"I saw my friend Shelly the other day, for the first time in 28 years.
"Back in the day, she was Shelly Pennefather, basketball phenomenon. She led Denver's Bishop Machebeuf High School's women’s basketball team to three undefeated seasons, a 70-0 record. In her senior year, her family moved to Utica, New York, where she led the Notre Dame High School team to a 26-0 season, giving her a no loss record for her entire high school career. She remains Villanova University's all-time scorer - men's and women's ' with a career total of 2408 points. . . . She is a three-time Big East Player of the Year, the first All-American out of the Big East, the 1987 National Player of the Year, and a winner of the prestigious Wade Trophy. She's been inducted into the Philadelphia Women's Big Five Hall of Fame, and Villanova has retired her jersey. After college, she played professional women's basketball in Japan. She was making more money than anybody I knew.
"She doesn’t go by Shelly anymore. These days, she is Sister Rose Marie of the Queen of Angels. She lives in the Poor Clares Monastery in Alexandria, Virginia. She joined their community in 1991 and took her final vows in 1997. They are cloistered, which means that they don't leave the monastery, except for medical emergencies. Her only contact with the outside world is through letters, and very limited visits with family and friends. She's never used the internet, doesn't know what Facebook is, and when she saw a visitor answer a cell phone, she asked 'What is that?'
"Why? Why on God's earth would a basketball star of this magnitude just walk away from the game and the fame, or go from being one of the world's highest paid women's basketball players to taking a vow of perpetual poverty? . . ."
In a recent commentary, writer Mary Beth Bonacci reflected on the meaning of the radical changes in the life of her friend Shelly.
To access Ms. Bonacci's complete essay, please visit:
Denver Catholic: Radical living and my friend Shelly (21 JUNE 19)
"Back in the day, she was Shelly Pennefather, basketball phenomenon. She led Denver's Bishop Machebeuf High School's women’s basketball team to three undefeated seasons, a 70-0 record. In her senior year, her family moved to Utica, New York, where she led the Notre Dame High School team to a 26-0 season, giving her a no loss record for her entire high school career. She remains Villanova University's all-time scorer - men's and women's ' with a career total of 2408 points. . . . She is a three-time Big East Player of the Year, the first All-American out of the Big East, the 1987 National Player of the Year, and a winner of the prestigious Wade Trophy. She's been inducted into the Philadelphia Women's Big Five Hall of Fame, and Villanova has retired her jersey. After college, she played professional women's basketball in Japan. She was making more money than anybody I knew.
"She doesn’t go by Shelly anymore. These days, she is Sister Rose Marie of the Queen of Angels. She lives in the Poor Clares Monastery in Alexandria, Virginia. She joined their community in 1991 and took her final vows in 1997. They are cloistered, which means that they don't leave the monastery, except for medical emergencies. Her only contact with the outside world is through letters, and very limited visits with family and friends. She's never used the internet, doesn't know what Facebook is, and when she saw a visitor answer a cell phone, she asked 'What is that?'
"Why? Why on God's earth would a basketball star of this magnitude just walk away from the game and the fame, or go from being one of the world's highest paid women's basketball players to taking a vow of perpetual poverty? . . ."
In a recent commentary, writer Mary Beth Bonacci reflected on the meaning of the radical changes in the life of her friend Shelly.
To access Ms. Bonacci's complete essay, please visit:
Denver Catholic: Radical living and my friend Shelly (21 JUNE 19)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment