by Sr. Miriam Rau, ASC
Spring arrived in nature on March 20, 2026. Spring arose in some hearts and souls in Chicago, IL at Catholic Theological Union between March 23—27, 2026. Approximately 28 people attended this wonderful Event. They included Precious Blood priests, brothers, Companions, Sisters, and Associates. Sisters Dani Brought, Nylas Moser, Diana Rawlings, and Miriam Rau, plus Associate Martin Mendoza were part of this Event, which was sponsored by the Precious Blood Spirituality Institute with help from Catholic Theological Union. Our sessions were held, for the most part, at Catholic Theological Union. Spring Awakening was a “social justice immersion experience”, and much more…
Our day began each morning with Mass at 8:15 a.m. followed by a panel of speakers on the different social justice issues. Table conversation and large group sharing followed. After lunch, we boarded a bus for the different immersion experiences.
On Tuesday our focus was Immigration. In the morning one of the panelists burst into tears while speaking about obtaining his citizenship papers 26 years ago. We learned that many immigrants who have obtained citizenship in different ways, are helping their brother and sister immigrants. Catholic Churches, in different parishes have established committees and groups of parishioners who aid Immigrants in various ways also. The sign that is so often seen, “Welcome the Strangers”, is no longer part of our vocabulary. We are ALL brothers and sisters at the Table.
Afternoon found us on the bus heading to one New Life Center. Here, we formed an assembly line and helped the volunteers box canned food items for different places where food is scarce for immigrants. After working for two hours, we were ready to board the bus for CTU for supper, followed by Reflection and Prayer. Our appreciation for assembly line workers of any kind grew.
Wednesday’s topic was Care for Creation. The farmer panelist has a large farm and much knowledge of ecological farming practices and a genuine love for the earth. He told us that Action Justice starts with Active Awareness. 68% of all farm workers in the United States are immigrants. 42% are undocumented. Loss of biodiversity harms soil more than carbon dioxide, and methane gases. 60% of the fresh fruits that we eat in the U.S. are grown in other countries. 20% of people living in Chicago are food insecure. These are just a few important facts that we learned from this knowledgeable farmer.
We boarded the trusty bus and set out for Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation. Because many of us had read and heard much about PBMR, but had never been there, we were all excited. The experience was more than most of us had imagined. Fr. Dave Kelly spoke about restorative justice, hope, and radical hospitality — all of which we saw lived out fully. A tour of the facility followed, and we got to meet and greet staff and participants. In the main building, in one of the large rooms, we saw where they hold Circles. Different speaking items were on the floor. One was a wooden heart. The experience of participating in a Circle is very powerful, as one of the participants explained. Included on the tour was a a huge garden with produce starting to shoot up, as well as another house that participants could come to for therapy, food, and social support. One of the staff, a woman volunteer, shared with us that she lost her son to violence 17 years ago, and how she copes with the loss. Our hearts were opened wide, as we returned to CTU for supper, Reflection, and Prayer.
On Thursday, our focus was on LGBTQ+ Siblings. One of the speakers on the panel was our own Diana Rawlings, ASC. Another panelist was a parish priest from a church that is very inclusive of LGBTQ+. He spoke about how we can accompany these folks in different ways and stand up for their rights. For our immersion experience, we toured Halstead Center, which is the largest LGBTQ+ community center in the Midwest. This Center has residential accommodations for seniors who are LGBTQ+. They offer behavioral health, youth and family programming, plus a host of other programs.
Once we returned to CTU, Dani Brought, ASC, led our Closing Ritual, followed by a special dinner, and the Sending Forth/Commissioning. This was the official end and beginning of our Spring Awakening.
This Awakening is, I believe for all of us who attended this event, an ongoing one. For me, the experience was overwhelming. It awakened me, on a deeper level, to the suffering and heartache of so many people in our World. I was reminded of how Creation is suffering. Most of all I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the many wonderful, loving people in our world, and for the marvelous things they are doing and being. We were also shown ways and given informational tools that will aid us in our accompaniment with our suffering brothers and sisters. I thank God for this opportunity.
