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Thursday, May 4, 2000 The Southern Cross, Page 5 Everyday Graces Disruptions—unwelcome hut N o one likes disruptions. Disruptions are aggravations, obstacles in accomplishing our goals. Disruptive behavior gets schoolchildren in trou ble. In our professional lives, we form focus groups and work hard to stay “on task.” Yet disruptions fall into our lives anyway, sometimes dramatically and in great numbers, sometimes just as irritants now and again. One place where disruptions are sure to surface is in a home with children -- the younger the children, the more prevalent the dis ruptions. Families with a lot of children become so accustomed to disruptions they begin to live naturally with them. Some seasoned parents call such a life “organized chaos.” When my life becomes chaotic, as it often does, I would be hard-pressed to describe it as “organized.” When I fall into chaos, I fall hard. As I write this, I’m in the midst of chaos. Our home is topsy-turvy because we decided to replace our stained-beyond-belief beige carpet and our dented, spotted, and tom kitchen linoleum. This is the first time I’ve overseen a major home renovation, and I feel as if I’m entering some important passage of life, almost like labor and delivery. It’s the sort of experience that makes other women nod and sigh knowing ly: “So, you’re having your carpet replaced? Well, let me tell you...” Minutes before I sat down to write this column, I ransacked my teenage daugh ter’s bedroom to prepare it for new carpet tomorrow. The men laying our carpet will move the furniture, but they expect us to remove all the junk. Both Katie and I were astonished by how much time it takes to move her stuff from one spot to another. We’re not talking priceless museum pieces either. We’re talking baskets of trolls (no longer a fad but may become valuable one day), stashes of books and maga zines, old research papers (too time-consuming to produce to dispose of within the next five years,) and enough hair products to captivate Rapunzel. What makes moving all the stuff even more irritating is the knowledge that it must be returned to its place as soon as the carpet has been laid. The fact that much of the stuff we moved has not been touched in the last six months and probably won’t be touched again in the next six months is significant only in that it raises the irritant factor a few degrees. As disruptive as all this change is, I realize I’m better off because of it. Obviously, I’m better off because my family will be living in a newer, hopefully neater, environment. But we’ll also be better off in that we’ve confronted the uglier side of our living space. We’ve encountered our junk, and we’ve been forced to deal with it. Mary Hood Hart helpful All the chaos and temper flare-ups and strange routines that accompany such domestic upheaval have been accepted as just part of the process of change. These disruptions in my household are, on a smaller scale, of course, similar to the con flicts and calamities that make up our daily lives. As much as we would prefer to avoid them, we realize that, once we’ve suffered through them, we’ve become better people. Even if, through the process, the outcome is not what we hoped or expected. Indeed, as much as I hesitate to say it (since I can’t wait to get back to my normal routine), I should learn to welcome disruptions in my daily life. It seems to me that one of the greatest obsta cles to grace, apart from serious sin, is the human tendency to be too comfortable, too con tent with the status quo. Every so often we need to be turned upside down. We need to stop and take a hard look at the metaphorical junk in our lives, and, if possible, discover ways to live without it. Now and then, it’s healthy to step (or be pushed) outside our comfort zones. Ultimately, of course, however unpleasant they may seem, we can learn to accept most disruptions as inte gral parts of the plan. Mary Hood Hart lives with her husband and four children in Sunset Beach, N.C. Sisters (Continued from page 3) Saint Joseph Hospital 1945-1989. Of her time at Saint Joseph’s, she says, “Although my work today is not as vital as it was when I first started here in 1953,1 know I am a vital part of the Hospital Family. I look forward to getting to my desk to check what’s on for the day or week. And one of my favorite things to do is walk the halls of the hospital and greet employees and visitors.” Celebrations of her sixtieth jubilee included her family, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, and her hospital friends. Saint Mary on the Hill Parish celebrated with her and her 80 or so guests at the 5:00 p.m. Mass on Saturday, March 18. A reception after mass was held in the narthex. Mrs. Anne Proctor, Sister’s niece, nosted a dinner at her home after the recep tion. Monday, March 20, continued the celebrations of jubilee and Saint Joseph’s Day at Saint Joseph Hospital. At the 7:30 hospital breakfast, Saint Louis Province Director, Sister Barbara Dreher, addressed the guests. During the hospital’s 12:00 noon Mass, Sister Rose Margaret and all other Sisters of Saint Joseph in Augusta renewed their vows. Pastoral Care then invited the Sisters to a lun cheon. At the annual Employee Award celebration at 2:00, William Paugh, Saint Joseph Hospital Chief Executive Officer, gave Sister Rose Margaret a beau tiful porcelain statue of Saint Joseph along with a vase of flowers. Sister Loretta Costa, a native of Athens, Georgia, celebrated 60 years as a Sister of Saint Joseph of Carondelet on March 19. Daughter of the late Lawrence Costa and Loretta Callahan Costa, Sister Loretta entered the Sisters of Saint Joseph at Mount Saint Joseph in Augusta on Septem ber 18, 1939, and was received into the community on March 19, 1940. She began teaching in 1942 at Sacred Heart in Savannah, where she taught all or most grades. For one year, beginning in 1949, she taught at Saint Francis Xavier in Brunswick. Sister Loretta moved to Saint John the Evangelist in Valdosta in 1950; to Sacred Heart in Milledgeville in 1954; then back to Saint Francis Xavier in 1956. Later she would go to Saint Anthony’s in Atlanta for three years. In 1960 and for six years following, Sister Loretta became school adminis trator at Saint Francis Xavier. After wards, she taught intermediate grades at Saint Mary on the Hill in Augusta. After her six years’ service to the Sisters of Saint Joseph ended in 1984, Sister Loretta returned to Georgia, but this time as Purchasing Agent at the Village of Saint Joseph in Atlanta. Later she became involved with geriatric administration, first at Saint Thomas Personal Care Home at East Point and then at Saint Teresa Manor in Riverdale. Today, Sister Loretta lives in Decatur. Not quite as active as she once was, she continues to serve as a volunteer reader for the blind, work ing for the Georgia Radio Reading Service, based in Atlanta. Always an avid reader herself, Sister Loretta says she loves reading for the blind. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to have had sight and then to lose it,” she says. Reading for those who cannot read keeps her in touch with the gifts she has been given. She also volun teers for the Glenmary Mission Office, helping with their mailings as needed. Of her vocation to the religious life, Sister Loretta says, “As the years go by, I am more and more con vinced that religious life is where I am meant to be.” Editor’s note: The Sisters of Saint Joseph did not provide a picture of Sister Loretta. Monsignor McSweeney to step down as director of The Christophers Erie, PA (CNS) or the past four years, he has hosted scores of television pro grams, written a weekly newspaper column and used other media to ear nestly promote the idea that it is bet ter to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Now, Monsignor Thomas McSweeney, director of “The Chris tophers” in New York City, is prepar- | ing to bring the light of his experi- \ ence and talents back home to the Diocese of Erie. “I really am eager to j plug in whatever I’ve learned, con tacts I have made, and the gifts (the j diocese) has allowed me to accrue,” said the priest, who was named a monsignor earlier this year. His col umn “Light One Candle,” distributed by The Christophers, has appeared on these pages. Sister Rose Margaret Schweers, CSJ