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Feast Day of St Joseph Worker   Today is the feast day of St. Joseph of  Worker, and today is also known as "May-day" or "International Workers' Day," commemorating the May 1, 1886 Haymarket Incident in Chicago, USA, where 80,000 workers staged a street strike rally.  So we pray for the sisters of the Korean Province as they celebrate their feast day today, and we also pray for all the workers in the world.   +. Saint Joseph Worker, Pray for us! Note: The painting by an anonymous artist shows St Joseph the worker at work with baby Jesus on the ground holding a nail, and with a cross as his shadow, predicting his death by crucifixion.  

April 22, Earth Day 2024   from https://www.earthday.org/ EARTHDAY.ORG is unwavering in our commitment to end plastics for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of ALL plastics by 2040. Our theme, Planet vs. Plastics, calls to advocate for widespread awareness on the health risk of plastics, rapidly phase out all single use plastics, urgently push for a strong UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution, and demand an end to fast fashion. Join us as we build a plastic-free planet for generations to come!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP-iIilHQsU&t=4s

Our 20+ year old roof has been replaced over the past two days.   Although the work was noisy, we are grateful that it was completed without incident.

LCWR 2024 New Leader Workshop was held on April 11 (Thu) - 14(Sun) in Dallas, Texas.  Over a hundred new leaders from the Congregations in the USA and Canada were together, and had time to learn and share the common and unique issues in these days from each congregation.     (all the CDP members at the workshop)

Easter, 2024 Dear Sisters and Associates, The last 40 days called us on our journey of faith to keep changing. We were challenged to let go of our fears and all that keeps us from our God. Hopefully we were able to see ourselves more clearly and let the Light of Christ into our hearts and minds. Resurrection requires us to be ready to accept the miracle, to know that our own dying and rising happens each day; yet we live in hope, because like Mary Magdalene, “we have seen the Lord.” Judy Cannato says “resurrection is an experience of transcendence in which we live out of the connectedness that is our truth”…”we not only walk in the Light, we become the light for others. Even little resurrections that come after choosing to die to fear release the Spirit. When we engage in a lifetime of death and resurrections as Jesus did, we become ever more empowered to do the work God asks us to do.” All over the world Christians will celebrate the Easter Vigil. They will light the Easter fire and with candles in hand, process in darkness into the Church where we will hear the story of our salvation sung in what is known as the Exsultet. The Paschal candle will be shining brightly reminding us that we do not live in darkness and emptiness. Just like the tomb where Jesus lay is emptied, we too will be filled with the Light that is our risen Lord. The signs and wonders of this Liturgy are so powerful! They tell us of God’s great love for us, his people, his Beloved. Our empty selves can be filled with purpose, we can see the glory of Jesus and understand more fully the vision of Resurrection life. This is God empowering us for mission. I love, when at the Gloria, the bells ring throughout the song, proclaiming loudly that Christ is Risen from the dead, that death has no more power over him, or us. At that moment I feel like I truly understand what is meant when we say: “We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our cry.” Somehow the human spirit is broken open then and perhaps for the first time we see what is possible in the impossible. Good Friday has given way to Easter, to new life, to new possibilities—this is the life breath of our faith. This is who we are as Providence people! These are just some of the signs given us in the beautiful Easter Vigil liturgy. They can speak to us on a deeper level and affect the way we view our lives. It reminds me to always be attentive to events and encounters in my life, to be alert to those touchstones along my journey, be they Easter Vigil signs and wonders—fire, water, baptism, story—or simply the bright yellow daffodils across the street from my office or the small bunny playing in the yard in front of me. Whether you hear the bells at the Easter Vigil or at the Easter morning liturgy, pay attention!  They ring out a glorious message for Christians everywhere—Christ died for us and rose from the dead and gave us all new life.  We are God’s Beloved now—and nothing can ever change that!  So celebrate that new life with an open and grateful heart!  Be that light for others you meet along the way.  As Judy Cannato says, “we are capable of transcendence, capable of never allowing death to have the final say.” Easter is the feast that gives meaning to life—the feast that never ends.  You and I must leave the empty tomb and begin the journey all over again.  Today.  Every day.  Always.  Yes, Easter is about dazzling light—but only if it shines through us.  Why?  Because we have seen the Lord! Happy Easter! Sister Barbara McMullen Congregational Leader Judy Cannato, Radical Amazement:  Contemplative Lessons from Black Holes, Supernovas, and Other Wonders of the Universe (Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books, 2006), 122.

    He is Risen! "I will give you a joy which no one will take from you." —John 16:22

      "After three days I will rise again." Canticle of Mary, to the Breviary    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F1k_Bc_vwo     image:https://www.catholicworldreport.com 

  We adore you, O Christ, for by the wood of the cross, you brought joy to the world! Good Friday Morning prayer, to the Breviary   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfzXHDBSaIQ

    Jesus said to them: "How I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for I tell you I shall not eat it again until all is finished."   -People's Companion to the Breviary, canticle of May on Holy Thursday-   image: https://subri.kr/

  Hosanna! (Mark 11:9) "It’s all for one purpose: so that we can grasp more fully what Jesus did for the crowds back then—and for us. As we will see throughout Holy Week, he accepted the suffering set before him and freely offered himself for his people, regardless of how they responded. Whether they acclaimed or condemned him, he loved them just the same. And that’s how he loves us." (Daily Meditation: Mark 11:1-10, the word among us) Image: Google.com