12. Inspiration for 2025: Sister Fran Kane, SSJ "Silence is the Language of God"

The Pink Elephant

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As we embark on a new year I feel blessed to have spent time with my cousin Fran Kane, a Sister of St. Joseph for the past 70 years. I hope this conversation will inspire you as you embark on a new year.

Fran speaks of growing up in Philadelphia in the 1940s, a consummate tomboy who loved sport and would run away from the nuns who wanted her to settle down. Two early events shaped her relationship with God profoundly. Once when she was playing at the feet at her (very pregnant) resting Mother with a stick and a marble, and the cuckoo clock went off. She recalls being struck by the beauty of the stillness and the silence in that moment. Later on in High school she went fishing with a cousin, who was a baker, in the middle of the night and a similar stillness took over. She says in that quiet she heard God.

Fran’s life then took her into a life of service through the church. The mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph has been (since its founding in 1650 Puy France) to do ‘any good work that our dear neighbours need’. In the early days this was to help the widows and the poor of France. This quickly moved into education. This small group of committed women, like many of our religious orders are part of our legacy of universal education, without which many children, families and communities would have stayed illiterate and poor.

Fran’s vocation started in schools and then continued onto a mission in Panama where she taught farming methods to the poor, so that they could feed themselves and their families. She continues working today serving the less able sisters at the Motherhouse in Chestnut Hill. She remains a light of service in God’s grace.

‘Things happen in silence Kate, it is God’s chance to speak to us’. It is worth noting in the busy-ness of life, of our culture of stimulation we might miss this opportunity.

I hope we can all see the beauty that God has provided to us in 2025.

Thank you Fran for your time and insight.

Thanks to my nephew Owen who came along to do a video recording which I will be releasing later on in the year.

More info on the Sisters of St. Joseph can be found here: https://ssjphila.org/

The Film of Mother Cabrini (as referenced): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaMlUazXvyY

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