LIKE SHEEP AMONG WOLVERINES:
SISTERS EVANGELIZE ANN ARBOR

The perennial youth of the Church continues to be evident even today.... The Church needs the spiritual and apostolic contribution of a renewed and revitalized consecrated life. Vita Consecrata: 12-13.

It is not enough to discover Christ  you must bring Him to others! The world today is one great mission land, even in countries of long-standing tradition.
Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II's summons for the "new evangelization" inspired four former Dominican women religious to put aside their familiar lives and take up a new missionary initiative. On February 9, 1997, John Cardinal O'Connor recognized their wish to develop a new form of consecrated life, and established them as a Public Association of Christ's Faithful in the Archdiocese of New York. As a sign of the new community's devotional emphasis, the four sisters called themselves the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.

The founding members of this new community in the Church include Mother Assumpta Long, Sister Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, Sister Mary Samuel Handwerker, and Sister John Dominic Rasmussen. Since the Association's establishment only ten months ago, its membership has grown to eleven. Mother Assumpta Long has wondered for some time whether small bands of devoted sisters sent out for apostolic service to regions where a particular religious charism was not represented might not serve to renew religious life in the United States.

The order's mission to jump-start religious renewal calls for a particular interior life. Mother Assumpta explains the form that the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist want to embody: "We are consecrated women first, and so our foremost model is Mary, the Mother of God. Inspired by the charism of St. Dominic, our prayer life comes first so that our apostolate overflows from a contemplation nourished before the Eucharist."

Shortly after their canonical establishment, God found work for his new devoted Sisters to carry out. An invitation came from Bishop Carl F. Mengeling to teach in the Diocese of Lansing, and the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist moved to the Midwest. Mr. Thomas Monaghan, the Catholic entrepreneur famous for Domino's Pizza and the Catholic business association Legatus, generously welcomed the Sisters, and asked them to administer and staff Spiritus Sanctus Academy, a new adventure in Catholic education sponsored by the Domino Foundation. Once fully developed, this system of smaller, multi-age grouping schools will provide a challenging elementary-school curriculum infused with a strong Catholic identity.

Spiritus Sanctus schools are committed to achieving the highest excellence in human and intellectual formation, as well as to supplying an unequivocal witness to Catholic truth and practice. Plans call for a chapel to stand at the center of each school house unit. Daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration on First Fridays, and an emphasis on the Family Rosary make these schools ideal places for the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist to fulfill their vision of the new evangelization.

Besides Spiritus Sanctus schools, the Sisters of Mary are interested in assisting the home schooling endeavors in some manner in the future. They will also support the Catholic Evidence Guild, an outreach effort to students enrolled at the University of Michigan. In keeping with one of the main themes of the New Evangelization, the Sisters give individual and corporate witness to the Gospel of Life. Mother Assumpta says, "we will work in whatever forms of evangelization that the Church needs our presence."

On August 22nd, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, new candidates were received into the community. These young women come from all over the United States. The postulants, as they are called, attend a nearby Catholic university to further their college studies, but also follow special lectures in theology, Scripture, sacred music, and Dominican spirituality. Of course, besides hitting the books, the candidates participate in the full prayer life established at the convent. Their joy and enthusiasm supports the sacrifices required by consecrated life lived in community. But postulant life is not all seriousness. Community recreation is as indispensable as community prayer. One should not be surprised to see the postulants (and the other members of the community!) playing a vigorous game of softball or volleyball, or joining the children at Spiritus Sanctus Academy in some recess fun.

One might ask these missionaries of religious renewal what should be done to renew religious life in the Church today. Mother Assumpta Long articulates the commitment cherished by the entire Community with these words: "The renewal of religious life will only take place if each religious renews his or her consecration to Christ as the heart and soul of one's very life. Renewal can only begin with personal conversion."

If you are a young Catholic woman who feels drawn to this challenge, please contact: Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, 4399 Ford Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105.