My friend Sister Margaret Mary and I have started a routine of talking via Messenger Face Chat every Saturday night. I look forward to our conversations and I know that she does too.
Sister Margaret Mary and I have known each other since I was a sophomore in high school when I started working as a nursing assistant at the nursing home run by her religious community. She was an inspiration for me as I discerned my own vocation. In fact, she was one of the first whom I told that I thought God might be calling me to religious life. Our friendship has been a blessing to me for all of these years, and I find our weekly talks to be life-giving and a saving grace.
Each week we talk about what has happened since the last time we chatted. We talk about our ministries and what it is like living community life. We share the joys and sorrows of being a Sister, and those times of in-between normalcy. It is not uncommon for us to recount our times of prayer and how we experience desolations and consolations. We recommend books, talk sports, give advice, tell stories, reminisce old times, and all things that friends do.
Our weekly discussion may not rival those of The McLaughlin Group, and we may not tackle hard hitting issues like Meet the Press. But, who knows, maybe someday we will get our own talk show! How does This Week in Religious Life sound to you?
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter:
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
and those who fear the Lord will find them.
Sirach 6:14-16
