Reflections
Share in the wisdom of the Providence community. Be inspired, grow in your faith and find practical spiritual guidance in these reflections from Sisters of Providence and Providence Associates.
The new cosmology: an evolving universe
This article is reprinted from the fall 2009 issue of HOPE. How do you picture God? Pray to God? Understand God? Most of us move from childhood to adulthood thinking about God in ways appropriate to our age; yet there…
Theology: faith seeking connection
How do you picture God? Pray to God? Understand God? Throughout the centuries, theologians have tried to help us grasp the idea of God. As our knowledge of the world around us changes, so, then, does our way of thinking…
Missionary spirit of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
Just as the little community was settling in, a devastating fire destroyed all of their provisions for the winter ahead. They lost 150 bushels of wheat and 150 bushels of oats, hay and corn shocks to feed the animals. The barn also contained bacon, suet and extra beds. It was once again a time of throwing themselves with complete abandon into the hands of Providence.
The charism of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
When asked to give her impressions of Mother Theodore, Susanna Alvey, who grew up as a neighbor in the then-thriving village of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, responded, “Her success was due more to prayer than to human efficiency, I think.” Through her…
The spirituality of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
Spirituality, the fundamental, underlying way in which a person relates to God, to other people and to oneself, is not merely an attitude toward God, an acceptable way to worship God, or a certain set of beliefs about God. Spirituality…
Principles of non-violence
Paging through the newspaper the other day, I came across an interview with Ambassador Andrew Young, a close associate of Martin Luther King, Jr. The interviewer asked Young many questions about his early days in the civil rights movement. Young’s…
O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? – Easter 2009
Whenever I stumble upon this passage from 1 Corinthians 15, I have the same knee-jerk reaction: I can go with the victory part; but death does sting. When a loved one dies, sensations of loneliness, loss, grief — sometimes even…
Our special practices
The Sisters of Providence have published a book about the fundamental practices that have shaped their lives and the life of the congregation since its beginning in France in 1806 and its establishment in Indiana in 1840. The book, Love,…
Forgiveness and reconciliation
A reflection by Sister Ruth Eileen Dwyer As we go through the day with its news of events in which one person or group has deliberately threatened, endangered, offended or injured another, we respond in different ways. Often the response…
Caring for God’s gifts: the natural environment and faith
By Sister Ruth Eileen Dwyer From the very beginning humans have had a mutual relationship with the natural world that satisfied their needs and with the Creator as Source and Giver of life. Perhaps the most ancient of the names…
Thoughts on Resurrection
By Sister Ruth Eileen Dwyer Something about April and Resurrection belong together! We encounter new life bursting into being more visibly every day: the slow but steady increase of sunlight each morning and evening; the sowing of new seed; the…
Easter Transformation in the Christian Life
A reflection by Sister Ruth Eileen Dwyer As the natural world begins to show the first signs of transformation to new life in spring beauty, the followers of Jesus celebrate another transforming event in human history. We move through Lent…