Archive for the ‘Celebrations’ Category

Winter and Spring are leading us into the blossoming of beauty in color to speak loudly that life is vibrant and all about us if we take the moment to engage her.  

Bonnie Hardwick shares with us her image of the women at the tomb.  The woman in the blue mantel looks to be lost in her grief.  The woman in the green mantel is waiting in hope. The women with the red mantel is alive to the message brought by the angel.  Where do we find ourselves today?

Dr. Hardwick was the head librarian at the Graduate Theological Union, and a graduate of the Franciscan School of Theology. Information about one of her books on iconography can be found at https://www.dspt.edu/conversations

You can contact Bonnie at [email protected].

The Eucharist is the center of our Community life. During the Pandemic we were locked in our wing at the Franciscan Motherhouse.  After visiting sites on the Web for a Eucharistic Celebration we found our spiritual home at Sts. Peter and Paul, Portloais, Ireland. The presiding priests all speak perfect English though they hail one from China, two from Eastern Europe and one from a lifetime of missionary work in the USA.  The pastor is from Ireland and also one of the young priests whose grandfather was Jewish.  The daily Eucharistic celebration is with the local community in Portlaois, Ireland and with all of the people throughout the globe who write in with their prayers and petitions. This is truly a celebration of the “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.  You can meet them on YouTube.

https://www.portlaoiseparish.ie/

https://www.2911intl.org/

As soon as the doors were open again to our Sisters on Third Floor Care, we returned to “Bingo on Monday evenings.” We helpers had been shut out due to the Covid virus which is especially dangerous to our mature Sisters.

One of our delightful sisters at age 101 outscored the Sisters at other tables winning the prize twice with her good luck at Bingo.  

February’s Black History Month flows into March’s Women’s History Month coming together in the history of America’s Great Migration wherein people from the south migrated north and west as told by Isabel Wilkerson in her book titled “The Warmth Of Other Suns”.

The migration described here in this book happens between 1915 and 1970.  With great personal risk, African Americans made the passage from the southern United States to the north and west of this country.  The author follows 5 individuals and their families describing their efforts, successes and failures, as they tried to find their place in the so called “American Dream.”

The book is 622 pages long, but it is well worth the time you spend with Isabel and this great book.

Blizzards begone, we are moving into the ides of March!

March

The stormy March is come at last,
With wind, and cloud, and changing skies;
I hear the rushing of the blast,
That through the snowy valley flies.

Ah, passing few are they who speak,
Wild stormy month! in praise of thee;
Yet, though thy winds are loud and bleak,
Thou art a welcome month to me.

Bosque de Nieve means Snowy Woodland in Spanish.

Winter is a time of waiting: hoping all that is dormant beneath the snow will respond as the Earth makes its annual rotation around the Sun bringing forth the nutritious growth that will assure food security for all God’s people.

February is Black History Month, from February 1st to March 1st.

We have a hidden gem available to you on YouTube or your DVD player: Bakhita: From Slave to Saint. We were treated to this film here at Assisi Heights where it was streamed throughout the motherhouse.  Some of the Sisters told us later this was the second or third time they have seen this most beautiful woman and her inspiring story.

https://www.youtube.com/c/stjosephinebakhitaparish

The Franciscan Friars are helping us rewrite The Gospel Way of St Clare, our Poor Clare Constitutions.  This is the document that helps us to interpret and live Poor Clare life. The spirit of this new document is to celebrate for our times the beautiful gift of Poor Clare life that is our vocation.

Some months ago, we had the pleasure of a visit from Sister Vickie Griner, osc (the sister with the dark brown sweater in the photo above.) Vickie is a beautiful and gifted Poor Clare Sister from the community in Cincinnati, Ohio.  She has been chosen to be our United States delegate working with other Poor Clares throughout the world who are coming together to craft this most welcome spiritual guide, our new Constitutions.

Sister Catherine was taking the picture.