Sister Elaine Burke, OSU: Mixing fun with a deep prayer life

Transcription

1 Sister Elaine Burke, OSU: Mixing fun with a deep prayer life Sister Elaine Burke s mother would often ask her, Elaine, can t you just sit down for five minutes? Even after 60 years as an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, no is still the answer. I m looking for what s next, Sister Elaine said. She balances her life on two areas many people would likely doubt possible a deep spirituality and a desire to have fun. Elaine is fun-loving and yet can be serious when the occasion calls for seriousness, said Sister Ann Sister Elaine meets with Rusty Weitzel, one of the participants in the 2008 graduating class of the Spiritual Direction Institute. McGrew, who ministers with her in the Spiritual Direction Institute at Mount Saint Joseph. She has a gift of laughter and song, listening, and she loves people. There is no age limit with her love for people, Sister Ann said. Sister Elaine (in the blue coat) is joined in a hay loft while on retreat with ministry formation students from Brescia University, and Todd Butler (right), who directed the program. Owensboro, Ky. Sister Elaine is serious about her relationship with God, Sister Ann said. When she leads music in churchrelated ceremonies, she takes the time to practice so the music is prayerful. In 2005, Sister Elaine began as the coordinator of the spiritual component of the ministry formation program at Brescia University in

2 I gave retreats, ran meetings, got the students spiritual directors, and mentored some students, she said. With the program in transition, she is now the physical and spiritual presence to the theology department. I offer spiritual direction for students and others. I accompany them on their journey with God, she said. I m also available to meet the needs of the department. I m available to run errands for them, proctor their exams, or just be a listening ear. I try to remain available to students where they are at meal time, at the mailboxes, in the hallways, and at sporting events and other gatherings, she said. I love it, it frees me. Todd Butler, associate dean for academic affairs at Brescia and director of the ministry formation program, called Sister Elaine one of the most wise and generous people I have ever known or worked with. Everybody who s worked with her knows her strong work ethic, how much fun she is, and how deeply a spiritual person she is. She s been an absolute beacon for me these four years. Sister Elaine was asked to remain as a presence because she means so much to the students, Butler said. Our students absolutely love her, he said. She goes out of her way to show she s a real person. It s not that she s waiving any rules, part of her job is staying on the students, reminding them that they made a commitment to be at a retreat, or in spiritual direction. When on retreat with the students, she s the last one wanting to go to bed. She s up talking to the students, laughing, and playing games, Butler said. The students know they can be serious and kid with Sister Elaine, he said. We drove to Gethsemane Abbey for retreat a few years ago and Sister Elaine drove one of the cars, Butler said. After that, the students referred to her as Sister Earnhardt. She s a good driver, but she doesn t waste much time. Another of Sister The team of sisters involved with the Spiritual Direction Institute, from left, Sister Marietta Wethington, Sister Elaine, Sister Ann McGrew, and Sister Amelia Stenger, director of the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center, share a laugh during the graduation ceremony in Elaine s ministries is acting as spiritual adviser of Cursillo, a movement which seeks to promote individual and organized apostolic action. A men s Cursillo is planned for this spring.

3 It s a course in Christianity, she said. They ll get instructions in the sacraments, how to lead their lives because they ve met Jesus Christ. They learn how to be a spiritual person in their environment. They are very involved in their parishes. Yet another ministry is serving on the team of the Spiritual Direction Institute with Sister Ann and Sister Marietta Wethington. It s a two-year program through the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center to offer training and certification for people interested in becoming spiritual directors. The third class will graduate this summer. It has grown much more powerful than we ever thought it would, Sister Elaine said. We keep adding to it. We go a lot by the evaluations to make it better. It s been a learning experience, a spiritual uplift, she said. It s broadened my way of looking at spiritual direction. It s built a community between Sister Ann, Sister Marietta, and me. We are open to each other s ideas. Sister Marietta said Sister Elaine has a zest for life that is contagious. She doesn't often let the negative things that happen to all of us at times defeat her. She s determined to keep going. Generosity is a word that comes up often when people speak of Sister Elaine. As the only member of the spiritual direction training course that has musical talent, she is always the one called on to lead the music for our prayer, Sister Marietta said. She cares about people and that makes her very valuable in the spiritual direction training, Sister Marietta said. The person in front of Elaine is the person of importance at the moment. The person knows Elaine cares and will listen attentively and is often validated by her listening skills. One of Sister Marietta s favorite memories of Sister Elaine occurred during the January 2009 ice storm, when Maple Mount was without power for days. Elaine sat at the table with me one evening -- in candlelight and with whatever the kitchen staff had been able to provide without lights and power. She said, I love this deprivation. It brings us together in a way that is different. It gives us a deeper appreciation of each other and reminds me not to take for granted the things I have. Music and a ball in the air Sister Elaine grew up in Louisville, Ky., the middle of 11 children born to John and Esther Burke. She has five brothers and one sister living. My parents were just great people, Sister Elaine said. My dad was always out playing with us. My mom and dad s love for each other was phenomenal. My dad opened the car door for my mom every time. If we ever said something disrespectful to my mom, look out.

4 My mom grew up in St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Marion County (the home parish of the new bishop of Owensboro, William Medley) Sister Elaine said. She was a teacher, she taught first through fourth grade in a two-room schoolhouse in Loretto, and my Aunt Ethel taught fifth through eighth. They taught a lot of our sisters. Her mom came to Louisville to work for the L&N Railroad as a secretary, and met her future husband in the big city. My father was a plumber, who worked for his father, who owned a plumbing business, Sister Elaine said. Three of my brothers became master plumbers. There were always instruments around Sister Elaine s home growing up a piano, trumpets, clarinet, and drums. Her brother played Taps in the Marine Corps. We all loved to sing, she said. All the Burke children were sports-minded. Sister Elaine played basketball, volleyball, softball, and field hockey as a youth. As I got older, I got into tennis, she said. As I got even older, I started bowling. Coming from a big family was absolutely wonderful, Sister Elaine said. There was always something to do. Horseshoes, basketball, I never had to find someone to play with. Sister Elaine s family moved to the suburbs of Louisville when she was 6. Mom decided the boys needed more space, so we moved to Okolona in Sister Elaine went to school at nearby St. Rita, where the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville taught. Sister Elaine likes to stop by the music room in Saint Ursula Hall a few times a week to play the piano. We were all involved in the church, singing in the choir, altar serving, Sister Elaine said. In the sixth grade, Sister Alberta taught me to lead the Litany of the Saints in Latin. Sister Elaine was attending Okolona Public High School and considered joining the Ursulines of Louisville at 16, but her parents thought she was too young, she said. My mom suggested I check out the Mount before deciding. Her mother s sisters were Ursulines of Mount Saint Joseph, Sister Mary Carmelita Mattingly (who died in 1964) and Sister Mary Nazaria Mattingly (who died in 1992).

5 Sister Elaine transferred to Mount Saint Joseph Academy for her junior year. It was just a great place to be, we went to Mass every day, and said prayers in the evening, Sister Elaine said. I loved being with so many girls, to play games and goof off, she said. I just found a family, we loved being together. Gertie Hall Mayhew is one of her classmates who remains a close friend. We were a big party group, and she would watch out for us, Mayhew said. If we heard one of the sister s side rosaries making noise, Elaine would let us know. But every once in awhile, she joined in, Mayhew said. I think Mount Saint Joseph was glad when the class of 1949 graduated. In 2009, the class celebrated its 60th reunion with 10 members present. That s pretty good for as old as we are, Mayhew said. Sister Elaine said she didn t learn until she arrived at the Mount that she d been saying the rosary incorrectly her whole life, with only nine Hail Mary s instead of 10. The first bead was the Our Father, the large bead in between was the Glory Be to the Father, which left only nine Hail Marys in between, she said. I just thought everyone else had lost their place. A life of prayer These 10 members of the Mount Saint Joseph Academy class of 1949 returned for their 60th reunion in (From left) Sister Mary Angela Matthews, Gertie Hall Mayhew; (second row) Sister Elaine Burke, Doris Mattingly Schadler, Mary Kennedy, Rose McCarty Pease; (back row) Betty Rumage Bickett, Joan Clayton Payne, Sister Joan Walz, and Rosella Cotton Whitsett. Sister Elaine enjoyed a deep prayer life from an early age, which led her to make her vows with the Ursuline Sisters. I don t know where I got this great desire to pray. I was caught up in it, she said. I felt that was my calling. I thought, Where else do people pray like that, other than a convent? I never lost that desire for prayer. I don t know how you can be a religious woman without a deep prayer life. The decision to join the Ursulines came during March of her senior year at the Academy. I was in church praying after breakfast, and Mother Immaculata (O Riley) asked if I wanted to walk under her umbrella, Sister Elaine said. I told her I was becoming a nun. We went to her office and she gave me the paperwork to fill out. Sister Elaine went home for the

6 summer and got involved in softball and other things, failing to fill out the paperwork. She called me about two weeks before I was to begin to see if I were coming, and I said Oh yes. She told me to get my paperwork in. Her novice class had 25 women, one of the largest ever. She is one of nine sisters from that class celebrating her 60-year jubilee this year. Sister Elaine (second from right) was one of several Ursuline Sisters who sang in the choir Feb. 10 during the ordination of the bishop of Owensboro, William Medley. Other sisters pictured are, from left, Sisters Grace Swift, Alicia Coomes, Mary Susan Mudd, and Mary Henning. I had a hard time calming down in the silence, she said. Her first ministry in 1952 was at St. Benedict School in Nebraska City, Neb., where she taught kindergarten and rotated with other sisters to teach the first four grades. They were all beautiful kids. I loved them, she said. It was in Nebraska that she got instruction on playing the piano. Sister Francesca (Hazel) taught me to play every Monday night, Sister Elaine said. She was very understanding. (These days, Sister Elaine stops by the music room in Saint Ursula Hall a few times a week to play some of the early songs she learned on the piano, usually the Black Hawk Waltz, The Bells of Saint Mary, and Chopsticks. ) After five years in Nebraska, she went home to Louisville to become principal and teacher at St. Paul School. She taught fifth through eighth grade as well as being the organist for the church. She was also the local superior in her house of sisters, handling the administrative responsibilities and staying in contact with the pastor. She did all these things at age 26. The school closed in 1964, and at the end of that school year, her father died, so she was glad she was in Louisville to be close to her family. That fall she went to Fredericktown, Ky., to be principal and teacher at Holy Trinity School, where she taught the seventh and eighth grades. After four years there, she came back to be supervisor of religious education for the Diocese of Owensboro. During her tenure with the diocese, she took a semester in 1971 to work on her master s degree in religious education at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., which she completed during the summers. I went to 56 parishes to teach lay people how to teach religious education, she said. I didn t even have a car, I went by bus. I d be carrying a film projector and a tape recorder, and still wearing a habit. In 1973, she went to St. Stephen Parish in Owensboro as director of religious education, and also taught religion to seventh and eighth graders at the school. I loved working with the kids, she said.

7 In 1975, after seven years out of the classroom, Sister Elaine became principal and teacher at Immaculate Conception School in Hawesville, Ky., and director of religious education at the parish. I taught math to the upper grades, she said. It was fun getting to play games at recess again. I had taken a cruise to the Caribbean, so I taught them some dances I learned. They liked the cha-cha. She taught herself to play the guitar, and began the guitar Mass at Immaculate Conception. I ve always found time to play something, she said. In 1980, she went to Flaherty, Ky., as director of religious education and religion teacher at St. Martin of Tours, a public school where all the students were Catholic. The students had to leave the building and come to a separate building for religion class, she said. The Land of Enchantment In 1983, she experienced what she calls the love of her life, her first of eight years in New Mexico. There s no experience to equal it. I still hear from people there, she said. I just got an invitation to a wedding of a boy who I taught to play the piano when he was 6. I came to his home to teach him, then I d play ping pong with his dad. The receptivity and affection of the New Mexico people is unparalleled, she said. They make sure all your needs are met. When I arrived they were there to greet me, and had stocked my kitchen for me, she said. Eighth grade boys hugged me at graduation. They were just beautiful kids. You were respected and loved from the day you walked in. Sister Elaine shows how she and Jean Allen, staff administrator, can cut a rug during the 2009 Sock Hop in the Villa. She spent five years as director of religious education and parish minister at St. Mary Parish in Bloomfield. She was asked to come home in 1988 to work at the Mount Saint Joseph Retreat Center, but Sister Elaine was glad when another sister took that position first. She moved to St. Teresa Parish in Grants, N.M., in 1988, where she spent three years as director of religious education, parish minister, and music teacher. It was during her time in New Mexico that she became good friends with Sister Cecelia Joseph Olinger, who was ministering in San Fidel. The two had many adventures in the Southwest, but their biggest adventure occurred in 2001 when they went on a Saint Angela pilgrimage, Sister Cecelia Joseph said. We traveled with a group of Cleveland Ursulines and friends as they celebrated the

8 150th anniversary of Beaumont High School, an Ursuline school in Cleveland, Sister Cecelia Joseph said. When I looked through my journal from that trip, I think we had gelato (ice cream) every place we went! But we never got lost or left behind anywhere, and we re still friends. (All of Sister Elaine s friends know that one of her passions is ice cream, especially pralines and cream.) The next time Sister Elaine was asked to come back to the retreat center, she said yes, in I didn t want to be an administrator, so they made me retreat director and spiritual director, she said. I did that for 16 ½ years. It was wonderful. They allowed me to get my certification in spiritual direction. She did retreats for confirmation, staffs, faculty, parish councils, and women. That ministry overlapped with the Brescia ministry she began in 2005, so she left the center in No idle time Sister Elaine is still not interested in sitting still. She serves in the Brescia Hand bell Choir, and for 17 years she s spent hundreds of hours volunteering at Owensboro s RiverPark Center, serving as an usher, greeter, or ticket-taker. She gets exposure to a wide range of offerings at the center, from Arts Teach Kids, to Broadway shows, to wedding receptions. She s one of my diehards I can count on, said Jaynan Day, volunteer coordinator at the RiverPark Center. In 2009, Sister Elaine volunteered 327 hours, fifth most of the 200 volunteers at the RiverPark Center. Sister Elaine helps to seat some children during a RiverPark Center performance Feb. 25. She is consistently among the top 10 volunteers in hours served at the performing arts center. She s here for just about any event we have, Day said. She ll help usher the children and keep them in line. The children love her. At Friday After 5, she ll get out and dance. She makes everyone feel welcome. Sister Elaine is also secretary for the Council of Religious, a group that serves all the women religious in the Diocese of Owensboro. She is active in Mass at the Mount, from cantoring, to lecturing, to being a prayer leader. She remains an avid sports fan, a (University of) Louisville fan in the midst of Kentucky fans, as her friend, Sister Mary Matthias Ward, said. She loves to meet the public, loves to be wined and

9 dined. She exercises, plays tennis, and dances. She also helps two Ursuline Sisters at Centro Latino, a Hispanic ministry for the diocese. She seems balanced in community and with the outside activities in which she is engaged, Sister Mary Matthias said. In 2009, in preparation for the ceremony of the merger with the Ursuline Sisters of Paola, Kan., Sister Elaine served on the Traditions and Transitions Task Force, where she became friends with Paola Sister Angela Fitzpatrick. Each Paola sister was to have an angel sister to accompany her as she signed the Book of the Company, officially making her an Ursuline of Mount Saint Joseph, and Sister Elaine was Sister Angela s angel. We really didn't know each other well but she shared my enthusiasm for the merger and stood by me when I signed my name in the book, Sister Angela said.the moment hit a sour note later when Sister Angela learned her face was accidentally blocked from the photographer during the signing. I felt like crying and she felt bad and was determined to do something about it, Sister Angela Sister Angela Fitzpatrick, a former Sister of Paola, Kan., signs the Book of the Company, along with her angel Sister Elaine, and Sister Michele Morek, congregational leader. Sister Elaine arranged for this picture to be reshot after a mistake occurred during the merger ceremony in July said. She kept in touch with me and we ed each other. Months later when I was visiting the Mount, Sister Elaine came to me and said she had arranged for another photo shoot. I now have that picture of my signing the book with Sisters Michele (Morek) and Elaine looking on as the screen saver on my laptop computer, Sister Angela said. There is a bond there and I look forward to visiting with her whenever I come to the motherhouse. I feel blessed that we have connected and she has certainly gone out of her way to make me feel included. When the Ursuline Sisters produced a music CD in 2001, Sister Elaine composed the melody to the title track, Act, Move, Believe. The lyrics are based on Saint Angela Merici s words from the Introduction to her Counsels, Act, move, believe, strive, hope, cry out to him with all your heart, for without doubt you will see marvelous things, if you direct everything to the praise and glory of his Majesty and the good of souls. Day by day, Angela s words really speak to me, she said. - By Dan Heckel