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Virtual province chapter in review
“What a beautiful launch of our virtual province Chapter! Thank you to the team in Cincinnati and Louisville for taking us to ‘the cradle’ where Mary Euphrasia and her partners sent the first five Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd Sisters 178 years ago in 1843,” said Province Leader Madeleine Munday after the…
Sister Brigid Lawlor appointed as a Consultor to the Pope
Sister Brigid Lawlor has been appointed as a Consultor to the Pope at the Vatican office for religious. The appointment named her a Consultor for the Congregation for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL). The Vatican office has jurisdiction over all aspects of institutes of consecrated life (vowed religious) and societies of apostolic…
Baking altar bread: a Good Shepherd tradition
Sister Nellie Hawkins entered the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in 1962 and committed herself to a Contemplative Life. She has been baking altar bread ever since. A member of the Contemplative Community in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, Sister Nellie rises at 7 a.m. in the convent every morning for prayers, Mass, and breakfast. She then goes…
Shine the Light Virtual Conference on Human Trafficking
I was invited to share my impressions of NAC’s 2021 Shine the Light Virtual Conference: Root Causes and Intersections on Human Trafficking. Ending human trafficking has been a cause dear to my heart since my days of working to eradicate modern-day slavery with the Good Shepherd Sisters in Budapest. At the time, Hungary, particularly Budapest,…
Exploring Intersections: Catholic Sisters on Racism, Migration and Climate
Each year Catholic Sisters Week (CSW) is held March 8-14. This year, in honor of CSW, St. Louis Sisters kicked off a year-long online series called Exploring Intersections: Catholic Sisters on Racism, Migration and Climate. The series engages panelists in conversations about societal concerns facing the community. Exploring Intersections deals with issues that religious Sisters…
My prison ministry: what it felt like to walk through open doors
I had engaged in prison ministry a number of years ago after the Phoenix diocese hired me to be part of its prison ministry team. The outreach took me to three facilities for women in Arizona: the state prison in the desert, a moderate security prison close to downtown Phoenix, and the local jail. I…
Video series reveals Mary Euphrasia
The new video series about Saint Mary Euphrasia has a back-story. In telling a story to her community of Sisters one day, Saint Mary Euphrasia said, “A long time ago, while traveling with two of our Sisters, we broke the journey and stayed with a Community, where we were cordially welcomed. In the course of…
Congregational Chapter goes into the deep
The Congregational Chapter is a go! It is scheduled to take place from November 18 through December 5, 2021, at the Motherhouse in Angers, France, if COVID subsides. Preparation for Chapter will occur online through regional Zoom calls, resource gathering and sharing now through September. The Congregational Leadership Team will monitor reports of the coronavirus…
A Good Shepherd pilgrim’s journey
Looking at her figure lying in the glass coffin at the Motherhouse brought tears to my eyes. I admire her so much; she was an example for women at a time when women were not allowed to be examples. She had done and still does so much good for so many girls, women and men…