Join us this second week of Lent in daily spiritual reflections with Saint Mother Theodore Guerin. Check the blog each Sunday during Lent for short reflections created by Postulant Emily TeKolste for each day of the coming week.
We invite you to spend a few minutes each day reflecting on the scripture verses and the words of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin with these daily Lenten reflections. May your Lent be a time of deepening your spirituality and growing closer to God. And may your walk be a little more meaningful by sharing it with Saint Mother Theodore Guerin.
“I’ve used writing to work through difficult situations since I was a child, but had gotten away from this in recent years,” Frost said. “I needed a way to express all of the conflicting thoughts and emotions that go along with caring for someone you love, but who views you as the cause of her unhappiness. I read the description of Liza and Norbert’s workshop and immediately knew it was what I needed.”
In seeking greater unity, we started on our own doorsteps. We were all women religious who wear common clothing similar to those around us. But women religious come in all clothing types. There has been a historical division between those who chose to remain in their habits and those who chose to shed their habits following the Second Vatican Council. Similarly, approaches to authority and the vow of obedience differ greatly, and often line up with differences in dress. Conversation throughout the weekend focused on bridging those historical divisions and developing strategy that allows for true collaboration.
The only way we can bridge that which divides us is through encounter. We must seek ways of listening to understand rather than listening to respond. That is why I chose to stand up publicly for a culture of civility and inclusion at our own Gathering in Solidarity at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods last Saturday. That is why I refused to let one point of disagreement with March organizers exclude me from participating in standing up for the very foundation of society: civil, respectful discourse. Similarly, that is why I participated in calling to task the organizers for excluding others based on one point of disagreement.
The Women’s March on Washington is not one group. It is not one unified effort. Participants are attending despite differences of opinion on specific platform items. Women are coming together to say that their voices deserve to be part of the conversation, that the principles of respect and unity are more important than precise uniformity.
The principle of solidarity, or recognizing our interdependence with all of creation, has been at the heart of Catholic social teaching for as long as it has existed.
The Women’s March and similar events seek to create spaces where all are welcomed to stand in solidarity with those on the margins of our society. The movement encourages participation by all people who feel marginalized and their allies. It’s a space for all to come together and build a movement to sustain our work for justice into the future.
"Profit by the experience you have just had at your own expense and not speak to the children but with prudence and discretion. There is no way of repairing what you have done but by showing the pupils what you can do," writes Saint Mother Theodore Guerin in this previously unpublished letter.
To hear Ezra Kyle Meadors talk about his history with the Sisters of Providence is to feel his deep love for the community, Mother Theodore and the sisters and his gratitude for the strain of Providence running through his life.
“God’s work gets done by people ready to take risks and to work hard." Postulant Emily TeKolste reflects on the life of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin.