by Sr. Dani Brought, ASC
This month, Sr. Marcia Kruse noted the one-year anniversary of her ‘Pope Francis Says’ column in the local parish bulletin. Each week she shares a quote from Laudato Si along with a gentle ‘What can I do?’ action suggestion. What a great idea to spread the message of caring for God’s creation. Let Marcia know if you want some ideas for your parish bulletin, she is happy to share!
Sister Mary Catherine Clark participated in the St. Margaret of Scotland parish monthly prayer for those who have died by firearms in St Louis City and St Louis County. As each name was read, those gathered prayed “and Jesus wept.” For June, there were over 30 names in just this one month. She also signed a letter of thanks to the U.S. Surgeon General for the recent report on the extent and implications of firearm deaths, injuries, and suicides that declares gun violence as a public health crisis.
During the months of June and July, Sr. Dani Brought met weekly with a group of seven seminarians of the Wichita and Salina dioceses who were participating in an eight-week intensive Spanish language program at Newman University. Four of the sessions were online and four were in person at the Wichita Center. The weekly conversation in Spanish centered on Catholic Social Teaching with each week focusing on one of the themes of CST in the context of their local experience and Dani’s experience in Guatemala and at the U.S./Mexico border.
ASC sisters at St. Anne’s Retirement Community, Columbia, Benedictine Living Community, Belleville, and the Wichita Center gathered in communal contemplation at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 18. Joined with sisters from individual sites, they participated in the first of a series of prayer for peace and wise discernment to be held during the United States Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention, and in the days in November surrounding the national election. The sisters shared that praying together with each other and beyond for our country was a powerful experience and that the online prayer experience prepared by LCWR was beautiful and profound.
A timely message was sent by the JPIC Office to the senators of Pennsylvania, Kansas, Illinois, and Missouri in the name of Adorers residing in these states, asking the senators to support two pieces of legislation aimed at protecting children and teens online. The two bills, promoted by the Alliance to End Human Trafficking (formerly U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking), brought to vote are the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0).
Sisters Joan Hornick and Dani Brought, along with over 500 people from around the world, participated in a six-month online course: Integral Ecology, From Laudato Si to Laudate Deum presented by the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome. Throughout the course an integral vision of the intertwined relationship between God, neighbor, and earth was shared with practical ways to connect ecological actions with spirituality and conversion. Participating in this course was a rich experience that offered new insights and hope for our efforts in caring for God’s creation. The two sisters appreciated the opportunity to continue to learn and being made more aware of the challenges in caring for the environment.