Mother Frances Streitel: Struggle to remain faithful and give generously

Amalia Frances Rose Streitel aka Mother Frances Streitel, Foundress of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother.  In the early years of religious life as a Maria Stern Franciscan, Sister Angela held nothing back in her following of Christ.  We’d probably call it “the honeymoon phase” of her consecration to the Lord—a honeymoon phase possibly similar to the honeymoon phase in a marriage, in a newly acquired job, at the beginning of the academic year.  We jump in with two feet, as the saying goes! At the beginning, nothing is too much for us.  Whatever it takes, we give it. No discipline is beyond us. No task shunned. As time passes, we lose heart—cut here, cut there, let up here, let up there,  especially if our colleagues or those older than ourselves are not as serious about the demands or responsibilities as they once were. We lose sight of the ideals, perhaps. Or we no longer feel the support of others. Perhaps we are ridiculed, made fun of, questioned. This is what happened to Sister Angela. However,in 1877, nine years after making her profession of vows, she becomes seriously ill—an illness that was nearly fatal.  She says that she begged God to spare her life and that her eyes were opened to the fact that she had abandoned the disciplines, the asceticism, she believed God was asking of her. She repented and again gave herself wholeheartedly to the Lord, being obedient to His will and not comparing her life to that of others. It was God’s inner direction to which she needed to pay attention. Has there been a time in your life that what God was asking of you was not necessarily what God was asking of another but you took the easier path: doing what everyone else is doing and then realized you were in trouble?