Comments on: Sr. Sandra Schneiders: ‘The Pernicious Appeal for Blind Obedience’ (Part 1 of 5 With Discussion Questions) http://rosemarieberger.com/2010/01/05/sr-sandra-schneiders-the-pernicious-appeal-for-blind-obedience-part-1-of-5/ Tracking Jesus Inside the Empire Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:04:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: PATRICIA A. DONOVAN, J.D. http://rosemarieberger.com/2010/01/05/sr-sandra-schneiders-the-pernicious-appeal-for-blind-obedience-part-1-of-5/comment-page-1/#comment-1887 PATRICIA A. DONOVAN, J.D. Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:11:54 +0000 http://rosemarieberger.com/?p=3574#comment-1887 "...and the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us..." And this same ''Word'' is still with us today . . . Jesus said He would not leave us orphans and He told us that He would leave us His Spirit. Why should any of us who believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit ever doubt that the Word is with us today? Today's challenges and problems in the Church are monumental -- the "inquisition" directed at American Sisters is not the most challenging - - - American Congregations of Religious women live by their Constitutions - - confirmed by the Vatican; The same women live by the vision of their founders; They live to respond to the needs of ALL of God's people - - in Schools, Colleges, Hospitals, homeless shelters, orphanages, parishes as pastoral administrators, Dioceses as Vicars, Office managers, Adult Faith Formation Leaders. Sisters observe the Beatitudes - - they cloth the homeless and swaddle newborns abandoned in trashcans and dark alleys. They feed the Hungry in soup kitchens. [ Of course these ministries are "gospel" inspired but they don't come with a paycheck.] Elderly Sisters pray day and night for the intentions of the Church and they pray for their former students. They pray for the married couples who can't afford the large families of the earlier 20th century. They pray for the Catholics who are fleeing the North East where taxes are high and jobs are not as plentiful as they once were. Sisters salaries in the 1940's - 1970s for 180 day school year were so low that some sisters who taught school all day had to work a 4 to 6 hr part time job in a public library at night in order to pay the convent electricity and water bills. Convents with 20 Sisters living in towns with no public transportation system shared one car for all doctor appointments, grocery shopping,and visitations of the sick and hospitals. There were no vacations - - many sisters went to summer school the day after graduation in June and stayed there until the Saturday before labor day when our elementary and secondary schools would reopen. All Sisters WORKED their way through college and grad school . . in order to meet Regional Accreditation standards - - in order to give their own students in parochial and regional secondary schools an education that would make their graduates "the best and the brightest." I wonder if Sisters ever considered filing for bankruptcy - - I know some were forced to file for "welfare" and foodstamps. Do you think that the statute of limitations has run on their ability to recover minimum wages that were never paid by the Pastor or the Bishop.[ Scratch that last suggestion - -] I just remembered that a federal bankruptcy judge told the Bishop of one of the Western states who filed for bankruptcy (rather than try to pay the amounts of money due in damages to abused children) that the bookeeping practices of the Diocese were somewhat "unusual" and not to be believed. To the Sisters, I say don't get too upset about this inquiry - - read every thing you can by Sister Sandra Schneiders and Doris Gottmueller not just about this "inquisition" but about the scriptures, the love of God for all of his people and how God stays with us today "...and is made flesh and dwells amongst us" - - in each of us - - for each of us. . “…and the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us…” And this same ”Word” is still with us today . . . Jesus said He would not leave us orphans and He told us that He would leave us His Spirit.
Why should any of us who believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit ever doubt that the Word is with us today? Today’s challenges and problems in the Church are monumental — the “inquisition” directed at American Sisters is not the most challenging – - – American Congregations of Religious women live by their Constitutions – - confirmed by the Vatican; The same women live by the vision of their founders; They live to respond to the needs of ALL of God’s people – - in Schools, Colleges, Hospitals, homeless shelters, orphanages, parishes as pastoral administrators, Dioceses as Vicars, Office managers, Adult Faith Formation Leaders.
Sisters observe the Beatitudes – - they cloth the homeless and swaddle newborns abandoned in trashcans and dark alleys. They feed the Hungry in soup kitchens. [ Of course these ministries are "gospel" inspired but they don't come with a paycheck.]
Elderly Sisters pray day and night for the intentions of the Church and they pray for their former students. They pray for the married couples who can’t afford the large families of the earlier 20th century. They pray for the Catholics who are fleeing the North East where taxes are high and jobs are not as plentiful as they once were.
Sisters salaries in the 1940’s – 1970s for 180 day school year were so low that some sisters who taught school all day had to work a 4 to 6 hr part time job in a public library at night in order to pay the convent electricity and water bills.
Convents with 20 Sisters living in towns with no public transportation system shared one car for all doctor appointments, grocery shopping,and visitations of the sick and hospitals. There were no vacations – - many sisters went to summer school the day after graduation in June and stayed there until the Saturday before labor day when our elementary and secondary schools would reopen.
All Sisters WORKED their way through college and grad school . . in order to meet Regional Accreditation standards – - in order to give their own students in parochial and regional secondary schools an education that would make their graduates “the best and the brightest.”
I wonder if Sisters ever considered filing for bankruptcy – - I know some were forced to file for “welfare” and foodstamps. Do you think that the statute of limitations has run on their ability to recover minimum wages that were never paid by the Pastor or the Bishop.[ Scratch that last suggestion - -] I just remembered that a federal bankruptcy judge told the Bishop of one of the Western states who filed for bankruptcy (rather than try to pay the amounts of money due in damages to abused children) that the bookeeping practices of the Diocese were somewhat “unusual” and not to be believed.
To the Sisters, I say don’t get too upset about this inquiry – - read every thing you can by Sister Sandra Schneiders and Doris Gottmueller not just about this “inquisition” but about the scriptures, the love of God for all of his people and how God stays with us today “…and is made flesh and dwells amongst us” – - in each of us – - for each of us.

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