Providence Associates
Get a feel for who the Providence Associate community is and find inspiration in these stories. Reflections, poetry, articles and more by and about Providence Associates. Are you being called to walk with the Sisters of Providence as a Providence Associate?
My friends, the saints
We are used to thinking of saints in the past tense. It seems incredible that saints might walk among us today, but they do. What do they do that the rest of us don’t? Not much, really. Sainthood is less a way of doing than a way of being. As Mother Theodore said, “Let us never forget that if we wish to die like the Saints, we must live like them. "
Translating the virtues of heaven
Through the years, I have seen that the Sisters of Providence are keenly oriented toward both translating the virtues of heaven and toward the pursuit of justice itself. In seeing this, I have sought to join them — and so it is here and now that our paths converge.
Reinventing ourselves as Sisters of Providence
So, I ask myself, why would I want to retire when there are still so many possibilities of God’s Providence yet to enjoy just beyond the next horizon? It’s a no-brainer – I will just keep on listening to God’s invitations and saying “yes!”
What brings you here? What are you searching for?
One candidate said her 27-year-old daughter had come to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. She said she saw her daughter “became complete” here. So now she is coming as a Providence Associate candidate seeking to feel complete herself.
Bridging transition and loss
Sister Joseph Ellen Keitzer serves in pastoral ministry for St. Angela Parish in Chicago — a Catholic Church that was closed 10 years ago.
No, Sister Joseph Ellen hasn’t taken leave of her senses! Her role, as she describes it, is “gathering the lost sheep.”
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Feast Day reflection
175 years ago, our beginning was humble. We let go of what we knew and we embraced what was to come. 175 years later we are being asked to do the same. Trust me — as we continue to walk into this new era, as Sisters of Providence, Providence Associates, supporters and friends, we will grow into this era. Be patient. Be prayerful.
The pope and the golden rule
What Francis speaks is Christ-centered, Gospel-centered common sense. Let us rejoice that we have a Pope who speaks for the poor, who challenges those in power, who will not be shut up by nay-sayers who call him a false prophet.
A lampworker’s meditation
The color and clarity are full of potential, but it must change from its brittle, breakable self into the beauty for which it is designed. The bead is in the glass rod, but it is not the glass rod.
To God through music: it’s a FESTivity!
Providence Associate, Jane Fischer, highlights an exciting activity to happen at the FEST!
Tracing Providence: a Providence Associate reflects
I had long wanted to somehow give back to the world in a meaningful way. Meeting the Sisters of Providence and ultimately becoming a Providence Associate meant that in some small part, I could help become a purveyor of God’s Providence, not just a passive recipient.
Continually called: Providence Associate Connie Schnapf
Providence continues to call me deeper and deeper in the mystery, and I am so grateful. The opportunity to further my commitment to God’s Providence as a woman of faith, wife, mother, grandmother and companion to others through a call to love, mercy and justice, continues to challenge and bless my life. It is an integral part of who I am and who I am becoming.
My walk with Our Lady of Providence
Jenny Nowalk, a Providence Associate, shares her walk with Our Lady of Providence.
