It has been a slow spring: our last large snowfall here in Racine Wisconsin occurring on April 16. Now that spring has sprung, it is a time of renewed activity amongst all living creatures: from the birds to the squirrels to the bees. So too amongst the plants and trees: from the flowers springing up, tulips and daffodils and grape hyacinths, to the sprouting of seeds and the bursting buds on trees.
“Where we’re going we don’t need roads: Pioneering Women, Carrying our Charisms into the Future”, the peer-led retreat for women religious between ages 40-49 featured prayer sessions, meditations and discussions, beginning Friday night reflecting on the question: “What are our communities’ charisms? How do our communities’ charisms intersect and work on a global scale?”
Announcing Giving Voice's Leadership Initiatives Scholarship Awardees!
"Learning Spanish has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. Being able to communicate with sisters in Spanish would be very helpful in both my Mercy community as well as the Giving Voice community.”
June 2018 #SisterPoets: New Life & Growth
Generativity
Alice Ann O’Neill, SC
In the middle life, generativity is a gift and challenge.
No longer looking to others for guidance,
Rather guiding many.
Giving Voice is very excited to announce a new scholarship for Catholic Sisters! The Leadership Initiatives Scholarship is meant to strengthen the mission of Giving Voice through our participants in three areas: Leadership Skills Development, Relationship and Bridge-Building, and Language Skills.
Almost 13 years ago, I said yes, and filled up the application to be a candidate with the Congregation of which I am apart of now, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. The decision came after a period of listening intently to what I heard, felt and wanted from God.
On the weekend of April 12-15, I attended a Formation Convocation in Chicago with my community, the Felician sisters. I joined 51 of our sisters: those in leadership, in varying stages of formation, and those in formation. What I expected to be a meeting turned out to be a community retreat where we reflected on formation that is centered in a relationship with God.
Do you write poetry? Join us in creating #SisterPoets, a monthly series of poems by sisters. Each month, sisters who participate in Giving Voice are encouraged to write a poem on one spiritual theme, to be a part of a monthly collection published in our e-newsletter, on our website and social media platforms.
I recently did an interview on Religious Life, the last question took me by surprise because it was not related to the topic of which we were talking about: Which advice would you give to a young Adriana? I must confess that my answer also surprised me when I said: "as time will goes by you will realize that the people around you impose too many expectations and want to see you act in certain ways. It will be very difficult to stay true to yourself but always fight for it because it's worth it.” When I look backward, I can pinpoint the exact moment when this turned into a non - negotiable value for me.
On my desk, I keep a tattered post-it note that reads, “Because of you, I can do something.” A few years ago, a client said this as he sat in my office talking about his new life. I still remember the moment he said that. I felt like an insignificant speck in his new life in Akron, Ohio, but, to him, I stood as a reminder of his new beginning. Who are the people in our own lives that call us to enter into the newness of life? What do these people represent?
