LCWR

Stand in Solidarity

October 17, 2023 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

We, the Benedictine Sisters of Florida, stand in solidarity with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in their condemnation of violence of any kind against vulnerable, civilian populations.

LCWR Stands in Solidarity with the People of the Middle East

“Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake.
War begets war, violence begets violence.”

Pope Francis, Angelus, September 1, 2013.

The members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), in solidarity with the global community of faith, stand in the shadow of the horrors initiated on October 7, 2023 in Israel and Gaza. As women of the Gospel, we grieve with those who grieve, seek release of those held captive, and recognize the root causes of violence as well as the urgent call for the use of all possible resources to stabilize the Middle East, secure refuge for those in humanitarian crisis, and negotiate peace that will last.

United with the interfaith community, we take seriously our responsibility to protect the safety of all people of faith throughout the world. We stand united with leaders of other faiths, intolerant of any form of hate or violence towards places of worship, and ready to witness to the transformation of consciousness necessary for sustainable peace.

LCWR is compelled to work toward a world where reverence for all living beings finds expression in a life of nonviolence. We stand in solidarity with the victims of brutality and with faith leaders as we heed the Gospel call to follow Jesus’ way of nonviolence, reconciliation, and care for the most vulnerable across lines of division.

We commit ourselves and the members of our religious communities to choose the peaceful path of Jesus and exercise all of our rights and duties as citizens to urge our leaders to act as responsible members of the world community. We join our prayer with religious people of all faiths who recognize that war is not the solution, and we commit ourselves to be those who believe that peace is possible.

We call upon world leaders and the United Nations to activate those mechanisms necessary for an immediate ceasefire and the negotiation of peace, so that justice may prevail. We are each responsible to be aware, to be informed by factual information, to look at root causes, and to reject rhetoric that fuels violence.

We, the members of LCWR, will continue to speak on behalf of the truth of faith, the strength of prayer, the power of nonviolence and the only pathway that will provide a future for our children: peace.

Catholic Sisters Week

March 8, 2022 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

9th Annual Catholic Sisters Week

will celebrate work women religious do today

March 3, 2022

by Dan Stockman

Catholic Sisters Week – March 8-14, 2022

Thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many activities planned for the ninth annual Catholic Sisters Week will again take place online.

But this year’s virtual events, which begin March 8, International Women’s Day, and run through March 14, are more interactive than last year’s: Rather than simply observing an event taking place at a convent or motherhouse, many of this year’s events are about getting participants involved in the work sisters do.

Stacy Spitler, director of communications for the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and chair of the Communicators for Women Religious committee overseeing Catholic Sisters Week, said organizers have worked to ensure events are not only about the legacy of sisters’ work, but what they do today.

“Let’s take down the walls and engage with the charism and ministries and love that vowed sisters bring to the world,” Spitler said. “Sisters are always about welcome and invitation, and I think Catholic Sisters Week is a call to the world to take a moment and pay attention to the wisdom and the experience and the inspiration sisters offer.”

The theme for this year is “Caring for Earth, Caring for You,” and Spitler said many events are incorporating an environmental focus or aspects of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Sí‘ on Care for Our Common Home.”

“Sisters have been caring for our Earth and caring for creation throughout their lifetimes,” she said.

The Amityville Dominicans will use the week to have participants join an eco-challenge aimed at reducing plastic waste by purchasing products with minimal or no plastic packaging and switching to reusable water bottles, utensils and bags. Similarly, Region IV of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious is getting participants involved in caring for the Earth with “events, prayers, calls to action, social media campaigns, and more.” And the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, Kentucky, are inviting participants to join a virtual walking tour of Louisville that traces the highlights of the congregation’s co-founder, Mother Catherine Spalding.

Catholic Sisters Week also brings the final episode of “Exploring Intersections: Catholic Sisters on Racism, Migration and Climate,” a project of LCWR’s Region 10. For a year, the monthly program has explored the issues of racism, migration and climate and how they are intertwined. The March 9 episode, “Navigating the Road Ahead,” will focus on takeaways from the series and suggestions for continuing the conversation.

As always, there are “come and see” events and discussions about vocations and discernment opportunities, but Ginny Hizer, executive director of Communicators for Women Religious, which has overseen Catholic Sisters Week since 2020, said engaging with sisters does not have to be part of a recruiting effort.

“One of the things Catholic Sisters Week embraces this year is the concept of being engaged in the work,” Hizer said. “It’s taking the flavor and the mission of the sisters and actually living it out.”

While laypeople are increasingly involved in the work of sisters through sponsored ministries and associate programs, Catholic Sisters Week opens those opportunities to a much broader audience, Hizer said.

“It allows everybody to participate and be part of that work,” she said.

The week’s events also include at least three food drives, a virtual Celtic tea, and an invitation to join the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica for compline, or evening prayer. See all Catholic Sisters Week events.

“Catholic Sisters Week opens up many invitations to engage in contemplative study with sisters. You’ll find webinars, liturgy celebrations,” Spitler said. “Vocation is a piece of this, obviously, but it’s also an opportunity for people to engage with the sisters in many different ways, both virtually and in person.”

She said the engagement Catholic Sisters Week offers this year is especially important after two years of pandemic restrictions and the social isolation it has caused: Even as restrictions have eased, many people feel lost or alone, unable to connect with others and unsure of whether it’s even safe to connect.

“Sisters are better than anybody at finding the hope and holding the hope and recognizing the abundance that surrounds our lives. If you want to experience a bit of that abundance, look to Catholic Sisters Week,” she said. “You can get out of the dark, yucky, cold winter and get some motivation and a reminder of where our faith comes from.”

~by Dan Stockman

Dan Stockman is national correspondent for Global Sisters Report.

Letter to President Trump

August 15, 2019 by Holy Name Monastery Leave a Comment

More Than 660 LCWR Members Call on President Trump to Stop All Divisive and Polarizing Rhetoric

August 14, 2019

The following is a letter sent by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) during its annual 2019 conference to President Trump on August 14.

Mr. President,

We live in a world increasingly marked by hatred, brutality, and violent conflict. We see our own country threatened by increasing disparities in economic, political, and social power. We are caught in a political culture paralyzed by ideological extremism and hyper-partisanship. These are times that require exceptional insight and courageous leadership.

In the face of these unprecedented challenges, we are outraged and heart-broken when our political leaders appeal to our basest instincts and stoke the fires of fear that threaten to tear the fabric of our nation apart. We cannot, we will not, let the voices of hatred and fear carry the day.

Mr. President, we beseech you to end all divisive and polarizing rhetoric. We implore you to never use language that disrespects, dehumanizes, or demonizes others. We expect our president, and all who serve this nation as leaders, to be always mindful of the common good and the dignity of each and every person. You hold a position that has the potential to inspire the best of every one of us and we ask you to use this unique status to bring about healing and never seek to create division.

The people of this pluralistic nation form a diverse polity characterized by a wide variety of beliefs, experiences, and interests. Disagreements and differences have the potential to challenge all of us to abandon easy certainty and seek a fuller truth. The problem is not our many differences or passionate disagreements. Those differences are our greatest strength; those disagreements are opportunities for growth. It is how we handle those inevitable conflicts that spells the difference between building the common good and destroying the bonds that bind this nation.

In his address to the US Congress in 2015, Pope Francis invited our political leaders to promote respect for the dignity of every human person and to renew their commitment to a spirit of cooperation. He also addressed each of us and all who seek to lead this nation when he said, “Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility . . . You are called to defend and preserve the dignity of your fellow citizens in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good, for this is the chief aim of all politics. A political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk . . . Building a future of freedom requires love of the common good and cooperation in a spirit of subsidiarity and solidarity.”

As Catholic sisters, our ministries frequently require us to be in the heart of situations of discord and division, and thus we understand the great complexities and challenges that are inherent in the work of reconciliation. We too have to reach deep within ourselves to bring forth the grace and strength that are needed to not give in to the temptation of labeling or judging those who are different from us. We share with you, Mr. President, that maintaining this fundamental stance in life requires discipline and fortitude and a constant examination of our daily thoughts and deeds in light of our beliefs. We sometimes come up short, but pledge to do better each day because we are aware of the moral authority we, as sisters, bear. We ask you, Mr. President, if you would consider a similar examination of the practice of your own moral authority.

We send this letter to you as 663 Catholic sister leaders gathered in assembly in Arizona. We and approximately 700 other Catholic sisters are members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and represent approximately 35,000 sisters who minister throughout this nation. We promise to never cease raising our voices on behalf of the common good and praying for the healing of this country.

Sincerely,

The Members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Stay Awake and Be Ready

August 9, 2019 by holyname 1 Comment

This week in the U.S. the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) will be convening in Scottsdale, Arizona. Let us pray for the leaders of women’s communities – and not solely for them – but for all levels of leadership in communities of women religious. May they be women of faith, alive in hope. They and all of us must live in hope with the assurance that however things turn out it makes sense in God’s plan. Our daily stance must be the words of the psalmist: Stay awake and be ready.

Several years ago, Mother Teresa appeared on the Hour of Power television program. The host, Pastor Robert Schuller, reminded her that the show was being broadcast all over America and in 22 foreign countries, including her native Yugoslavia. He asked her if there was one message she would like to convey to all those viewers. Her response was, “Yes, tell them to pray. And tell them to teach their children to pray.”

Sadly, we live in a generation where there seems to be little hope in our world. Jesus keeps reminding us to trust God. He encourages us to let go of our resentments, our doubts and our fears. He urges us to remember that there is never a storm so tumultuous that He cannot bring us to safety. There is no night so dark that His light cannot penetrate it. Nothing is going to happen to us that, with God’s grace, we can’t handle. When hurricane winds howl, and tornado winds whip around us or flood waters are rising we have to remind ourselves that prayer is our most powerful and most reliable force.

Sometimes it may seem that no one is listening. Do you recall how four-year-old impish Anna addressed God in Sydney Hopkins book: Mister God, This Is Anna? She had great conversations with her Mister God. So introduce yourself to God. God is listening. He will answer your prayers in His own time and in His own way. God said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Be on the lookout for God’s touches in your life. One day Jesus may ask us: “Who touched me? …. I know someone touched me, power went out of me.” Be sure that your touches in people’s lives are God-like. How we get along with each other says a great deal about how we love God and the kind of people we want to be.

You know of many instances when Jesus healed with a touch. And how often do you say, or hear people say, “That really touched my heart.” Our words do touch people – our compliments and affirmations but also the barbs, rudeness or hurtful teasing. Our words leave their mark – will they be angry red scar marks or soft reminders of happy times? Remember the little girl who was saying her nightly prayers. (She said,) “Dear God, if you’re there and you hear my prayer, could you please just touch me?” Just then she felt a touch and got so excited! She said, “Thank you, God, for touching me.” Then she looked up, saw her older sister and got a little suspicious. “Did you just touch me?” The sister answered, “Yes, I did.” “What did you do that for?” she asked. “God told me to” was the reply.

Our big question is: Do we know how to pray as we ought? Do we merely ask for things, or do we dare ask to be transformed? When we do so, do we promise to follow the promptings of the Spirit? We can’t ask God to guide our footsteps if we are not willing to move our feet.

I will close with a portion of Nelson Mandela’s 1994 Inaugural Speech:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, successful, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us, it’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Stand in Solidarity

We, the Benedictine Sisters of Florida, stand in solidarity with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in their condemnation of violence of any kind against vulnerable, civilian populations.

LCWR Stands in Solidarity with the People of the Middle East

Catholic Sisters Week

9th Annual Catholic Sisters Week