Sister Beth Murphy, OP

Meet Sister Colette Barker:
Prayer Central Director, Sacred Heart Convent

6 Comments / Featured, Prayer Requests, Sister Stories / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

Request Prayer Now Every day an email containing a litany of prayer needs arrives in the inboxes of every Springfield Dominican Sister and associate in the world. These requests pour in regularly at Sacred Heart Convent in Springfield—motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters and home to nearly 100 sisters. Eventually all these requests, collected from the […]

Meet Sister Colette Barker:
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Trust is the Antidote to Fear

Leave a Comment / JUST Words / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

An interview with Daphne Skretvedt by Sister Rose Miriam Schulte, OP SRM: Daphne, how do you see the Spirit calling the Dominican Sisters forth at this time? DS: I have come to know you as courageous, prophetic women. I’ve witnessed your fearless and persistent ways in serving real people in real-time. I believe this acute

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A “Guiding Star” of Faith and Mission

1 Comment / JUST Words / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

By Marcelo and Cookie Ruvinsky Doctor Marcelo Ruvinsky and his wife Cookie met in medical school in Cordoba, Argentina, and moved to Jackson, Miss., in 1971 for his internship and residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, thinking they would return home in four years. “Then, life happened,” he said. “We are still here,

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Dominican Sisters: Building Relationships in a Disconnected World

Leave a Comment / Cor Unum, JUST Words, Mission & Outreach / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

In preparation for our upcoming General Chapter, we invited some of our sisters, friends, and associates to talk about how they see the sisters following the Spirit’s lead into the future. The Winter 2019 issue of JUST Words pulled their thoughts together, but there was more good stuff than we could include in the print

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Snowstorm + Sisters + Coworkers = FUN!

2 Comments / Featured, News, Religious Life, Sister Stories / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

Alyssa Regan, switchboard supervisor at Sacred Heart Convent, has two little boys at home she knew would be excited about getting out in the mammoth snowstorm that was scheduled for the weekend. Could that explain her brainstorm? Why not have a snow-person making contest for the sisters and their coworkers? What a brilliant idea! The

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Invited by the Spirit

1 Comment / JUST Words / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

An elderly woman, on the occasion of her 95th birthday, was asked, “How do you remain so vibrant after all these years?” Her response was simple: “I never turn down an invitation.” After a brief pause, she continued, “When you live a long time, you have to keep making new friends and moving in new

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Transform Your Life: Sing Mary’s Song

Leave a Comment / Featured, News, Sister Beth Murphy, Sister Stories / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

This essay was originally published on Sunday December 30, 2018, in the Springfield State Journal-Register Beliefs column for which Sister Beth Murphy writes regularly. For many of us, January 1 has become unmoored from the faith context of Christmas. It’s New Year’s Day, of course, and holds a sense of promise and fresh start that

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Grieving at Christmastime? That’s okay.

2 Comments / Featured, News / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

Grief is part of life, but when we grieve while it seems the world is rejoicing, the pain and loneliness can seem that much more acute. Here are three ways to help get yourself or a loved one through a sad time at Christmastime. Go low key. If you don’t feel like a Christmas season

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“People are Frightened for their Children”

Leave a Comment / Anti-racism, Featured, Healing the World, Justice & Peace, News, Sister Stories / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

An NPR Illinois Interview with Sister Marcelline Koch. Sister Marcelline Koch, standing center, above, invites US citizens to do two things when it comes to grasping what’s happening at the US-Mexico border: See the immigrants as people who are frightened for their children. Do the analysis necessary to understand why mothers and fathers are compelled

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My Kind of Apocalypse

Leave a Comment / Anti-racism, Featured, News, Sister Beth Murphy / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

This essay was first published on November 18, 2018 in the Springfield State Journal-Register Beliefs column for which Sister Beth Murphy writes regularly. There is a certain way of reading Jewish and Christian apocalyptic texts that makes excellent B movie material. I believe we are living in an apocalypse—but not that kind! The word apocalypse

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Dominican Sisters Head to the Border to Serve Children & Families

1 Comment / Anti-racism, Featured, Justice & Peace, Mission & Outreach, News / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

A week of service at an immigrant shelter in El Paso helps ease the burdens of desperate families Springfield, Ill.—On Sunday, Springfield Dominican Sisters Anita Cleary and Marcelline Koch will travel to El Paso, Texas to volunteer at a Catholic shelter for families called Annunciation House. “We’re going because Annunciation House and other shelters like

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The Only Opponent is Hate

4 Comments / Anti-racism, Featured, Justice & Peace, Mission & Outreach, News / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

A Statement from the Dominican Sisters of Springfield Office for Justice We stand with all people of good will in opposition to the hate that has seeped into our public discourse and spilled out with deadly effect into our streets, neighborhoods, and places of worship. Our hearts ache for all those whose lives have been

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A sacred space in conversation with the world

Leave a Comment / Chapel50, Religious Life, Sister Beth Murphy / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

This essay first appeared in the October 7, 2018 edition of the Springfield State Journal-Register’s Beliefs column, to which Sister Beth Murphy is a frequent contributor. “This is a chapel built for the ages!” So exclaimed an awe-struck teenage visitor to Sacred Heart Convent Chapel last spring. It’s true. The chapel where we Dominican Sisters

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Change afoot for St. Dominic Health Services

3 Comments / Featured, Mission & Outreach, News / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

St. Dominic Health Services enters into sponsorship discussions with Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Sisters Reduced number of Dominican Sisters of Springfield, St. Dominic’s sponsor for more than 70 years, made continued sponsorship unsustainable (September 28, 2018, Jackson, Miss.) St. Dominic Health Services (St. Dominic’s) announced today that it has entered into exclusive discussions with the

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Architectural Historian Presents on Sacred Heart Convent Chapel

Leave a Comment / Chapel50 / Sister Beth Murphy, OP

Anthony Rubano’s commute takes him past Sacred Heart Convent chapel nearly every day, but it wasn’t until he got his first peek inside that he realized what an architecture gem was hiding in plain sight in Springfield’s Historic West Side neighborhood. Rubano, a project director for the Illinois Historic Preservation Office, will share his love

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