Tag Archives: TEACHERS

ODE TO SISTER ROBERTINE, O.P.

Dominican Sisters taught me in grades 1-12. Sister Robertine was my Latin teacher, but so much more. She was the woman who taught me what feminism looked like. She could outwit and outplay our male principal, the priest who thought he ran the school. He did not. She did. She explained, “It is a man’s world; but, a woman’s heaven. Still, you can make it yours.” When we heard clicking rosary beads (we heard her before we saw her) we knew to stand up straight and behave ourselves. She gave no quarter. I wish I had her photo. I wish every child had a Sister Robertine to love them into goodness and greatness. She has been gone many years but her words still resonate; as she explained, words always do. There were two cornerstones at our grade school read: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Sister Robertine struck that fear in us; then told us only the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it could be.Thank you, Sister!

Words create the reality we fear,

or one in which we can rejoice, and hold dear,

and spend our lives, seeing more clear.

Words have power to describe us,

inflame us, excite us, 

or kill what is inside us.

Words can kill when taken in

by others’ hearts mired

in grace or sin.

Sister Robertine said:

Be careful what you read,

what you see at the movies, or on T.V.

Garbage in is garbage out.

That is what words are all about.

She knew A. I. before it was accelerated

by techno wizards, not the Divine

who works at a slower pace

to afford human-kind much-needed grace.

Sister Robertine said:

Dress how you want to act,

How you hope to be,

how you want to be seen.

You can create each day,

play the part in your own play.

You will soon become 

whom you hope to be.

Dress with self-respect 

and respect you will get.

Sister Robertine said:

only “X” or “BIG X”

when our answer was incorrect.

No rewards nor praise

for getting it right.

Working hard to get it right,

to see it through

was the least we could do.

Our reward for seeking knowledge was integrity.

Our reward for dressing well was respect.

Our reward for working hard was strength.

Our reward for seeking hard truths was character.

We could then write our own play,

play our chosen roll, on our own stage.

We could live lives that mattered,

live lives in which lies were shattered.

We could live in the spotlight of grace and power

to change the world for good, hour by hour.

Like all good teachers, Sister Robertine directed the play.

I am grateful for such a teacher every single day.

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MY FIRST AND ONLY CONFESSION

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Confession is good for the soul.

I have been told.

My first confession

at the age of seven

Took Sister Mary Claude,

whose diligence I applaud,

months to abate my fear.

First in line, I strode near

the confessional where Fr. Torre

waited to hear blood and gore

from little ones whose blame-game

only recently became a cause of shame.

With whispering words I began to confess.

“Father, forgive me.”( I felt such stress.)

“This is my first confession.”

Father stopped me right there

as I sat on the edge of the chair.

He was behind the screen,

a solemn, still figure barely seen.

“Please speak up so I can hear.”

And, so I did, and started to enumerate

all my sins, expecting him to strongly berate.

His words caused me even greater fear,

“Louise, not so loud, or all will hear.”

No longer did I worry who heard what.

He knew me, when I had been taught,

confession is anonymous.

Now, I felt infamous.

How could I face him across my Mother’s table

when he came each week that he was able

to eat her suga and Italian food;

and feel like family, with buoyant mood.

My only sin that day

was what I confessed every single Saturday,

“I disobeyed my Mother 10 times a day,

every day, of every week, of every year.

I was a disobedient child who shed no tears.

And over these many years

I have never changed my insolent creed

My father told me as I stood at his knee,

“Every man puts his pants on one leg at a time.

No one is better than you; (I liked that line)

and you are no better than anyone else.”

Equality set my soul free, made my heart pulse.

Equality became the base of all courage.

Equality kept me from being discouraged.

As a woman in a man’s world and profession.

I learned to speak up and out loud in my first confession.

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Filed under FAMILY STORIES, POETRY