February, 2008
February 27, 2008
Join the Club!
Heads up everyone! On St. Joseph’s Day, March 19th, 2008 our Million Dollar Club for Social Justice will accept members. Become part of something big!! Club members pledge to give $1,000 a year for three years to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Ministries Foundation.
Tell your friends that you belong to a Million Dollar Club and invite them to join as well. You will begin to see the difference in your neighborhood and city immediately. Receive updates on the global effect your gift makes as well.
Qualifications:
· You must be either a new benefactor to the Sisters of St Joseph Ministries Foundation or currently giving less than $1,000 a year.
Benefits:
· You will receive social justice news as it happens
· You will be able to meet the people behind the scenes and the everyday heroes who make it all worthwhile.
· You will meet people like yourself who put their money where their mouth is!
The club will have 334 individuals or couples willing to commit $1,000 for three years. This membership is renewable or members can choose to move up to higher giving levels to create an even greater impact. It is as easy as truly meaning the words when you say, “I want the world of my children and their children to be kinder, safer, freer, and more beautiful.”
Possumus!
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February 20, 2008
The Art of Joanne Emmer, CSJ
The Sisters of St. Joseph Ministries Foundation will display the work of artist Joanne Emmer, CSJ in a month-long retrospective exhibit throughout April at Carondelet Center, 1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul. This exhibit is free and open to the public.
Joanne Emmer, CSJ is a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Her career includes ten years on the faculty at the College of St. Catherine, where she taught art and theology. She then taught for more than three decades at St. Mary’s Junior College in Minneapolis, where she focused on teaching art to women preparing for the medical professions.
What amazes my staff as they prepare for this premiere art show is the beauty of the artist herself.
Joanne’s gentle spirit and ready laugh is mesmerizing. She radiates love — love for beauty and her students and God and art and life all together.
People come in droves to see Joanne Emmer and her work. Just meeting Joanne is worth coming.
I feel God’s presence when I am with her — God’s own artwork at work reflecting the Holy in her work. You must come. You will not want to miss this.
An opening reception for Joanne Emmer, CSJ: A Retrospective will be held Thursday, April 3, 2008 from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Carondelet Center. The reception is free and open to the public. The exhibit will remain open to the public during April at Carondelet Center, but visitors are encouraged to email or call 651-690-7026 for viewing hours. Additional limited edition prints will be for sale. For additional information and a preview of the work in the show, follow this link: Emmer Art
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February 15, 2008
Letter from Kenya
Thank goodness for St. Valentine's Day! I heard many stories throughout the day of individuals intentionally expressing their love for each other. It’s always heart-warming to think that at least one day a year people remember to say, “I love you.” Imagine if this happened every day?!
Our Consociate (lay associate) in Kenya, Mary Lieta, writes about her Valentine’s Day experience from war-torn western Kenya. Here is an excerpt from her letter to our Sisters:
Dear Friends,
...We have had a very interesting Valentine’s Day this year. We started on the 13th with visits to the people affected by violence and other widows and orphans that we have been supporting. We had 17 bags of maize to distribute. Everybody agreed that was the best Valentine’s Day we had ever shared.
Some of the very touching stories we encountered were, two little girls who are stuck at home with no help since they are orphans and their uncle was stuck in Mombasa. Another was of a young woman who had come home to her mother in law who is a widow. However tradition did not allow her to eat of her mother in law’s food. No persuasion would get them to share. There was a young man who died on the way from the local dispensary. There were no drugs at the dispensary. There were also many stories of the women whose husbands had died but had not yet been brought home for burial.
We spent some time with an old lady who was taking care of four grandchildren. Her only son and mother to these children had died some ten years back and she is bringing up these children single handed. Her daughter in-law had ran away from trouble in Nakuru with a one month old baby. The baby died after one week at home. She told us how she tries to cope with loss. Prayer, she said.
...Do continue praying for us. I am sure the peace we are having now is due to your prayers. We want to pray that it may be lasting peace.
Love,
Mary
You can count on me to send prayers of love out into the world every day, not just Valentine’s Day. Just reach out and grab them whenever you need them, they will be there. By the way, did you know that the name, Irene, means “Peace” in Greek? I figure therefore my prayers always come centered in Peace as well — so everyone automatically receives two for one!
Possumus.
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February 8, 2008
Centering
I've spent the last two weeks flying cross country to attend meetings in Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Kansas City. My body always arrives home well ahead of my spirit. It's so disconcerting.
One way I pull back together is to visit our Sisters of St. Joseph Province website at www.csjstpaul.org. I click into the spiritual ministries section because there I can enter into our community prayer as well as the strong and faithful response to the needs in our time. Our 350-year-old mission to be a loving presence in the world is powerful medicine.
When you find yourself dispersed across too many activities or away from your own center, go to the website. It may be just the gift you need to keep your body and soul together as well.
Possumus
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February 2, 2008
Connecting
Recently, I was at a networking lunch with probably 40 other women. We introduced ourselves by naming our profession. Among us were personal trainers, musicians, bankers, lawyers, financiers, health care providers, hair dressers, artists, educators, researchers and on and on. By the time it came around to me all I could think about were the women our Sisters serve.
They usually are defined by others—homeless or immigrant or single parent. When do we hear them stand up and say, I am an artist, scientist, musician, teacher, healer, preacher? They are just like the professional women except that they haven't had the opportunity to train or maybe even dream that it could come true.
I thought about using my introduction moment to ask each woman present if she would consider being a mentor for one of our women. But then I knew it would take too long to explain, so instead I said that I was a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet and that I was the Executive Director of the Ministries Foundation, which funds a network of programs that serve people in need. Turns out that was good enough.
After the luncheon several of the women came up to me filled with stories of how they know our Sisters and would like to reconnect or learn more. As we exchanged business cards, I told them about the women we serve and how we might be able to use their help. I can't say they jumped at the idea, but I know that as they reconnect with the CSJs, it will become a way of life. Everybody wins!
Possumus!
