Praying, Living, & Loving the Franciscan Way
October 18, 2015.
This was a special event, held at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral, marking the first time a whole year of remembrance was made for Consecrated Religious. Many sisters of St. Francis of Assisi were present, including our Administrative Team: Sisters Diana De Bruin, Marcia Lunz and Sylvia Ann Sheldon. A reception followed. The Cathedral holds much of the history of the Milwaukee Archdiocese, including ceiling portraits of past Archbishops. Stritch and Meyer are here depicted. Sister Marie Scott, CSA of Fond du Lac gave the parting Reflection. Photos/Text by Sr. Adele Thibaudeau, OSF
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October 2015
To Howard Muscott: “THANK YOU FOR SHARING THE BEAUTY!!” (used with permission) PAUSE and take in this scene of our common home. Let’s pray and work for its preservation for generations to come! What does it say to your heart? “The heavens are telling the glory of God and all creation is shouting for joy!” Book of Psalms St. Francis Day Event: Because this is the Year of Consecrated Life, the Administrative Team sent a special invitation to former members, saying: “God’s call led you, also, through consecrated life into your future. Your presence among us helped to bring us into our future. We invite you to join us on the Feast of St. Francis as we celebrate our call to consecrated life of 166 years.” Twenty-four former members and their families joined OSFs for the dinner and Mass. Sisters Charlotte Roost, Joanne Schatzlein and Diana Tergerson hosted 11 former OSF classmates to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their entrance into the congregation. (See group photo) Photos here are from the dinner and of the choir for the Mass.
Saturday, Sept. 26 some 50 people gathered in the Troubadour Room at the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi on South Lake Drive. They reflected on the message of Pope Francis regarding “our common home, our sister earth”. Margaret Swedish, local writer and speaker, led the morning. The USCCB, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops video was shown. It is available on their website. Part 1: Margaret walked us through “Laudato Si” (Praise God! /Him. Taken from Canticle of Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi). Pope Francis creates a brilliant, compassionate, accessible lens of the global south with which to view creation. He is a man of science with a chemistry background and access to the most highly acclaimed academy of science at the Vatican. This is a meditation. Take time to read and reflect on it. He calls us to know the earth as our own flesh and blood, a sister, abandoned. He asks what is happening to our common home in this “throw-away” culture. He points out that the wealth and standard of living of North America is very much at the expense of the Global South! It will take a bold cultural revolution for us to change our comfort, way of life, values and our frame of meaning to make progress in changing direction. Pope Francis summons us to solidarity, to be one with all who suffer from the degradation of pollution in the poorest areas of the world. He does not mince words but speaks of stealing from the future since we have overshot earth’s limits with such a rich and abundant life. We are all called to participate in a new eco-citizenship. It is an urgent call, one that is a new way of life which demands we do it with a community of friends for support. If we do commit to this new way we will be amazed how we can re-create life on this planet. But we need to re-think our usual lives: jobs, sustainability, energy, air, water, food. Part 2 was led by Debra Schneider, initial planner and member of Catholics for Peace and Justice. She directed each person to take a number and go to a table. Tables each held a different topic and a person to explain it: Electricity, Composting, Water, Gleaning, etc. People returned to their tables and shared their knowledge. They were asked to commit to one action to begin to make a difference for the coming year. Part 3: Following was a tour of the grounds led by Sister Helene Mertes. Bees, vegetable gardens, reclaimed wet lands, the apple orchard and the new urban forest on the former athletic field were part of the experience. Sponsorship: Catholics for Peace and Justice, Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, School Sisters of Notre Dame, School Sisters pf St/Francis, The Green Team of Waukesha County Thank you to all who made this a powerful morning of hope and learning!! We had a wonderful pet blessing on Saturday Sept. 26.... many dogs, one or two cats, one snake and lots of humans.
Beautiful day for a pet blessing. ...enjoyed having the Door County Sled Dogs join us. The recent interfaith service attended by Pope Francis at Ground Zero emphasized the respectful and positive attitude toward other non-Christian religions since the Vatican II renewal 50 years ago in the Catholic Church. Sister Patricia Nightingale of Baltimore requested an ad for the upcoming Windows Opening Interfaith Conference she will attend in her area. We have posted the ad created by Jean Merry, our Communications Director. Here in Milwaukee, Sister Adele Thibaudeau, a 15 year member of the Archdiocesan Jewish /Catholic Conference is announcing the 50th Anniversary of the document NOSTRA AETATE. It launched a series of discussions and Jewish Catholic actions that have begun to change the regrettable and often uneducated attitudes toward Jewish people. The opening event for donors was held at the Marquette University Haggerty Museum. The 105 piece collection of Chagall lithographs of Biblical stories, donated by Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty are all on display from now through December 23. The group was treated to a presentation by Deidre Dempsey, PH.D., Associate Professor of Theology on the prints. Adjacent to the Chagall exhibit are the dramatic, very large photographs of Biblical Stories by Adi Nes. He employs actors to represent Jewish historical figures at their most vulnerable moments. Pictured here is his rendition of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, an abused looking child in a shopping cart of garbage. He will give a presentation on Thursday, November 5 at 6pm. Free. Space is limited. Call for information: 414-288-1669. For further information on four future programs, the next one being October 8 at 7pm, contact [email protected] or [email protected] |
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