HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

When I was trying to cheer the Belleville Ursulines as they worked through the hard decisions that involved leaving their home and merging with our community, I commented that “Our home is in the heart of God.” Certainly not that original, but it struck a chord with Sister Frances, and she continued to use it on ME now and then.
Now that she is indeed Home, in the heart of God, I guess she’s still using it on me, because I feel its consolation as I begin to feel at home in The City. I was particularly moved last Sunday as I slipped into the familiar ritual of the Mass–as always pleasantly surprised at how our shared faith and liturgical celebrations make us “at home” wherever we go in the world. And how the common sisterhood we share with all women religious can make us at home almost anywhere we find ourselves.
So to all my dear friends who are worried about me being “away from home” at Christmas–I’m safe at home in this house, behind this door marked “204,” with the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, who adopted me last spring and have adopted me again! Come Monday, I will begin again to make my home in the heart of God on East 19th Street–a new adventure!
A blessed Christmas to all who believe that God chose to make a home with us, and a New Year full of conviction that “all will be well, and all manner of things will be well!”