Letter from Sr. Margaret Hickey, Provincial President

Dear Friends,

Happy Advent to all, and Merry Christmas! As we enter into this season of celebration and remembering the wonderful gift of love God gave us in Jesus, we pray for peace for our world, especially in all its troubled places. May the Peace of Jesus the Savior permeate all lives.

We Notre Dame Sisters have entered into a year-long celebration of our 150 years of founding. In the early 1850s a young parish priest, Fr. Gabriel Schneider, and a few young women realized an unmet need and responded by starting a free school for the poor of the village. This soon gave them the realization that a community of apostolic women religious could best serve the need. After much planning, Fr. Schneider and eight courageous women, on August 15, 1853, celebrated the beginnings of the Notre Dame Congregation in the small village of Hirschau in Bohemia. Soon many women followed and the congregation spread throughout the area, offering exemplary education to children and families.

By 1910 the Congregation came to the United States to meet the spiritual needs of the Czech immigrants. Under the leadership of Mother Qualberta Krivanec and four other Sisters, the United States group spread throughout the Midwest teaching and meeting the needs of families. Today the international group of Notre Dame Sisters are located in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, the United States and Honduras serving as teachers, counselors, nurses, parish ministers, religious education directors, home health care providers, chaplains, and spiritual directors. Their mission is to bring the message of God’s love for all and to strengthen family life for the good of society.

What is it that we then wish to celebrate as we remember these 150 years? First of all we celebrate God’s Providence which has guided the congregation through political upheavals, communism, renewal and growth. Secondly, we celebrate the thousands of women who pioneered and nurtured the congregation through its history in each country. Third, we celebrate you, our families, friends and colleagues who believe in our mission and ministry. Finally, we look to our future and celebrate what is yet to be, to where God is leading us to answer the various unmet needs of our time. With the mind and heart of Fr. Gabriel Schneider, our founder, we believe and we say in gratitude: We are completely overwhelmed by the goodness and providence of God.

Know that during this Holy Season of Advent and Christmas, as well as through the entire year, we hold you and your needs in our prayers. May the gifts of this season be ones which deepen your love and help you to see God’s great love for you.

Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year,
Sr. Margaret Hickey, ND

Services for Sister Marcella Chloupek were held at the Notre Dame Motherhouse on Monday, October 20. Sister Marcella died on October 16th after a long illness. Burial was at Calvary Cemetery in Omaha.

Sister Marcella was born Helen Chloupek in Dwight, Nebraska. She attended Notre Dame Academy and became a Notre Dame Sister on August 12, 1937. From 1938 to 1979 she ministered as teacher, artist and principal. The schools in which Sister Marcella ministered in Iowa included St. Wenceslaus in Spillville and St. Ludmila in Cedar Rapids. In South Dakota she taught at Our Lady of Lourdes in Porcupine; and in Nebraska her places of ministry included Notre Dame, Assumption, and Blessed Sacrament in Omaha; Holy Trinity in Brainard, Assumption in Dwight, St. Wenceslaus in Dodge, Bishop Neumann in Clarkson, and Holy Trinity in Brainard. In later years Sister Marcella served as assistant to the Notre Dame treasurer before her retirement in 1979.

Sister Marcella is remembered for her great teaching skills, her affirmation of students and young teachers and her great artistic skills that produced many art pieces. She was especially skillful in the art of tatting. Sister Marcella is survived by brother Emil of Salem, Oregon, sister Betty Harman of Staplehurst, Nebraska, and many nieces and nephews, and the Notre Dame Sisters. She was 91 years of age, and in the 64th year of her religious profession.

The Development Dinner at which the Czech Sisters will be honored will take place on April 18, 2004. If you would like to be present for this unique occasion, please notify the Notre Dame Sisters so that you will receive information closer to the time of the Dinner.
Email: nd.dev@juno.com or telephone: (402) 455-2994

The first task, beginning three years ago, was to study the Notre Dame spirituality of non-violence. The founders of the congregation, in many ways and in bold actions, lived out a spirituality that called for work against family and societal violence. Sisters and Associates continue to educate themselves about living out the spirituality of their founders, and how they can be more non-violent in their lives. The goal is to become people of compassion and peace as we follow the Gospel call.

On a second, just as immediate level, committee members studied the problem of family violence on many levels, and surveyed agencies and women from domestic violence programs in the Omaha area to determine need. The need for transitional housing was very high. Transitional housing is a combination of temporary quarters for women and their children who are leaving domestic violence programs such as the Shelter, coupled with training in living skills, financial management and parenting skills designed to restore psychological and emotional health and balance. With this type of support, women are more capable of independent living outside the domestic violence situation. As recommended by the Non-violence committee, the Sisters and Associates chose to focus on making a positive difference in the transitional housing available in the Omaha area. In order to effect the most good, they chose to collaborate with a pre-existing successful program, Catholic Charities’ Family Passages. Operating in the former Paxton Manor from 1996 until the close of the building, then renting apartments for the women served, Family Passages consistently serves twelve women and their children who remain in transitional housing for an average between 6-18 months.

The greatest need experienced by Family Passages was lack of funds to pay the rental of the apartments, and to add more badly-needed apartments for transitional housing use. The Notre Dame Sisters and Associates created the Safe Homes Project to collaborate with Family Passages in filling this need.

The concept of Safe Homes is simple. People of all faiths yearn to take steps to end family violence. Family Passages is an effective, proven method for assisting women and children to build a new life that does not contain violence. Safe Homes is the connection between the two. Through trained volunteers (mostly Sisters and Associates at this stage) information about the need and educational materials about domestic violence flow to local faith communities (church congregations and other faith-based groups). The response, support for Family Passages, has been overwhelmingly positive.

The Notre Dame Sisters and Associates have a continuing commitment to and a high level of participation in this program. It is seen as a continuation of the Notre Dame history of meeting the unmet needs of women, children and families. The entire Notre Dame community offers very strong encouragement to the Non-Violence Committee and to the Safe Homes project. Sr. Celeste herself feels very energized by the work of the Non-Violence committee. “What we’re about feels so right, and we really are making a difference in many lives.”

Sister Celeste Wobeter

Sister Joyce Ann Rezac
“I like being a bridge. That’s what I felt I was called to be, a bridge between cultures.”
During and after teaching at Roncalli Catholic High School in Omaha, Nebraska and at Bishop Neumann High School in Wahoo, Nebraska, Sr. Joyce Ann Rezac studied at Creighton University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha and at Lincoln. In 1998 she moved to Colorado in pursuit of a Masters in Spanish at Colorado University in Fort Collins. In 2001, after receiving her Masters, she returned to teaching. She is currently juggling three part time teaching jobs in Loveland, Colorado, at the Center for Adult Learning and in Fort Collins, Colorado, at Front Range Community College. She teaches Spanish, and English as a Second Language. In her ESL language classes, she has students from 19 different countries. Sr. Joyce considers herself a culture bridge because she teaches students how to use English not only for getting jobs, but also for basic survival in the United States. Sister Joyce plans to continue to serve where she feels God calls her to serve.

Sister Josita Hanus
Sister Josita Hanus taught elementary school for 36 years. In 1994 and 1995 she began to feel the effects of Post-Polio Syndrome. Physical pain, weakness, and the difficulty in speaking that was caused by weakening of one vocal cord caused Sister Josita to make the difficult decision to retire from teaching and move to the Motherhouse. She immediately began to work as a tutor, as a receptionist, and as a volunteer in the Development Office. As the weakened vocal cord continued to cause an obstacle to communication, Sister Josita turned her focus to Development efforts. Her Development title, “Correspondence Secretary,” can in no way begin to describe what she does. Through hand-written letters, notes, cards, emails and the occasional telephone call, Sister Josita keeps in contact with hundreds of former students, relatives and friends of the Sisters.

In the few months since Sister Ernestine Havlovic (pictured, right) retired from teaching elementary school in Weston, Nebraska, she’s become an indispensable part of the Notre Dame Motherhouse. It’s common to see her hustling from one task to another, all to help her fellow Sisters. She very often drives Sisters to doctor or dentist appointments. She also drives the Sisters on other necessary trips and errands. She has regular hours during the week as the Notre Dame receptionist. She works in the Notre Dame library, and is hoping to take computer classes so that she can continue the modernization of the library materials. Sr. Ernestine is also one of the Sacristans, helping prepare for liturgies celebrated in the Notre Dame Chapel. She also helps with mailings, preparation of printed booklets, cleaning parts of the convent, and other odd jobs.

From teaching in a three classroom school house in Dodge, Nebraska to being novice mistress for the Notre Dame Sisters, Community Treasurer, member of the Administrative Team, teaching at St. Theresa's Grade School and later teaching Notre Dame Academy students typing, shorthand, religion, and English, Sister Dorothy Pluhacek has had a varied ministry career. In her forthright manner, bringing competence, intelligence, quick wit, and a great love of humor to all her experiences, Sister Dorothy has gracefully adapted to the tremendous changes that have taken place throughout her life as a Notre Dame Sister. "Some of the changes have been difficult, and I might have wished that trends in society would have been more conservative, nonetheless, my job has been to continue my ministry joyfully.”
Currently, Sister Dorothy brings linguistic skills to her work in translating the Notre Dame Czech Sisters letters, documents, stories, thesis, etc. written about their life under Nazi and Communist rule, a task she greatly enjoys. As always, Sister Dorothy continues to wear many hats. Her zest for life is apparent when she speaks of helping her sister with her antiques, Bingo at Notre Dame for Sisters and Seven Oaks residents, all the planning that Bingo prizes entail, keeping up correspondence, working at the reception desk, being active in the community, and continuing her prayer life. "Scripture is rich in examples of God's merciful love. The task for all of us is to demonstrate that in our daily lives."