Au Revoir, by Sister Elaine Hollis, SSj

Au Revoir

I'm sitting at the Lyon airport waiting for my flight to Paris and then on to Detroit and finally Rochester. I had a ride to the train station from the head of the Lyon Sisters since there was a problem with taxis, possibly due to a big manifestation happening today related to work issues.

I left LePuy yesterday with 11 other Sisters and stayed at the Lyon Motherhouse overnight. That gave me the opportunity to see the beautiful Chapel they have dating to the 1800s and Mother St. John's bedroom and some archival records of the congregation.


The Chapel of the Lyon sisters

The tree of SSJ Congregations painted on a wall of the Chapel

Mother St. John's bedroom

With me in Lyon were three of the Mexican Sisters whose hearts are broken as they see the news about the terrible situation in Mexico due to the earthquake. Their Sisters and their families are OK but they are grieving for all those whose lives were lost and homes destroyed. One has a new perspective on a disaster like this when one knows people from the country where it happened.

Just before coming to my gate I said a final goodbye to Colleen from Philadelphia and Mary Clare from Canada. We happened to meet going through security. They had stayed in a hotel near the airport overnight with Erin from the Congregation of St. Joseph who lives in Detroit and Karin from Orange. Several of us went out to explore a little of Lyon last night and we ended up in a restaurant where one of the cooks was from the part of Lebanon that Raymonda was from and his family lived in Detroit. She enjoyed talking with him in Arabic and we ended up getting a special Lebanese dish his mother makes at home.

The Lyon sisters who participated in the course - Raymonda from Lebanon, Dulce and Griselda from Mexico, and Sushma from India- in front of their congregational cross

As I come home I am struck by how small our world is and the mystery of people crossing paths and finding connections. I am just very grateful to have had this experience and to have walked with these wonderful women for the last several days. May we continue to grow in our awareness of a charism and mission that reaches out to the dear neighbor in so many corners of this world.

P. S. Arrived home safe and sound after getting a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower and the Alps from the plane window. WOW!