By Father Joseph Brown, SJ The Covenant by which we are bound was completed—from its proclamation, in Exodus: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan…”—by the rendering spoken by Jesus, as He reordered our very identities: […]
Relationships that matter: Sister M. Rose Schleeper a covenant of liberation Read More »
By Sister Kathleen Anne Tait, OP Director of Mission Advancement This quote from St. Catherine graces a beautiful new recognition wall, recently installed at the door of Sacred Heart Convent chapel, where every day our sisters remember in their prayer our friends and benefactors, who, having been our companions on the journey in this life,
Partners in Mission: New recognition wall honors donors Read More »
By Alexis Williams LCSW As a licensed clinical social worker, I provide treatment services to people experiencing difficult life situations. Some reasons for seeking psychotherapy services include dealing with effects from childhood physical or sexual abuse or domestic violence or coping with cancer, chronic pain, or other serious health conditions. One may be struggling with
TOOLS FOR RESILENCE Read More »
By the time this edition of JUST Words is off the press, it is anticipated that the Nuns of the Monastery of Mary the Queen will have vacated Siena Hall, their residence for the past eight years, and moved to their new monastery in Girard, Ill. In an interview Sister Ann Marie Pierre gave to Catholic Times, she spoke of the
By Dave Sanders Our nation and world are divided, deeply split on issues that include the environment, race, immigration, crime, gender, women’s rights and abortion, guns, COVID, and even faith. Volumes have been written about our divisions and spread through social media. As people of faith, the intensity of these divisions trouble us for many
Empathy: A Bridge to Unity Read More »
By Sister Rose Miriam Schulte, OP In our Prayer for the Life of the World, we daily ask that our hearts might be freed “to recognize and attend to Christ in hidden and unexpected places.” Some of these hidden places are lodged in our congregational past. Not unlike any organic process, a congregation’s earlier plantings
Seeing the Work of the Spirit: East St. Louis and Peru Read More »
By Cynthia Callan Three years ago, my husband and I began walking at the park before work. At that time, I did not realize the many graces which would be received each day. The graces received went beyond the natural landscape and changing seasons; it also included the faces of God in the people I
Finding Christ in Unexpected Places Read More »
By Sister Kathleen Anne Tait Where do you find God in hidden and unexpected places? For many of us it means peering through the lenses of the ordinary to recognize the blessings hidden there. For Teresa and Leahy Bennet, the ordinary is a farm tucked away in Pleasant Plains, Ill., that has been home for
Partners in Mission: Teresa and Leahy Bennet Read More »
By Sister Kathlyn Mulcahy, OP The Holy Family Knocking at Our Door “Do you have a room available?” The call may come from a social worker, child advocate, pastor, or even the police. Someone has arrived on a bus or maybe she is aging out of an Office of Refugee Resettlement center for unaccompanied child
Bethany House of Hospitality Read More »
If it hadn’t been for Charles Routt, there might not be any Springfield Dominicans. Time and again, he came to the community’s aid. Like the sisters, Routt was a Kentuckian by birth. His family moved to the Jacksonville area in 1834 when Routt was nine years old. They belonged to the Christian Church, now known
A legacy of giving: Charles L. Routt Read More »
Father Andrzej carries a mattress to an apartment for refugee families. Each family has its own kitchen, bathroom, and washing machine. All maintenance costs are covered by the Dominicans. by Fr. Andrzej Mońka, OP. This article originally appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of JUSTWords. View online copy here. It was obvious to us from
“Deeply Dramatic”—Dominicans in Krakow Welcome Ukrainian Refugees Read More »
This article was originally published in JUST Words Vol. 22 No. 2 Summer Issue. Exquisite! Magnificent! These words describe the rich beauty of a “planetary tapestry” woven through the global synod convoked by Pope Francis in October 2021. Stories, concerns, critiques, and dreams of Catholics the world over are due in Rome by August 15,
Walking Together: An Update on the Synodal Process Read More »
This article originally appeared in JUSTWords Volume 22, Number 2, written by Cathy Becker. Cathy is a Springfield Dominican associate, a member of the JUST Words editorial board, and youth minister at St. Agnes Parish, Springfield, Ill. Just days before the massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the
The Youth Hope Project Read More »
Note: This post accompanies content in the January 2022 issue of JUST Words. For more context, read the magazine here. For generations, people of faith have sought ways of prayer to guide their hearts toward the wisdom of God. One of those methods, lectio divina—or “holy reading—has withstood the test of time. By quieting oneself
Lectio Divina, Visio Divina: A Way of Prayer Read More »
Elizabeth Garnier-Little, right, with her sister Wanda Garnier and Sister Barbara Ann Bogenschutz, OP, at Our Lady of the Sioux Parish, Oglala, S.D., in 2017. Elizabeth Garnier-Little is an 80 years-wise Lakota woman born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Oglala, South Dakota. A teacher of all grades K-12 for 52 years,
Lakota Wisdom: An Interview with Elizabeth Garnier-Little Read More »
