A Focused Intentional Life
(Eulogy for Sister Stanislaus Poehnelt)
Given by Sister John Marie Simien, December 23, 2009
The readings that Sister Stanislaus chose for this celebration of her life tells us that she was clearly focused on that feeling, longing and restlessness that St. Augustine described when he said: "We were made for you, O God; and our hearts are restless until they rest in You."
From the book of Wisdom we hear: "The souls of the just are in the hand of God..." In her dealing with others Sister Stanislaus was guided by principles and her gentle nature. Personality wise she was everything I wasn't, yet, in the seven years she was my Principal, she never once said that I should be less of who I was. She often said we all need a little more balance in our lives.
In Psalm 23 Sister Stan was acutely aware that life in the Scriptures comes to those who can nurture and sustain hope in the face of the seemingly impossible. She could go deep into her own soul without the interference of modern distractions. She could see the God-dimension of reality which has something to do with that art known as Biblical Memory. "You shall remember all the ways that your God has led you all these years." Stan was in touch with life. She had a way of bringing HARMONY INTO HER LIFE. She could linger and not rush about. She was deliberate.
In the letter to the Romans Stan wants us to know that we must develop valiant hearts. In love we must constantly re-enflesh the Word of God and return it to the world as an abiding presence. We must have hearts that through the Spirit reflect all that is good, true and great about the human species. If we can rediscover a sense of myth in our lives, we will rediscover those sacred stories that go beyond the double talk and shallow sharing of human experience. The result is the rediscovery of the poetry of human life--a poetry that expresses itself in living life at a somewhat leisurely pace that gives every activity its own pace--a pace that acknowledges the beauty of every activity. She once expressed it this way: "There's an art to making a bed." Nothing she did was mundane. The Gospel of John tells where Stan found the secret of her joy, happiness, and the inner freedom of her life-her constant attention to beauty and order in her life. In the Eucharist she found the reminder that all life is cyclic, a repeated memorial of breaking bread and pouring wine which nurtures life into eternity in an ever evolving pattern.