Small blue envelopes placed atop breakfast plates delivered the news in late June or early July: You would be "flying" to another mission within days. Sister Marcianne Bzdon, SSND, remembers older Sisters calling the blue envelopes "bluebirds." She writes in her column, Sister's Spin, "If you found one there in the morning, it meant that you were going to 'fly' - to a new mission. You packed your trunk and one suitcase, and in a few days, you moved to your new mission."
Sister Marcianne says things changed following Vatican II. "You could discuss future positions together with your Superiors, and come to a conclusion as to a mission that used one's best talents for the next year or years. No more surprises and no more little blue envelopes. But one still felt an attachment to the place one was, and leaving was sometimes difficult. We were taught to be detached from things, but it was hard to be detached from people and places one grew to love."
Sister Juliet Mousseau, RSCJ, writes of what she calls the "Nun Migration Season" in Global Sisters Report. Whether the new assignments were delivered at breakfast, in missioning ceremonies or in conferences, they often produced anxiety in Sisters from many congregations.
"Even good transitions bring up anxieties," she writes. "Saying yes to something new and wonderful usually means saying goodbye to things, people and routines that are familiar. It can be a paradox of joy and anxiety, looking forward to new possibilities and reflecting on the things that have been. Beginnings entail endings."
Sister Juliet reflects on her own move this summer, acknowledging the anxiety she encounters as she says goodbye to longtime friends and anticipates her new ministry. Jesus' example helps her to "follow God without being held back by things.
"To me, it means holding lightly onto the things and people in my life so that I don't let my own anxieties about losing them get in the way of God working in and through me. It does not mean that I love people less or live with absolutely nothing."
Whether immediately or eventually, practicing detachment leads to unexpected blessings.
"It seems to me that the most important message here is not about what we have to give up, but more about what we have to gain."
Gaining wisdom was and is part of the migration equation. Whether notice was given on a plate or in a conversation, Sister Marcianne reminds her readers that bluebirds were "harbingers of happiness," eventually. And still are.
