We had a fabulous evening with singer/songwriter Sara Thomsen, celebrating Catholic Sisters during our concert & open-mic event In Praise of Sisters, for National Catholic Sisters Week 2019! Giving Voice Core Team member Xiomara Mendez-Hernandez, OP was our MC, and several Giving Voice participants spoke during the open-mic portion of the evening.
Among the shared prayer, meal conversations, circle sharing, and informal chats during our weekend as younger Catholic sisters at Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery, one word that surfaced again and again was, simply, and.
Celebrate National Catholic Sisters Week at a free concert & open-mic night with singer/songwriter Sara Thomsen! The evening will be a joyful event with opportunities for Catholic Sisters and friends to speak about the inspiring Women Religious in their lives!
Every two years, the Giving Voice community hosts a National Gathering to provide space for Catholic Sisters under age 50 to build bridges across communities in a peer-led setting to deepen relationships with God and each other and to foster growth, leadership skills, and a vision for the future of religious life. During our 4-day gathering we will experience the joyful presence of our shared sisterhood and discern together how we are called to live religious life now, by boldly celebrating the beauty of communion.
I recently attended World Youth Day’s one day event in D.C. with my friend and Sister Kelly. For me going to participate in this day was about bringing a modern presence to what I correctly assumed would be a gathering of traditional Catholics. The moment which stands out to me most from that day was a woman Kelly and I met at the Vocation Coffee House.
Together is a cohort-based, residential theology program for religious sisters and brothers in temporary vows and for newly professed religious who are willing to commit to full participation in all three program components: theological education, formation, and community.
At the invitation of a Giving Voice friend, Sister Julia Walsh, I spent my annual retreat at Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center located in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. How fitting to spend part of my time in Advent winter solitude reflecting on my time as a Giving Voice Core Team Member. I began my time on the core team 2 months after I took final vows in 2013, and during that time I have served with 13 different sisters from 12 different communities.
For the past several years, Giving Voice has been on the forefront of engaging with the critical questions facing religious life and our greater society. Among the tools and ideas sisters have found life-giving and successful are the The Circle Way of hosting non-hierarchical conversations and meetings, and the Two Loops Model which presents a model to explore how systems change.
Giving Voice has been so excited by the fantastic Leadership Initiatives Scholarship applications we’ve received since we opened up the scholarship this summer.
This month we’re highlighting Sister Luz, CCVI, who is using the Giving Voice scholarship to learn English.
As we plan and prepare for our National Gathering in June 2019, we are interested in hearing the wisdom from our elder Sisters. Your insights will enable our members to listen ever more deeply to the Spirit's call for religious life in this time.