Dsmme To Appear On Oprah

[dominicansoul]

well, I'll be more specific...I know one of those girls who spoke on Oprah, and although she sounded lovely and deep...she's not! LOL!

I pray for her constantly, for the pain-in-the neck that she was to me while I was there!!! That's what I mean...

You don't ever see that side of religious life! It's not a deep, dark secret! The "secret" is that some Sisters don't live up to the life, because we are all human and we tend to act like real apes to each other. Religious life is filled with all sorts of crosses to bear. Sometimes those crosses we carry are each other!

Edited February 10, 2010 by dominicansoul

[Indwelling Trinity]

Of all the corporal penances i have done over the years as a religious, nothing comes even close to the sweat one experiences in living charitably day after day with one who just by breathing rubs you the wrong way! Laughing....And to think we get to live a life time with them!

I am SURE 100% that i affected others the same way... and that my friends is REAL penance.. forget all the hair shirts, fasting and disciplines... they are just icing on the cake!

Still... religious life is beautiful!

tenderly,

Indwelling Trinity

[tinytherese]

I remember when watching Teresa de los Andes when a religious sister told the future saint that religious life isn't about a group of saints living together, but a group of imperfect women living together and striving for holiness.

I think that this episode though imperfect, really had an impact. We need to meet people at whatever level they are at when it comes to evangelizing. Your average viewer of Oprah isn't a devout Catholic orthodox woman. Think of it as planting a seed. Sure, no community is perfect. There was only one Immaculate Conception. Perhaps watching this episode is just step one for a lot of women on their journey to holiness.

[Tridenteen]

JMJ
To find the show on Youtube, type in Dominican Sisters of Mary,Oprah, part 1. It will be at the bottom of the page. If that doesn't work, I will try posting the link.

[Hilde]

Thank you, and I downloaded them in case any trolls take it down.

[FSM Sister]

[font="Arial"][size="2"][color="#000000"]As it turns out, Oprah paired up the interview of the DSMME with an interview of a Geisha girl. In both interviews, about 65% of it was about... you guessed it - sex. It's such a shame that when sisters are interviewed, they can't learn to steer the conversation to cultivating a prayer life and a relationship with Christ. THAT is what the world hungers for. It already has plenty of the other. If Queen Oprah were to interview me, when she asked "the question" I would respectfully say, "Oprah - you may want to talk about sex, but I want to tell you about Love. We forego one, which allows us to really experience the other." I'll bet she's never experienced Love. I would far rather go through life having never experienced sex than having never experienced Love.[/color][/size][/font][font="Arial"][size="2"][/size][/font] [font="Arial"][size="2"]Put [i]that[/i] in your pipe and smoke it, Oprah![/size][/font]

[TeresaBenedicta]

[quote name='FSM Sister' date='11 February 2010 - 12:23 AM' timestamp='1265862237' post='2055095']
[font="Arial"][size="2"][color="#000000"]As it turns out, Oprah paired up the interview of the DSMME with an interview of a Geisha girl. In both interviews, about 65% of it was about... you guessed it - sex. It's such a shame that when sisters are interviewed, they can't learn to steer the conversation to cultivating a prayer life and a relationship with Christ. THAT is what the world hungers for. It already has plenty of the other. If Queen Oprah were to interview me, when she asked "the question" I would respectfully say, "Oprah - you may want to talk about sex, but I want to tell you about Love. We forego one, which allows us to really experience the other." I'll bet she's never experienced Love. I would far rather go through life having never experienced sex than having never experienced Love.[/color][/size][/font][font="Arial"][size="2"][/size][/font] [font="Arial"][size="2"]Put [i]that[/i] in your pipe and smoke it, Oprah![/size][/font]
[/quote]

Well said!!

[loveletslive]

[quote name='Tridenteen' date='10 February 2010 - 06:57 PM' timestamp='1265846255' post='2054963']
JMJ
To find the show on Youtube, type in Dominican Sisters of Mary,Oprah, part 1. It will be at the bottom of the page. If that doesn't work, I will try posting the link.
[/quote]

oh my gosh!! THANK YOU!!

[EJames2]

go here
http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=102714&view=findpost&p=2055225
and
http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?showtopic=102714&view=findpost&p=2055226

[Ave Maria Totus Tuus]

[quote name='FSM Sister' date='10 February 2010 - 11:23 PM' timestamp='1265862237' post='2055095']
[font="Arial"][size="2"][color="#000000"]As it turns out, Oprah paired up the interview of the DSMME with an interview of a Geisha girl. In both interviews, about 65% of it was about... you guessed it - sex. It's such a shame that when sisters are interviewed, they can't learn to steer the conversation to cultivating a prayer life and a relationship with Christ. THAT is what the world hungers for. It already has plenty of the other. If Queen Oprah were to interview me, when she asked "the question" I would respectfully say, "Oprah - you may want to talk about sex, but I want to tell you about Love. We forego one, which allows us to really experience the other." I'll bet she's never experienced Love. I would far rather go through life having never experienced sex than having never experienced Love.[/color][/size][/font][font="Arial"][size="2"][/size][/font] [font="Arial"][size="2"]Put [i]that[/i] in your pipe and smoke it, Oprah![/size][/font]
[/quote]

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='FSM Sister' date='11 February 2010 - 12:23 AM' timestamp='1265862237' post='2055095']
[font="Arial"][size="2"][color="#000000"]As it turns out, Oprah paired up the interview of the DSMME with an interview of a Geisha girl. In both interviews, about 65% of it was about... you guessed it - sex. It's such a shame that when sisters are interviewed, they can't learn to steer the conversation to cultivating a prayer life and a relationship with Christ. THAT is what the world hungers for. It already has plenty of the other. If Queen Oprah were to interview me, when she asked "the question" I would respectfully say, "Oprah - you may want to talk about sex, but I want to tell you about Love. We forego one, which allows us to really experience the other." I'll bet she's never experienced Love. I would far rather go through life having never experienced sex than having never experienced Love.[/color][/size][/font][font="Arial"][size="2"][/size][/font] [font="Arial"][size="2"]Put [i]that[/i] in your pipe and smoke it, Oprah![/size][/font]
[/quote]


Amen, amen!!

I wish Oprah would invite you to the show, Sister!

[Ephrem Augustine]

[quote name='FSM Sister' date='10 February 2010 - 11:23 PM' timestamp='1265862237' post='2055095']
[font="Arial"][size="2"][color="#000000"]As it turns out, Oprah paired up the interview of the DSMME with an interview of a Geisha girl. In both interviews, about 65% of it was about... you guessed it - sex. It's such a shame that when sisters are interviewed, they can't learn to steer the conversation to cultivating a prayer life and a relationship with Christ. THAT is what the world hungers for. It already has plenty of the other. If Queen Oprah were to interview me, when she asked "the question" I would respectfully say, "Oprah - you may want to talk about sex, but I want to tell you about Love. We forego one, which allows us to really experience the other." I'll bet she's never experienced Love. I would far rather go through life having never experienced sex than having never experienced Love.[/color][/size][/font][font="Arial"][size="2"][/size][/font] [font="Arial"][size="2"]Put [i]that[/i] in your pipe and smoke it, Oprah![/size][/font]
[/quote]
Prayer is way cooler than sex.

[Rising_Suns]

Thank you for posting the video. May God bless you.

I am certain that Satan is furious about this video. His single most effective stratagem of our time is to hide the truth from people and lull society into lukewarmness and tepidity. To expose any element of Christ's love, which is so distinctly manifested in the consecrated hearts of religious women, is to directly thwart the designs of our common enemy. I think it is easy to underestimate the positive impact that this video will have. As the first chapter of Romans attests to, Our Lord can use anyone to convert souls, even those who do not know Him (in this case, a secular TV show). The dignity and grace of the consecrated life is so great that all it needs to penetrate and convert hearts is to be seen on the hillside, rather than hidden from view. While it is true that Oprah asked a few questions about sex, I would not expect anything else from secular society. It gave the sisters a chance to directly respond with their hearts to these questions that millions of Americans, in their ignorance also ask. I wonder how many millions of souls will watch this video, who would have otherwise never known about religious life. What mattered most is for people to see the youthful love that these sisters have. Grace can work through love more than anything else.

Perhaps not all the sisters are perfect when not in front of a camera. However, it may be important to recall the primary purpose of religious life, which is to die to one's self--and this requires that some people rub us the wrong way. We should not expect anything less. This is one of the most precious gifts that Our Lord can give to someone in the religious life; people who are unlovable and hard to get along with. We should thank God profusely for such people, because it is through them that we are sanctified. Anyone discerning religious life must understand this, if nothing else. This is one of the surest paths to holiness, and such a beautiful grace, which humbles our prideful hearts. It it thus that the saints would desire scorn and contempt for this very reason, because while on earth this is all Our Lord was given. And to be a religious is to commit ones life to following in the footsteps of Our Lord. This is what our Blessed Mother asks of us, 'will you follow My Son'.

.

Edited February 11, 2010 by Rising_Suns

[osapientia]

[quote name='dominicansoul' date='09 February 2010 - 11:19 PM' timestamp='1265771984' post='2054517']
I'm sure some of them were like, "Oprah who?"
[/quote]

LOL...in fact Oprah mentioned that a sister at a convent (I'd guess monastery/cloister) said "What's an Oprah?"

[Guadalupe23]

I've been following this conversation and you all have hit on a lot of great topics. I watched the show and thought it was definitely taken from a secular point of view (thus all of the questions about sex and giving "things" up). The sisters, I thought, put it all in simple terms that would allow the average non-theologian to comprehend! St. Alphonsus (my man!!!) says to take people where they are and then gradually build them to understand the love of God and above all the message that GOD LOVES THEM!

I lived in community too, and I think it is pretty well known that it is definitely not at all happy-go-lucky all the time! The show definitely romanticized the sisters and their life style but I walked away more inspired than anything. I would show the video to my mom because, actually, she can't get over the whole celibacy thing either!! She is a faithful catholic herself, but I can see her asking those same questions! Its interesting....the Spirit graces us all different levels of Wisdom.

Paz en Cristo

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='Guadalupe23' date='13 February 2010 - 12:19 PM' timestamp='1266077943' post='2056436']
I've been following this conversation and you all have hit on a lot of great topics. I watched the show and thought it was definitely taken from a secular point of view (thus all of the questions about sex and giving "things" up). The sisters, I thought, put it all in simple terms that would allow the average non-theologian to comprehend! St. Alphonsus (my man!!!) says to take people where they are and then gradually build them to understand the love of God and above all the message that GOD LOVES THEM!

I lived in community too, and I think it is pretty well known that it is definitely not at all happy-go-lucky all the time! The show definitely romanticized the sisters and their life style but I walked away more inspired than anything. I would show the video to my mom because, actually, she can't get over the whole celibacy thing either!! She is a faithful catholic herself, but I can see her asking those same questions! Its interesting....the Spirit graces us all different levels of Wisdom.

Paz en Cristo
[/quote]

Oprah reruns here around 10:30pm -- so that evening, I watched that episode with my mother. (She's always been a big Oprah-watcher.) My mother isn't Catholic or really even a practicing Protestant, but I think it was good for her to see. For her, the whole "nun thing" is just a bit [i]strange[/i]. I think for her to see these young women talk about religious life in such a positive light was a really good thing. She could see that these young women were not crazy or weird, just normal (Catholic) young women seeking to serve God with their entire lives. (She's had some pretty strange misconceptions about convents... Maybe she saw some really weird nun movies growing up or something? )

[Tridenteen]

JMJ
Quite frankly, I thought the DSMME did a wonderful job. They were mainly speaking in front of a secular audience, who have probably had little to no contact with religious. There for, they just gave enough for the people to understand, but not too much so as to overwhelm. My math tutor is a non denominational unitarian, and she was explaining to me what the sisters said. She was very "enlightened" about religious. She didn't realize that they are Brides of Christ, and was amazed that they don't take a vow of silece, aren't rigidly austere, etc. So, I give a thumbs up!

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='Tridenteen' date='13 February 2010 - 01:01 PM' timestamp='1266080467' post='2056458']
JMJ
Quite frankly, I thought the DSMME did a wonderful job. They were mainly speaking in front of a secular audience, who have probably had little to no contact with religious. There for, they just gave enough for the people to understand, but not too much so as to overwhelm. My math tutor is a non denominational unitarian, and she was explaining to me what the sisters said. She was very "enlightened" about religious. She didn't realize that they are Brides of Christ, and was amazed that they don't take a vow of silece, aren't rigidly austere, etc. So, I give a thumbs up!
[/quote]



Maybe your math tutor had the same misconceptions that my mother did!

I give two thumbs up as well!

[Tridenteen]

JMJ
I am, truly inclined to think that they have read too many books, and watched too many bad movies from the 60 and 70's!

[melporcristo]

[quote name='Guadalupe23' date='13 February 2010 - 09:19 AM' timestamp='1266077943' post='2056436']
... I walked away more inspired than anything. I would show the video to my mom because, actually, she can't get over the whole celibacy thing either!! She is a faithful catholic herself, but I can see her asking those same questions! Its interesting....the Spirit graces us all different levels of Wisdom.

Paz en Cristo
[/quote]

I was even more pumped up about my vocation as well!!! And it opened up great conversation among my siblings and I. I think after that, my mom felt a little more at peace about my vocation. God has a reason for everything ...