Tonight at 7:00pm, Sister Pat Dowling, CBS vocation director will launch the Sisters Chat Room for women who are exploring their call to religious life. Featured guest is Sister Chris Webb who will share her story of being called to religious life and how she knew. Sr. Chris is preparing to make final vows November 12 and will be sharing what this means over a four week period with women who exploring their own calling to religious life. To access Sisters Chat go to our home page and click on Sisters Chat. Instructions for logging on are found on the Chat Room page. Hope to see you on Sisters Chat!

Join Catholics around the world in 60 hours of Eucharistic prayer for vocations which coincides with Pope Benedict’s 60th anniversary of ordination. Join us June 29 to July 1 (Feast of the Sacred Heart) in praying for vocations. We offer the following prayer.

Jesus, you call faith-filled men and women to follow in your footsteps of serving people through a vocation in the Church as brothers, priests, and sisters. We pray that young people may open their hearts to hear your call and to answer with generosity to a vocation to consecrated life as religious. May those who you call be examples of your love and live the Good News to such an extent that they become the Word for others. May the Holy Spirit inspire young people to be Christ for others. Amen.

For information about consecrated life as a sister, contact us at 410-442-3172 or email at: CBSVocations@bshsi.org.
.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore will join Catholics around the world in 60 hours of Eucharistic prayer for vocations to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s ordination to the priesthood.  Archbishop O’Brien asks all to make Eucharistic adoration available for 60 hours beginning June 29 and conclude July 1, feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  In the Pope’s “Message for World Day of Prayer for Vocations, ‘Proposing Vocations in the Local Church’,” he reminded Catholics that we all have a responsibility to pray for vocations. 

The Archdiocese of Baltimore provides a schedule of prayers throughout the area on their website at: http://www.archbalt.org/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=46431  Whether you live in the Baltimore area and can attend one of these services or you live at a distance and will be attending a service within another diocese, please join us in prayer for vocations at this time.

This summer the Sisters of Bon Secours will be hosting a short-term service project for young, single women, ages 18 to 35, who have a willingness to serve those in need. Project Good Help will be held in July. Volunteers will need to arrive in the evening on Thursday, the 21st and will finish up in the morning on Tuesday the 26th. The women will stay at the Sister’s headquarters in Marriottsville, MD and work in nearby Baltimore city at a community garden, a drop-in center for women, a family support/learning center and a senior housing center.  This will be an excellent opportunity to serve the less fortunate and make a difference in the community.  

During this service opportunity, the volunteers will be able to share their experience with sisters and apply it to their own lives.  Each day will also be bathed in prayer and reflection. 

Interested in learning more?  Click Here for more information about Project Good Help and to access our online PDF application.

This evening begins the first day of Passover.  Passover, or Pesach, is the Jewish celebration of the Exodus, when the ancient Israelites were freed from captivity in Egypt.  A special Seder meal is eaten, while prayers explaining the great feast are read from Haggadah. 

God of all, remind us often that glad tidings to someone who is hurting goes beyond mere charity.  Let us be good news to the poor and suffering by our willingness to be present to them in love, in their pain, and on their journey, as Jesus is with us. Amen. 

Share your prayers and reflections with us. Also, how have you served the poor and suffering?

April is National Stress Awareness Month.  Undoubtedly you feel stress in this crazy, fast-paced world of ours.  How do you handle stress in your life?  What kinds of things give you the most stress in your daily life?  How do you cope?  Do you feel a sense of peace after you pray or meditate about it? 

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.  Ps. 68:18-20

 We are happy to share this news of our sisters in Peru.  Amabilia Arriaga Garcia, Joana Castillo Segura, and Yovani Martinez Carbajal took their temporary profession of vows on March 19 in Lima, Peru.  This step in the formation process was approved in January when Sisters Pat Eck and Rose Marie Jasinski, USA country leader, joined other leaders from Peru, France, and Ireland for congregation team meetings at the Sisters of Bon Secours Formation House in Peru.  After accepting the request for the three novices to take their temporary vows, the leaders were able to share the happy news with them in person. 

The three sisters started the formation process as candidates before becoming novices.  The candidacy phase involved the women living with a group of Sisters of Bon Secours while learning about the methods of prayer and discovering their talents and gifts.  After requesting to move to the novitiate phase, they spent two years studying the principles of … continue reading…

We are happy to welcome a communications intern, Brittany Odoms, to our Vocations office team.  Brittany is a senior Communication major at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD.  Her interest in marketing and communications in a religious environment brought her to the Sisters of Bon Secours.  She is excited to assist with our advertising, marketing, and communication efforts.  She will be assisting us with social media research and updates as well as exploring other creative ways to reach women interested in religious life. 

Brittany grew up in Weiser, Idaho and ventured to the East Coast to pursue her undergraduate degree.  Last spring she studied abroad in Budapest, Hungary, which sparked her interest in Eastern European history and travel.  She also enjoys reading, playing Scrabble, and film photography.

We look forward to utilizing Brittany’s fresh perspective and the extra help she will provide.  Welcome Brittany!

In life, we are all walking at different speeds, but we are on the same journey to God, like a walk through a labyrinth.

Where does your path begin?  Perhaps with a delicate voice in your ear urging you forward.  A voice that cannot be heard by those around you.  You, yourself may even deny hearing the words, but the denial proves futile, as the words linger just under the surface.

Maybe your path begins with the mounting fears of life, as you seek the solace of something greater to relieve your worries.

Maybe someone in your life has danced along their path and emits the radiant light of God’s love – encouraging you to follow suit.

Are you 23?  33?  43?  Maybe younger…maybe older.  It is never too early or too late in life to begin your journey.

Do not submit to your fear…embrace it.  Quell your reluctance with the promised grace of our Lord.  Replace your confusion and uncertainty with the faith that God holds your journey in His hands.  Just take the first step!

Once inside your labyrinth, realize that the twists and … continue reading…

Please enjoy this quote from Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (who, incidentally, hated being called “Teddy”):
It’s far better to dare mighty things…
than to take rank
with the poor spirits
who neither enjoy much or suffer much
because they live in the gray twilight
that knows not victory or defeat.

~Theodore Roosevelt
What “mighty things” are you afraid to try?  Everyone has the ability within them to overcome and excel, but sadly, many are afraid to take the chances.  Are you afraid of risk?  Why?

Let’s just say God has been talking to you lately, whether you are openly listening or not, He is calling to you.  Maybe you see an ill friend being taken care of by a gentle nurse and you wish you could give the same type of care and nurturing for those that are ill.  Perhaps something inside of you is tweaked when you see someone in need and stop to help them, no matter how small you think the deed is.  (READ HERE for an example of how a seemingly small deed did … continue reading…