Spring 2010 - SSpS Mission Magazine

Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters

SSpS Mission Spring 2010

IN THIS ISSUE:

Experience of a lay missionary

in the USA

Our jubilarians

Story from Mozambique

News Notes

Called by the Spirit ~ Embracing the World

See pages 4 and 5

PRECIOUS IS THE LIFE

GIVEN FOR MISSION!

http://www.neevia.com

SSpS Mission Magazine Page 2

Teresa Braum from Markdorf, Germany, spent nearly

a year as a Missionary for a Time in Waukegan, a sub-

urb of Chicago. As a volunteer she worked in the hos-

pital and in the youth movement of two parishes. Sr.

Gabriele interviewed her after she returned to her

home country. Sr. G.: Teresa, how did this happen that you went to

the USA?

T.: Already during the last years of High School I de-

cided to go to a foreign country for a year. My great

aunt, a Dominican Sister mentioned to me the Maz-

Program of the Missionary Sisters in Steyl. (Missionary

for a time). It was exactly what I had in mind and for

what I was looking: A year in another country and at

the same time I could be involved in a social-

charitable ministry. When I was again in Steyl during

the Easter Week of 2007, Sr. Bettina asked me what I

would think about going for a year to the USA. First I

was surprised because I had been thinking about a

less developed country. Besides, my picture of the

USA was somewhat negative, like a fixed idea of “Fast

Food”, Hollywood etc. But the more I thought about it

that “Missionary for a time” meant to go where one

was sent, it became clear to me that this might be a

great chance for me. Sr. G.: What did the community in which

you lived look like? T.: My place was in Waukegan, a suburb of

Chicago on Lake Michigan. In this commu-

nity there were three Sisters. All of them

were new in Waukegan. The leader of this

community was Sr. Xaveriana Ngene, who is

from Indonesia and had been in the Carib-

bean. Sister Helen Marie, in her 80’s, takes

care of “Meals on Wheels” for the needy. She

had spent many years as a nurse in Ghana,

West Africa. Sister Gladys Smith is from Ar-

gentina. She is active in the Spanish-

speaking parish where she is responsible

for the religion classes. Our day begins at

6:30 a.m. with Morning Prayer, followed by

the celebration of the Eucharist in a parish.

After Holy Mass we meet again for breakfast in com-

munity and then depart for our individual work. Only

at night we come together again for Vespers and Din-

ner (evening meal), for which we take turns to pre-

pare. Living together with different cultures and gen-

erations I found very enriching.

Sr. G.: What kind of work were you given? T.: The Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters founded, many

years ago, a hospital in Waukegan which however,

was transferred to other owners. There I worked in

the morning as a volunteer. In most of the hospitals

here there is a group of volunteers who are supposed

to make the health system more humane. Right at the

beginning I was to help in the cardiac department,

which meant that I was on call for any patient or visi-

tor who needed something. I distributed food and

drinks, took visitors to the patients and supported

the nurses at their duties. After two months I was

changed to the ambulance and emergency admission,

where I stayed till the end. My duties were to help

the patients to orientate them at the nurses stations,

to help them in changing their clothing before an op-

eration and during the time of waiting just to be

there for them. During the time at the hospital it

seemed that most of all I was asked to listen to the

IT WAS GOOD TO BE TOGETHER

Experience of a “Missionary for a Time” (MaZ) in the USA Translated by Sr. Maria Fischer from Geist und Auftrag newspaper.

Teresa playing with neighborhood children.

In the background Sr. Helen Marie Yockel.


needs and troubles of the patients and visitors. In the

hospital we dealt with many difficult situations. It was

a daily occurrence that victims of shootings and fights

were admitted. Admitted also were the Police they

were fighting with. During the winter months many

homeless people were admitted with frozen toes that

needed amputations. Ambulances came with people

who had died already. I had to get used to those

things.

Sr G.: You mentioned that you had changed your

prejudices.

T.: In the USA everybody calls everyone “YOU” and by

the first name. And yet, everyone knows who you are

and with whom you are speaking. This creates a dif-

ferent atmosphere. I have experienced that people

show real interest in each other. Doctors greet even

the cleaning women with “How are you?” and wait for

the answer. They are not simply passing each other, as

if they didn’t see you. People are regarded as persons,

more than by what they do. Likewise the teamwork

here impressed me.

Sr. G.: What else did you do?

T.: The house where the Sisters live is close to two

parishes which could not be more different. Holy Fam-

ily is mostly for the Latin-American parishioners who

speak mainly Spanish, therefore 2/3 of the services

were not in English. In this parish I assisted in the

Youth Group, with their home work and free time pro-

grams. About 2 pm the children were picked up and

taken by bus to the parish complex where a small

Lunch was offered, followed by supervised home

work. Beside this there were other free time activi-

ties offered, either in sport or other creative work, as

also classes in cooking and healthy nourishment.

About 6:00 pm the children are picked up by their

parents. These youth groups are for the parents an

important arrangement because mostly both of the

parents are working to support the family. The chil-

dren are clearly well taken care of with the Sisters.

During the summer vacation, which is three months

long in the USA, we had a ten-week camp for the

youth, which likewise was arranged by the parish.

Besides excursions to a farm for instance, there were

other options, like a Fairy-tale group that I helped to

prepare. During the whole year there were meeting

places for the youth with varying projects. Sr. G.: How did those meetings turn out? T.: About 80 of the youth between 13-18 years be-

long partly to several gangs who fight each other out-

side the parish. The Church is for them a secure and

violence-free place. Those meeting are orientated

toward these realities. Because many of them were

already in trouble with the law, we organized a talk

by a States-attorney who let them know the conse-

quences. One experience described this quite vividly

to me. When I came back from a drive to the soup

kitchen where we had delivered some supplies, I

asked the young man in the car if he knew this area.

He answered, “Certainly, at this corner I was once cut

down, up there my brother was shot and then again

over there shortly before the church…” It became

clear to me how dangerous the every day life is

for the youth. Our meetings had therefore al-

ways the theme of how to mange conflicts in

addition to religious themes. Besides this we

also had other projects, for instance car-

washing to earn some money or prepare some

Christmas packages for families still more in

need.

Sr. G.: What did you learn during this time?

T.: Foremost for me were the practical experi-

ences in the hospital and in the two parishes;

personal meetings with the people; living with

the Sisters. Especially impressed was I of the

fact how alive the Church is in the USA. My time

in the USA inspired me in the election of my

further studies of teaching English and Religion.

Thank you for your conversation.

Sr. Helen Marie Yockel and Teresa with children.


GOLDEN JUBILARIANS 50 years of missionary service

Judith Vallimont, SSpS came to join the Holy Spirit

Missionary Sisters from Erie, Pennsylvania where she

was a faithful member of St. Boniface Parish. She taught

school in many states, was a grade school principal and

eventually became a teacher at Loyola Marymount Uni-

versity in California. An accomplished organist, through

the years, she also served in that capacity in schools and

parishes where she was living. Upon returning to the

Archdiocese of Chicago, she worked at the Center for

Development in Ministry. In 2008, while holding the

office of U. S. Provincial, she was elected to the Congre-

gational Leadership Team in Rome, Italy where she now

resides.

“We are missionary sisters, and the vocation of a missionary sister is to sacrifice herself for the greater glory of God and the salvation of im-mortal souls”

- Blessed Maria Helena Stollenwerk, SSpS

“I desire nothing more than with the grace of

God to be the least and to sacrifice myself for

the work of evangelization”

- Blessed Josepha Stennmans, SSpS

Priscilla Burke, SSpS was born and raised in Franklin

Park, Illinois and was a member of St. Gertrude Parish.

After attending college for three years, she joined the

Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters. For a number of years,

she served as a teacher, high school counselor and prin-

cipal in several states, and also served in various leader-

ship positions within the community, including Local

Leader, Province Council Member, Assistant Provincial

and Provincial. She currently resides in the Techny con-

vent and is serving as Provincial Treasurer, a post she

has held for fifteen years.


BLUE SAPPHIRE ANNIVERSARY 65 years of missionary service

DIAMOND JUBILARIANS 60 years of missionary service

Maria Elisabeth Klodt, SSpS grew up in Recklinghausen, Westfalen,

Germany. She joined the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters at our Mother-

house in Steyl, Holland. After professing her vows she received an ap-

pointment to join the Paraclete Province of the United States. While here

she worked on completing her education and also taught school in

Greenville, Mississippi. Upon completing her education she became su-

pervisor of pharmacy at St. Therese Hospital in Waukegan. She is now

in New York where she has been missioned to serve the community and

is in pastoral and social ministries.

Mary Pardy, SSpS joined the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters

from Madison, South Dakota where she attended St. Tho-

mas Aquinas Church. Through the years she has taught

school in many places in Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Illi-

nois. She taught from primary school right through univer-

sity level and served as local leader and province council

member at the convent in Techny. Currently, she is semi-

retired, but also teaches ESL (English as a Second Language)

students, helping them especially with pronunciation.

Mary Jane Lusson, SSpS originally from St. Paul, Minnesota was

raised in Blue Island, Illinois. She entered the community in 1942.

After professing final vows she received a mission appointment to

Papua New Guinea where she ministered for twenty three years.

Upon returning to the U.S., she was missioned to the convent in

Techny, Illinois and served as a driver for the sisters, a justice and

peace volunteer, worked in the communications office, was a hos-

pice volunteer and provided social work in Hispanic ministry in

Waukegan, Illinois. She now resides in Maria Hall at the convent

where she visits with the retired and infirm sisters and assists the

nursing staff.


Laura was a woman who was taken as a

hostage during the war in Mozambique when

she was still a teenage girl. She was growing

up in fear without any moral boundaries. She

had to cook and also give her body to all those

who wanted to use her. She did not have her

own place to stay so she was running from

place to place looking for a better future.

Laura did not forget her own native language

and the place she came from and after the

terrible war she came to her own family and

friends and to what was familiar to her.

However, she brought with her old habits

from the time she spent with the rebelious

army. Just as she used to she was going from

man to man this time for money and she did

not see anything wrong with that. On the

contrary she was proud of herself for always having someone

and money that allowed her to dress up better than people

around her. She was able to buy herself good food and was

never living in poverty. Time was passing but Laura never

married. She had four children, two sons and two daughters

of whom each one had a different father. Each child knew

who was his/her father and had father’s last name but they

did not have much contact with their father. Like their mom,

her children also thought it was something normal to have

different fathers. When her youngest daughter was four

years old Laura got sick for the first time. She was always

going to see a sorcerer who eventually helped her to get a bit

better. After a short time her sickness reappeared and she

lost her strength. Thus, she began selling things from the

house, even those things that she received from the sisters,

to pay for her visits to the sorcerer. The children were

growing up in poverty and hard work in the fields to survive.

Laura did not believe in her own sickness nor in the power of

medications. For her and for the people in the area it was

simply a spell that someone cast on her. In that case people

have to find the one who is guilty of the spell to cure her of it.

This was not an easy task. For three years Laura was fighting

with her beliefs and her sickness. Help was waiting at her

door but she never opened it to let it in. The ancestors’

beliefs were much stronger than anything else. Her teenage

son, seeing his sick and helpless mother, found a solution in

starting his own family with a 15 year old girl. Laura had only

one wish to see and take in her arms her first grandchild from

her daughter Luiza. This wish was not granted to her. Her

daughter Luiza was promised by her mother to her former

boyfriend in exchange for his help during her sickness.That

man already had his own quite large family. Laura died during

the initiation ceremony of her daughter Luiza. When that

celebration ended Luiza became a woman. It was at that

time the former boyfriend of her mother came to take what

was promised earlier to him. Her sad eyes told the drama

she had to go through to have a better life style in the arms

of an old man who could be her grandfather. Luiza finished

third grade at that time and instantly passed from childhood

to adulthood. She took with her, her younger siblings and

became mother to them and to her own child. And life

continues..... This sad story depicts the truth of the need for

education especially for girls and women. We, Holy Spirit

Missionary Sisters, are able to help some of them in their

needs. However, there is a great need for more help which

requires a lot of financial support and also personnel. We

need to ask the Lord to send us young people who are

generous to give of themselves. Thank you all of those who

share bread and faith with those who do not have enough.

May the Lord be your reward through His suffering and the

power of His resurrection!

With prayer,

Sr. Rozalia Paliczka SSpS,

Holy Spirit Missionary Sister

Picture: Sr. Rozalia

with a child in

Mozambique

LIFE CONTINUES…..

SSpS Mission Magazine

News NotesNews NotesNews NotesNews Notes

On April 25, Srs. Priscilla Burke and Judith Vallimont celebrated their Golden Jubilees, 50 years of

mission work for the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters. May 21 and 22, Province Days will take place with a recollection by Fr. Michael Crosby. The theme of

the Province Days is: THE WAY OF COMPASSION IN COMMUNITY AND MISSION. May 30, Sr. Mary Jane Lusson will celebrate 65 years as a Holy Spirit Missionary Sister, and Srs. Mary

Pardy and Maria Elisabeth Klodt will celebrate their Diamond Jubilees, 60 years as Holy Spirit Mission-

ary Sisters. June 4-14, the first of two Summer Bible Projects will take place in Mississippi and July 2-12, the second

will take place in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. July 17, the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters will celebrate Jubilees jointly with the Fathers and Brothers of

Divine Word Missionaries. This year it will take place at the Holy Spirit Convent.

Page 7

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Editor: Sr. Elwira Dziuk, SSpS

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Spring 2010 - SSpS Mission Magazine