Wake the World

We are surrounded with signs of a world waking up.  After a long winter, though slow in coming, Resurrection is on the move. Appearances are on the horizon.

Pope Francis urges us to wake the world with the good news that women religious are alive and well. He presents us with three aims in this Year of Consecrated life: to look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion, and to embrace the future with hope.

In the coming weeks we will share gifts of gratitude that have emerged from our reflecting on our past.

As Sisters of St. Joseph our beginnings go back to 1650. We span 5 centuries, the 17th through the 21st.

A key blessing for me emerged from the call of Vatican II to return to the fountainhead of our beginnings in order to reawaken our charism. The result has been the transformation of my life as a Sister of St. Joseph.  Recognizing our charism of unity as a call to active inclusive love in a world in which we are one with all that is, has expanded my horizons beyond anything I would have imagined when I “entered the convent”.  

The opportunities in community for spiritual growth, ministry and study have connected me with amazing people who have influenced me in a whole variety of ways. I am continually growing into a new being, alive with an energy that enables me to appreciate and welcome changing circumstances. It is clear to me that I see with new eyes, hear with an open heart and have a capacity to love in ways I once thought impossible.

On the day professing our first vows, we said in unison to the Bishop that our hearts were filled with joy. My capacity for experiencing that joy, which is indeed the joy of living the Gospel, continues to transform my way of living from the source of the charism reignited for these times.