At 103, Sister Jean publishes memoir of faith and basketball
By LUIS ANDRES HENAO
- Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the Loyola University men’s basketball chaplain and school celebrity, sits for a portrait in The Joseph J. Gentile Arena, on Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in Chicago. The beloved Catholic nun captured the world’s imagination and became something of a folk hero while supporting the Ramblers at the NCAA Final Four in 2018. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
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CHICAGO (AP) — At age 103, Sister Jean awakes daily at 5 a.m. She sits up quickly to avoid going to sleep again — “I’ve got too much to do,” she says. After prayers for the day ahead, she reads the Gospel on her tablet.
“I guess there aren’t too many 103-year-old nuns using iPads these days – there aren’t too many 103-year-olds, period,” she writes in her memoir that will be published Feb. 28. “But I’m pretty comfortable with modern technology. I’ve always said, ‘If you’re not moving forward, you’re going to get left behind real quick.’ Adaptability is my superpower.”
In “Wake Up with Purpose: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years,” Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt tells her life story, offers spiritual guidance and shares some of the lessons she’s learned.
The beloved Catholic nun captured the sports world’s imagination and became something of a folk hero as the chaplain for the Loyola Chicago men’s basketball team that reached the NCAA Final Four in 2018.
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While I’m feeling my age, she inspires me to get moving.
‘If you’re not moving forward, you’re going to get left behind real quick.’
Should be on a motivational poster.
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