Catholic Sisters Week 2022
The theme of Catholic Sisters Week (March 8-14) 2022 was “Caring for Earth, Caring for You.” Inspired by the calls from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Sí, each video below highlights a Religious of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ) and an aspect of or insight into her/her community's relationship with Creation. From poetry about gardening, simple composting practices, and community building around water justice to an introduction to forest therapy and a reflection on our place in the cosmos, each sister gives viewers something to ponder as well as invites all to take steps to grow more aware of and care for the whole of Creation.
Anne Marie Conn, RSCJ: Gardening's Gift
“An integral ecology includes taking time to recover a serene harmony with creation, reflecting on our lifestyle and our ideals, and contemplating the Creator who lives among us and surrounds us, whose presence ‘must not be contrived but found, uncovered’” – Laudato Sí, 225
Listen to and reflect with Anne Marie Conn, RSCJ, as she recites her poem entitled “Gardening’s Gift.”
Diane Roche, RSCJ, on composting
“There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle.” – Laudato Sí, 211. Diane Roche, RSCJ and her community at Anne Montgomery House in Washington, D.C. share about their composting efforts and introduce the concept of passive composting.
If you’d like to learn more about this type of composting and connect with Sister Roche’s community, please reach out at rscj.org/contact.
Melanie Guste, RSCJ on Healthy Waters
“But water continues to be wasted, not only in the developed world but also in developing countries which possess it in abundance. This shows that the problem of water is partly an educational and cultural issue, since there is little awareness of the seriousness of such behaviour within a context of great inequality.” – Laudato Sí, 30
Melanie Guste, RSCJ, shares about the Healthy Waters and Coastal Restoration Interest Group. Are you interested and committed to environmental justice with concern for water? Learn more and connect with the Healthy Waters group at rscj.org/healthy-waters.
Mary Frohlich, RSCJ, on Forest Therapy
“We are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion. As believers, we do not look at the world from without but from within, conscious of the bonds with which the Father has linked us to all beings.” – Laudato Sí, 220
Mary Frohlich, RSCJ, introduces the practice of “forest therapy” and the first step one can take to reconnect with Creation.
Lynne Lieux, RSCJ: Our place in the cosmos
“In this universe, shaped by open and intercommunicating systems, we can discern countless forms of relationship and participation. This leads us to think of the whole as open to God’s transcendence, within which it develops. Faith allows us to interpret the meaning and the mysterious beauty of what is unfolding.” – Laudato Sí, 79
Lynne Lieux, RSCJ, takes a minute to ponder and reflect on our place in the cosmos.
