MAY 2011
VOL. XVI, NO. 4
Associates and Sisters Day 2011 will focus on...
The 2011 Associates and Sisters Day on June 11 will feature multiple presentations from Ursuline Sisters and Associates, with the focus on “Saint Angela as Peacemaker and Reconciler.” With our society seemingly committed to “divide and conquer” at every turn, it will be encouraging to hear the words Saint Angela spoke about striving for peace and reconciliation. She lived in a time of great upheaval and violence, one in which the opinions of women were rarely sought, but her words and actions carried great insight that we can still learn from today. Rather than have a keynote speaker this year, the Associate Advisory Board chose to enlist multiple voices to explore more facets of Saint Angela’s teaching concerning how we should treat “the least” of our society. Sister Michele Morek will lead the first session, “What Angela Teaches Us About Living as an Environmentally Friendly Christian.” Fresh off her internship with UNANIMA in New York City, in which she worked on clean water issues, Sister Michele will lead us in a reflection on Angela’s personal philosophy and writings, and will pose the question, “Was Saint Angela ‘Green’?”
In describing her talk, Sister Michele said, “Even if she didn’t belong to the ‘Brescia Citizens for Curbside Recycling Committee,’ or write letters for the ‘Save the Whales’ campaign, did Angela have an environmental spirituality that would fit our day? By using a little inductive and deductive reasoning, we will look at the life of this woman of the 15th-16th century and see if we can make a case for her 2011 membership in the Sierra Club.” The second session is, “What the Poor Teach Us About Being Christian.” Sister Jacinta Powers will lead this discussion, with assistance from Associates Mary Danhauer and Martha House. All three are nurses who have given their time to minister to the poor in places such as Jamaica, Haiti, and where they serve now, Mary and Martha in Owensboro, and Sister Jacinta in Memphis, Tenn., where she serves the working poor at the Church Health Center. In describing their presentation, Sister Jacinta wrote, “From the Rule of Saint Angela we hear the words ‘finally, we exhort each one to embrace poverty, and not only effective poverty of temporal things, but above all the true poverty of spirit by which man strips his heart of all affection and longing for created things, and of his very self.’ In Matthew 19:21 Jesus tells us, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to (the) poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ What ‘possessions’ in our lives keep us from true gospel living? How do the poor teach us to live the Christian life? Together, let’s start the conversation of how Christ, through the poor, is calling us to a deeper transforming experience for us all.” Continued on page 3
Join us Saturday, June 11 for Associates and Sisters Day Angela Merici, Peacemaker and Reconciler
(1) What Angela Teaches Us about Being an Environmentally Friendly Christian (2) What the Poor Teach Us About Being Christian (3) What Angela Teaches Us about Living in Today’s Society as a Christian
PLEASE NOTE: A registration form can be found on the back page. A schedule for the day is on page 2.