketball courts and one at Cougar Den falling in such a way as to avoid any cabins….very kind of mother nature huh?  The temperature has been in the lower 20’s and a slight accumulation of about 3″ of snow.  The ground is clear now, cold and clear days with the mountain very beautiful.

Winter tree fall at camp

Winter tree fall at camp

Fallen tree near basketball courts at camp

Fallen tree near basketball courts at camp

Candi Trapp painted all of the bunks and walls in Fircrest this fall and winter, working around her other jobs.  She has done a beautiful job.  Additionally she caulked all the cracks in the ceilings and added slats to upgrade the look of the ceilings in these older cabins.

Candi points to the caulking she has done to improve the paint job.

Painted bunk covered while walls get fresh coat of paint in St. Cecilia cabin in Fircrest Unit.

Painted bunk covered while walls get fresh coat of paint in St. Cecilia cabin in Fircrest Unit

DSCN0234Candi points to the caulking she has done to improve the paint job.

An Inspirational Quote from Theodore Roosevelt

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” —Theodore Roosevelt

A Reluctant Return to a Childhood Vacation Memory

Sr. Krista von Borstel 2 Comments

I enjoy spending time with my family during Christmas vacation while also taking care of my religious duties and obligations which are also an important priority for me.  This year I spent time with two of my nieces at the Oregon Coast and we had a great time together.  One of our adventures included a trip to the Sea Lion Caves.

SIDEBAR: I read a book about making films with iPhones during this time as well and decided to try it at the beach.  Synopsis of the book:

  • 1.  Take only the pictures you want to use.
  • 2.  Minimize editing
  • 3.  Plan out the shots you want to take the night before
  • 4.  Make it short, sweet and to the point
  • 5.  Do NOT use a tripod (I thought this was odd)
  • 6.  Take 10 seconds of film per clip
  • 7.  Use only the film you need to tell the story well.

OK…I did all of this, brought it home, downloaded it into my computer and decided to share it with you for my New Year’s Day post.

Hope you like it – Happy New Year!

Welcoming the New Year – Have you settled on a Resolution?

Sr. Krista von Borstel 1 Comment

Regular self-reflection has been helpful to me in coming up with a resolution for the new year!  I have settled on a couple of ideas for self-improvement and they fall into the categories of spirituality and gratitude.

To kick off these resolutions, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading my blog this year.  I greatly appreciate your responses, kindness, support, and your friendship.

Let us look forward to the new year with a renewed passion to be the very best witnesses of Christ that we can be! God Bless YOU!

With genuine appreciation,

Sr. Krista

P.S.

What is YOUR resolution?

Mary & Jesus

Merry Christmas from the Convent 2012

Sr. Krista von Borstel 17 Comments

Scheduling CYO Basketball Games…How we do it…

Sr. Krista von Borstel 3 Comments

12.12.12

CYO Basketball Scheduling – How We Do It…

The Basketball Scheduling Process is a mystery to individuals and I have always wanted to write about it so that people would understand that it takes time to put the schedule together and explain that the process is predicated by several factors:

  1. Registration of teams must take place. Registration of teams requires the Athletic Director from each club to come into the office and register the teams with CYO where we make sure each team has certified coaches, proper number of players, payment is made for individuals, etc. Fall Sport championships are going on during the beginning of registration for basketball.
  2. BXB Jamboree must be registered, scheduled and played as this helps teams determine which league they should be in the schedule.
    1. For each grade and gender there are four levels of play.  Blue, Green, Orange & Red.
    2. Blue: Highest level – very competitive
    3. Green: competitive yet not as advanced as Blue
    4. Orange: developing skills and fundamentals.
    5. Red: Several players who have not played and have few skills.  This level is great for this group as they receive a lot of playing time.
    6. Register 65 High School Basketball teams as part of the process
      1. Some of this process is done on-line, some of it requires the team representative to come in to CYO.  Player uniforms are handed out at the coaches meetings.
      2. BXB Commission comes to the office to bless the seeding process of the teams, which is determined by where the team finished last year and the composition of this years team.
      3. After the jamboree for 3,4,5,6,7,8 is completed, coaches and AD’s have until Monday at noon to let CYO office know if they want to change leagues.
      4. CYO then begins to schedule the first week of 3&4 bxb as they play a week earlier than the other teams because their tournament starts a week early.
      5. Assemble coaching packets for High School, third and fourth graders and hand out at a coaches meeting.
      6. Begin scheduling the rest of the schedule for 3,4, and add 5,6,7,8.
      7. The scheduling process for some 350 teams takes a while to complete.
        1. We give ourselves a week to accomplish this simply because this is all the time we can allot ourselves after the jamboree and before we get the schedules out.  If we had a day or two more, we could do more checking for errors.
        2. Once we begin the scheduling of teams into leagues and place them in the grid, we cannot make changes to team leagues.  This is like putting together a quilt.  Once we sew the teams into place, they are VERY difficult to extract.  We draw the line to changes at noon on Monday after the jamboree.

10. When we are actually inserting teams into the schedule this is the order:

  1. We go week by week
  2. We go through the entire schedule giving home teams home games as long as

i.     They made their gym available that Saturday

ii.     They can play the game in their gym (can’t play 7&8 grade boys in small gyms)

iii.     They have a gym!

  1. Then we go back through the week the second time and give the visiting team the game if

i.     They made their gym available

ii.     They can play the game in their gym

iii.     They have a gym

iv.     It hasn’t been filled with their home games round 1

  1. Then we go back through the schedule and place the games in gyms that are available.
  2. There is not a single club that has room for all of their home games EVERY week.  Every club has games facilitated by other clubs.

11. FINALLY it is the night to hand out the schedules.  We work right up to that moment hoping we will get a chance for dinner before the meeting!  The schedules and coaches information is stuffed into packets and handed out at the meeting.

12. The process began November 5th this year and was finished December 12th

 

DSCN0137

All of the leagues are woven together into one huge schedule.

All of the leagues are woven together into one huge schedule.

If everyone had to help with this they would have a much better understanding of why it is time consuming!

If everyone had to help with this they would have a much better understanding of why it is time consuming!

Jolie keeps questions answered at the office and helps with behind the scenes work on the schedules.

Jolie keeps questions answered at the office and helps with behind the scenes work on the schedules.

Stuffing the packets - Jeff and Stacey help stuff all the packets.

Stuffing the packets – Jeff and Stacey help stuff all the packets.

Packets are stuffed with schedules, sorted and packed for the meeting

Packets are stuffed with schedules, sorted and packed for the meeting

Working on the basketball schedule

Working on the basketball schedule

Games checked and checked again

Games checked and checked again

NAIA Nationals in Vancouver and Local Runner Qualifies as a Frosh at Carroll College!

Sr. Krista von Borstel 1 Comment

Connor Garcia to run in NAIA National Championships in Vancouver Saturday!

Connor Garcia is a freshman at Carroll College in Montana.  He did something special this fall…he qualified for the NAIA National Championships in Cross Country.  Connor, a CYO participant,  graduated from Valley Catholic High School this past June, was a counselor at Camp Howard during the summer and left for college this fall.  What an amazing accomplishment!  Read about his amazing race here:

http://helenair.com/sports/college/carroll-college/cross-country/carroll-cross-country-shocks-with-sweep-of-frontier-team-titles/article_6e18484e-257f-11e2-aa33-001a4bcf887a.html#.UJV184GZmHs.email

This Saturday, November 17th – Connor and the Carroll Saints Men’s XC Team will be running in the 57th Annual NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championships. The race is being held at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, WA.  The race starts at 11:45 AM (PST). The team will be competing against 32 other teams as well 105 individual qualifiers.
Come cheer on Connor and the Carroll Saints!

How the BIG ONE got away!!! Gee Whiz!!!

Sr. Krista von Borstel 2 Comments

Sam Brentano is a good friend of mine from Stayton, OR.  I have known Sam since 1999 when CYO brought back the Football program.  Sam was the first “Head Coach” at Stayton “Region 8” and he is fiercely loyal to OSU, Regis High School and Fishing. About 5 years ago, Sam started inviting me to go fishing with he and his sister Kay who happened to be on the same floor as me at OSU when we were freshmen in college.  Small world huh?  What a great reunion we have every year as Kay and her husband, Ted, join us for a great fishing expedition!

Sam is an avid fisherman and he is remarkable in his ability to manage four fishermen in his boat at a time, keeping the poles untangled, baited, rigged, in the water, and his people catch a fair amount of salmon to be sure.  As for me, I have yet to catch a fish and his friends in Stayton always want to know if “Sister” caught a fish this year.  They are actually giving him a bad time so he invited me twice this year in hopes I could put him out of his misery with his friends and catch one for pete’s sake!!!

When we go fishing with Sam, we get into the boat in the very early morning, it is still dark out.  We fish till dark.  We give it all we have rain or shine.  Sam works the river all day doing his best to make us successful.  We tell stories, joke, catch each other up on what we have been up to and have a great time – all the while FISHING…

Well…this year something happened to me that has not happened in 5 years!!! I got a bite! Not only did I get a bite, the fish really hooked itself on my line!  I had a fish to bring in.  I was reeling it in while my coaches were telling me what to do.  I followed their instructions.  This was a BIG FISH hooked on my line!!!!  Wow…it takes a LOT of strength to bring a salmon in especially one as BIG as the one I had on the end of my line!!!

SIDEBAR…While I may never have caught a salmon before, I certainly knew my fish.  I grew up in Central Oregon and we used to buy our salmon from the Warm Springs Indians who fished for them on the Deschutes River at Shearers Bridge near Tygh Valley.  I learned to clean them at an early age.  One time, a truck load of fish was donated to my grade school.  We got a call to go to the school and help clean them.  We took our knives and worked all afternoon and evening getting them cleaned and wrapped for the school to serve to the kids.  I can easily tell how much a fish weighs by looking at it.

OK…back to the story.  I am reeling in my fish.  It was nearly 50 pounds!!! It’s girth unlike anything I have ever seen in a salmon!!!  It is a mighty warrior of a fish.  Surely one of the biggest to be given up in Tillamook!   Silently wondering to myself if this fish is ever going to give it up.  My gosh, I am exhausted!  I kept reeling.  Finally I have it up to the boat.  Sam is working the boat, Larry and Jack are watching carefully and they have the net ready to help me get it into the boat.  Jack puts the net over the side of the boat just as the fish darts under the boat.

Some of you know the rest of the story.  Fishing lesson 205…when a fish goes under the boat, put your pole down into the water even if you have to go all the way to the reel.  The bottom of the boat has barnacles and jagged little attachments and guess what.  In a flash the fishing line snaps as if cut by a sharp knife.  That’s all folks.  the fish swam away and I was left with a lifeless pole void of the attachments.

That was the only bite we got all day and it got away!!! Shucks!  I know if I got another chance I could bring it in.  So Sam…lets go again! 🙂

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