Editor's Note That sister had a mean football tackle By Darcy L. Fargo

December 5, 2018

It was the Ice Storm of 1998, and power had been out in Bombay for several days. I was a senior in high school.
My parents, then members of the local fire/rescue department and frequent campers, were more prepared than most, having several generators and a large house stocked with food. It wasn’t long before my family started taking in neighbors who were struggling with the storm.

Among our house guests was a young Dominican sister, Sister Gabriel.

At that point, I knew Sister Gabriel well. I was a member of our parish youth group and youth choir, and it put me in frequent contact with the Dominican community. They taught us apologetics. They helped us find community in faith. They helped us want to be holy.

As the power outage wore on, and our house guests increased in numbers, my sisters and a couple friends and I decided it would be fun to play a little football in the ice-covered snow. Sister Gabriel wanted to play.
Donning a pair of sweatpants, hoodie, coat, gloves and a knit winter hat, Sister Gabriel trucked across the street with us to the lawn/parking lot of the town Post Office. There, the snow/ice combo was largely undisturbed. It was a perfect football field.

One thing was clear early on: No one wanted to tackle Sister Gabriel. But after she drove each of us into the ice-covered snow with hits that would make any NFL defensive tackle jealous, we got over it.

Sister Gabriel taught us that being holy doesn’t mean being boring. She taught us that faith could be both pious and fun; that we can be people of deep faith, but still lay someone out with a mean tackle.

While you may never have been tackled by a young sister, I bet a lot of us have been struck by the actions of a religious sister or brother in some way.

In this edition, we’re highlighting the Retirement Fund for Religious. We’re blessed in this diocese to have outstanding religious men and women who have given their lives in service of Christ. They serve our schools, our hospitals, our parishes and our communities. This is a good opportunity for us to help them in return.