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.

Reflections

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…

Sister Jeanne Knoerle
August 27, 2009
Eco-Spirituality, Environmental Justice, Providence Spirituality

Reflections

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…

Features, Reflections

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.

Sister Nancy Nolan
May 5, 2009
Providence Spirituality, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

Features, Reflections

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…

Sister Maureen Abbott
May 5, 2009
Providence Spirituality, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

Features, Reflections

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…

Sister Jeanne Knoerle
May 5, 2009
Providence Spirituality, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

Reflections

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…

Sister Denise Wilkinson
May 3, 2009
Racial Equality & Equity, Reflections from Sister Denise

Reflections

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…

Reflections

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,…

Reflections

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…

Reflections

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…

Sisters of Providence
April 20, 2009
Eco-Spirituality, Environmental Justice, Providence Spirituality

Reflections

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…

Reflections

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…

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