OUR JUBILARIANS BY KATHY WILLIAMS
On reaching the 25th Jubilee year mark, Sister Yuli Oncihuay, a native of Peru, says she wants to have more patience, compassion and a broader vision of life, to “open new windows to let more fresh air in.” Since she has moved to Louisville from Peru this year in order to serve on leadership, she also wishes to insert herself into a new culture, without losing the essence of who she is and her roots. Sister Yuli recalls a favorite memory from Peru. She had been using the “Turtle Technique” with her students at Saint Angela Merici School in Callao to work on their emotions; be it anger, sadness, frustration, etc. She said, “I remember that I explained it in a picture to the children. Every day we put this technique into practice, but one day I forgot—I was angry with them, and one child came up to me and said, ‘Remember Miss, don’t forget the Turtle! You tell us to breathe, calm down and you forgot that!’ I listened to him and I said, ‘I am sorry, thank you for reminding me.’ They were very attentive to what I was doing every day and it was a learning experience with them every day!” The Turtle Technique: 1. Recognize your emotions. 2. Think and Stop 3. Go into your shell and breathe 4. Come out of your shell and find a solution. If Sister Yuli could go back in time and talk to her younger self, she would say, “Cheer up, you can do it! Young woman, I say to you, get up! I know you are too young to understand and comprehend, but life gave you the opportunity to bring the great creativity and wisdom that is in your heart.” Anyone who knows Sister Yuli would agree that she is indeed very capable of great creativity and wisdom, which overflows from her kind heart. In 2017, as she was preparing to go back to Peru after living for a year in the Motherhouse to learn English, Sister Yuli wrote: “I know there is still much to learn. Life continues to invite us to come to a meeting
To be an Ursuline is to be like the weavers who pick up the different colored threads that we are, every being on earth, and with all these threads we weave a great blanket of great diversity and become one. place with ourselves, and in that space, we run the risk of facing our woundedness, touching our roots, and in touching them, we find a greater freedom inviting us to be in a fuller life; to reach out to our brothers and sisters who are suffering, and who are waiting for us to heal their wounds.” When asked what being an Ursuline Sister has meant to her, Sister Yuli very poetically states that to be an Ursuline Sister is: • To be like an open piazza, siate piazzevolo—to welcome, to observe, to listen, to contemplate and to act in the face of the reality in which we live. • To reflect that we are able to face life with courage and bravery every day, like our mother, Angela. • To pray with the voice of the people who cry out for peace and justice for the poor and the afflicted. • To be like the weavers who pick up the different colored threads that we are, every being on earth, and with all these threads, we weave a great blanket of great diversity and become one. • To be present in the simple, everyday life. • To go out to meet our brothers and sisters, to break down borders and bridges that give us the opportunity to form community and to go out of our comfort zone. DOME | SPRING 2021
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