Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Through the Goalposts of Life

Toronto, Ohio, Jun 18, 2018 / 03:26 am (CNA).- Every single vocation story is different, but Sr. Rita Clare (Anne) Yoches is probably one of the more unusual.
Sr. Rita Clare, who this month will profess final vows with the Franciscan Sisters T.O.R. of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother, was a four-time national champion professional football player.prior to entering the convent.
Yes, that’s American football. (She was a fullback.) Nowadays, the only football Yoches is playing is the annual two-hand touch game she organizes with the 38 T.O.R. sisters she lives with in Toronto, Ohio.
Although she was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools, Yoches said she never once considered becoming a nun. Her family attended Mass each Sunday, but that was about it in terms of her faith life. A talented athlete, Yoches earned a full basketball scholarship to the University of Detroit-Mercy, where she played for four years.
After college, she began her football career in 2003 after a successful tryout with the Detroit Demolition, a now-defunct women’s professional team. She left the team in 2006, and in March of 2007, the former self-described party girl experienced a calling to enter religious life. She ended her relationship with her boyfriend, and entered the Franciscans shortly after.

Junipero Serra Was in the Confederate Army???

Los Angeles, Calif., Aug 22, 2017 / 12:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A statue of St. Junipero Serra in a Los Angeles public park appeared to have been vandalized last week in a time of national debate about historical statues.
The statue portrays the Franciscan friar in a favorable light, with his arm on the shoulder of an indigenous child. The park is across the street from the Mission San Fernando in Mission Hills community of Los Angeles. The mission was founded by Fr. Fermin Lasuen, another Franciscan, in 1797.
A picture of the statue was circulated on social media, showing it spray-painted red with the word “murder” written on the priest in white.

We're the Knights of the Round Table!

The Knights were founded by Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, P.C.P.A., on July 25, 1998, feast day of St. James. The spirit of St. Francis, the “Knight-Errant of Assisi,” became a role model for the new Knights; this spirit was demonstrated by St. Francis’ deep sense of faith, fiery enthusiasm for Christ, and readiness to battle for His kingdom on earth.
The Knights of the Holy Eucharist are single Catholic men seeking to follow Christ more closely through a life lived in community and dedicated to the service of God. The primary focus of this service is the fostering of reverent devotion to Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Blessed John Paul II states that the Church “draws her life from the Eucharist”. 

“The Knight Shalt Be a Man of Honor and a Man of Prayer…”

Wish to break away from the noise of the world to discern your call?

Join our community of brothers for a TOUR OF DUTY at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Partake in our life of service and adoration. It's a unique opportunity to "pilgrim" with us at the awesome Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
To become a Knight of the Holy Eucharist, a young man must meet the following requirements:

1. Be a single Catholic in good standing.
2. Have no legal responsibilities.
3. Have good physical and mental stability.
4. Be a high school graduate 18-30 years old.
5. Have the ability to perform strenuous manual labor.
6. Have a desire to serve and not to be served.

Men between the ages of 18 and 30 interested in our community are welcome to visit for up to two weeks at no charge.

CHOPPED!

"Chopped" apparently is the name of a cooking show.

From the Chicago Tribune:

 Sister Alicia Torres became the "Chopped" champion on the Food Network’s reality TV cooking show, winning $10,000 for Mission of Our Lady of the Angels, which feeds its Humboldt Park neighbors with frequent home-cooked meals.
“The Lord gave me this talent," Torres told the judges, who ribbed her for harboring some secret culinary training. "I believe the kitchen is my canvas where I get to express myself creatively."
Torres, 30, was one of four chefs cooking with some version of conventional Thanksgiving ingredients -- turkey, green beans, potatoes and cranberries -- on the special volunteer edition of the show that aired Monday. Bonnie Kepplinger, 74, a volunteer for The Crib, a homeless shelter for LGBT teenagers, survived one round but lost the entree portion (ed note: SNORT!).
 

Sister Alicia Torres

 In the appetizer round, Torres transformed leftovers into Mexican-style quesadillas. Kepplinger made deep-fried turkey croquettes and potato balls with a green bean salad and cranberry dressing. Torres made a Mediterranean-style entree with curry turkey, a sweet potato cranberry hash and a dipping sauce with goat cheese and green beans.  Kepplinger braised turkey, green beans and created a tart cranberry salad but failed to get the potatoes on the plate.

“I think time did get the best of me, but I also think my muse just conked out,” Kepplinger said on the show.
In an interview Monday, Kepplinger said she was so impressed with Torres that she expects the “cooking nun” to be a regular on TV soon.
Torres helped found the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago on the city's West Side and recently professed vows. The new Franciscan community is devoted to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, evangelization and serving Chicago's poor.

Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago