Blog by Sr. June Fitzgerald, OP[/caption]
National Catholic Sisters Week is March 8 - 14. Created to honor women religious, it is a series of events that instruct, enlighten and bring greater focus to the lives of these incredible women. It's our chance to recognize all they have done for us. It's also our hope that as more young women learn about women religious, more will choose to follow their example.
One of the main objectives of this week is to have Sisters tell the story of their lives. Through this, we can preserve a precious heritage of service, prayer and community in our country. Therefore, this week, I invite you to ask a Sister her story. Listen. Ask questions.
Then share her story with others. Let us rejoice in our diversity, perseverance and faith.
I invite you to pray this prayer with me:
Loving and Gracious God, You express your love by putting special people in our lives and today we thank you for a very special group, the Catholic Sisters you have given to the church.
They fulfill a unique role, devoting their lives to building the Kingdom of God here on Earth. We ask you to bless all women religious during this Year of Consecrated Life. Guide them, strengthen them, sustain them and shower them with your grace.
We ask that you may open our eyes to the beauty of their work, so that we too may draw close to you in prayer and reach out, in turn, to help neighbors in need. Give us the courage to answer the unique call you have for each of our lives. It is the path to great joy.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Christ and the Holy Spirit, both now and forever.
Amen
Other resources for celebrating this week can be found on the National Catholic Sisters site. For additional resources, see the following links:- Women Religious Fact Sheet
- NCSW News Release
- Intercessions for National Catholic Sisters week and the remaining Sunday's in Lent