Tag Sisters

The Garage Door

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

October 14, 2020

18 days till National Vocation Awareness Week

#7 in a series of 25

The Garage Door

During my canonical year, that streak of fun came out in me and I couldn’t help myself.  I had tasks that required me to go between the men’s shop and the garage.  There was a garage door opener in the men’s shop and I often had it in my apron as I took wood back and forth.  One day, one of the elderly sisters was standing near the garage door and I showed her how I could kick the drainpipe and the garage door would go up.  Actually, I was clicking the clicker in my pocket.  She was thoroughly amazed.  After I had my fun, I went on my way just as one of the more boisterous Sisters drove up to the garage.  Sister Thomas called me back to show Sister Elma what I could do.  I was all too happy to go back and do it again.  I kicked on the drainpipe and up went the garage door.  Kicked it again and down it went.  Again, thoroughly incredulous at this demonstration. 

About that time the men came out of the shop and Sr. Elma motioned them over.  She encouraged me to show them what I could do.  I kicked the drainpipe and up went the door.  The head of maintenance kicked it and down it went.  He kicked it again up it went, kicked it again started to go down then overheated.   Then he kicked in between all of the garage doors (6) to see if there were any similar issues.  Then he started talking jack hammer to open up the area behind the drainpipe to see what was going on.  Uh oh…I waited till everyone left then I went out to the shop and told Dave I had the clicker in my pocket and was fooling the Sisters.  He hung his head, didn’t have to say a thing, and I felt bad I had sort of humiliated him.

OK time to self-report.  I went to Sr. Fidelis and told her what I had done.   She of course laughed and enjoyed the story and told me not to worry about it.  Whew!  The story made the rounds.  About two weeks later, one of the Sisters was seen kicking the drainpipe trying to get into the garage.  Sr. Thomas saw this happen and told me about it.  Sister Dismaria had been watching from second floor of the convent out the window and surmised the garage door would go up if you kicked the drainpipe.  She did not hear the rest of the story and figured it would not have been fixed yet.  She just couldn’t seem to find the right place to kick!

Congratulations SSMO Sister Thuy and Sister Colleen!!!!

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND SUNDAY MAY 7, 2017

IMG_2647.jpg Sister Colleen Schmitt and Sr. Thuy Nguyen graduated from the University of Portland on Sunday to the delight of twenty of their Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon cheerleaders!  It was a wonderful occasion to celebrate the two women who work in the ministries of the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon.

A party was held afterword in their honor at the Motherhouse of the Sisters in Beaverton.  #sistersblogs, #cyocamphoward, #sistersofstmaryoforegon, #ssmo

BELOW: Sister Thuy Nguyen (left) and Sister Colleen Schmitt enjoy a candid photo before the ceremony begins.

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We Chained Up and Got out of Town

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

Picture this!  Four Sisters pull out their Les Schwab tire chains, get out the directions and put them on the car for practice in case they need them on the summit of the coast range. Lets step back a few paces and get the full picture.  Sister Colleen Schmitt, Sister Alison Green, Sister Michael Francine and I had planned to go to the beach for Martin Luther King weekend.  A nice four day relaxing weekend to play cards, and celebrate Sister Michael Francine’s birthday on the 16th.

One of the Sisters passed away and the vigil and funeral were scheduled for two of the days of the vacation cutting it in half.  The ice and snow predictions were coming in full force and by 2:00 on Wednesday the 11th it was snowing hard and 6″ had dropped.  I paged the Sisters and asked them to meet me in the parlor where we talked about making the trip that afternoon since no one was at the beach house, and stay till Sunday afternoon which would give us 5 days at the beach!!!  Everyone was in.  We packed our bags and met at the car in an hour.

When we got back to the car, we got out the chains and practiced putting them on. Seemed like a good idea to make sure we could get them on easily and that they fit the car.  The Sisters were the dream team of chain gangs!  They got them on and the hard part was tightening them up.  We got it done, drove a short distance and tightened them again.  We were good to go.  Les Schwab puts out some good tire chains by the way!

We took the chains off and drove out to Murray Blvd., which was mostly open pavement. Our question was what would it be like on the Coast Summit?   If we needed the chains, we were in good hands!   We got past the memorial Tunnel and that was about where the snow and packed ice began.  As things got slippy we switched into 4 wheel drive and said the Rosary. Thanks be to God,  we made it fine!  We drove slowly, no one was on the road but us….good time to travel…and for about 10 to 15 miles were were in snow and ice conditions.

A ways beyond Camp 18 we ran out of snow and ice and had a glorious 5 days at Cannon Beach.  With two teachers in the group, we celebrated Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as news arrived that school was called for the following days.

Meanwhile, back in town…

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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.