Sister Celinda's Lent

Sister Celinda with a student volunteer

Sister Celinda has resided in our care facility ever since a surgery went wrong and left her incapacitated. She cannot walk or do anything on her own. Her speech is difficult to understand and she now has cancer. She was formerly a creative, effective primary teacher for many years and tutored children who needed extra help on Saturdays. I thought of how I would feel if this were me-- angry, depressed, lonely. I'm sure she has those feelings at times, but she is generally content. I often saw her watching TV and thought that was all she could do.

When I stopped to talk to her the other day, she was saying her rosary. She said she prays three rosaries a day for all the people in our care home and everybody in the world. "They need lots of prayer," she said. It was as if the people around the world depended on her prayer. She still had one more decade to go, so I left her to finish her rosary.

I was reminded of the quote, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." Prayer has become her ministry now. I reflected on how effective her prayers must be in her unfortunate circumstances. How could God refuse the faithful prayers of someone so limited, so deprived?

Sister Celinda made me reflect on how her whole life is a Lenten season, a time of penance and prayer. She has been stripped of all the things that fill our lives -- the frills and thrills and pleasures. She has found the essence of what it means to lose your life in order to gain it. She is an inspiration to me and I'm sure many others, reminding us how precarious life is and how essential it is to realize we have all been put in this life for a purpose -- whether it's teaching, writing, leading a company, or praying three rosaries a day for the world.