Sister Christine Webb will take the final steps in her jouney to become a sister of Bon Secours. On Saturday, November 12, she will make her final vows.

Sr. Chris took her first, temporary vows on November 1, 2008. Since then, she has enjoyed her ministry as Chaplain at two Bon Secours assisted living communities, Province Place of DePaul in Norfolk and Province Place of Maryview in Portsmouth, Va. The period of temporary profession is balanced with living community life, ministry, prayer, and study as needed; a time for sisters to penetrate more deeply the demands of the Gospel and their vocation in order to integrate these demands into their life in a concrete and responsible manner. Now, at the end of this phase, Sr. Chris has been spending the last few months in intensive spiritual preparation to prayerfully prepare for making her final vows.

Her final vows ceremony will be … continue reading…

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.

They say the opposite of war is not love…it is PEACE.  And I have to say that this video, actually it is a trailer for an independent film, certainly brings light to how strongly we should be waging a campaign for Peace.  What do you think?

Here is an excerpt from the Global Zero website:
The film is a fascinating and frightening exploration of the dangers of nuclear weapons, exposing a variety of present day threats and featuring insights from a host of international experts and world leaders who advocate the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

Countdown to Zero is a chilling wake-up call about the urgency of the nuclear threat. It tells the striking story of uncertainty, exposing the real possibility of nuclear disaster and revealing the truth behind an issue on which human survival itself hangs.

Catholic Health World

July 1, 2010
Volume 26, Number 12

It takes vision to realize when good is not good enough.

Sr. Rita Thomas, CBS, had the vision to help transform a regional health system into a leader in cutting-edge care. Throughout her career, she’s fought for justice and discovered creative ways to reach the needy in her community of Portsmouth, Va., and its environs.

As a newly minted director of nursing, she was involved in making sure St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Va., would not be segregated as originally planned when it opened in 1964. And today, well into her 80s and enjoying an active retirement, she works for the less fortunate and serves on numerous nonprofit boards. A few years ago, she traveled to Peru to assist the Peruvian Sisters of Bon Secours with new programs in their health clinic.

Richard J. Statuto, president and … continue reading…

Poll results of defining God’s will

Contemplative, Cloistered, Semi-Cloistered, Apostolic, Nun, Sister…

These are all terms that I  find myself talking about daily.  They are also terms that many young Catholics cannot define or differentiate.

I am asked frequently, “What is the difference between a nun and a sister?”

Traditionally, there   is a clear difference, but nowadays, the lines have become a bit blurry.  Both nuns and sisters are women who have dedicated themselves to live vowed religious lives (of chastity, poverty and obedience) within the Catholic Church, following in the footsteps of Jesus in ministry.  Both have dedicated themselves to God. 

So, the difference, then, to put it simply, and traditionally, is that a nun lives her life within the walls of a monastery cloister,  serving others through contemplative prayer, while a sister shares her gifts out in the world, directly impacting those in need. 

Nuns live a cloistered life within their own community/monastery, rarely going outside of their monastery.  That is where they live, pray, work and recreate. 

Sisters, however, are never called “nuns”.  They are vowed religious sisters and are considered apostolic, or active.  Some sisters live, pray and work both within their own community and its … continue reading…

George Matysek, from The Catholic Review, came out to interview new candidate Patty Dooley and me. We discussed Patty’s entrance as well as the vocation campaign to reach a whole new generation of women. Enjoy the article!