Common Life in Economic Challenges
[Editor’s note: The college referenced is Rosary College, River Forest, IL, now Dominican University.]
Sister Kathleen Theis, OP
Mother Samuel Coughlin’s 1916 letter began with an affectionate salutation of “Dearest Sisters” and continued with exciting news. “Building our college in Chicago” would soon be a reality (Sept. 16, 1916). Mother Samuel’s challenge to the Sisters was to share whatever they could—for “this College belongs to us all.” Early in 1917, a follow-up letter poignantly described the results of her request. “Strong Sisters walk two miles in fair weather in order to save ten cents car fare for the College Fund; . . . communities gladly go without butter for dinner, or without sugar for another meal. . . .” (Jan. 9, 1917).
Sr. Mary Jane Quinn looks through the racks of clothes in “Nearly New” at the Motherhouse. Many of the Sisters get their clothes here.Almost 100 years later in her Feb. 23 letter to the Sisters, our Prioress Patricia Mulcahey, OP, recalled Mother Samuel’s plea. “Fifty dollars per sister in 1916 is the equivalent of $1,000 per Sister today. If we can try to do today what our Sisters did then on behalf of building Rosary College, we will decrease expenses and increase our income” (Feb. 23, 2009). For the Sisters, the phrase, “to do today,” means sending as much as possible to the common fund. This past fiscal year, Sisters sent almost 57 percent of their compensation income to the common fund, making it the largest income line item in the Congregation budget. For this upcoming fiscal year, there is no doubt that Sisters will take to heart Sr. Pat’s challenge to decrease what they spend on food and household, travel, personal and professional budgets, and housing needs. Yet this past year, the common fund provided resources for only one-third of what was needed for all of the Congregation expenses. The remaining two-thirds of the Congregation income came from donations, estates, pensions, social security, auxiliary activities, and retirement investment funds.
Given the economy, counting on these other income sources to provide what they have in the past is not realistic. With fewer Sisters in compensated ministry, even the common fund has been declining. Yet mission still calls. Some Sisters minister in poorer areas without compensation. The Congregation supports grants to encourage new ministries that respond to the demands of the Gospel. Mission work outside of the United States continues. In troubled financial times, the need for scholarships grows for economically needy students at sponsored schools and others in which Sisters minister. The list could go on, but balancing mission needs with the Congregation’s pragmatic responsibilities of health care, education, congregation administration, necessary capital outlays, and living expenses for retired Sisters is a difficult tightrope to walk.
Yet consider the story of the Good Samaritan. Robbers stole what valuables a man had and left him to die along the side of the road. A Samaritan saw the man and could have gone on as others before him had done. But he stopped and then gave “two silver pieces” to the innkeeper for the care of the man (Luke 10:25–37). Although money is only one of the tools that the Congregation uses for mission, it is an important one. We are going to see people left along the side of the road. We don’t want to pass by. Mission asks us to be ready—which requires the gift of ourselves and possibly two silver coins.
Sister Kathleen Theis, OP (Fernanda) General Finance Officer