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...
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,...
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...
“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...
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...
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...
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...
Some time ago, I met a woman who was suffering with a relatively mild illness. In counseling her to make sure to get enough rest, she stated that it was unlikely she could do so given the fact that she had young identical twins at home. As we talked, she shared that...
In the wake the recent commemoration of National Infertility Awareness Week (April 18-24th, 2021), I was introduced to the film documentary, Hush (2017), which is a deep dive into the controversies surrounding the possible links between induced abortion and future...
When we think about the gift of creation, we ought to remember that God has given us dominion over the earth to care for it, and creation is His gift to us. Indeed, He nourishes us through His creation. We take our sustenance from the earth. It is one of the...