“A new way to look at things – positively energizing!”

Vicki Perfect
Blog by Associate Vicki Perfect, OPA

“WOW!” jumped right off the page as one participant described how the program Unfolding a Future Hope, Celebrating YOU and the Community of Northeast Ohio Associates had shaped her experience.

The day started with an opening prayer drawing on Don Goergen’s “The Pillars Revisited: A Fresh Look at Dominican Spirituality” that quietly set the collective spirit of all in the room open and ready to celebrate The Gift of Friendship, The Spirit of Integration, The Love of Truth and The Grace of Freedom. The Spirit did not disappoint. Continue reading →

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St. Martin de Porres: Upsetting the Status Quo

Pat Dual
Blog by Sr. Pat Dual, OP

All of us have heard the well-used quote, “A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.” Every year on November 1st, the Catholic Church honors the Solemnity of All Saint’s Day, remembering those men and women throughout Christian history who have lived their lives in faithfulness to God and the gospel. They are people who have lived their lives in stark contrast to the values that the world usually holds as important—values such as pursuing wealth, power or fame—values which are usually a threat to justice and liberty. Saints upset the “status quo” and disrupt attitudes that are unjust. This was the kind of saint that the church celebrated on November 3rd, the Feast Day of Saint Martin de Porres, Patron Saint of Social Justice. Continue reading →

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Luke 17: Unprofitable Servants – Us?

Blog by Sr. Janet Schlichting, OP
Blog by Sr. Janet Schlichting, OP

Every so often, I really bristle at a Gospel story or saying. And I admit it – reading the story Jesus told in yesterday’s gospel raise a few porcupine quills. Here is this unfeeling master not inviting the tired slave/servant to rest after a hard day in the field but instead expecting more labor. Get my meal on the table. No concern, no thanks. This was the contract. But as I read the story, the master became God, who not only demands our service, but takes it for granted. Jesus seems to approve, and adding insult to injustice, tells his disciples that their response to their call is, “We are only unprofitable servants.” Frankly, I’ve put too much time and effort into living my vocation to settle for that. And that brought this story to mind. Continue reading →

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Sisters Against Trafficking

SrCarolDavis
Blog by Sr. Carol Davis, OP

When she was 12, her father raped her and on weekends sold her to neighbors and acquaintances when they came over to play cards. When she was 14, her addicted brother sold her to a gang for drugs. When he was 15, he was kidnapped while walking home from school. He was sold but managed to escape before being shipped out of the United States. These are three people whose stories break my heart. Their pain is palpable. Their courage is undeniable as they reclaim their voices. These are three of the millions of people, millions of reasons Catholic Sisters have come together in their work against trafficking. The words of Saint Catherine of Siena are as vital today as they were in the 14th century, “Speak the truth in a million voices. It is silence that kills the world.” Continue reading →

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Did You Know That You Could Miss Heaven by 18 Inches?

Blog by Associate Conni Dubick, OPA
Blog by Associate Conni Dubick, OPA

The title of the address by Daniel Groody, CSC, at the Religious Formation Conference in Pittsburgh this past week was “Dying to Live: Migration, Religious Life and the Eucharist.” As he unfolded his comments, it was evident that he explained “migration” in its broadest sense. His description of the immigrant described not only those human beings who leave their home country for economic, violence related or internally displaced reasons. I determined that he was offering a “theology of migration” which was meant to address the crisis of the marginalized everywhere. Continue reading →

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