Vol. 6, No. 4, November, 2001

Community News & Upcoming Events

At Home

Parish Missions

During the month of October 2001, Sr. Brigid and Sr. Jan gave the Parish Mission, "Healing Life's Hurts", from Hays, Kansas to Ellsworth, Kansas at the following parishes:

October 3, 4	St. Joseph's, Hays, KS
October 8, 9	St. John Evangelist, Hoisington, KS
October 10, 11	Sacred Heart, Plainville, KS
October 15, 16	St. Rose Lima, Great Bend, KS
October 18, 19	St. Fidelis, Victoria, KS
October 22, 23	Sacred heart, Pratt, KS
October 24, 25	St. Bernard's, Ellsworth, KS

Testimonies to the Lord's healing love during the Missions:

• The mission has saved my marriage from divorce and has made me a better person. JF, 36

• The mission was very inspirational and helped me forgive someone that has harmed me by gossip. HW, 82

• It has really lightened my soul. It has helped me to forgive others and myself and has strengthened my faith. MH, 28

• I believe more in God now and am closer to him. RA, 14

• it has brought a deeper appreciation of the church and has brought my wife and I closer together. MB, 49

• I rate the mission as excellent. I've had sciatic nerve pain for nine years and now it is gone. CR, 68

• The mission has strengthened my faith, put peace in my heart, brought me closer to Jesus and helped me pray better. I just feel better! I liked it. RS, 13

• The mission helped me feel more confident in my faith, marriage and emotional needs. JB, 53

Abroad

Gdynia, Poland

Sr. Angeline and Sr. Jan left again for Poland on July 24, 2001 and arrived in Warsaw on July 25. They were met by Peter Slojkowski with his friend Kryzysztof who drove them to Jola Malczewska Kawalec's flat. She had lunch ready for them since their train to Gdynia wasn't leaving until 5:00 p.m. What a surprise to have Zosia Soltysik and her mother, Stella, come up from Cracow to see them at Jola's flat. The visit was so interesting that the Sisters and Peter missed their train to Gdynia by only five minutes. But the result was that they arrived in Gdynia at 10:20 p.m. instead of the scheduled 8:00 p.m. arrival. That's what happens when you're having some fun.

Annual Follow Up Leadership Formation Training.

July 27 to July 31 were the dates the Annual Follow Up Leadership Formation Training was to take place. Fifty three Coordinators and Pastoral Leaders participated in the Training. But a tremendous amount of work had been done during the year by Sr. Angeline on the Statutes and the Community Handbook and the same was true for Staszek, Alicja, and Jola Witkowska who translated everything into Polish and had this new material printed up and ready for this meeting. So it was decided that the 27th and the morning of the 28th would be spent on going through the Statute together with the Community Handbook. So, the Follow Up Leadership Formation Training actually began midmorning of the 28th and ended on July 31. It was a wonderful training. We were actually able to complete what had been begun the summer of 1999. Everyone was very grateful to get the complete picture.

ACTS II Board of Directors Meeting.

The ACTS II Board of Directors Meeting began on August 2 and ended on August 5. Again, reports were submitted by the Directors from each of the parishes to the participants which were read, evaluated, suggestions made for improvement, and then time was spent on strategizing on how to bring the Association and the ACTS II Process into more parishes. These meetings are always very fruitful for everyone concerned. We thank the Lord that such meetings are able to take place.

Association of the New Covenant.

At the end of this meeting on August 5, a reception ceremony, led by Fr. Wojciech, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish, took place during which four new members from Gdynia and eight new members from Suwalki were received into the Association. Eight candidates from Gdynia were received into the second phase of formation, that of missioned evangelizer.

Suwalki, Poland

On August 6, the Sisters left with Staszek, Alicja, and Peter for Suwalki. It was a seven hour trip and because they left Gdynia at 4:30 p.m., they arrived in Suwalki around midnight. The Sisters stayed at the residence of Fr. Christopher during their four day stay in Suwalki. The first day there was a day spent walking in the woods and then to Lake Wigry for coffee and ice cream. It was very relaxing just watch the boats sail by. There were several meetings, a few with Staszek and Alicja. The highlight of the meetings was the meeting with Bishop Edward Samsel of the Diocese of Elk on August 8 to present him with the Statutes of the Association of the New Covenant. Alicja, Peter, and Fr. Christopher were present at this meeting as well. After the meeting, the bishop invited Fr. Christopher to concelebrate Mass with him. On August 9, the Sisters went kayaking in the morning and in the afternoon met with some single women interested in knowing more about the Sisters of the New Covenant.

Association of the New Covenant.

In the evening of August 9, a reception ceremony took place in which eight new members were received into the Association. Nine candidates entered the first phase of formation, that of trainee, and twelve candidates entered the second phase of formation, that of Missioned Evangelizer.

At this ceremony, one person was received as an affiliate. Affiliates are not members of the Association but are persons who have a vital connection with the Association. They receive sufficient understanding of the Association and are given formation suited to their situation. There are two types of affiliates: a) those involved in the spiritual or corporal works of mercy; b) those involved as prayer warriors.

Conclusion.

On August 11, the Sisters departed Suwalki at 5:30 a.m. to make the four hour drive to Warsaw. Staszek and Jola drove the Sisters and Peter to Warsaw and on to the airport. Jola Malczewska Kawalec met the Sisters at the aiport. Since she was unable to be present for the reception ceremony in Gdynia nor in Suwalki, she came to the airport from their family vacation cabin just to be able to be received into the Association as an affiliate. She has known the Sisters since 1993 when she went through the Healing Ministry Training that they gave in Lubin. The Sisters departed Warsaw at 12:50 p.m. for Denver.

Malta

The Sisters were originally scheduled to leave for Malta on September 12 but due to the bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11, and after their flight schedule was cancelled and rescheduled many times, they eventually left Denver on September 17. They arrived in Malta on September 18 and were met by Albert and Josephine Galea and John and Tanya Zammit. Due to tighter security measures, they had to ship everything through, more than they originally planned to do. Only one box out of the three did not arrive with them. It arrived two days later. They were taken to the Sisters of St. Joseph Retreat House in Rabat where they lived during their stay in Malta.

On Septembr 25, the Sisters and Albert met with Fr. Anton Porelli, longstanding friend, over dinner. They had a wonderful meal of lampuki, a Maltese specialty fish, and shared with him until late afternoon.

Meetings Concerning the ACTS II Process.

Many meetings took place with Albert Galea, director of the ACTS II Process at Attard, members of the Association and possible candidates for the Association, coordinators of the ACTS II Process at Attard, and with the trained evangelizers. All of these meetings concerned the well being of the ACTS II Process at Santa Maria Parish in Attard. On September 26, the Sisters and Albert had dinner near the Dinglii Cliffs with Fr. Dione, the pastor of Santa Maria Parish, during which they had an excellent meeting with him about the ACTS II Process in his parish.

Association of the New Covenant.

September 15 and 16 had been scheduled as a non residential retreat for the members of the Association but this retreat was cancelled due to the late arrival of the Sisters. Time to achieve all that needed to be accomplished during this trip had been greatly reduced. Great stress was placed on the Sisters to fulfill in a lesser amount of time what needed to be done. Schedules needed to be readjusted and time was limited.

The residential retreat for the members had been scheduled for September 21 to 23 and was held at Hal Farh, a beautiful family resort area in Malta. Twenty one members and two candidates participated. Their children came and attended a supervised camp while the adults met together for the retreat. The evenings were free for fun nights. The purpose of the retreat was to spend time apart to come to a deeper understanding of the Statutes and the Community Handbook. Though the Sisters did not have as much time as they had anticipated, due to the cancellation of the non residential retreat, the residential retreat was very fruitful and much was accomplished.

Tenth Anniversary.

On September 27, 2001, the 10th Anniversary of the ACTS II Process being in the parish of Santa Maria in Attard was celebrated with a Mass of Thanksgiving concelebrated by Fr. Dione, pastor, and Fr. Anton Portelli, former pastor. Fr. Dione gave an excellent homily during which he expressed his appreciation for the Association and the ACTS II Process in his parish.

The change of directorship of the ACTS II Process was announced during the Mass. Albert Galea, director of the ACTS II Process for 10 years, welcomed the new director, John Zammit. Each of them was given the opportunity to share with the congregation their experiences of the Process.

Conclusion.

Albert picked up the Sisters at 5:30 a.m. on September 28 and they departed Malta for Denver at 8:05 a.m.