I admire my sisters\u2019 tales of trunks.<\/p>\n
Long before I entered the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration \u2013 and long before Vatican II for that matter \u2013 the common, communal practice was that every sister had to fit all of her personal property into one trunk.<\/p>\n
Our Franciscan lifestyle is an itinerant one. As sisters we frequently move for ministry. For much of our community history, sisters moved from one ministry site to another after just a year or so. They\u2019d move by train, and all of their possessions would move with them in the one trunk. It was an economical and practical way to do things, and such a practice permitted ease for living a simple life of Franciscan poverty.<\/p>\n
The trunks contained three black and white habits, an extra pair of shoes, undergarments, and some prayer books. The trunk also held whatever supplies needed for…<\/p>\n
[This is the beginning of my latest column for the online newspaper,\u00a0Global Sisters Report<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Continue reading here.<\/a>]\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I admire my sisters\u2019 tales of trunks. Long before I entered the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration \u2013 and long before Vatican II for that matter \u2013 the common, communal practice was that every sister had to fit all of her personal property into one trunk. Our Franciscan lifestyle is an itinerant one. As sisters...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":25425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2528],"tags":[20786359,99879246,439774,221895935,272151946,11171359,137119,178304,17266,5732136],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-4550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-catholic-sisters","tag-franciscan-poverty","tag-franciscans","tag-global-sisters-report","tag-itinerant-life","tag-modern-lives","tag-religious-life","tag-simple-living","tag-simplicity","tag-vow-of-poverty","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/close-up-of-a-vintage-metal-chest-with-a-detailed-lock-captured-in-a-classic-black-and-white-style.-9662368-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"Old-fashioned trunk-centered simplicity<\/a><\/blockquote>