St. Peter’s Square
Vatican, Rome, Italy
May 1, 2011
During her most recent pilgrimage to Rome, Sister Pat Dowling, CBS was able to be present for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II. Also, during the trip, Sr. Pat was able to take a tour of Icons throughout Rome.
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National Nurses Week begins on May 6th each year, and ends on May 12th, Florence Nightingale’s birthday.
The Sisters of Bon Secours was founded on the skill of nursing paired with the Love and Gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, it was the strong faith and deep desire to serve those in need, no doubt a gift from God, that led our Foundress Josephine Potel to a group of young women, who would ultimately become the Sisters of Bon Secours.
When you’re a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours. ~Author Unknown
While our history is rich in the nursing tradition, it is more than nursing that we offer…even within nursing. See, most of our Sisters who are also nurses don’t seem to share the single common goal of physically healing a person. The physical healing of a person is only a portion of the whole healing … 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.
With Christians throughout the world, we celebrate the solemnity of Easter, the feat of Christ’s resurrection from the dead: liberation from sin, hope for the world.
Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. John 20:8
The Resurrection of our Lord is the central mystery of Christian faith. It is also the central hope of daily human existence. With the Resurrection we can be certain that suffering and death is not the final word on the human condition. This is the deepest source of Christian hope. And it is the wellspring of true Christian joy. On Easter Sunday God’s Word bursts forth in a joyful hymn of praise as the Church resounds with Alleluias. Our Lenten observance now finds its fullest meaning. As the message of Easter resounds in our minds and hearts, the truth of Jesus’ Resurrection … continue reading…
The Christ who went to the poor
like steel to a magnet, was poor himself.
He was poor in his origins and in his birth,
but even more so when he left behind the life of a village tradesman.
The poor Christ is not just the wandering preacher…
he is above all the one who died.
- Rosemary Haughton, Theologian
Today is a day of quiet and darkness, as Jesus lies lifeless, bound by the burial cloths, confined to the tomb. Mary is our example today. She is quiet. She mourns. She protects her Son’s body. But she does not despair. We ask for light in the darkness that, even on this most sorrowful day of the liturgical year, we be allowed to look with hope to tomorrow.
Please join us and share your prayers and reflections.
On Good Friday we recall the passion, suffering and death of Jesus. A day of prayer, fasting and reflection, Good Friday is a time for loving remembrance of those who are outcast, alone and neglected.
I look at your dead body on the cross.
One of the soldiers peirces your side with a lance,
and immediately blood and water flow.
Your broken heart is the source of my salvation,
the foundation of my hope, the cause of my love…
Together with all people of all times,
I look up to you whom they have pierced,
and I come to know what it means to be part of your body and your blood,
what it means to be human.
-from Henri Nouwen, Spiritual Writer
Please share your Good Friday prayers and reflections.
On Holy Thursday, we remember that Jesus gathered with his disciples for a final meal. He washed their feet, and shared bread and wine with them. Their great teacher, their Rabbi, Jesus showed love for his friends through simple gifts and service.
On this holy night,
we pledge once again to use our hands and feet
for the work of forgiveness, for the work of loving each other.
We pledge to wash each other’s feet,
to hand over our lives for each other, for the sake of the world.
We pledge ourselves to do Eucharist,
to do this in memory of the One who gave His life for us.
We do so because Jesus is our Passover Lamb,
who takes away the sins of the world.
- Abbot John Klassen, O.S.B., St. John’s Abbey (Collegeville, MN)
Please share with us: How does Jesus’ display of love inspire you?
This beautiful song speaks of God’s mercy and abundant love.
“It Would Have Been Enough”
Had he brought us out of Egypt and not judged them,
Dahyenu; It would have been enough for us.
Dahyenu; It would have been enough for us.
Had he judged them, and not done so to their idols,
Dahyenu; It would have been enough for us.
Dahyenu; It would have been enough for us.
What have you done this year to impact our environment? Do you have any Earth Day plans? Many have planted trees, or committed to using less natural resources. Perhaps a few have decided to purchase electric cars. On April 22, 1970, when Senator Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day, his primary goal was to educate people as to the impact that their own actions have on our planet. To bring about a general awareness.
I am sure he Senator Nelson could not have predicted the radical importance of Earth Day in today’s world. Although Earth Day is only one day a year, millions band together across the United States to become strategic about their own carbon footprints. It is one day out of the year where we can all devote our time, efforts, and imagination purely to preserve our planet for the next generations.
We would love to offer the following resources to make your Earth Day more educated, fun and active!
Measure your household’s carbon footprint using a … continue reading…
Congratulations to the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, in Greenville, South Carolina.
Every Day is Earth Day at St. Francis:
