Updates from the Sisters - May 2020

The pink dogwood outside the refectory is blooming.

“God is showing us, gently, 
what love is.”
-Sister Mary Lynne, reflecting on the beauty of spring

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As the New Jersey stay-at-home order goes into its third month, we have all found ways to adjust and endure while we continue to shelter in place. Here at CSJB, we are sustained by our life of prayer, by  our gratitude for receiving daily communion on behalf of others, and by the comforting emergence of spring flowers and greenery all around us. (Click on any photo to enlarge)
 
We have found new ways to pray with others online, and we continue to reach out to as many people as possible to offer prayers, spiritual direction, companionship, and support. If you’re interested in joining our upcoming online prayer gatherings, please see the Online Prayer information at the end of this update.
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Sister Suzanne Elizabeth with Riley, our Retreat House Manager Brad Kalos' dog. Riley is a CHARACTER!

L to R: Patty Allen, Sister Linda Clare, Sister Pamela, Jennie, Sister Eleanor Francis, Brad Kalos and Sister Victoria at the reading of Rogation blessings on Rogation Day, May 20

Much to our surprise – a few of our Sisters have learned to Zoom! We've been joining the online prayers ourselves, and our Sisters who work in parishes have been attending worship and coffee hour on Zoom. 

​Sister Victoria Michelle, along with Sister Linda Clare, our Alongsider Patty Allen, our Retreat House Manager Brad Kalos, and staff member Ryan McCurdy have been keeping busy in the Garden of Hope. 
One of the advantages of having so many people living on the property
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is that we have many hands to help. We hope to harvest large amounts of produce (God willing!) and donate them to the Mendham Interchurch Food Pantry to help struggling families and individuals in our area.

​I (Sister Monica Clare) and Sister Pamela attended the Conference on Religious Life/National Association of Christian Communities via Zoom from April 27-30. ​​
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Seedlings for the Garden of Hope

Sister Linda Clare working in the Garden of Hope

Retreat House Manager Brad Kalos working in the Garden of Hope

There were 83 representatives from traditional and dispersed communities in attendance, and we were all very pleased at the presentation of a virtual Town Hall with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. ​​ 

His inspirational words about the value of religious communities in the Episcopal Church truly lifted all our spirits. The Town Hall video can be seen on the CAROA website at www.caroa.net. Just scroll down a little on the CAROA home page and click on the video image to view.
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Sister Eleanor Francis is also becoming Zoom-savvy. On May 11, she did a Zoom presentation to Rabbi Deborah Smith’s Or Ha Lev Congregation about her mother’s experiences as a Holocaust survivor and her own perspective as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. The presentation was very well attended, and all were grateful to Sister Eleanor Francis for sharing her story. There are already plans in the works for her to present this material to other groups as a continuation of her interfaith ministries.
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L to R: Sister Suzanne Elizabeth and Sister Eleanor Francis at St. Marguerite's

Pony's memorial stone in his pasture

Sister Margo is working on an exciting new creative project:  She is writing a book about Pony, with reminiscences from many people who knew him and who were touched by his 27-year ministry of presence at CSJB. We continue to grieve the loss of Pony in June 2019, but we are comforted in the knowledge that he had a long and happy life here and that his legacy will live on in Sister Margo’s work.
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​This year’s Celtic Journeys trip to Scotland in September had to be canceled due to the coronavirus crisis, but Sister Margo encourages you to please check out the 2021 trips to Ireland and Cornwall at https://www.celticjourneys.org/copy-of-ireland and also https://www.celticjourneys.org/cornwall For more information, contact Sister Margo Elizabeth: Phone:973 543 4641 ext 4 Email: [email protected]
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Jennie with Brad Kalos' dogs, Riley and Buddy

Sister Barbara Jean riding her bicycle outside St. Marguerite's

We have also canceled our Commemoration Day celebration which was supposed to have happened on June 20, 2020. There is no indication that large gatherings will be allowed to take place by that time, and even if the ban on gatherings is lifted we feel it would be putting our friends at too great a risk to gather so soon after such a significant health crisis. We look forward to seeing all our friends, Associates, and Oblates at Commemoration Day on June 19, 2021.
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Sister Jane Mankaa reports from the Good Shepherd Home in Cameroon that there are still very few cases of COVID-19 in the surrounding area. The children, staff and Sisters are all healthy and safe, but the military conflict in Cameroon still continues so all prayers for an end to the combat are most welcome.

​Cistus, one of the Good Shepherd Home children who is now grown up, is in the fourth year of his engineering course in Nigeria thanks to generous support from donors. 
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Sister Jane Mankaa's father, Pa David, passed away on April 29.

Pa David in Cameroon

Our emergency appeal for the Home is doing well, as we’ve raised over $8,000 towards our $60,000 goal.

​There is some sad news from Bamenda, however, as Sister Jane’s father, Pa David, died on April 29. He was a wonderful, generous man whose love and support of Jane and her ministry has made a tremendous difference. We pray for all those who mourn him.
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Knitting projects for the homeless and needy.

Sister Mary Lynne, Sister Deborah Francis, Sister Margo, Sister Victoria, and Sister Suzanne Elizabeth have been busy creating beautiful hand-crafted jewelry and objects of devotion for our Nun Better Gift Shop. Sister Mary Lynne’s new medium is – ROCKS. She’s collected many interesting stones from around the property and she is incorporating them into her original jewelry designs. Sister Deborah Francis collects feathers from the many birds who live here, and she designs feathered cards for the gift shop that are truly works of art.

We sisters are also continuing our ministry of knitting hats, scarves and prayer shawls for the homeless and for the sick. We’ve got quite a stockpile since we’ve been staying home for a while, but we hope that soon we’ll be able to give them to the Hope One service in Morris County and to North Porch and First Friends.

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Home made masks by Sister Pamela (top) and Alison Seiner Brown

All of us Sisters continue to be humbled and deeply grateful to our Oblates, friends and Associates who have reached out to help us during this time.  All Saints Church in Millington, NJ has been an invaluable help in navigating grocery shortages and pickup/delivery issues. Music Director Alison Seiner Brown from All Saints also made a box full of beautifully sewn cotton masks for all of us. Many thanks to All Saints’ Rector (our Associate the Rev. Victoria McGrath), to all the people of All Saints and to all who have reached out to help us during this trying time.
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We recently received the news that the Daytop Preparatory School, which has served as a drug and alcohol treatment center for teenagers in our former St. John Baptist school buildings for 26 years, will be closing due to state budget cuts. We are absolutely devastated to see the end of this organization which has worked miracles of recovery in the lives of so many adolescents. 

Please join us as we pray for a new organization to come to our buildings and grounds to continue the work of God, and please join us as we pray for Jim Curtin and Daytop New Jersey as they serve those in need at their other facilities throughout the state. If you’d like more information on the closing of Daytop, please CLICK HERE.
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Sister Victoria preparing seedlings for the Garden of Hope

Oblate Pat McKenzie and Associate Janet Maulbeck have created the CSJB Online Prayer Team, which organizes Zoom prayers for Associates on the first Friday of each month. They recently added a Zoom prayer session for anyone else who’d like to join, and we were thrilled to see that 29 people attended the first session. We even had two young ladies from the Grace Church, Nutley confirmation class on the call. What a blessing!
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Sisters out walking during our daily recreation time.

Associate Chris Prybylowski has graciously organized our weekly Centering Prayer via Zoom online and we’re seeing friends from all over the U.S. zooming in to pray with us. As our virtual prayer community grows, we are realizing that when the stay-at-home order is finally lifted we will, in the Episcopal spirit of “both/and,” be keeping both our online and our in-person prayer. In the midst of this crisis, we have found a wonderful way of reaching more people than we ever dreamed possible.

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St. Marguerite's Roof in need of repair

Thank you to all who have contributed to our fund for a new elevator which will allow our guest ministry to continue. We’ve raised $1,390 of our $40,000 goal towards that project. We have also raised over $82,000 towards our goal of $380,000 to replace the 112-year-old roof on our Retreat House. Since our guest ministry has been shut down since March 12, our Retreat House manager Brad Kalos has been working with our buildings and grounds Sisters (Suzanne Elizabeth and Linda Clare) and our estate manager Ken to complete as many renovations and repairs as possible. The guest rooms and second floor hallways have all been freshly painted, and many small and medium-sized repairs are being gradually checked off our to-do list.

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Every day at the Eucharist, during the prayers of the people, we pray aloud for all who are unable to receive communion or worship in person at this time. In spite of the current crisis, though, we see many glimmers of hope as our political leaders begin planning small, tentative ways of lifting the stay-at-home orders. We know that things will never be the same as they were back in January 2020, but we look forward to a “new normal” in which we will retain the gifts we have received during this extraordinary time and we will use the lessons we’ve learned to continue God’s work.

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As always, please email us at s[email protected] with any and all prayer requests. We are always so grateful for the gift of praying for others.

 

WOULD YOU LIKE TO PRAY WITH US ONLINE?

JUNE  5
First Friday prayers for Associates, Oblates, and Sisters via Zoom

JUNE 9​
CSJB Prayers for everyone via Zoom ​​

EVERY THURSDAY, 7:15 PM
​Centering Prayer on Zoom

We hope to continue this pattern through July and August as well. If you’re interested in being a part of these online gatherings, please email [email protected]​  If you are not an Associate or an Oblate, and would like to know more about what this would entail, please email Sr. Monica at [email protected] We would love to have you draw closer to our community.

​Many thanks to Janet Maulbeck, Executive Director of Interweave, for supplying Interweave's online platform and technical direction for our prayers.

Centering Prayer has also moved online, and is now every Thursday on Zoom at 7:15pm. If you would like to join this prayer, please email Sister Monica Clare at [email protected] for more information.

​Click on the links below for helpful information on coping during the Coronavirus crisis:

COVID-19 Resources from the Diocese of Newark

COVID-19 Information from the Centers for Disease Control

The Community of St. John Baptist
"He must increase, I must decrease."
P.O. Box 240
Mendham, NJ 07945

973-543-4641
email: [email protected]
www.csjb.org

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