Currents

                                                                                                                                       Currents Archive

A newsletter of the

Sisters of the Holy Redeemer

 

Immaculate Conception Province

521 Moredon Road Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006

www.SistersHolyRedeemer.org

215-914-4109

 

March 2010

 “I will put my Spirit in you that you may live.”  Ezek. 37: 12-14

 

Events in the Province of the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer

 

 

“The Voice of Love” - Weekend Retreat,  March 5th (7pm) – 7th (1pm) for young single women interested in learning more about religious life.  Time for group activity and quiet prayer to listen to God’s voice of love. Please contact Vocations@holyredeemer.com for more information.  See the flyer.

 

Dinner and Prayer with the Sisters – March 11th @ 6pm.  An opportunity for young women to join with Sisters in their everyday life.  Feel free to bring a friend!  Contact Vocations@holyredeemer.com to attend or for more information.

 

School Garden Project will resume on Friday, March 12th as the 2nd Grade class from a local school visits to begin planting seeds in the greenhouse.

 

Alternative Spring Break visits -  Michigan State will visit March 3rd – 11th and Rhode Island College will visit March 14th – 20th.  College students choose to give a week of service in the Philadelphia area during their

Spring Break while staying at the Provincialate.  What a beautiful gift of time!

 

Insearch Workshop for Sisters in Formation – March 13th.  This month’s topic is “Discernment” with a presentation by Timothy Gallagher SJ – author of several books on discernment.

 

Feast of Saint Joseph, March 19th.  We will celebrate this congregational feast day with Mass and dinner on March 18th beginning with Mass at 5:30pm at the Provincialate chapel.

 

Evening Prayer, Tuesday, March 16th - all are welcome to join for evening prayer @ 7pm in the Provincialate chapel followed by faith sharing and social time.

 

Sisters’ Book Discussion, continues on Monday, March 15th.

Sunday Liturgy every week @ 11am at the Provincialate

Daily Liturgy most days @ 6:45am at the Provincialate, occasionally at 5pm on Monday evenings.

 

Dates in the history of the Congregation:

March 19, 1924 – The first 12 Sisters of the Holy Redeemer Arrive in America by ship to serve in Baltimore, Maryland at the invitation of the Xaverian Brothers.  They work in the Seminary and Boy’s School.  In two years more Sisters would arrive.

 

A Sister’s Sharing -  Sr. Anita Bolten CSR

I entered the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer in 1984.  It is a privilege to walk the path as a Sister of the Holy Redeemer and to journey in a meaningful and life-giving way with our sisters in America, Germany and Tanzania.  I had the wonderful opportunity to visit our sisters in Wurzburg, Germany in 1991 and our sisters in Tanzania in 2008.  In my journey as a sister I desire to grow in a faithful and loving commitment to vowed life which witnesses to the Reign of God. 

I have been a member of the Mission Integration team since September 1997 and am the Mission Coordinator for Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center and Dreuding Center/Project Rainbow.  I am also a member of our congregation’s Formation team. From Jan 2008 – Dec 2009 I had the opportunity to participate in the ForMission program sponsored by the Religious Formation Conference.  This educational program is for men and women who accompany new members for their congregations in initial formation.   By participating in the ForMission program, my credibility as a new formator has been strengthened and stretched. This program promotes an going conversion and life-long learning which both supports and challenges me to personal accountability and growth.

I grew up in Drumore Township in Lancaster County, PA and I enjoy returning to my roots to spend time with family and friends.  I appreciate the quiet and natural beauty of this part of “God’s country” with its rolling hills, meadow streams and rich farmland. My interests include nature study, walking outdoors and water exercises.

 

Reflection - Where are you going? …in the heart of God   by Sr. Katharina Maria Pies, CSR   

Where am I going?

“I don’t know” was my immediate answer

I ask God

to help me with the answer

unsure where it would lead me

and than I heard a whisper

…in the heart of God

I was shocked

not expecting this answer

but

I knew

this is where I want to go

When I dwell in the heart of God

I am alive

breathing the breath of my Beloved

I have anointed you

to come into my heart

and draw upon

the love I have for you

Follow my heart

in the dwelling of my soul

Live

be my life

bring hope into the midst of human suffering

shine in the light of mine

with the abundance of a child

who holds on to her mothers hand

Hold on to me

gaze into your Beloved’s eyes

My soul will open up for you

to bring good news to the poor

I have anointed you

to live in my soul.

 

Environmental & Social Justice News Catholic Social Teaching -  Solidarity

We are one human family.  Whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences, God calls us to practice the virtue of solidarity, which acknowledges that we are all really responsible for all.  Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world.  At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace.

 

Reflections for Action:  What steps could you take to see poverty through the eyes of someone who is poor?  How can you be an advocate for and with those who are poor in this country?

 

Church documents related to this principal: John Paul II’s On Social Concern; Paul VI’s The Development of Peoples and A Call to Action;  Justice in the World by the Synod of Bishops

 

 

Prayer -  Attributed to Pedro Arrupe SJ

 

Nothing is more practical than finding God,

that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute,

final way.

 

What you are in love with, what seizes your

imagination, will affect everything.

 

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the

morning, what you will do with your evenings,

how you will spend your weekend, what you

read, who you know, what breaks your heart,

and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

 

Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.

 

 

Prayer Suggestion – Take some time for quiet and prayer at the end of your day and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the presence of God in the experiences of your day.  Where do you notice God?  What does God desire to share with you?

 

 

Sr. Ana’s Reflection

Lent has begun.  Last Wednesday ashes were placed on our foreheads – a reminder of our humanity – our need for God – our connection to the earth.  How easily we forget these realities.  I recently came across a photo of one of our older Sisters taken many years ago – Sr. Rosela.  I never met her; she had entered eternal life long before I entered.  She is pictured standing in the garden surrounded by pink and white flowers.  A beautiful, natural smile on her face.  Here was a woman in touch with her humanity, the ground beneath her feet, and the presence of God.  I thought, this is why I am a Sister of the Holy Redeemer – the desire for this connectedness that seeps into everyday life – a witness to joy.

 

 

 

 

 

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