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.
July 18, 2017
In the past two weeks, I found myself at two different meetings of Sisters, both focused on addressing the future of religious life. The first was a national convention for Giving Voice–women religious under the age of fifty. The second was a three-day meeting of my community. Both meetings, each in their own way, rooted me more firmly in my understanding of what it means to be a Benedictine Sister of Chicago and allowed me an opportunity to dream about what the future of religious life will look like and how I can work to continue to shape it.
July 12, 2017
Last week, I and two of my fellow Sisters of Providence traveled to New York for a gathering of Giving Voice sisters – women religious from many congregations under 50 years old. There were almost 70 of us, representing over 50 congregations and 4 continents. Some of us wore habits the whole time. Most of us didn’t. And some fell somewhere in the middle in relation to how often to wear the habit. Some of us didn’t speak English as a first language. Though we had a translator and translation devices, we still only had conversations in English and Spanish.
July 10, 2017
As of July first, I am officially no longer employed to write up the ceramic site report for Hacinebi, a fourth millennium site on the Euphrates River in Turkey, on which I have been working for more than 20 years. Although this did not come as a surprise (I have completed a first and second draft of the data portions of the book and the research money has dwindled), it still feels like something of a loss. While I will still be doing some work helping shepherd the book through the publication process, I am for the most part done with working with material from the site.
June 7, 2017
The activity I did the most while in Texas was listen. This may seem odd, since I didn't know much Spanish when I arrived and most of what I listened to was in Spanish. But I learned other ways to listen. When words don't make sense, when there is a language barrier, a deeper sort of listening sets in. I learned to listen with my eyes.
June 7, 2017
Most days, I work in what is known as the laundry building behind the main monastery. My commute consists of a one minute walk across the yard. The upside of this is that I am rarely stressed by traffic or delayed trains; the downside is, I have very little time to leave whatever happened in the morning at home behind as I head to work; or leave what happened at work as I head home. Happily, a small group of people who greet me morning and evening often remove my stress.
May 28, 2017
It’s hard to believe I’m nearing the end of my first year in religious life. I entered the Sisters of Providence as a postulant in September. It’s an 11-month program, which includes the discerning and applying to move to novitiate, stage two in joining a religious community.
May 23, 2017
I have now been in Texas for almost three months and will be leaving this adventure for another in the next few days. I just felt like I have hit my stride. I am comfortable with where I am and what I do. I’ve figured out my living situation and who my friends are. And now, I have to say goodbye. Leaving is never easy, but after moving around job and living locations a few times, I’ve learned some things that make it easier.
May 13, 2017
Being a religious sister, ritual is very important in my life. And, I would suspect, that ritual is important in many lives. I don’t only mean religious ritual, but also the ritual of what I do each day, the self-care rituals I engage in, and the social rituals that keep me grounded. I have learned that having certain rituals enhance my experience of life and keep me sane. This year, Holy Week and Easter were full of new (and old) experiences of ritual.
April 22, 2017
Mystics & Prophets: Celebrating Sisters: Celebrating Sisters was an online panel of the newer generations of sisters from around the country, sharing their best memories of relig...
April 14, 2017
This year, I experienced Lent in a profoundly different way than I have in the past. The experiences of the past year have changed my perspective.
March 26, 2017
God is funny.
God never works in the way you expect. But He gets it done. God is funny.
God spoke to me this week in impeccable timing. Just when I give up, something happens. Just when I least expect it, God is there.
March 13, 2017
I can’t get their faces out of my mind. The children we teach in Mexico are so happy, so joyful, so eager. I see their happy, smiling faces in spite of all they lack and I wonder, how?
March 9, 2017
I lost a friend, mentor, confidante, confessor and holy Brother last week. I am still navigating the loss, it’s a confusing time, realizing Fr. Francois is really gone from this earth. I still have a lot to learn about the pascal mystery and what St. Francis calls Sister Death, as I explore what my relationship with Francois will be like from here forward. I have been reminded that I will carry him in my heart and I really hope to share Mary’s love as he did in this life.
I would like to share a few stories about his life that I treasure.
March 5, 2017
I was bubbling with anticipation as we pulled up to the Humanitarian Respite Center. I had heard so much about it and was waiting to experience their ministry to immigrants just released from the detention center. I expected to see a bustling place, filled with life and love. But as we walked up to the door, the tents outside were empty and once inside, only a handful of volunteers populated the place. I was puzzled. What happened to the hundreds of immigrants I saw in pictures and videos of the Humanitarian Respite Center? They were gone.
March 1, 2017
I was asked to give a reflection for the Ash Wednesday service at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College this evening. Here’s what I’ve prepared:
What is it that Lent asks of us?
What do your Lenten practices mean?
I know I have a history of using Lent to jump-start new goals. Isn’t the great thing about being Catholic that you get a second chance for New Year’s resolutions just a couple of months in?