The Blogging Sisters page is a collection of blog reflections written by young women religious.
If you're interested in publishing your blog here, please contact us by email at adminasst@giving-voice.org.
February 15, 2021
Sister Alfreda Malone, 96, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, died Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021, at Mount Saint Joseph, in her 71st year of religious life. She was a native of Raywick, Ky.
Sister Alfreda was a prayerful woman with an unceasing energy to serve wherever she was needed. She graduated from Brescia College, Owensboro, Ky., in 1965.
February 15, 2021
The other night, Annie and I were taking our turn starting up the cars to help prevent the batteries from dying in the cold temps we’re having. As we were doing this, a light, fluffy snow was falling from the sky. Walking down our sidewalk, towards the gate which leads out to where our cars are parked, I paused for a moment to take in the peaceful calm that comes over everything when this type of snow happens. The problem I didn’t see coming as I paused was I now live in Chicago where cars and people are constantly around. As a result, this awaited stillness didn’t come. I was disappoi
February 15, 2021
Adapting one’s ministry during a pandemic is difficult. How about starting an entirely new ministry during that time? But that’s what Sister Jane Falke did, after serving from 2008 to 2020 for Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas.
February 12, 2021
On this day in 1902, my grandfather Ludwig Lincoln Schmelzer was born in Pennsylvania to German immigrants, Anton and Ida. They chose Lincoln as his middle name because he was born on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. A lot to live up to for a baby!
My granddad Ludy had a kind heart, wise soul, and gentle spirit. He loved my Irish immigrant Gandmother Eileen to bits. Theirs was a love story for the ages–there are love letters to prove it, written by him, that would make your heart melt.
February 11, 2021
Sister Marilyn Mueth has had to adapt to the signs of the times in her role as a K-8 resource teacher at St. James School in Millstadt, Ill. But like any good teacher, it’s the students who she is most concerned about.
“This pandemic is making all work more difficult and dispositions less willing to work if you are a child,” she said. “I feel sorry for them because the life they knew has become so interrupted. But the worst may still be coming. I hope we can instill a faith in them that will help them cope.”
February 11, 2021
I know well enough that the time to address racial inequity was centuries ago. It is also now. And while it is a national sin, it is my work as much as anybody else.
The post Harden Not Your Hearts: Hearing the Call for Repentance appeared first on Messy Jesus Business.
February 9, 2021
Sister Michele Morek was used to working with people remotely even before Covid-19 struck. As the North American Sister Liaison for Global Sisters Report, which covers news about women religious around the world, she works with contributors all over the planet, usually from her office in Kansas City, Mo. Now, even she’s working from home.
February 8, 2021
It’s a new year and the Ursuline Sisters continue to follow the instruction of Saint Angela Merici to “adapt to the times.” This is our new feature to keep everyone up to date with what is happening on the Ursuline Sister missions. We catch up with Sister Julia Head, who serves in adult faith formation ministry at the Church of the Immaculate in Owensboro, Ky.
After attending 7 a.m. Mass at Immaculate, Sister Julia heads to her office at the parish to read emails, many of which offer online resources to help with parish ministry during the pandemic.
February 6, 2021
Over the years, we have identified some skills and traits that are helpful to religious life. These include:
February 4, 2021
I look to the Samaritan woman at the well as a model for effective preaching. After her life-changing conversation with Jesus, the woman becomes a witness who invites others from her village to “come and see” Jesus for themselves (John 4: 26, 29). As Dominicans, we want our preaching likewise to draw people into an authentic encounter with Jesus.
February 4, 2021
Sister Chioma Ahanihu shares how the Black Lives Matter movement after George Floyd's death helped her find her voice in the midst of the mess, when she was part of a protest for the first time.
The post Sister Chioma Ahanihu: Lending Your Voice appeared first on Messy Jesus Business.
February 4, 2021
The Prophet Joel, in the first reading for Ash Wednesday, calls us to return to God with our whole heart. Pope Francis asks why must we return to God? He answers that by telling us something is not right in us, in society, in the Church. He calls us to change.
February 1, 2021
During quarantine I have been reading Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart with my friend. We have spent time talking about the relationship between the Buddhist teachings found in the book and the teachings of our Christian faith. After reading a particularly challenging chapter, my friend, summing up what we read, used her own words to quote Jesus:
“Drop everything and follow me.”
Or, as Matthew 19, verse 21 says: “‘If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to poor people, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.’”
January 29, 2021
As I am sitting here typing, the saying, “all good things must come to an end” keeps flashing in my mind. Over these past four years, I have had the pleasure and the honor to work for the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. When I first started, I did not know anything about the Mount and the Sisters, but now, I believe that the people and the organization has forever made a mark on me. My time here has been a memorable one, but I am ready to close this chapter and begin a new one as a mom.