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?
Trust in a Provident God: Providence Associate Bill Hughes
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.”
True to the calling: Providence Associate Joan Frisz
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.
The Easter season of our everyday lives
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.
I unite with all my sisters and all who share the charism of Providence …
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.
Let the winter go: a prayer ritual
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!
Eco-tip #10: avoid over-packaging
Be aware of wasteful over packaging in items you buy and avoid buying those items. Better yet, buy used and avoid packaging all together.
A call to change
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.
Providence Associates living out their commitments
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 people. What this looks like played out in individual lives…
Neighbors and nonviolence: a call to reflection
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?
The Christmas story: new and old
God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, Jesus Christ. This very Jesus Christ, the Holy One, is within you! Embrace this gift of the sacred. Share it with your family and friends. Open your eyes to see the Christ in those who have hurt you. Share the light of goodness with others who long to be loved.
Providence prayers for the journey of Advent
Advent means coming (Latin adventus; Greek parousia): the coming of Emmanuel (God-with-us) into our lives, the coming of Providence into the universe. This start of the Christian liturgical year invites us to prepare for the coming of light, liberation, and love into the universe. It challenges us to stay awake to Providence in our midst and to witness to this relationship.
Giving thanks from the heart
The two words thank you are so simple! But if said from deep within our hearts they can open a field of compassion and gratitude to others. If said from deep within our hearts, the saying of thank you becomes real. When we are real, we are able to melt the frozen places in others and ourselves.