Connections Fall/Winter 2010 (PDF) - Sisters of St. Joseph of ...

From the Province Leadership
Dear Friends,
On Saturday, July 31, sisters, associates
and family members gathered at Resurrection
Cemetery in St. Louis to celebrate
the re-internment of 1,278 Sisters of
St. Joseph whose remains had been moved
from Nazareth Cemetery. This was truly a
moving reminder of the dedicated lives that
preceded us in death.
Clearly we owe a deep debt of gratitude
to those who forged trails in education,
health care, the home and foreign missions,
deaf education, social services,
pastoral work, community service and other
traditional and non-traditional ministries.
Whether these sisters offered gifts that
were very visible or out of the public eye,
all were offered with generosity, persistence
and great faith. As we remember so many
stories of these deeply committed women, we realize that they
were always there for the dear neighbor without distinction.
As we know, however, we cannot rest on our beautiful
past. Our truest sense of gratitude to these inspirational
women, our sisters, will be the lives we live in their spirit.
In this issue you will read stories about CSJ Care’s
clients and their exceptional sister caregivers, who provide
compassionate care enabling the elderly to continue living
independent lives.
Wouldn’t our founders be proud of this creative response to
the dear neighbor?
You’ll also read stories about our sisters working in
Mississippi missions. They each serve in different areas with
different needs but are all focused on one common goal—
responding to Jesus who returns their glance through the
faces of the materially impoverished people they serve.
Wouldn’t our sister saints rejoice?
How blessed we are to be able to serve in these ways.
Clearly, the mission to serve those in need is bigger than any
one of us. It requires all of us working together.
Marian Wright Edelman once wrote, “In this time and
in this place by God’s grace we can make a difference.” The
Province Leadership, top row: Sisters Patty Clune, Suzanne Wesley, Jean Meier and Nancy Corcoran.
Front row: Sisters Elizabeth Brown, Pat Giljum and Helen Flemington.
difference is due to all of the collaborating partners—not
only our sisters, but also our associates, families, friends and
faithful benefactors who support this cherished work.
May, too, our generation pass on the tradition of always
being there for the dear neighbor without distinction.
Province Leadership
Elizabeth Brown, CSJ
Nancy Corcoran, CSJ
Pat Giljum, CSJ
Suzanne Wesley, CSJ
Patty Clune, CSJ
Helen Flemington, CSJ
Jean Meier, CSJ
Co n n e c t i o n s • Fa l l/Wi n t e r 2010
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