Dsmme To Appear On Oprah

[truthfinder]

[quote name='Hilde' date='07 February 2010 - 11:45 PM' timestamp='1265611540' post='2053203']
I think it was maybe in the movie black narcissus they called a monastery a nunnery.
[/quote]
I believe that black narcissus is about Anglican nuns, so that might make a difference. I don't know if the English or Anglicans use nunnery more often than convent or monastery.

[DevotedtoHim]

I am sure I will have the most unpopular opinion here but I have to say that I really wish they didn't go on. Oprah has delved into lots of weird spiritualities and things like "The Secret" which she has used her show to promote, not to mention even weirder stuff, and I don't watch her because of that. I am sure a lot of people here will say that this is for the greater good, but really, I sort of don't see that because by picking a "new" order that came from an order that continues to thrive, it is once again highlighting young beautiful "girls," I thought the article that her magazine did on the Abbey of Regina Laudis was really good, but I guess I am just old fashioned. I cringe when I see all the blogging nuns, and yeah, I know the Holy Father just urged religious communities to make use of the internet but there is a difference between taking goofy pictures and hosting videos of novices singing wacky songs and blogging seriously. And of course I haven't seen the show and I am sure I am going to pretty cynical, but how much do you want to bet they are going to show the nuns playing volleyball or soccer? I am so tired of "photo ops" for religious. Whatever happened to being modest and religious?!

For full disclosure, I was discernment with the DSMME for a while. If anybody wants more information about my experience, I would be glad to share it privately.

[brightsadness]

I hope Oprah gives them lots of money. [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif[/img] Maybe they can set up a fund to help aspirants with school debt?

[laetitia crucis]

Article from CNA:

[url="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/dominican_sisters_to_appear_on_oprah_winfrey_show/"]Dominican Sisters to Appear on Oprah[/url]

[quote]Ann Arbor, Mich., Feb 8, 2010 / 02:52 am ([url="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com"]CNA[/url]).- The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist have made waves across the nation for their rapid growth and their devout orthodoxy. Now, they are once again in the national spotlight, being featured on the popular Oprah Winfrey Show.

“They phoned us and asked if they could do a program on us with Oprah. That's all we know!” Sister Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, OP, vocations director for the community, told CNA in an email.

The show featuring the sisters will air on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. The same day happens to be the congregation’s 13th anniversary. The coincidence is “amazing, as they did not know this when they chose the date -- but God did!” exclaimed the vocations director.

When asked why they chose to accept the invitation and appear on the show, “Oprah is powerful -- we entrust this endeavor to Mother Mary for the greater glory of her Son! It's truly been a lot of fun as 'the world' does not begin to understand our life,” the Dominican said. “Hopefully, this will inspire more people to love God and serve Him in the manner He invites each of us -- and get the Gospel on the airwaves!!”

The Dominican Sisters of Mary were founded in 1997 by four Dominican sisters responding to John Paul II’s call for a new evangelization. In the 13 years of their existence, they have grown to almost 100 members. Their newly constructed motherhouse is already filled to capacity.

Currently, the average age of the sisters is 26 and the average age of their postulants is 21.

“Young people, inspired by John Paul the Great and Pope Benedict XVI, are generous and desirous of living sacrificial, authentic lives as God asks of them,” Sr. Joseph Andrew said.

“We agreed (to be on the show) because it will further understanding of Religious Life,” she added. “The Catholic Church is alive, well, and thriving as is authentic religious life,” she added. [/quote]

[DameAgnes]

"So tired of photo-ops for religious."

That's a big topic here on the threads. I personally hold that every community has the right to be themselves. If some are more austere and "hidden" and some are more to the fore, they both serve the Lord, and the Holy Spirit will use them to his purposes. Since the world is full of noise and distractions, perhaps the Holy Spirit wishes to counter some of it with the joyful noise and images of these sisters, and turn a few hearts and minds along the way. Why put God in a box and say He is only "this" big or the church only well-represented in "that" way? The Holy Spirit trumps all of our preferences with perfect wisdom.

This article says that co-incidently the show is airing on the anniversary date of the order's founding. No accidents.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/dominican_sisters_to_appear_on_oprah_winfrey_show/

Edited February 8, 2010 by DameAgnes

[laetitia crucis]

Also posted this in the Open Mic thread.

Here's the Oprah promo for tomorrow's show.

[url="http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Lisa-Ling-Goes-Inside-the-World-of-a-Modern-Geisha_1"]Lisa Ling Goes Inside the World of the Modern Geisha and a Real-Life Nunnery[/url].

---
Edit: Also wanted to add this from the Dominican Friars' (St. Joseph Province) "Dominican Foundation":

[quote]
Must see television—Dominican Sisters of Mary on Oprah!
(Tomorrow, February 9th)

Eager to show her audience what life is like behind the walls of a convent, Oprah Winfrey dispatched a television crew to explore the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary and their way of life at the Mother of the Eucharist Convent in Ann Arbor, MI. The Oprah Winfrey Show will air the segment on Tue. Feb. 9—please check local listings—while four of the Sisters answer Oprah’s questions in the studio, with some novices and postulants weighing in via Webcam.

Cameras were allowed inside the convent, said one Sister, to take advantage of “an opportunity to share our life and, by extension, the Gospel, with an audience that we might never reach otherwise.” The congregation has been blessed with a tremendous number of vocations. Built to house 100 Sisters, the convent is practically filled to capacity.[/quote]

[url="http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=37e556f3437140085da14281c&id=c4c90b9916&e=9082b18323"]Source[/url].

P.S. -- That first shot of a Sister holding up her hand looks like a Sister of Life habit...

Edited February 8, 2010 by laetitia crucis

[DevotedtoHim]

Dame Agnes, I agree with you what you said. I probably wouldn't feel the way I do about this if it weren't with Oprah and if it didn't seem like the same communities get all the attention all the time. I definitely agree with the Holy Father (and you) about being out there, and breaking through the noise, and who knows, there might be a vocation or two from the show, but after my time of being in discernment, I just feel really sad for the faithful nuns who are struggling because they are older and not as "media savvy" as the younger ones or the newer ones. I don't know if that makes sense, but I guess I just have a soft spot in my heart for those nuns and since we just got done with a controversy over life this weekend with the superbowl (in the secular world), I think one of the reasons we can so easily abort is because we ARE in a disposable society and that includes the elderly. It seems like everybody wants to join a new, young, fresh order with lots of money meanwhile, the convents and monasteries of older nuns who have lived good, faithful lives who are full of wisdom and goodness are kind of being ignored. I know of two really good Carmels that closed/suppressed/merged this past year because of lack of vocations and they were in the full habit and everything! So I think it would have been really cool to have some older nuns talking about their lives and what it meant, and give them the chance to show their wisdom and sanctity but I guess that's for sure not what Oprah is about and people are interested in why young beautiful white girls want to "throw it all away" for God. I get that. I have made some really serious changes in my discernment process with the help of my sd and I am hoping to enter a community that has been around for a long time and needs the support and help of new people. I want to be one of those people.

I really didn't mean to be too cynical, I guess it's just hard enough living here (usa) with the focus on looks, weight, hair, education, youth, youth, youth and money that when I see it in religious life (not saying that about the DSMME's as an order but that's what others chose to highlight) I just get kinda sad.

Katherine

PS Even though I am young now I know I won't be forever God willing and I want to be treated well at every stage of my life, with respect and dignity.

Edited February 8, 2010 by DevotedtoHim

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='DevotedtoHim' date='08 February 2010 - 05:56 PM' timestamp='1265666200' post='2053624']
Dame Agnes, I agree with you what you said. I probably wouldn't feel the way I do about this if it weren't with Oprah and if it didn't seem like the same communities get all the attention all the time. I definitely agree with the Holy Father (and you) about being out there, and breaking through the noise, and who knows, there might be a vocation or two from the show, but after my time of being in discernment, I just feel really sad for the faithful nuns who are struggling because they are older and not as "media savvy" as the younger ones or the newer ones. I don't know if that makes sense, but I guess I just have a soft spot in my heart for those nuns and since we just got done with a controversy over life this weekend with the superbowl (in the secular world), I think one of the reasons we can so easily abort is because we ARE in a disposable society and that includes the elderly. It seems like everybody wants to join a new, young, fresh order with lots of money meanwhile, the convents and monasteries of older nuns who have lived good, faithful lives who are full of wisdom and goodness are kind of being ignored. I know of two really good Carmels that closed/suppressed/merged this past year because of lack of vocations and they were in the full habit and everything! So I think it would have been really cool to have some older nuns talking about their lives and what it meant, and give them the chance to show their wisdom and sanctity but I guess that's for sure not what Oprah is about and people are interested in why young beautiful white girls want to "throw it all away" for God. I get that. I have made some really serious changes in my discernment process with the help of my sd and I am hoping to enter a community that has been around for a long time and needs the support and help of new people. I want to be one of those people.

I really didn't mean to be too cynical, I guess it's just hard enough living here (usa) with the focus on looks, weight, hair, education, youth, youth, youth and money that when I see it in religious life (not saying that about the DSMME's as an order but that's what others chose to highlight) I just get kinda sad.

Katherine

PS Even though I am young now I know I won't be forever God willing and I want to be treated well at every stage of my life, with respect and dignity.
[/quote]

I just wanted to say that I really appreciate this post, Katherine. I agree with many of your points, and can't help but think how great it would be to hear from older religious, too -- those that have persevered in fidelity to their vocations, and, like you said, can offer so much wisdom and sanctity. I know I would be greatly interested in hearing from those religious as well.

[DiscerningSoul]

I think they are on Tuesday, because I heard an ad saying someone was "spending the night in a real life convent".

[loveletslive]

tomorrow at 2pm!

[vee]

Im quite skeptical about the whole thing but will reserve judgment until I can watch it for myself. Im not worried about the sisters Im more concerned that the show`s editors will chop what they say to bits and make it just a longer version of the promo.

[DiscerningSoul]

It's on at 4pm here

[loveletslive]

yeah sorry, *next* week oprah is at 2pm not tomorrow

[DameAgnes]

[quote name='loveletslive' date='08 February 2010 - 10:55 PM' timestamp='1265687742' post='2053877']
yeah sorry, *next* week oprah is at 2pm not tomorrow
[/quote]

Geisha? http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/theanchoress/2010/02/08/dominican-sisters-on-oprah/

[MithLuin]

Yeah, apparently they're doing a Western geisha in the same show. So perhaps the choice of the word 'nunnery' (with all its implications) is not an accident.

The promo is disappointing, to say the least. Yes, I get that nuns are giving up having children and careers, but to bring up sex and virginity in such a wide-eyed way is kinda making a spectacle of it. I hope the actual show is more tasteful than the promo implies, but...

[b]Devoted to Him[/b], the video 'Beloved' by the Nashville Dominicans made a point of emphasizing the older members of the community, and how (at least one) vocations are fostered by meeting people who have 'lived the life' for their whole lives. I realize Sisters of Life, CFR sisters and the Ann Arbor Dominicans are all new groups, but some of the older groups are quietly growing, too. My sister just joined one of the less 'popular' orders, because that is where God called her. She's only a postulant so far, but there is a novice one year ahead of her, and other young women discerning the order.

I realize that [i]Oprah[/i]'s interest is in [u]young[/u] women, because clearly beautiful young women could be out picking up guys. Older wrinkly women...well, we'd all like to think of them as celibate anyway, so it's not as interesting.

Edited February 9, 2010 by MithLuin