Sister Jean Schmidt
Episode 197
7 NOV 2022
She is a nun with the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), having been received into the order in 1938 and taking her final vows in 1945. She went on to teach at St. Charles Elementary School in North Hollywood, California, where she started a sports program, coaching women’s basketball, softball, volleyball, track, ping-pong, and yo-yo. In 1994 she took on a role with the Loyola University Chicago men’s and women’s basketball teams and since 1996 has been the team chaplain for the men’s basketball team. In January 2017 she was inducted into the Ramblers’ Athletics Hall of Fame. On August 21st of this year, she celebrated her 103rd birthday.
Notable guest quotes:
“I’ve been a Sister for over 80 years.”
“God has been very good to me, and so I owe Him a lot.”
“She used to tell us all the time that we weren’t too young to be thinking about what God wanted us to do.”
“Every day I used to pray to God and say, ‘God, please, tell me what You would like me to do, but say that you want me to be a BVM Sister’.”
“We didn’t forget to pray, because, we prayed before every game… That’s what we do before every game we play.”
“We pray to God, ask Him for help in winning the game… We pray and then I bless their hands before they go out to the court for the last warmup.”
“I pray with the fans. The fans’ prayer is different… My prayer welcomes the team that’s visiting us… I ask that nobody gets injured, and of course, we pray for the referees that they can see okay and call the plays with equity. And at the end I always say, ‘Please God, help at the end at the final buzzer that Loyola has the big W on the scoreboard’.”
“I think sports and faith, and sports and human development all go together.”
“Those of us who are Catholics and Christians, we’re all for a little competition too. We’re competing against the devil to go to heaven. So, that’s pretty tough competition.”
“I believe in prayer no matter what we want to do. Prayer is always necessary.”
“God is a God of surprises. And He surprises us lots of times. And we have to keep believing in Him, and, knowing that whatever happens to us is going to be good for us.”
“When I wake up, first of all, in the morning, I say, ‘Thank you, God, for bringing me to this day. And help me to do all for Your honor and glory’.”
