Showing posts with label Sr. Sophia Grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sr. Sophia Grace. Show all posts
"As contemplatives in the world, we esteem the value of prayer in itself for love of God and give ourselves wholeheartedly to the mission of Christ through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy" (Constitutions #1).

Franciscan Sisters TOR Works Mercy

Works of Mercy: Praying for the Living and the Dead

One of those works of mercy, a spiritual work of mercy, is to pray for the living and the dead.

Right now two of our sisters are having what we call a "hermitage experience", a more concentrated time of silence, solitude, contemplative work, and prayer.  In these two weeks after Christmas they are each praying for a special intention.

Sr. Agnes Therese is praying for peace throughout the world while Sr. Teresa is offering her prayer, work, and fasting for those who do not know or believe in God's mercy and for those for whom God's heart breaks.

Prayer and intercession are considered one of our main ministries and it is a gift for us to be able to life up to the Lord the dying, deceased, addicted, lost, priests, and families, and to pray for peace and reconciliation, and for a culture of life and the list goes on and on.

The two-week "hermitage experience" is but a taste of an aspect of our way of life that we are not yet fully living.  In the next couple of years, we hope to have 2-3 sisters begin living in a hermitage setting where they will live in a house together and more fully embrace the contemplative life.

"By embracing a more intense living of our prayer and penance, we seek to offer ourselves as a sacrifice of praise and adoration of God who is supremely loved, and to offer ourselves as a sacrifice of love and intercession for all of God's people" (Constitutions #62).

Last Christmas I had the incredible gift of doing my own "hermitage experience".

During those two weeks I offered my work, prayers, and other daily activities for the intention of those who are in darkness- that they would come to know the light of Christ.  I prayed especially for those who, in their own woundedness and brokenness (because of past hurts), can't even imagine a God who loves them.

Throughout my time, the Lord allowed my to see His faithfulness and goodness.  Through scripture, the Liturgy of the Hours, the Mass and many other ways, God spoke to my heart and showed me over and over again that He was answering my prayers and accepting the small offering of my simple, hidden work.

A couple of weeks later many of the sisters, myself included, watched The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King.  If you have seen this movie you know there are many, many scenes portraying the powers of light versus the powers of darkness, but I was struck by one scene in particular and everything in me wanted to yell,

"PAUSE IT! Stop right here!  Let's just sit and pray with this!"

Faramir and his men are retreating from Osgiliath.  A dark shadow of clouds cover them and Nazguls are picking them off by the claw full as they ride to the protection of Minas Tirith.  Gandalf, the White Rider, rides out on his white horse to meet them.

As he approaches the impending darkness and retreating men he extends his staff and a powerful light radiates from it.

The entire scene changes.  The music/sounds go from the Nazguls screaming to what sounds like elves singing.

Immediately the Nazguls turn and flee from the light.  Gandalf then joins Faramir and his men and they all return to Minas Tirith safely.


I felt like I was watching, right there on the screen, what God had been doing in the people I had been praying for during my time in the hermitage!  

As I prayed for those who were in darkness God was sending his Holy Spirit (the light coming from Gandalf's staff) to enlighten their hearts and to disperse the evil that had been covering and pursuing them.  Jesus was bringing them under his protection, just as Gandalf brought his protection by his presence of riding to them and with them.

I also saw just how powerful the kingdom of light really is in relation to the enemy.  

The Nazgul are giant in comparison to the men, their screams deafening, and their claws sharp; yet when faced with the seemingly weak light from Gandalf's staff they flee immediately and go back to the darkness from where they came.

The devil seems big and brutal but he doesn't stand a chance against God's kingdom- God is always victorious!  The light wins over the darkness!

The Lord did not have to show me how he was hearing and answering my prayers and offerings during my "hermitage experience" but he chose to and as it all unfolded my faith was buoyed.

I began to pray with a more bold confidence as I lifted up people and situations to him because whether he shows me or not I know he is hearing my prayers and answering them according to his will.  As he does with all of our prayers!

May we all grow in prayer and intercession for the living and deceased!
-Sr. Sophia Grace Huschka, T.O.R.
“To make known His merciful love”

This phrase is all over our website, Facebook page, newsletters, brochures, etc.  Why?  Because it is our mission. Our desire is that all peoples will come to know God’s personal and merciful love for them.  Needless to say, we were elated when we learned of Pope Francis’ proclamation of an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy beginning December 8, 2015 on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  Many of us experienced it as the Church confirming our community in our mission.

In the months since we heard about the Jubilee Year of Mercy we have been doing many things to prepare.  Some sisters have been reading Fr. Michael Gaitley’s book The Second Greatest Story Ever Told.  It speaks about Saint Pope John Paul II as the great Mercy Pope, tells a little bit of the history of speaking about Divine Mercy and the relationship between Divine Mercy and Marian Consecration.  Others sisters have been reading and praying with the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Misericordiae Vultis, watching a movie on the life of St. Faustina (Apostle of Mercy) and many other things besides.

But what better way to prepare than to count down with Our Lady?  What do I mean?

Preparation for Marian Consecration.

Fr. Michael Gaitley speaks about how Mary is the Mother of Mercy and that she opens hearts to receive Mercy.  With this in mind, many of our sisters have felt called to renew their Marian Consecration on December 8th with a particular intention.  In these final days before the opening of the Holy Door we will be specifically asking Mary to go before her Son and open the hearts of all people to be able to receive his mercy during this great Jubilee Year of Mercy.

We would like to INVITE YOU TO JOIN US in the preparation and Marian Consecration and countdown the days to the opening of the Jubilee Year of Mercy! 

On November 5th we will begin our countdown and preparation for Marian Consecration!  We will be reading and praying with Fr. Michael Gaitley’s book 33 Days to Morning Glory and invite you to do the same.  However, if you don’t have the book, that’s OK too!  You can also pray variations of St. Louis de Montfort’s version or even St. Maximilian Kolbe’s shorter preparation. See myconsecration.org for options.

The important thing is to prepare, ask for Our Lady’s intercession for her children, consecrate yourself to Jesus through Mary, and then get ready to see miracles of Mercy!

We will be making posts throughout the 33 days to check in and see how things are going, give encouragement, and countdown the days to the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

We hope that you join us during these 33 days and help “to make known God’s merciful love”!

Here is a brief 3-minute explanation of Marian Consecration and what it’s all about by Fr. Michael Gaitley: 

-Sr. Sophia Grace Huschka, T.O.R.

 “It is Christ’s fidelity that is most beautiful.” - Fr. Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.

Almost every woman, either as a girl or a young lady, has dreamed about her wedding day and honeymoon.  In the midst of the details of the perfect dress, color schemes and romantic destinations, is a fundamental desire to be romanced and know that she is loved.

I would be remiss if I said I have not had some of these same musings.  My ideal honeymoon included a cabin in the woods in the mountains of Colorado.  Forget about the tourist attractions and being on the “go, go, go”; I wanted a place where I could just “be” with my spouse.

About a week before my pre-vow retreat (a time set aside to prepare for professing final vows) I followed a last-minute inspiration of the Holy Spirit and signed out a hermitage on our property.  Early on in the retreat, I was sitting on the porch of this small cabin that is nestled down in the woods.  As I sat there sipping hot water (Franciscan tea), listening to the birds, and watching the sun rise, Jesus reminded me of my dreams.  The rest of the week he fulfilled my deepest desires. 

As Jesus and I spent time “being” together on strolls
through the woods, watching the fireflies and listening to thunder roll through the hills, he spoke deeply to my heart that he will always be with me and that he is never going to leave.  His words telling me that I would not be alone were a healing balm poured on a wound in my heart.  In the midst of my quirks, mistakes, limitations, brokenness, and sinfulness, Jesus desires to be with me and wishes to espouse himself to me forever. 

“He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end” (Jn. 13:1).  Throughout the week of retreat, Jesus revealed to me his deeply personal, romantic, passionate love for me.  But what he really showed me was that his love is so much more than just the sweetness of romantic love—he LIVES his passion.  By embracing and carrying the cross, being beaten, mocked and spit upon, nailed to a tree, and finally handing over his spirit in death, he fully expresses his  passionate love for me. He chose to love me beyond consoling feelings that come and go.  By living out his words, “This is my body given up for you,” and dying a death that I deserve, I KNOW, in the deepest part of my heart, that I am loved.

And what is the response that I can give to the totality of his self-gift?  For me, there is only one—my entire life.  Through professing the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience, I freely choose him.

And that is all he desires.  He knows my weaknesses and how easily I turn away from him and yet he longs only for me and my “yes”.  As our retreat director, Fr. Boniface, told us, “It is Christ’s fidelity that is most beautiful.”  I don’t have to have it all together. That’s not what he is asking.  He only wants me to remain with him, as I am able.  And together we will bring about the Kingdom of God.


In our profession ceremony for solemn vows, we receive a ring.  As I wear it, I will recall Jesus’ words to me, “Take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity” and his vows to me to love me to the end, into eternity.  And I will also recall our Reverend Mother’s words as she places it on my finger, “…keep faith with your Bridegroom so that you may come to the wedding feast of eternal joy.”
-Sr. Sophia Grace Huschka, TOR
“Sometimes lovely things are lost. Beautiful things God scatters everywhere as Walt Whitman said, ‘God is tossing down love letters on the street and everywhere, If only we would watch out for them.’” -Jessica Powers

It was Valentine’s Day several years ago and it began like any regular day, with Holy Hour at 5:30 am.   I sat there, as a true romantic, waiting for God to woo my heart all over again as we celebrated this day for lovers. 

But I was a little distracted because I was cooking dinner that night and somehow needed to come up with 1 cup of chicken broth for my recipe.  With no chicken or bouillon cubes in the house this was going to be quite a task. 

So, as I prepared for mass that morning, I read the above quote in the Magnificat, refocused and asked the Lord to help me be open to see these “love letters he is tossing on the street and everywhere”. 

And then the chaos began! 

I heard a cry!  Now, normally we keep silence before 9AM because it is a time for us to be quiet with our Beloved.  So when I heard this yell I knew something was askew.  A sister hollered down the stairs, “The water won’t shut off in the bathtub!” 

Now the house is nearly 100 years old, so all of the shutoffs are in the basement and are not well marked.  She ran downstairs and we began yelling back and forth, “OK, I turned one off.  Did it stop?”  “No, it’s still gushing.”  This continued for several minutes when the doorbell rang. 

It was the priest coming to celebrate mass for us.  He jumped into the pandemonium and became the middle-man relaying our questions and responses.  “Why don’t you call a plumber?” he calmly asks after several minutes.   Yes, a plumber! 

One was called but, alas, there was no answer.  The door bell rang again.  Who could it be this time since the priest is already here?  We weren’t expecting anyone. 

I opened the door and a good friend of our community stood there with a 5-gallon pot half full of…you guessed it… CHICKEN BROTH!!!  Not just a cup of it but several gallons of it!  He explained that he boiled a chicken the day before and just thought we might want to use the broth. 

I took the pot, thanked him profusely, told him how he was an answer to prayer because of my chicken broth woes, and he turned to be on his way.  Then the sister called upstairs, “Who was at the door?”  
When I told her who it was she cried out, “HE’S THE PLUMBER!”

So, in reflecting on the events of the morning I came to understand in a deeper way just how many times His love letters really are “on the street and everywhere”.  They are not just in the whispers He speaks to our hearts in the chapel but in the normal everyday events of life, if only we have the eyes to see His personal love and care for us!  

Two prayers were answered in that one package that God sent to our front door early that Valentine’s morning.


Oh, and yes, I was able to call after our plumber as he walked down our steps and he was able to fix our plumbing issues!  
-Sr. Sophia Grace Huschka
Sr. Sophia Grace as a young girl
 at a father-daughter dance
with her father
“Advent is the season of the secret, the secret of the growth of Christ, of Divine Love growing in silence.  It is the season of humility, silence, and growth.” - Caryll Houselander. 

Advent is a season of reflecting on Christ growing in the womb of Mary.  It is a time of great anticipation and active waiting, waiting to meet her Son.  It is a season that I will never experience in the same way again.

In November of 2012, a week before the beginning of Advent, my dad was diagnosed with a rare and very aggressive form of leukemia. 

Each day we waited. 

First it was to see if he would be able to start chemotherapy, then we waited to see what was going on inside of his body.  

Was the cancer dying?  We waited to see if his body would respond to the treatment.  

We waited for a miracle.  We waited…

In those 3 ½ weeks between the diagnosis and dad entering into eternal life he was never really able to talk, first because he was on a ventilator and then because of swelling in his throat.  

What was happening in the secret and silence of his heart?  Was the seed of Christ growing in him?  
It is a mystery that I will never know completely but trust with all my heart.  Dad, in his time of waiting, was experiencing his own Advent. 

Each day as I prayed with my dad I prayed that he would know the personal love of God, and in a specific way that he would know God as his loving Father.  As the weeks unfolded God allowed us glimpses of what I believe He was doing in my dad.  

My aunt was praying a rosary for him one morning and very clearly in her mind’s eye saw the words “Be patient my son”.  Then several days later on Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent, three days before my dad passed away, they played a song at my aunt’s church with the words, “soon and very soon, we are going to see the King”.


To me these events were signs that Christ was indeed growing in my dad’s heart, showing him how to be a son and preparing him to meet his Father in heaven.  

In his last few minutes on earth I was able to encourage him that his heavenly Father awaited him with open arms and that God had been waiting so patiently for him to be ready. 

Then my dad gave us a little smile and went to the embrace of the Father. 
Martin Huschka
May 28, 1949-  December 19th, 2013
When I walked into the chapel this morning and several sisters were already in their seats,  I was certain that Mother Mary Ann had already chosen one of them to light the candles in the advent wreath. I admit that I was a little disappointed.  

So you can imagine my surprise when she walked up to me and handed me the lighter!  

I was filled with a childlike joy that I would get to light the candles for the second Sunday in a row!  

After the traditional prayers and the candles were lit, I returned to my seat and began to ask the question, "Why?  Why was I so excited to light all three candles? ".

As I gazed at the three flickering flames I recalled the first Sunday of Advent when I began reading daily reflections in A Child in Winter by Caryll Houselander with commentary by Thomas Hoffman.  I was invited to walk with Mary and “grow pregnant with God together” and “to grow large with the abundance of God’s favor”.

In my prayer I have been imagining Christ growing in me and all that goes along with expecting a child.  I trust that He is growing in me even though I don’t feel Him moving yet.  

What will it feel like when I recognize His stirrings?  What will He look like in my life?  What will His personality be? 

I take more times to rest and allow myself to be with Him in silence and prayer as He grows in me. 

BabyFruit TickerAt times I get impatient; I want to see Him now!  But no, I need to “wait patiently on his own timing of His growth” in me.  I don’t want Him to come prematurely. 

So, as I look at the three candles that are lit in the advent wreath I realize I am excited because I feel like I am looking at a pregnancy ticker that counts down the days until the due date.  

The time of His arrival is coming and soon it will be here! 

Rejoice!  Rejoice, Believers!  
_ Sr. Sophia Grace Huschka, TOR

“…He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in his kindness to us…”  (Eph. 2:7) [emphasis added]


Recently we had a guest stay with us from one of the great sunny states in the south.  Shortly after meeting her she shared with me that the last time she had seen snow was when she was 3 years old.  She really didn’t remember it at all and wanted to see it so badly. 

I shared with her that snow was in the forecast while she was staying with us and her face lit up with joy!  Unfortunately the forecast changed.   The snow got pushed back in the weekend and wasn’t supposed to start until Sunday evening, well after she would be on her way south. 

I sat in Holy Hour Sunday morning, the last day she was here, looking out of our windows at the grey clouds across the horizon and a prayer welled up from within me, “Lord, I know it’s not supposed to snow until tonight but you can make it snow whenever you like.  Could you please make it snow so that our guest can see it?”  

We finished Morning Prayer and I went on with my routine to open some window blinds to let in a little light into the house.  As I did I saw the tiniest and most delicate snowflakes I have ever seen, falling gently from the sky.  I practically ran down to the dining room where all of our guests had gathered in order to share the news!  To my surprise all of the windows in the dining room were still closed, so no one knew it was snowing! 

I took our guest by the arm, opened the door, and led her outside.

As she saw the snow she gasped in awe and delight and then stood there speechless.  As a tear slid down her face I slid back inside so she could spend this special moment alone, with just her and the Lord.

It continued snowing for about 20 minutes or so, the length of our breakfast, and then quit.  It didn’t snow the rest of the day.  The snow might have come to an end but the smile on our guest’s face remained throughout the day as she recalled the incredibly personal gift she had received. 

Sometimes the best gifts come in small packages, as in this case, in the smallest of snowflakes.  For me, this was a tangible, real life example of God’s inexhaustible generosity and His desire to shower us with His personal love!  Lord, thank you for the ways you see and fulfill what brings delight to our hearts.

-Sr. Sophia Grace Huschka  
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