VOTF “Cards”
Thank you, Susan
Recently, Susan Troy resigned her place as founding
Chair of the Prayerful Voice Working Group.
Before we were “Voice of the Faithful”,
we were pray-ers. When the group that would become
VOTF gathered in St. John’s late in January 2002,
it was Susan Troy who made our transition seamless – from
our stunned places in the pews to the tentative margins
of voicing our concerns to the global arena of responsible
Catholicism. The scope of the abuse crisis was only
barely known to us in 2002. When we came together to
fathom our way through what we were learning, we began
in prayer. It was never otherwise. And woe be to the
one who momentarily digressed at a meeting’s
beginning (if Susan didn’t “get” you,
Sr. Betsy did)!
Members will recall their own appreciation of Susan’s
gifts to Voice of the Faithful – many of which
have become a standard in VOTF affiliates all over
the world. As Catholics often note when traveling,
there is great joy in walking in to a Catholic Mass
being offered in another language and knowing exactly
where you are. In VOTF Australia, Ireland, Canada,
and coast-to-coast in the U.S., traveling VOTF members
can find the same immediate comfort level in the prayers,
liturgies and healing services that gave VOTF such
a powerful and enduring prayerful voice.
Thank you Susan Troy for your enduring voice.
Get well, Fr. Jim!
Fr. Jim Sullivan is a fierce VOTF supporter and has
been an active member of the Rockaway, New York affiliate – even
at 86 years old! His "sphere of influence" reaches
all over Long Island and then some; two years ago,
he was awarded the VOTF-NJ Priest of Integrity Award.
Fr. Jim suffered a mild stroke recently and is recuperating
at home. While many in VOTF may never have met him,
many did meet him at a VOTF meeting or convention.
Many more remember him for his long ministry. Fr. Jim
is the quintessential pastor, termed an “aging
giant” by Dick Ryan in his book Holy Human. Just
to give you the flavor of being around Fr. Jim, Sr.
Cathy Kelly shared the following vignettes from his
hospitalization following the stroke:
“Referring to the patient opposite him, I tried
to encourage Jim with the fact that the man was totally ‘out
of it’ and had no idea what was going on. Jim
said, ‘Well, I'm not out of it, but I don't know
what's going on, either!’"
“In answer to his question about what and why
the IV, he was told it was a sodium chloride solution
to help bring his blood pressure up to normal. ‘Why
don't they just ask me about the Catholic hierarchy?
That would do it a lot faster.’”
Your prayers and good thoughts will no doubt be felt
by Fr. Jim.
[For a little more about Fr. Jim, check the VOTF
New Jersey website
and this National Catholic Reporter article.
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