Alas – once the calendar page or calendar view switches to August, it is clear that the new school year is on the way, and the summer is winding down! Although the Chicago heat will stay with us through September, some transitions are already happening. Our school-teaching Sisters are in the midst of last-minute lesson planning. To varying degrees, we are all tidying our offices, filing papers, and finishing projects that receive the most attention during school breaks, like work in the archives, the library, or the sewing room. We are starting to plan future events, such as the big Confirmation retreat in the spring, or, in Sr. Stephanie’s case, already planning for Christmas for the neighbors! The marathon approaches, so two of the Sister-runners are approaching their stickiest and longest runs. And, finally – we are preparing room for a crop of new Franciscans to come this fall! We are grateful for all of the Lord’s blessings this summer, and look forward to His graces yet to come.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some of our highlights from this past summer, and this week we are starting with ….. the “summer crew”!
Each summer we welcome a small group of college students, seminarians, or other young adults who find themselves free during the summer for an extended volunteer stay to help us in our work of caring for the poor and evangelization activities. This year we were BLESSED to have a flexible and fun set of students and seminarians. Colloquially referred to as “Residents of the O.C.” (Outreach Center, aka former school), this year’s line-up consisted of Alex and Kraig, seminarians for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Anna, a Notre Dame University student, and temporary residents Mike (ND student) and Marty (ND connection).
What did they do? Pantry, pantry prep, packing bags for the pantry… and besides the pantry, gardening (Anna’s favorite), sweeping (Alex’s favorite), helping with field trips for Sr. Stephanie and the kids at the Kelly Hall YMCA, archiving for Sr. Jess… and so much more! We enjoyed having them join us for daily Mass, lunches together, and watching Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure on the convent rooftop during the firework frenzy of the Fourth of July!
This year’s group of summer students was with us from the end of May until the beginning of August, and, in addition to being a ton of fun and bringing great work ethics, they also helped us to pull off some incredible apostolic endeavors this summer. More on those in one of the next posts!