Anne Myers

 

April 20, 2008

Reflection by Sister Anne Myers, SSJ 

Recently I drove with Sister Dot Urban to a meeting on Long Island.  At one point we took a wrong turn and found ourselves in completely unfamiliar territory. We tried to figure out where we were going, but we were getting nowhere. Finally, we decided to stop at a convenience store and hoped that someone could direct us. Well, we were fortunate to meet a man who knew the area well. He gave us a few clear directions and within no time, we reached our destination. We were very grateful for this person who showed us the way.

Today, in our Gospel reading, Thomas says to Jesus, “We don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

How grateful we are for the gift of Jesus who is our Way and shows us the way. However, occasionally, we may find that we lose our sense of direction. Sometimes we try to figure it out on our own, and we may even get a little lost. How blessed we are that along with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God also gives us others who have known the territory well and can point us in the right direction--our deceased loved ones in the Communion of Saints.

As part of the 150th Anniversary of our arrival at Chestnut Hill, we come to this sacred space to express our appreciation for our sisters who have shown us the way, through their faithful living of our mission of union with God and others, through their zeal and love. Our Constitutions (# 36) affirm, “Mindful of our union in the Communion of Saints, we hold our deceased sisters in continual prayer with gratitude for their lives which have nurtured our charism.”

These very sisters remain in union with all of us. Their powerful support helps us to stay on the right road. Remember, they know the territory well and are only too happy to assist us.

Just listen to the words of Mother Saint John Fontbonne, our Sister who Refounded the Congregation in France after the Revolution. She invites all of us, to “Pour into the heart of a mother who loves you tenderly, your sorrows, your cares and your joys.  I will share all.”

Mother Saint John Fournier, our Philadelphia Founder who is buried here, reminds us of God’s goodness and she encourages us, “How the dear Lord has showered us with graces. May we all correspond with them.”

There is a wealth of support right here. Allow the spirit of a particular sister here to speak a word to your heart. Perhaps you need  more inner peace, or hope, courage, wisdom or love--they are willing to point us in the right direction through their counsel, if we but turn to them. They are very much interested in our lives, our families and our Congregation. They were a dynamic part of our past, and their choices profoundly influenced our present. They remain a sure source of strength for us as we journey into the future.

In honor and in memory of our deceased Sisters, we decided that their final resting place among us needed an extreme makeover. For many years, Sister Florence Edward single-heartedly tended to this cemetery with utter devotion and we are so grateful to her. Two years ago, we began this restoration project. The beautiful gardens, flowers, trees, fountain, and shrines speak of our esteem for our sisters who are buried here. So I invite you to come to this sacred space often. Spend some quiet time soaking in the beauty of nature as you enter into prayer with God and our own Communion of Saints.

As we look around at this lovely site, we know that our creator God enlisted the help of some extraordinary co-creators to design this.  Today, I would like to thank our landscapers, Cynthia and John Cox, for their wholehearted enthusiasm in creating such a place of exquisite beauty for us. We thank our two physical plant managers, Deacon Greg Schneider who lovingly labored on the beginning of this project and Ed Orner, who saw this project to its completion. I would like to thank Ed Lafferty for his faithful care in maintaining these gardens, and also Sister Barbara Winnals for her help with so many aspects of this project. We are very grateful for the support of our benefactors who are listed in the back of this program and for the assistance of our Development Office.

Thank you for being here today to celebrate this restoration of our cemetery and our sisters who have given us such a rich legacy. They have shown us the way to love of God and love of neighbor; the way to living a life of prayer and service to God’s people. In a little while, we will honor them by speaking all their names aloud. At a certain point in the intercessory prayer, at the same time, we will all read aloud the names of each sister on our list, uniting ourselves with them and one another. Sisters, associates, relatives, benefactors, and friends, let us rejoice in our connection with all who have gone before us, recalling the words of our Constitutions (#148), “As we have been one in love in this life, we live in the sure knowledge, rooted in faith and hope, that we shall be reunited forever and celebrate our love for God and one another.”