Results

Our sisters live and serve among the marginalized. We serve people in need. People without a voice. People easy to overlook. In this issue of HOPE we invite you to take a look at some of our stories. At how we and you our partners are helping and advocating for people and a planet in need. We invite you to join us in bearing the light. Be with us a light for someone else. Together, we can make this world a brighter place.

A special Throwback Thursday that was requested

Blessed are you who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable,
who bear witness to its persistence
when everything seems in shadow and grief. …

According to the two sisters, “the mission of Miracle Place is to offer hospitality, care, and concern. It is a place of spiritual refreshment where all who come may find refuge. Where all who are severely tried may be comforted. Where all who are lonely may find companionship. And where those without hope may find a renewed spirit.”

Saint Mother Theodore’s story is still very relevant today. She was an immigrant. She came to a foreign land where she didn’t know the language and where there was a lot of prejudice and bias toward Catholics and toward women. There are just so many parallels to what she faced and what she endured that are still around today. She’s a great model and mentor.

“It’s as if Providence is there, waiting to provide. Someone comes in and says ‘I have to take care of my grandkids whose parents are now in jail. I need some beds.’ Within 24 hours, I’ll have two twin beds show up,” said Sister Dorothy Rasche, SP, director of The Connecting Link.

Linden Leaf Gifts is a store that worries less about keeping the lights on and more about how to bring light into the lives of marginalized people. As a ministry of the Sisters of Providence, Linden Leaf Gifts measures success a little differently than most retail stores. Success is derived also from the difference it can make in the lives of people that provide the unique products sold there.

Providence Associates Jeanne Rewa and Ben Kite’s work for justice has been multifaceted. Racial justice, civil rights, gender equality, LGBT rights, School of Americas, criminal justice reform, animal rights, and environment, including climate change, are only some of the issues addressed. In working for social justice, their strategies model just and nonviolent relationships with persons of very different perspectives.

The word “eco-justice” has its roots in the Latin word oikos, the home or household. Thus, eco-justice refers to caring for and attending to the “household of creation,” including people, creatures, ecosystems, economy, environment, food, water, air, and rules that facilitate the well-being of all in the home.)

We Sisters of Providence rely on our “powerhouse of prayer” as some call our sisters who reside in our health care facilities. These sisters receive a “ministry assignment” each year to pray for particular intentions. These intentions may be as specific as an individual’s name or more general, such as “for all addicted to alcohol or drugs” or “for those affected by divorce.”

“I wanted to work with God’s working poor, who lost all of their belongings during the hurricane. They were living in broken down trailers with two or three families in each,” Sister Cathy Buster said. The end result was the new community in Arcadia, Florida. Casa San Juan Bosco I is a 53-home complex for migrant farmworkers.

The latest news and tidbits from the Sisters of Providence!