By Sister Mary Frances Przybylski, CSFN
The cross each sister receives at her First Profession and that lies over the heart of every Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth, and has for the past 150 years, carries a timeless, wondrous message, from none other than Jesus, himself, namely: “Behold, the Kingdom of God is Within You”! For our dear Mother Foundress, this is the reason, the very heart, for our existence in the church... a deep, awesome mystery of God’s Love for His People, for each of her Daughters and we, for each other. In Mother’s own words:
“O, God’s Kingdom of Love is hidden on the heart of each of my Sisters. This is my greatest joy!”
The following is a touching memory in my life that illustrates and taught this to me more clearly. The precious memory that held deeply in my heart took place in a Friendly’s with an encounter with a small child and one of our senior sisters. As we were standing in line to pay our bill, a 5-year-old little girl spontaneously reached out, taking Sister’s hand into hers, and gently ran her tiny fingers over the gnarled, wrinkled hand of years of hard work. She then looked into the face of Sister with such awe and reverence and remarked “You’re beautiful!” A quiet stillness came over everyone. It seemed at that moment; time stood still. People gathered around to see the ‘beauty’ and the source of the remark. The child saw beauty as only God sees.
Sister was stunned. With tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, she gave a special thank you hug to the little one who recognized the hidden beauty within her.
Jesus taught, Mother Foundress encourages and the eyes of a child sees...
Behold, the Kingdom of God is within and the very Beauty of God hidden is in the face of one another!
