Community News

For a majority of people around the world, life has dramatically changed since the Coronavirus outbreak.

Many have been fortunate enough to quarantine themselves at home, working remotely, while others have sadly lost their jobs.

It seems as if every news story or social media post is about COVID-19, and it feels like there is no end in sight.

Yet, while these changes have been frustrating to accept and adapt to, essential workers around the world have experienced some of the toughest times during this pandemic.

Medicines for Humanity is an international health non-profit with the mission to save the lives of vulnerable children under 5 and their mothers. We work in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, partnering with communities of women religious (CWRs) in multiple countries with a focus on capacity building, healthy systems strengthening and community empowerment. Using WHO guidelines, MFH created COVID-19 materials for communities, providers and CHWs, including educational posters, a take-home handbill and a self-learning to curriculum.

Join the World Community of Christian Meditation Online every Thursday from 12:15-12:50pm (MST) to communicate and nurture meditation as passed on through the teaching of Father John Main, OSB in the Christian tradition. 

All are welcome to join the online meditation group.

The Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland selected a new leadership team during community meetings recently at Merici Crossings, their Pepper Pike, Ohio residence and congregational center.  The five-person team, including a president and four council members, will serve a four-year term, implementing the directional plan set at their meeting.

We invite you to bring your fears, your hopes, your gratitude, your restlessness, etc. while we process and pray together via Zoom every Saturday at 4 pm EST. We'll spend an hour reflecting, praying, and holding each other. This session is free and open to all.

Join us for an online discussion on D.L. Mayfield's Sojourners article on Thursday, March 26th, from 3-4 pm EST. In her Sojourners article, D.L. Mayfield writes, “Christians can be at the forefront of rejecting extreme individualism and lean into a collectivist worldview where each person is seen as made in the image of God and worth protecting at all costs.” How do we stand at the forefront of caring for each person during a time of physical isolation? We’ll discuss this, along with the need to care for the most physically and economically vulnerable among us.

The St. Joseph Worker Program creates a year-long service opportunity for women (21-30) in preparation for a life-long commitment to social change and personal transformation. Individual growth and development is built on the values of leadership, spirituality, social justice and intentional community grounded in living simply and sustainably. Rooted within the spirit of the Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Joseph Workers live the mission, "love of God and dear neighbor without distinction." 

The Religious Formation Conference (RFC) is excited to announce our Lenten webinar with Dianne Bergant, CSA, PhD. We invite you to join us for this webinar on Tuesday, March 17 at 1:00pm central time titled Lent: The Face of the Mercy of God. RFC webinars are free and open to all. Registration is required.

The Religious Formation Conference (RFC) invites elected leaders and those in formation ministry to apply for the next ForMission cohort.

ForMission is a two-year program intended for women and men
• formation ministers currently accompanying new members at any stage of initial formation;
• preparing to become a formation minister;
• in elected and informal leadership who actively support and oversee the effectiveness and quality of the congregation/province initial formation program.

Fifty-two weeks a year women religious stand with the poor and immigrants, teach children, fight injustice, heal the sick, share spirituality, empower women, defend the planet, promote peace, create community, offer hope …

But for one week, Catholic Sisters Week March 8-14, we shine the spotlight on women religious and encourage a wide range of campaigns and events that invite all who follow Jesus to

Join us this winter for programs at St. Scholastica Monastery-Chicago, IL!

-The Art of Pausing: Reclaiming the Sense of Balance in our Lives
A lecture by Judith Valente
Sunday, February 23, 2020, 3-:00-4:30 p.m.

-Taize Lenten Service
Friday, March 6, 2020, 7:30-9:00 p.m.

-Young Women and the Word
Wednesday, March 11, 2020, 7 - 9 p.m.
Catholic Sisters Week event

-The True Cost: Stories of Human Trafficking
Saturday, March 14, 2020, 2-4:00 p.m.

   St. Luke's parish in Whitestone, NY, is celebrating its 150th Anniversary this year.  At a special mass on February 2, the parish thanked the Dominan Sisters of Amityville who served at the school and parish.  

     "A treasured part of these 150 years is the presence and ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Amityville, who for over 100 years, dedicated themselves to the students and families of our parish school," said Msgr. John. C. Tosi, the pastor of St. Luke's Church.

On Friday, November 15, 2019, Sister Carol Curtis made her final profession of vows to become an Ursuline Sister of Louisville during Mass in the Ursuline Motherhouse Chapel. Sister Carol had previously been a nun with the Discalced Carmelites in Louisville. She lived a cloistered life for 25 years, along with her fellow nuns behind the walls of their monastery—a life devoted to simplicity and prayer.

Our Amityville Dominican Sisters in Puerto Rico celebrated their JUBILEES with a a renewal of vows, lively music and a special Liturgy on January 25, 2020. We congratulate and pray for these wonderful Sisters who have been living their calling for many years including Sisters Adelin Roda Rodriguez, 35 years, Marie Isabel Gonzalez, 60 years, and Felicita Ayala, 70 years.  Because they are still recovering from damage from the Earthquake (some family members and friends were from areas that were hard hit), only a simple reception followed the Mass.

The Prioress of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville -- Sister Peggy McVetty -- returned from Puerto Rico on January 26th telling of the damage from the Earthquake that hit there on January 11th, 2020.  While she was there on various business, she visited the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in southern Puerto Rico. They sustained damage to their Motherhouse and General House in Guannica. Currently, seven sisters are living on the grounds in tents to help the people there recover.

Fond du Lac, WI – On March 5, 2020, the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) will host the 16th annual Women’s Leadership Breakfast, celebrating and honoring women leaders whose work and life choices have positively influenced both local and global communities.

Fond du Lac, WI – The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) was honored to receive the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award during Marian University's 2020 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Prayer Breakfast on January 20. The Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award recognizes a person or group who has given of themselves to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and has gone above and beyond in the endeavors of equality, social justice and providing access to succeed.

A Spiritual Director holds sacred the many stories heard in a one-on-one relationship or in a trusted group.

Year Two of the Spiritual Director Practicum at Domnican Center at Marywood in Grand Rapids, Michigan...

Are you called to be a Spiritual Director?
Spiritual direction is the art of contemplative listening carried out in a one-to-one trusting relationship or within a group of your peers. It is when one guide journeys with another person or group, listening to life stories with an ear for the movement of the Holy Spirit and offering prayerful response. 

The Spiritual Director Practicum at the Center for Spirituality at Dominican Center at Marywood in Grand Rapids, Michigan

In December, staff from Molloy College brought two volumes of reproductions of the St. John's Bible to Amityville Dominican Motherhouse, Queen of the Rosary in Amityville, NY.

The St. John's Bible is the first-handwritten and hand-illuminated Bible to be produced in 500 years!  In 1998, Saint John's Abbey and University in Minnesota commissioned renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson to produce the Bible. This work of art unites an ancient Benedictine tradition of art with the technology and vision of today, illuminating the Word of God for a new millennium.

In January, more than two dozen staff members from Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY came to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, NY,  to learn more about how they are connected to the Dominican Spirit.

Molloy College was founded by the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville in 1955.

That day, the staff toured the nooks and crannies of the Motherhouse, listened to speakers and broke into small group discussions.

Cincinnati, OH (January 17, 2020) — On February 12, 2005, Sister of Notre Dame Dorothy Stang was shot and killed by hired gunmen as she walked along a dirt road in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil.  Her death had been arranged by influential Brazilian landowners who wanted to stop her work on behalf of farming families in the region.  It was Sister Dorothy's dream for the people to live self-sufficient lives, and to be able to use the land in sustainable ways.  The native of Dayton, Ohio had been visiting with some of the struggling farmers in the interior when she was killed.

Four Sisters of Providence began a five-year term of leadership and service for Mother Joseph Province on Jan. 1, 2020: Sister Barbara Schamber, provincial leader, and Sisters Jacqueline Fernandes, Karen Hawkins and Margarita Hernandez as provincial councilors.

In addition, two laypeople have been appointed to serve on the Leadership Team: David Neisius, provincial treasurer and Elinor Alexander, provincial secretary.

While working at a medical clinic in Memphis, Tenn., 10 years ago, Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph (Ky.) Jacinta Powers explained why she enjoyed serving the poor.

“Where God wants you is where passion and need intersect,” she said. “I’m always happy serving the poor.”

Sister Jacinta is taking that opportunity again. On Jan. 10, 2020, she departed for Brownsville, Texas, to spend six months making a daily trek across the Mexican border to serve refugees awaiting asylum hearings.

What role can religious and spiritual leaders play in this time of multiple planetary crises? The solutions we have counted on in the past are no longer enough to address our world’s extremes – e.g., increasing climate chaos, the devastation of the Earth’s capacity to sustain life, extreme polarizations, and increasing despair and numbers of suicides. When people turn to spiritual and religious leaders to help them navigate these times, what new consciousness can be offered to them that is different than what got us into these crises?