Sr. Ann Michele Zwosta RIP

Yesterday we had quite a shock in the Spiritual Center as we discovered the sudden death of our sister/friend/hospitality coordinator, Sr. Ann Michele Zwosta, OSF.   There was a stunned numbness about us as we tried to move through the day.  It was All Saints Day and today All Souls Day.  For those of us working in the Spiritual Center these two days have merged in ways we never expected.  

All Saints Day is a time of remembering the officially canonized saints and perhaps All Souls Day is a day to remember our families and friends who have gone before us and undoubtedly have a sacred space within our hearts; they may well have been every bit as holy as some who have been canonized.  And so, as well as praying for Sr. Ann Michele and all those we hold deep in our heart, we also pray to them asking that they intercede for us.  Yesterday, All Saints! Today, All Souls!  And tomorrow and the next day we shall have perfectly ordinary days for perfectly ordinary people like you and I whom no one might call saints.  Yet that is what St Paul called all the Christians of his little churches and that is what our hearts desire. Isn't this where the distinction between Saints and Souls breaks down? Only God knows the secrets of our hearts, and how far we have progressed along the road to holiness. So be very aware -- today you may be next to someone who, if you could see them as they will be glorified in heaven, you would bow down in reverence before!  Today, let us remember to cherish one another for in this present moment we still have one another.  Sister Ann Michele will be sorely missed here at the Franciscan Spiritual Center but her legacy lives in our hearts and we are more and more awed as we realize all that she accomplished among us in such a quiet and simple way.