When Sr. Mary
Core brought a cocoon to her 4th grade classroom a few years ago,
the students had lots of questions. "How can a whole beautiful butterfly come
out of that?" "Does it hurt?" "Where does the caterpillar go?"
Sr. Mary just
said, "Wait and see." Every day, the children would run to the terrarium when
they arrived to see if the butterfly had "been born" yet. Finally, one day, she
had.
As she
stretched and fanned her wings, the children tumbled over one another with
questions. Sr. Mary could answer them all but one. As the caterpillar worked to
ready herself for flight, one little girl said, "It's hard work to be a
butterfly, isn't it, Sr. Mary?"
Sr. Mary
laughed and said yes, but she was moved by the child's observation. Being who
you are meant to be is hard - and joyful - work. But the first step is not being who you are meant to
be. It is discovering who you are meant to be.
Years later, Sr. Mary, who now serves as our Formation Director, found a
story that helps her articulate her meaning. It's called "Hope for the
Flowers," by Trina Paulus.
"It's a
children's book that tells the tale of a young caterpillar who questions what
life is all about," Sr. Mary says. "After many experiences, the caterpillar
finally understands that in order to become who she is meant to be, she must
give up all that she knows."
Yearning for
MoreOnce upon a
time, the story goes, a young caterpillar named Yellow struggled to find her
purpose in life. Was she meant to crawl forever? Was she meant to step on
others as she struggled to make her way to the top? Why did she have a constant
nagging sense that there must be more to life?
"What in the world do I really
want?" she sighed. "It seems different every few minutes. But I knw
that there must be more."
After much
worry and wonder, Yellow met a wise old caterpillar who helped her understand
her destiny - and the risk it represented - should she accept it.
Yellow
asked, "What is a butterfly?"
"It's
what you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth
to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love
from one flower to another. Without butterflies, the world would have fewer
flowers."
Yellow
gasped: "It can't be true! How can I believe there's a butterfly inside
you or me? Do you need to die to become a butterfly?"
"Yes
and no," the gray caterpillar said. "This may look like dying but
actually you will still live. Life is changed, not taken away. Isn't that
different from those who die without ever becoming butterflies?"
"And if
I decide to become a butterfly," said Yellow hesitantly, "what do I
do?"
"Watch
me. I'm making a cocoon. It's a halfway house where the change takes place.
It's a big step, since you can never return to caterpillar life. And the change
is so slow that anyone who might peek in may feel that nothing is happening.
But the butterfly is already becoming. And once you are a butterfly, you can
really love: the kind of love that makes new life."
Your Next
Step
"We all can
become butterflies," Sr. Mary says. "Whether we
become Sisters or get married
or choose single life, if it's what God intends for us, we bloom. We need to
say
yes,
though, to the possibility of transformation. We need to say
yes to becoming something
new."
Take this
parable to heart
this year, and take the next step along the road to your
transformation.
Visit us on February 5-7 to begin discovering if you are meant to
become a Benedictine Sister. Discover how you are meant to
join the earth to heaven. Discover your inner
butterfly!
Let Sr. Bobbi Bussan know you plan to come. Call her at (309) 283-2300, or email her at [email protected]!