Friday, April 28, 2017

To-Do Lists and My Car Radio

By Victoria Hood, SC Federation Candidate

      Click HERE to learn more about Victoria

      Click HERE to learn more about the SC Federation

My three minute prayer reflection app on my iPad asked me today if my priorities match God's. Honestly, no, because I often make to-do lists and I have recently had a personal insight into this practice. My insight is that to-do lists have advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that I stay organized, which is a relief to me; and that I feel a sense of accomplishment when I can cross an item off. The disadvantages are that I become stressed when I don't think I will be able to complete the list; and the joy is in crossing the item off the list and not in doing it. The solution that I have come up with is to pray and journal daily, and then continue to make to-do lists but to make a goal of accomplishing any of the three items on the list. I still get a sense of accomplishment without stressing over doing the entire list. If three items is even too much then I will consider if there were extra conditions such as traveling or if I need to manage time better.

I also want to share something I heard on my car radio while listening to 88.5 Christian Life radio station. "Light can always overcome darkness. It is never the other way around. The darkness must wait for the light to flicker out. If we continue to attempt to live in the light, then darkness can never overcome us."

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Spring Gathering in NOLA

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers as we gathered in New Orleans last weekend
for our Spring Future of Charity gathering!


We had 9 participants and 2 wisdom figures from across 6 congregations...


 Our prayer and discussion focused on the theme of solidarity and life on the peripheries...


We even had a Zoom call with several of our Sisters in Korea and Belize...


And of course, we had time to enjoy the sites and culture of New Orleans!

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Please pray for us!

This weekend the Future of Charity group is gathering at the House of Charity
in New Orleans for prayer, reflection, sharing, and fellowship.

November 2016, House of Charity, New Orleans, LA

Friday, April 14, 2017

Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?

By Whitney Schieltz

This Holy Week has conveniently coincided with an important time in my discernment.  Now, after a year-and-a-half as an Affiliate with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, living in our formation house outside of El Paso, Texas, I must decide if I am going to apply for Novitiate.  Although I believe that is where I am being called, many unexpected emotions have been surfacing recently.  Most obvious among them has been sadness in recognizing that I will have to leave the U.S.-Mexico border, where I have grown so close to so many people through my community and my ministries.  It will be especially difficult to move away at a time when there is so much need at the border.

As I prayed with the Gospels this week, I found comfort in Jesus’s own struggle to continue on the path that his Father called him to follow.  While he was approaching the end of his earthly life, I too am dealing with the fear and acceptance of an end.  In both cases, however, we trust that what comes next is necessary and what God wants for us.  I’m sure it will be a tough transition, but I just keep hearing Jesus asking, “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”  He trusted, and so must I.  I must trust that God is taking me where I need to be.  And I must trust that God will take care of the things I cannot.

Anapra, Mexico: home to Proyecto Santo Niño, the clinic for special needs children
where I have ministered over the past year-and-a-half at the border.
Much of my time at the Proyecto Santo Niño clinic in Anapra is spent playing with the
children and helping with the school started there for the special needs children.