December 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Praised be Jesus Christ!  May the blessings of the Lord be upon you always.

My name is Sr. Anna Chan.  I am the foundress of the Servants of the Cross, a community of consecrated women living the call to spread the message of the Gospel through a dynamic evangelization.  Akin in spirituality to our brothers, the Companions of the Cross, we commit ourselves to the ongoing renewal of the Church.  In this letter, it is my hope to share with you the good news of the Lord's work in my life and in the life of the community.

The Servants of the Cross traces its roots to June 2003 in Ottawa, Ontario.  While on a personal retreat, I heard the call on my heart to begin a sisterhood, one that incarnates the spirituality and way of life of the Companions of the Cross.  I humbly saw what was being proposed as an invitation to do something totally for the Lord and for His glory.  The Lord's request resonated in me and corresponded to the desire for evangelization that He had been steadily building.

The mission of the Servants of the Cross is simple.  We are committed to live, follow, and spread the message of evangelization as our Spiritual Father, Fr. Bob Bedard, envisions.  We stand on four pillars: devotion to the Eucharist, faith in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, obedience to the Magisterium, and devotion to Our Lady.  Our works include the ministry of intercession, the needs of the poor, the needs of adolescents and young adults, and the works of the pro-life movement.  As we continue to grow, we remain faithful to the Holy Spirit and His promptings in our works, always seeking new ways to grow.

The Lord certainly has His hand in our community's endeavours.  We have witnessed it through the initial years of our perseverance and commitment, through the quality of the women who have come forward to join our community, through the shepherding and care of the Archbishop of Ottawa (both past and present), through the encouragement and guidance of the Companions of the Cross, and through the support of our family and friends.  Praise God for all these gifts, for He has shown His faithfulness to us!

There are currently five of us in the community.  Sr. Monique Bisson joined me several months after I received the initial call.  In September 2007 Stephanie Koch joined us as an applicant.  In September 2008 she was followed by Melinda Schenher and Vicki Wright.  We completed a Come and See weekend with three joyful young women this past November 2008 and anticipate another weekend in the spring of 2009.  We pray that the Lord of the Harvest continues to send us His labourers.

Although we are currently in our sixth year together, there was something special and unique about the initial years while it was only Sr. Monique and me.  He used these years to form the two of us slowly.  We were able to grow deeper in our relationship with the Lord in our personal and communal prayer together.  We worked steadily in building community.  We saw how vital it was to be open and honest in our communication with forgiveness as the greatest act of love we had for each other.  We began to meet in a share group that served to keep us accountable to one another.  These foundational tools helped form us to lead, to teach, and to share with our new sisters what we aspire to be as Servants of the Cross.  I have attached one of my sisters' letters for your pleasure.  (Each year, I ask my sisters to write to all their family and friends, sharing their experiences in community living.  Their stories are quite enjoyable!)  And it will be an opportunity for you to witness how the Lord takes delight in them as they abandon their lives to His will as His beloved ones.

These are our beginnings.  There is much work to be done as we are still a young community; however, we remain fervent as we continue to listen and seek His will for us, being ever ready to act as He desires.  The Holy Spirit is building in us what our late Pope John Paul II envisioned and challenged us into - a new springtime of evangelization of the Church.

I humbly ask you today to consider becoming a part of our endeavour by financially supporting the sisterhood.  As our community has grown, three pressing needs have emerged: the need for our own home that would accommodate new applicants, the need for a van for our travels, and the need for tuition money that will pay for the educational formation that each sister requires in order to become an effective evangelizer.  The community is unable to meet these needs on its own.  Knowing of our needs, I hope you will give this request your prayerful consideration.  Be assured that whatever help you can offer to us will be deeply appreciated.  All donations to the Servants of the Cross are eligible for a receipt for Income Tax purposes.

We look to our Patroness, Mother Mary, for her help and intercession.  As she said to the servers in Cana, Do whatever He tells you, we, the Servants of the Cross, hope to respond in total abandonment as she did in her own fiat, Be it done unto me according to thy word.

May Our Lady be your help and guide.  Please be assured of our prayers.  We are grateful for yours.

At His service,

Sr. Anna Chan, SC

The priority is to find out what God is doing and go do it with Him.  If He has initiated it, it will have His power.

We won't have to push it.  We won't wear out trying to make it happen.

The principle is simple once we see it in operation.

He initiates.

We support.

(Fr. Bob Bedard, Evangelization. A Challenge for the Catholic Church, 1997)