St. Angela Reflection

April 2013

“Be gentle and compassionate towards your dear daughters…” Second Counsel

In St. Angela’s Second Counsel, she encourages a gentle and compassionate attitude toward those we encounter. We know from our own experiences that we achieve more and get better results with kindness and a gentle approach. Angela was wise enough to understand that genuine respect is the foundation of our actions. She is not blind to the faults seen in others, it is just that she alerts us to be mindful that we are motivated by love of God and to look for when it is right to advise, admonish, or confront others in the proper place and time.

Ultimately, if we listen to our own hearts, we will know when we need to be gentle, when we need to more firm, when we need to admonish, when we need to be compassionate. In Ecclesiastes 3: 3,7 we read “There is a season for everything…a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building…a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking.” We need to keep in mind how we would like to be treated and thus treat others accordingly.

-Sister Donna Frey, OSU

St. Angela Reflection

May 2013 St. Angela Reflection

“Seek and desire all the ways and means necessary to persevere and make progress to the very end.”  Prologue to the Rule

This is another instance in which Angela had an understanding of the human condition. Our initial efforts are not enough; we must be constant and persevering in our efforts to the final day. In other words, our total commitment with which we started the year is still in play. In the beginning we were reminded by our daily “Soli Deo Gloria” motto that all we do we do for God and not just for our glory.

Often we don’t know how effective we might have been. What we do know is that our very presence and efforts did make a difference with someone, somewhere, somehow. It is a good feeling to know what we accomplished and that we persevered to the end.

St. Angela said, “You have to thank (God) infinitely that, to you especially, was granted such a singular gift.”

-Sister Donna Frey, OSU