Becoming a Providence Associate completed a circle, returning to the roots that nourished me even when I was in a different space. The spirituality and witness of the Sisters of Providence is a magnet that continues to attract and hold close the depths of my heart. Returning as an associate is like coming home.
Read more
What continues to draw me to the associate relationship is the deep spirituality I encounter every time I’m with the sisters—their intelligence, their strength, their kindness, their joy, their inclusiveness, their openness to re-evaluating the way things are in their situation, both as individuals and as a community, their openness to change, and most of all the way they live out their strong commitment to Providence “that so far has never failed us.”
Read more
My desire to be a Providence Associate was rooted in my desire to live an authentic life that is consistent with my values and true to the calling from my God.
Read more
Providence Associates Janice Lily discusses her work in providing healthy food for all through the Bloomington Winter Farmer’s Market
Read more
This season is our everyday lives. It is our every breath. It is not just the letting go of someone we love, but the letting go of what we know.
We rise with the Christ who showed us the way. We are Easter people. We are hope. We are love.
These are the women who taught me how to be who I am without apologizing, to be faithful to the Gospel even when it means being at odds with hierarchy, and to seek out peace in all things. I have learned so much about being a woman, a Christian, a Catholic, an environmental steward, and generally being a human from these people.
Read more
Depart from our lives, deadening spirit of winter.
Response: Go, winter, go!
Be gone, all ice, sleet, and cold in our personal lives: snide remarks, judgmental statements, cruel jokes, nasty gossip, untruthful comments, fear, anger, jealousy.
Response: Go, winter, go!
Be gone, times of loneliness and harshness.
Response: Go, winter, go!
Be aware of wasteful over packaging in items you buy and avoid buying those items. Better yet, buy used and avoid packaging all together.
Read more
There are many things from which we can fast — irreverence, exploitation, and control, for example. I heard some options several years ago that bear repeating: We can choose to fast from having the last word, or fast from holding on to a past hurt or memory. We can fast from always being right so that we can hear and hold sacred the truth of another.
Read more
What is a Providence Associate, anyway?
Providence Associates Lori Strawn and Alice Shelton address that question here in their blog talk radio show, Open Book.
Providence Associates strive to live out within their own lives the Sisters of Providence mission of honoring divine Providence by works of love, mercy and justice in service among God’s…
Read more
What things might make you feel better than someone else? Perhaps you went to school longer. You earn more money. You have better behaved kids. You hold yourself to a higher moral order. These things might bring a sense of pride. Recall people and circumstances in your life that have made good things possible for you. Consider whether those you disdain, look down on, have been surrounded by such blessings?
Read moreGet 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?
Plan for your future!
Leave the things you value to the people and purposes you value most.
Our Lady of Providence
The Sisters of Providence are here to pray for the real needs of your family.