Our Caritas Group

Our Caritas Group meets once a month. This group consists of eight Sisters who get together to pray, share concerns, or discuss an article. A calendar is prepared and distributed in September with dates scheduled all the way to May. Sometimes we share a meal and other times we simply have a hot drink and dessert.
This November we met. I drove all the way from Salem with a heavy heart. The passing away of our Sister Fidelis hit us too suddenly. As I drove, I started to remember all the times I have driven that I-5 freeway. I remembered when the news of my brother’s death came and I drove on that highway, crying my eyes out all the way. I opened my wound also as I remembered my brother Jesse driving me to Salem when we received news that my little sister, Elida, had died. Many times I drove that highway when my Mom was alive and I would get a call that she was lonely or sick and needed my help. So…I put all this pain together and re-opened all the old wounds. By the time I arrived at the Motherhouse I needed a hug.
As the group gathered we sat for a while not knowing where we wanted to go with our conversation. I had stopped at a Mexican pastry shop and purchased some sweet bread. I prepared hot chocolate for those who wanted a warm drink. I said that I wanted to know exactly how Sister Fidelis died. That opened the conversation. Two hours later we had spent some time in sadness, some time laughing, some time sharing great memories. We also discussed how hard it is to live in community with a bunch of women with such enormously different personalities, degrees of mental or physical health, etc. It was good. It was very good.