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Providence Associate and volunteer, Judy Meyer, recounts treasured memories with her dear friend, Sister Rosalie Weller.

“I’ve heard these words used over and over to describe Sister Bernice: wise, centered, interested in everyone and accepting of everyone, perceptive – sometimes too perceptive, challenging when needed yet always affirming,” said Sister Denise Wilkinson of Sister Bernice Kuper who died Nov. 26, 2013. Sister Bernice was 91 years old and had been a Sister of Providence for 73 years.

Some words that describe Sister Eleanor Pierce are: prayerful, loyal, fun-loving, excellent teacher and administrator, a good friend and generous. She was always ready to listen and then hold what was said in confidence.Sister Eleanor Pierce died November 23, 2013. She was 90 years old and had been a Sister of Providence for 71 years.

When I asked her “What has been one of the best things about being a Sister of Providence?” Sister Eymard replied, “Being so close to God all these years.” Sister Mary Eymard Campeggio died Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013. She was 101 years old and had lived 82 years as a Sister of Providence.

Saint Joseph University Parish recently recognized parishioner Keith Ruble for his years dedicated to care and stewardship of Earth. The parish planted dogwood trees in his honor at the log cabin chapel at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods that Ruble helped to construct.

My favorite tree – and I have hundreds to choose from here at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods – is the huge Ginkgo tree in front of Corbe House, where I live.

The tree is huge! Sister Rose Ann Eaton and I just went out to measure the circumference of the trunk – 205 inches! While engaged in this pursuit, Rose told me a story she had heard from Sister Marceline Mattingly now in her nineties. Marceline remembers when the Ginkgo tree had only a single trunk. A storm broke the tree down near its base. As the tree regrew, it developed the multiple trunks very evident today. The tree’s shaggy bark, many trunks melding into one another and the sheer width of the branches lend distinctiveness, character and interest to “my” tree.

This year’s Guerin Outreach Ministries Leadership and Advocacy Award winner Frances Ginther has a long association with the Sisters of Providence, one that helped to shape her life-long dedication to people in need.

We, Sisters of Providence, are always looking for an excuse to celebrate and we’ve come up with a way you can join us in something fun and meaningful!

Today is the fifth anniversary of the Sisters of Providence Facebook page! On this day in 2008 we took the plunge into this social media pool and we have loved every minute of it. Facebook allows us to connect with some pretty awesome people and we are enjoying the sharing that happens within that space.

In honor of this fifth anniversary we want you to “GIVE FIVE!” Give five dollars to someone in need or use it to do something special for someone you know who could use a little pick-me-up.

But that’s not all! We want you to share the story of how you donated that $5 in the comments below or on our Facebook page. (We’ll even welcome them by email at ccasselm@spsmw.org if you prefer.)

Thank you Evan Drake for reminding me, reminding all of us, that you don’t need to be an adult to want to associate yourself with a loving Provident God or to be part of a group that commits itself to communicating that God’s providential care to others through works of love, mercy and justice.

No doubt Evan’s family has played a large part in his faith development and in his knowing a loving God. But I would like to give his association with the Sisters of Providence some credit!

He can’t have missed how genuinely excited people seem to be about being Associates, about being part of something bigger than themselves, about knowing that the unity they share with the Sisters of Providence and other Associates through this relationship enables them to be better people and to have an impact on life as they know it.

We know the love Jesus has for us is marked by compassion, inclusiveness, healing actions and often seemingly impossible challenges – like turning the other check, walking the extra mile, laying down one’s life not just for friends but for those we call our enemies. That’s how we are to love one another.

In this video clip Sister Marilyn Baker shares her story of transitioning from the religious habit to common clothes. “I loved my habit,” she shares. But she transitioned with the community as they were asked to be more a part of the modern world. Even without an outward garment, there is just something different about women religious, Sister Marilyn says. “She is identified by the work she does, by the ministry she does, by the fact that people can recognize God through her. And that, to me, that is the habit,” she says. See the full clip below.