This week, Sister Elaine Fischer (OSB), the maintenance supervisor of the Benedictine Sisters of Acheson, brought Enzyme Reader into her ministry.

Q: What is your title? Where do you serve?

A. I am a member of the Benedictine Monastery of Mount St. Scholastica. I am the maintenance supervisor of our campus and buildings.

Question: How would you describe you not as a nun but as the maintenance supervisor of the mountain?

A. I direct and supervise the daily operations of our facilities; supervise and arrange preventive maintenance and on-demand maintenance of buildings, sites, and related systems and equipment. I supervise and work with our maintenance staff, and tender and work with various contractors. I work closely with our monastery leaders in future campus and architectural planning.

We have conducted various energy audits to help us determine how to save energy costs, and in the past few years, we have been updating the heating system to a high-efficiency boiler and changing most of the lighting to LEDs. We also invested in solar panels to provide a small portion of electricity.

Question: How would you describe how your work of maintaining the buildings, factories, and campuses of the nuns fits into the greater mission of the Catholic Church?

A. The mission of the Catholic Church is to carry out and continue the work of Jesus Christ, share the word of God, help those in need, and lead by example. Therefore, I try to deal with every situation at work with the "golden rule", and try to treat everyone and everything with dignity and respect.

Q: Is this your plan in life?

Not true, but from a very young age, I knew that I wanted to help people, work with my hands and keep in touch with this land.

Q. If not, which way led you to this place?

A. Grow up on a farm, cultivate the land and take care of the animals with the family. On the farm, we learned to be self-sufficient and use creative problem solving methods. I think these talents and abilities are part of me. When I entered the community, these talents were recognized and further cultivated.

For example, I had the opportunity to make furniture for the bedroom in the Dooley Center (care center). We consider buying various items, but it is difficult to find items made of high-quality materials and structures. Therefore, for more than a year, I have made dressers, bedside tables, dressers and wardrobes for 46 bedrooms.

This is a difficult job, but it is a real honor to be able to make these items for our sisters.

Q: In the process, have you collected some skills that have proven to be very applicable from other jobs? If so, please explain.

A: I have been a firefighter/EMT for seven years at Atchison. In my work in the fire department, I further cultivated the ability to assess the situation and understand the tasks that need to be completed quickly. With a deep understanding of the dignity of all people and the management of personal property, the ability to listen to and care about people at the most challenging times in life has been expanded.

Q: What surprises the average Catholic most about your work?

A: People may be surprised by the variety involved in my work. I can do common things, such as taking out the garbage to working with our bees, sweeping the floods, to attending corporate compliance meetings about our licensed care agencies. Every day is different.

Question: Who does your ministry mainly serve?

A. Members of my monastic community and departments we sponsor, such as our spiritual center (Sofia Center).

Question: Do you want everyone to understand your ministry?

A. It is a great honor to work with our employees, contractors and members of my community and be a good steward of all the gifts God has given to our community.

Q: Why do you think the world needs more of what you provide? Especially now?

Answer: I think the world needs to think about the route of St. Benedict’s rule regarding everything as an altar vessel. This sentence to me is the way I try to get close to life. Everything-from people and animals to the basic hand tools you use in the garden-everything has intrinsic value and needs to be respected and treated with gentle hands and great respect.

Q: What have you learned from the people who do this job?

A. Every day, I am impressed by people's willingness to help each other and their ability to deal with each other's imperfect edges. Some days we are better at this than others, but we will continue to try and forgive each other.

Q: What do you know about yourself?

Answer: I like new challenges very much, and I like to find different ways to deal with daily problems in the maintenance field. I love diversity and continue to find myself in awe of God's creative and transformative presence in my life and community.

Q: How has it changed your perception of Catholic identity?

Answer: I don’t think this ministry has changed my status as a Catholic because it has deepened my Catholic faith and recognizes the inherent dignity of all human beings and the miracle that all creations are interconnected.

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