Greetings to dearest Sisters in Christ! Taking a nature hike “off the beaten path” might lead to wandering into the domain of perilous critters, poisonous plants, or even a waterway with a swift current and no bridge in sight.  Moses at the Red Sea and later his successor, Joshua, at the Jordan River, experienced such predicaments.  How is it possible to lead the Israelites across?  In both cases, God’s provision summoned cooperation: Moses to lift his arm and staff, and Joshua to dip his foot in the water. God made a way where there seemed to be no way.

How often we stand at a place in life, befuddled as to how to get to the other side.  Our Lord is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  He provides for His people – personally and with our collaboration. The Sacraments are personal encounters with Christ where all things are made new (II Cor 5:17, Rev 21:5).  They serve to move a person from one place to another.  The Sacrament of Confession is archetypal. When one wanders from the plan of God in the flurry of life and the fog of sin, God’s wisdom and love assigns His priests to assist.  They are bridges of sorts, empowered and sent for the work.  ‘As the Father has sent Me, even so I send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’ (John 20:21-23).

God’s plan through sacramental Confession is a marvelous trifecta: a penitent, Jesus, a priest.  In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, to highlight this, a penitent kneels before an icon of Christ and offers the confession.  The priest stands or sits to the side, listening, guiding as needed and poised to offer absolution. Our Lord underscored this for St Faustina (Diary, 1725): “My daughter… make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light.”

If a Seven Sister were to make her way to a front pew near the exquisite baldachin and tabernacle of the Cathedral of St Paul (St Paul, Minnesota), she would first pass the north and south transepts which house three double confessionals on each side.  Here thousands have been brought by God out of a dimness of life to ‘begin again’ in new light.   Aloft the confessionals are two colossal sets of three stained glass figures that together speak a thousand words about the sacrament of reconciliation.   Christ is the central figure in each.  A Penitent is on the left, a priest on the right.

On the north side, Jesus is depicted as Shepherd, pressing a lamb against His breast and another lamb shown attentive at His hem.  In sacred Scripture Jesus often described Himself as a Shepherd in search of the lost sheep, imaged as a sinner.  Approaching this confessional, the penitent is reminded of the unfaltering response of the Good Shepherd:  seeking, finding, welcoming and rejoicing in the return. St Dismas (the good thief) is the window to Christ’s left.  At Calvary Dismas expressed his guilt and sorrow, recognized Christ’s deity, and received forgiveness and the promise of paradise.  St John Nepomuccene is the priest to Christ’s right.  In 14th century Bohemia, he was confessor to the queen.  The king demanded that the queen’s confession be disclosed to him.   St John adamantly refused and the king bade for him to be bound, gagged and heaved into the river.   This martyr is characterized with his index finger pressed to his lips, emphasizing the unwavering “seal of confession”, even unto death.

A Seven Sister would likely be especially fond of the windows on the south side.  Jesus is centrally shown as the resurrected Christ at the time of the institution of the sacrament of reconciliation.   The aforementioned Scripture from the gospel of St John is etched in this window.   To His left is our companion, St Mary Magdalene, hair unbound and reverently balancing the flask of fragrant ointment.  In contrast with St Dismas, her confession is not a deathbed event, but more typical of the confession that seeks holiness throughout a lifetime, compelled by love, step by step.  To the right of Christ is our beloved patron, St John Vianney, donning a purple confessional stole which he holds up in a seeming gesture of both an invitation and as a promise of Christ’s sure power and love.

Gazing at the panorama of the six windows, one grasps the full influence of their instruction, taken as a whole.  Jesus instituted the sacrament of Confession out of wisdom and merciful love.  He beckons a personal encounter with Him through the ordained assistance of His brother priests.  The shower of graces transforms a penitent’s life – grace upon grace, promised even unto the last breath.

May we know the privilege to pray for God’s chosen confessors and the privilege of availing ourselves of this great gift that stands to move both the priest and the penitent to new and full life in Christ!  And consider this: our tri-patrons mirror the same trifecta– the Christ Child in the embrace of Madonna of the Grapes (Protectress of the Eucharistic life) in contemplation of the violent winepress ahead effecting forgiveness of sins. Alongside are our other two patrons – penitent and priest.  St John Vianney rightly reflects, “We cannot comprehend the goodness of God towards us in instituting this great Sacrament of Penance…. He foresaw our frailty and our inconstancy in well-doing, and His love induced Him to do what we should not have dared to ask.  If one said to those poor lost souls that have been so long in Hell, “We are going to place a priest at the gate of Hell: all those who wish to confess have only to go out” … Oh, how soon Hell would be a desert.”

United in prayer and mission…that our prayers may find the heart of every bishop and priest…

… eternal gratitude continues as you each remember to offer a wee Hail Mary for me every day….  “One Ave Maria makes hell tremble” (St John Vianney). Pray that I will not ‘spoil the beautiful work that God has entrusted…’  (St Teresa of Calcutta)

… your kind emails and notes and phone calls and generous support always arrive to my heart door at the right moment! Your financial sacrifices are for 100% furtherance of Apostolate.  THANK YOU!  The letters of testimony are so beautiful and edifying! What glory is given to God through your writing!

Eternal gratitude is mine for YOU! Be assured of my continued daily prayers for you at the altar.

Janette (Howe)
+JMJ+
[email protected]

Greetings to dearest Sisters in Christ! Easter-tide joy to you as we together move toward the 50th day of Easter, Pentecost, (this year, May 23rd).  Don every shade of red to celebrate this happy and Spirit-filled occasion. We intone together the Golden Sequence:  Veni, Sancte Spiritus!

Women are specialists at preservation.  We see worth in bruised apricots and berries, salvaging the better parts.  On subsequent icy January mornings, our families recall the warmth and scent of summer with a dollop of sweet preserves on toast.  We revel in archiving photos and mementos, keeping alive the family names, stories and mark in history.  Women are swift to sustain good causes with generous contributions of “time, talent, treasure”.  Paramount, like the model of Eunice toward her grandson, Timothy, in holy Scripture, we take intentional and definitive action to preserve the faith!

Twenty-six Catholics were executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki in 1597.  There were perhaps 300,000 Catholics there at that time.  Just 30 years later, Christianity was banned in Japan.  When missionaries returned in some 250 years, they discovered a community of “hidden Catholics” that had survived.  This reality is astounding!  The perpetuation of Faith was upheld through the power of the memory of the martyrs of Nagasaki and the prayers of the faithful.

History is marbled with countless threats against the practice of the Faith.  Today we live amidst new spins on old intimidations.  The perils originate both inside and outside of the Church itself.  Seven Sisters carry a distinctive call coupled with sufficient graces for these times.  Our mission is fitting to our proclivity, as champions of upholding, sustaining and guarding.  We are not among those who shrink back (Heb 10:39), but among those that have faith and preserve souls.

Tradition has dubbed the Church as Mother.  She exists to protect the deposit of Faith and nurture the children of God with the Faith’s truth, beauty and goodness.  Our own maternal instincts are rightly riled when the Faith is threatened, watered down or misunderstood.  As Seven Sisters we embrace the requisite response: prayer!  Our weekly fiat to the work of the Apostolate is set to preserve the dignity and perpetuation of the priesthood and the sacraments, the very life-line of the Faith.  St John Paul II in his 2003 encyclical on the Eucharist, emphasized that, “The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. … From this “living bread” she draws her nourishment.” The Pontiff added that the Eucharist fortifies the Church but also unifies the world. “The seeds of disunity, which daily experience shows to be so deeply rooted in humanity as a result of sin, are countered by the unifying power of the body of Christ. The Eucharist, precisely by building up the Church, creates human community.”  St JPII stresses the centrality of a Eucharistic life: “Every commitment to holiness, every activity aimed at carrying out the Church’s mission, every work of pastoral planning, must draw the strength it needs from the Eucharistic mystery and in turn be directed to that mystery as its culmination. In the Eucharist we have Jesus, we have his redemptive sacrifice, we have his resurrection, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have adoration, obedience and love of the Father.” The Holy Father reassures us regarding the place of Mary: “Above all, let us listen to Mary Most Holy, in whom the mystery of the Eucharist appears, more than in anyone else, as a mystery of light. Gazing upon Mary, we come to know the transforming power present in the Eucharist. In her we see the world renewed in love.” As Seven Sisters we consistently pray for our priests/bishops to experience an ever-growing bond with Mary.

The following year, St JPII wrote specifically to the priests of the world.  Let us allow the sobering echo of his words to fortify our commitment to our weekly sacrifices of prayer.  “There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist”.  No priest, No Eucharist.  No Eucharist, No priest.

As Seven Sisters we now meet together at the brink of two special months:  May, our month of discernment to remain or depart from the Apostolate weekly Holy Hour commitment; and June, our month of re-commitment to another year of prayer offerings.  Both are places of trust.  Be open to a call that might be to remain in the Apostolate, but also serve in an additional or different (or new!) group.

No matter when a group commences, June is the uniting, universal time to re-commit the prayer efforts within the Apostolate. This prayerful action renders an unseen but sure solidarity for the Apostolate.  Re-commit together as a group (if possible) near the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (this year: Friday, June 11), using the Commitment Prayer (Web site: English/Spanish) composed by Apostolate Chaplain, Fr Joseph Johnson. Many groups use this opportunity to attend Mass collectively with a simple meal following to share testimonies of the past year.

Our firm mission is that our prayers may find the heart of every bishop and priest.  Currently some 421,000 presbyters share the one priesthood of Jesus Christ.  We are off to a fine start!  One group at a time! May the influence of St Paul’s blessing rest upon Seven Sisters as united we serve to preserve so much, so often:  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray to God your whole spirit and soul be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it (I Thes 5:23-24).

United in prayer and mission…

that our prayers may find the heart of every bishop and priest…

… eternal gratitude continues as you each remember to offer a wee Hail Mary for me every day….  “One Ave Maria makes hell tremble” (St John Vianney). Pray that I will not ‘spoil the beautiful work that God has entrusted…’  (St Teresa of Calcutta)

… your kind emails and notes and phone calls and generous support always arrive to my heart door at the right moment! Your financial sacrifices are for 100% furtherance of Apostolate.  THANK YOU!  The letters of testimony are so beautiful and edifying! What glory is given to God through your writing!

Eternal gratitude is mine for YOU!

Be assured of my continued daily prayers for you at the altar.

Janette (Howe)
+JMJ+
[email protected]

Greetings to dearest Sisters in Christ! April literally begins with the holy Triduum, preparing us for the Great Sunday (Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!) and 50 days of celebration!  Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2). Our JOY overflows and cannot be contained in one day! He is Risen! Let us not tire in the jubilation!

Every so often I open the carved door of a vintage cabinet in my bedroom and reach for a bottle of my mother’s perfume.  She entered eternal life in May 2007.  A whiff of the still-intact scent sends me remembering, and imparts a strength only a mother’s presence carries.

St Paul reminds us that we are a sweet fragrance of Christ unto God (II Cor 2:15).  All that we do should carry the aroma of who and what we are.  Afterall, fragrant chrism sealed us in the Holy Spirit the day we became children of God.  At Confirmation we were once again marked with chrism, this time sent with this precious perfume of heaven to affect the oft-unsavory and bewildering airs of the world.

On a natural level, scents – like my mother’s perfume, the tang of yesterday’s garbage or even liturgical incense – present a difficulty when attempting to describe them or how they illicit certain responses.  What about the fragrance of Christ?  Here the heart is at work.  While all are created to desire the character of our Lord, St Paul reminds: For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life (II Cor 2:16).  Christ’s presence assuredly affects those in proximity.  For some, a peace is experienced, a hope perceived, a void filled. He is the Person of peace, hope, fulfillment.  For others, the experience is unsettling, misconstrued, rejected.  We are called to accept this gift of living as generous conduits of His love; regardless of how it may be received by others.

Our offering of the fragrance of Christ is unto God Himself. Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men… (Col 3:13).   The Apostolate work conveys the fragrance of life from heaven, satisfying the Father and blessing the earth. Experience proves even a wee bit of liturgical incense fills the highest apse.  Likewise, our offerings are magnified because of the touch of the Father’s Heart.  The pervading effect of the evidence of the life of Christ within us is predestined to influence those whom we interface with and pray for -and reach beyond!

 As Seven Sisters we look to St Mary Magdalene in the lavish outpouring of pure nard upon her Lord.  Likely no one in the room noticed as she knelt at the feet of her Lord, but once the scent of the costly oil filled the room (Jn 12:3), heads turned and opinions were vocalized.  So too, our prayer offerings are not initially noticed.  Eventually …the waft of the incense of our prayers begins to affect the heart of the priest/bishop, the heart of the parish, the heart of our Diocese, the heart of the Church, the heart of the world.

It is said that the perfumes of ancient days were so well crafted that the aromas lingered for centuries. The offerings of our veiled Holy Hours live eternally!  “Jesus loves hidden souls,” writes St Faustina, “a hidden flower is the most fragrant. I must strive to make the interior of my soul a resting place for the Heart of Jesus.” Our interior lives are endowed with the heavenly deposit of the very scent of the character of God.  It is not cultivated by the right words or doing the right things, but by the constant renewal and deepening of our interior life in Christ.  As Seven Sisters the disciplines of our prayers foster this growth.  We are set to affect our very surroundings with fresh breezes of sanctity and beseech the same to be true for the priest/bishop for whom we pray.

The ancient perfumer carefully bruised and crushed petals and herbs in order to release even more scent to concoct a vibrant and enduring blend.  So too, the interior fragrance which marks Christians is a gift nurtured and put to the test of suffering.  An understanding and experience of this in our own lives is set to help form prayers for the clergy for whom we commit our Hours. How sweet the scent of the one crushed for the sake of Christ!  Our priests indeed daily mount the cross with Christ!

Penned to her sister Celine, St Therese of Lisieux emboldens her (and us!) to live love with extravagance. … “The Apostles murmured against Magdalen. This still happens, for so do men murmur against us. Even some fervent Catholics who think our ways are exaggerated, and that – with Martha – we ought to wait upon Jesus, instead of pouring out on Him the odorous ointment of our lives. Yet what does it matter if these ointment jars – our lives – be broken, since Our Lord is consoled; and the world in spite of itself is forced to inhale the perfumes they give forth? It has much need of these perfumes to purify the unwholesome air it breathes” (XIX of the Theresian Letters).

Dear Sisters, let us love our priests by loving Jesus with total abandon! The fragrance of our prayers and lives will be sweeter still.  Our world and Church itself are in desperate need of our fragrant offerings. Ah, that we and the recipients of our Holy Hours may exude the eternal odor of sanctity!

United in prayer and mission…that our prayers may find the heart of every bishop and priest…

 … eternal gratitude continues as you each remember to offer a wee Hail Mary for me every day….  “One Ave Maria makes hell tremble” (St John Vianney). Pray that I will not ‘spoil the beautiful work that God has entrusted…’  (St Teresa of Calcutta)

… your kind emails and notes and phone calls and generous support always arrive to my heart door at the right moment! Your financial sacrifices are for 100% furtherance of Apostolate.  THANK YOU!  The letters of testimony are so beautiful and edifying! What glory is given to God through your writing!

 Eternal gratitude is mine for YOU!

Be assured of my continued daily prayers for you at the altar.

Janette (Howe)
+JMJ+
[email protected]