FROM PARTY GIRL TO RELIGIOUS LIFE
(A story from The Catholic Northwest Progress of the Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington State, USA by Terry McGuire ).
Upon leaving her home parish of St. Philip's in Woodland nine years ago on a volleyball scholarship to the University of Nevada-Reno, the future Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity knew for certain that "church" was not going to be on her list of priorities.
Back then she was Sharon Heidland, a communications major whose goal was to work on the ESPN (sports network) someday. And partying, boyfriends, and volleyball were going to be part of her college experience, while Mass was not.
"I didn't know my faith very well, I didn't know the beauty of the Eucharist," the 27-year-old Sister Heidland recalled last week, "so consequently when I went to college, it was, 'See you later, I'm not going to church anymore,' because I thought it was boring."
What wasn't boring to her was the stereotypical fun side of college life. She dated the school's star football player. She got drunk a lot at parties. She enjoyed living with her friends, hundreds of miles away from her watchful parents.
With all that, and a full scholarship to boot, "I had everything in the world," she said, but "in my heart, I was really unhappy.
"It was then I realized that when I died, God wasn't going to ask me if my Mom and Dad went to church on Sunday. His question was going to be: What did you do with your life?"
That was the start of a "slow conversion" process for Heidland. She began going to Mass — at first periodically, then weekly, then daily. After graduating with her communications degree, with plans to start her climb up the broadcaster ladder in the Portland area, she was invited by a priest friend of the family's to experience a retreat at a priests' formation house in New Mexico where he was novice master.
The peaceful and quiet setting — coupled with the opportunity to meet young men her own age who were both "cool and wanted to be holy — just blew me away," she said. She returned home, packed her bags, and headed back to New Mexico, where she soon "realized that the hunger in her heart was "God calling me to marry his son, Jesus for all eternity" as a woman religious.
After formation in Rome and New Mexico, Sister Heidland professed final vows last Dec. 8.
Since then, she has ministered in her community's formation house in Dunseith ND, a town of approximately 1,000 people in the north central part of the state.
She also coached the local high school girls' volleyball team through a season that ended Oct. 28th, finishing with a 3-13 record while drawing attention to the uncommon sight of a public school coach plying the sidelines in dark gray habit and light gray veil, crucifix around her neck.
Her story made the front page of the Minot Daily News sports section.
At first, "I think it was just the novelty" of it all, "like, 'A nun coaching volleyball! Ha, ha!'" Sister Heidland said. "But then when (the reporter) sat down and talked to me…and realized that I went to college, I have a degree, I went through all that stuff, so I know what it's like…they knew that I just didn't fall off a turnip truck."
The article, published in late August, reached a much wider audience than Sister Heidland had ever anticipated. People began stopping her in grocery stores, on the street, and during the games to thank her, talk about God and share their own religious experiences.
"If God can use me in that way — outside the box of what we say is traditional ministry for a nun — (then) good," says Sister Heidland, who also writes a weekly column on faith for the local Turtle Mountain Times.
But she believes the way to inspire others — particularly young people — is by example rather than by preaching to them. A nun with a scowl can have just as much of an impact on perceptions as a nun who is happy in her ministry, she notes.
The sister's "call is to be married to Jesus," Sister Heidland said. "That's first and foremost who she is. Her work flows from that, it's not the other way around."
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In 1997 Pope John Paul II asked that 2nd February, the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, be celebrated as the Day for Consecrated Life in the Calendar of the Church.
The purpose of such a day is threefold: in the first place, it answers the intimate need to praise the Lord more solemnly and to thank him for the great gift of consecrated life, which enriches and gladdens the Christian community by the multiplicity of its charisms and by the edifying fruits of so many lives totally given to the the cause of the Kingdom…
In the second place, this day is intended to promote a knowledge of and esteem for the consecrated life by the entire People of God…
The third reason regards consecrated persons directly. They are invited to celebrate together solemnly the marvels which the Lord has accomplished in them, to discover by a more illumined faith the rays of divine beauty spread by the Spirit in their way of life, and to acquire a more vivid consciousness of their irreplaceable mission in the Church and in the world… (Message of Pope John Paul II for the first World Day for Consecrated Life , 1997).
For the full test of this message click on:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/consecrated_life/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_06011997_i-consecrated-life-day_en.html
For links to the websites of many of the female and male religious congregations in Ireland click on : http://www.catholicireland.net/pages/index.php?nd=7
This year we celebrate the 10th World Day for Consecrated Life.
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The following is the test of last year's Message from Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the 9th World Day of Consecrated Life (2-2-2005)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. Today, we are celebrating the Day of Consecrated Life, a favourable occasion for thanking the Lord together with all who are called by him "to the practise of the evangelical counsels, and who make faithful profession of them, bind[ing] themselves to the Lord in a special way. They follow Christ who, virginal and poor (cf. Mt 8: 20; Lk 9: 58), redeemed and sanctified men by obedience unto death on the cross (cf. Phil 2: 8)" (Perfectae Caritatis, n. 1). This year the celebration acquires special importance because we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the promulgation of the Decree Perfectae Caritatis, through which the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council updated the guidelines for the renewal of the consecrated life.
During these 40 years, in obedience to the directives of the Church's Magisterium, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic life have followed a fertile path of renewal, marked on the one hand by the desire to be faithful to the gift received from the Holy Spirit through their Founders and Foundresses and, on the other, by concern to adapt their way of living, praying and acting to "the present-day physical and psychological condition of the members. It should also be in harmony with the needs of the apostolate, in the measure that the nature of each Institute requires, with the requirements of culture and with social and economic circumstances" (ibid., n. 3).
How could we not thank the Lord for this timely "updating" of consecrated life? I am certain that it will also lead to the multiplication of the fruits of holiness and missionary activity, on condition that consecrated persons keep their ascetic zeal unaltered and instil it in their apostolic works.
2. The secret of this spiritual ardour is the Eucharist. In this year specially dedicated to the Eucharist, I would like to urge all men and women religious to establish an ever more profound communion with Christ by sharing daily in the sacrament which makes him present, in the sacrifice which actualizes the gift of his love on Golgotha, the banquet which nourishes and sustains God's pilgrim people. "By its very nature", as the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata affirms, "the Eucharist is at the centre of the consecrated life, both for individuals and for communities" (n. 95). Jesus gives himself as Bread "broken" and Blood "poured out" so that all may "have life, and have it abundantly" (cf. Jn 10: 10). He offers himself for the salvation of all humanity. Taking part in his sacrificial banquet does not only entail repeating his gestures but also means drinking the same cup and taking part in the same immolation. Just as Christ makes himself "bread broken" and "blood poured out", so each Christian, and especially every consecrated man and every consecrated woman, is called to give his or her life for the brethren, in union with the life of the Redeemer.
3. The Eucharist is the inexhaustible source of fidelity to the Gospel, for in this sacrament, the heart of ecclesial life, the deep identification and total conformation with Christ to which consecrated persons are called, is completely fulfilled. "In the Eucharist all forms of prayer come together, the Word of God is proclaimed and received, relationships with God, with brothers and sisters, with all men and women are challenged. It is the Sacrament of filiation, of communion and of mission. The Eucharist, the Sacrament of unity with Christ, is at the same time the Sacrament of Church unity and community unity for the consecrated person. Clearly it is "the source of spirituality both for individuals and for communities'" (Starting Afresh from Christ, n. 26). Consecrated people learn from the Eucharist "a greater freedom in the exercise of the apostolates, a flourishing with greater awareness, a solidarity expressed through knowing how to stand with the people, assuming their problems, in order to respond to them, paying close attention to the signs of the times and to their needs" (ibid., n. 36).
Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us penetrate the mystery of the Eucharist guided by the Blessed Virgin Mary and following her example! May Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, help all who are called to special intimacy with Christ to participate diligently in Holy Mass and obtain for them the gift of prompt obedience, faithful poverty and fruitful virginity; may she make them holy disciples of Christ in the Eucharist.
With these sentiments, as I assure you of my remembrance in prayer, I willingly bless all consecrated persons and the Christian communities in which they are called to carry out their mission.
From the Vatican, 2 February 2005
JOHN PAUL II
