Just when I was settling into the calm and quiet of Advent, along comes St. Nick’s Day to distract me. Given St. Nicholas’ reputation as the model for Santa Claus, it didn’t take me long to be whisked from Advent to Christmas Eve and memories of my very own St. Nicholas/Santa Claus impersonator — my brother, Len.
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Advent is my favorite season of the Liturgical Year. I love this quiet time before Christmas.
It isn’t a penitential time like Lent. It is a time of quiet anticipation.
Anticipation is naturally in the air. Children certainly anticipate Santa Claus and time off from school. Adults anticipate a break from work, getting together with family and friends, the chance to kick back and relax from the frenzied pace of life.
Advent is the season of waiting and longing. Our society makes it almost impossible to wait.
I noticed that Christmas TV programming began in early November. Certainly, Christmas advertising and shopping crept in even earlier — before Halloween!
The greatest challenge in Advent is to refrain from celebrating Christmas. Christmas is coming and it will be more than a day. In fact, there are 12 days for celebration, as the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” suggests (Christmas Eve on Dec. 24 through Epiphany on Jan. 6).
Read moreWe, Sisters of Providence, are always looking for an excuse to celebrate and we’ve come up with a way you can join us in something fun and meaningful!
Today is the fifth anniversary of the Sisters of Providence Facebook page! On this day in 2008 we took the plunge into this social media pool and we have loved every minute of it. Facebook allows us to connect with some pretty awesome people and we are enjoying the sharing that happens within that space.
In honor of this fifth anniversary we want you to “GIVE FIVE!” Give five dollars to someone in need or use it to do something special for someone you know who could use a little pick-me-up.
But that’s not all! We want you to share the story of how you donated that $5 in the comments below or on our Facebook page. (We’ll even welcome them by email at ccasselm@spsmw.org if you prefer.)
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Thank you Evan Drake for reminding me, reminding all of us, that you don’t need to be an adult to want to associate yourself with a loving Provident God or to be part of a group that commits itself to communicating that God’s providential care to others through works of love, mercy and justice.
No doubt Evan’s family has played a large part in his faith development and in his knowing a loving God. But I would like to give his association with the Sisters of Providence some credit!
He can’t have missed how genuinely excited people seem to be about being Associates, about being part of something bigger than themselves, about knowing that the unity they share with the Sisters of Providence and other Associates through this relationship enables them to be better people and to have an impact on life as they know it.
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I can not imagine life without books. My parents tell a story of when I went missing when I was two years old. My mother checked on me in the…
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I always think of my maternal grandfather, Alex “Casey” Gutgsell, on Halloween. He was very German and very stern. But he also had a mischievous side.
As kids, we went first to “trick or treat” at my grandparents’ home. Someone always dressed up like a witch and wore a treasured, horrific mask to complete her costume.
Without fail, Grandpa Gutgsell would remove the mask from the little witch, put it on and proceed to scare us. It so delighted him and so annoyed my grandmother.
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Happy Foundation Day! 173 years ago today, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and her five companions finally arrived in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. This lovely, old poem written by Sister Loretta Therese Bierman (1886-1919) tells of their first view of the “deep forest.”
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Our current culture seems to tell us life’s struggle is all about good vs. evil and black-and-white decisions. The reality is that the hardest choices are those that aren’t clear-cut.
They’re the ones you can argue from either side but eventually must make based on only a slight edge. That is the kind of choice the Sisters of Providence had to make about whether to test for and drill for oil on our motherhouse land.
A new group of Candidate-Associates began their journey with the Sisters of Providence as they explore the Providence Associate relationship on Saturday, Oct. 5, in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Providence Associates is open to women and men of all faith traditions who desire a closer relationship with the charism of Providence and the sisters.
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Two of the most privileged and sacred moments I enjoy in my ministry as general superior are receiving the vows of our newer members and praying the blessing prayer at the funeral of a deceased Sister of Providence. Each experience touches me deeply and evokes feelings of profound wonder and gratitude.
I’m thinking the above because I just returned from Taiwan and first profession of vows of one our Asian novices. What a joyful experience!
Sister Regina Gallo approached her recent skydiving experience through a spiritual lens: The safety of my “normal” prayer space with my lit candles and cup of tea or warm milk was gone. I had to trust my tandem instructor literally with my life. I had to trust my God and angels to guide me every second of the way. The biggest piece … I was NOT in control of anything. I simply had to trust and surrender; and it wasn’t simple.
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Where can I run from your love? If I hide in the farthest corner of the sea, you are there, guiding me, protecting me from harm. The bottomless depth of your maternal love… The sea is madre. Sister Carol Nolan, who ministers in California, writes about her retreat near the Pacific Ocean.
Read more“The God of Providence carries the entire mystery of the divine, ever trustworthy, never failing. The God of Providence offers all the possibilities for ourselves and the world, including both what God wants to happen and what God is willing to let happen because God honors the gift of human freedom. The choices are ours — truly free, but ever grounded in the grace of God, the Holy Mystery of Providence, about which there is ever more to be discovered.” – Sister Ruth Eileen Dwyer
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.