FOCUSed in 2010
Written by Sr. Constance Carolyn, lsp
Friday, January 08, 2010

Welcome to our new LSP Blog! We hope you enjoy reading about events in the life of our Congregation and the Church…

As the world prepared to celebrate the New Year holiday, there we were, two Little Sisters – with golf bag in tow – checking into the Marriot World Resort in Orlando, Florida! Two Little Sisters at one of the world’s largest resorts – what was going on?

We were in Florida not to golf, but to fish, as in “I will make you fishers of men!” (the golf bag held our display banners). From December 30 to January 3 we were privileged to participate in the national FOCUS conference, along with nearly 5,000 (!) Catholic university students. We had come to the land of Disney to celebrate and deepen our Catholic faith.

Our days (and evenings and nights!) were spent participating in liturgy, engaging in lively conversation with students, other religious communities and various Catholic organizations, and attending presentations and workshops given by noted speakers – from FOCUS founder Curtis Martin to Jeff Cavins and Father Benedict Groeschel, cfr. The weekend’s activities also included a lively New Year’s Eve party, a swing dance and an evening of Eucharistic adoration during which 90 priests heard an estimated 2,500 Confessions (that does not include those heard during each day’s meal breaks, when the Confession line was as long as the fast food lines!).

One of the highlights of our weekend was an unexpected meeting with a woman who had been instrumental in the miracle for St. Jeanne Jugan’s canonization. We had long heard about two women from Regnum Christi who had visited Dr Edward Gatz and his wife after having stayed with our Little Sisters in Kansas City early in 2005, and who had suggested that the Gatzes contact our congregation regarding Dr Gatz’s cure from cancer through the intercession of Jeanne Jugan. “Yes, I was the one who counseled Mrs Gatz to call Mother Marguerite in Kansas City,” Anne – Marie Dardis said with obvious joy. How wonderful it was to finally meet this individual who was such an important piece of the canonization puzzle! Anne – Marie currently works for the Institute of Psychological Studies in Washington, D.C.

After the FOCUS conference we were pleased to spend two days in Indialantic, an ocean – front community east of Orlando, visiting Holy Name of Jesus parish. A family from the parish kindly took us in, showed us around and introduced us to an awesome group of young Catholics who are on fire with the love of Christ, just like the youth we had encountered at FOCUS. Our stay included an evening bonfire on the beach – what an unexpected thrill for two northeasterners in winter – where the group of young people, including FOCUS participants who had never seen the ocean, were huddled around the fire talking about … GOD! These young people are going to set the world ablaze! As our Holy Father once said, “The Church is alive … the Church is young!”

Celebrating the Kings in Queens
As we prayed and celebrated with young people in Florida, another group of young women gathered at our novitiate in Queens Village, New York, for a weekend of prayer, discernment and service to the elderly with our novices. During one of their discussions St. Jeanne Jugan made an unexpected appearance…

I can be reached at serenity@littlesistersofthepoor.org.