The month of June finds us celebrating the Solemnities of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus commands us, as we heard in the Gospel of Sunday, "Take it; this is my body." He is the way, the truth, and the life; He gives us...
The Heart’s-Embrace of the Father
Naming the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, we hear Jesus speaking, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit… I am with...
Mary: Our Mother Now and at the Hour of Death
May is a month in which we honor our mothers with the celebration with Mother’s Day. In the United States, this is held the second Sunday of May. But for centuries, May has been known as the month of Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ and our mother. In 2018 Pope...
Icon: Mother of Tenderness
This type of icon is known as the Virgin Eleousa (Virgin of Tenderness) characterized by the touching cheeks of mother and child in a loving moment. The icon signifies Christ’s incarnation, suffering, and death for the sake of humankind. Three ornamental stars on the...
Little Virtues in Medicine: Kindness Goes a Long Way
Mother Catherine McAuley understood the need for kindness particularly in the care of the sick and the poor. She reminded her Sisters that “there are things which the poor prize more highly than gold, though they cost the donor nothing; among these are the kind word,...
What is Shared-Decision Making?
I write to you from a “mandatory quarantine” hotel in Australia. Having been assigned to serve in my home country, upon my arrival I was placed in quarantine due to COVID-19 restrictions. In this quarantine situation, you receive three meals a day, delivered to your...
Already Dwelling in Heaven through Union
“Yet whoever did accept him, those who believed in his name, he gave them the power to become the sons of God.”[i] “Do you not know that you are temples of the Holy Spirit?”[ii] In these many weeks of the Easter season and through the great Feast of the Ascension...
A Profound and Lasting Presence
See the 60th anniversary edition of Presence Magazine of the Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa, OK, where our Sisters serve. 2020 also marked the 20th anniversary for the Religious Sisters of Mercy at Saint Francis. It’s 5:00 a.m. The sun has yet to wake and crest...
The Power that Conquers the World
In this Easter Season, we encounter the power of faith. Faith is the power that conquers the world. He who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died and is risen from the dead, shall be saved and have eternal life.[i] This is the life of Christ in...
In-Fertility Awareness
You might wonder what in the world Natural Family Planning has to do with National Infertility Awareness Week. I would invite you to consider how those methods that used to be grouped under the umbrella term of Natural Family Planning (NFP) are more advanced now than...