Stories

During the month of September, the relationships and collaborations between sisters, affiliates, discerners and community partners were on full display. Although incredibly busy, it is one of my favorite times of the year — the opportunity to be in community with incredible people.

On Oct.11 in Mary of the Angels Chapel, Stephanie Held was welcomed into the candidacy phase, the first step in the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration process to become a Catholic sister.

On Oct. 4, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, along with Franciscans worldwide, honored the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology.

I went to “the Feast” a gathering here in Spokane with our beautiful brothers and sisters from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe to enter in, connect with stories and food and bless the Totem, honoring their victory in removing the Elwha Dam, thus helping to restore health to life and to Mother Earth.

On September 30, the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding School Survivors and their families, we gathered at St. Mary’s where there was once an boarding school and an orphanage administered by FSPA on the Bad River Reservation in Wisconsin.

When Calvin Cooper passed away in August, the news might have slipped away unnoticed. He had no one to claim the task of laying him to rest. But Calvin had a circle—a kind of family he built week after week at La Crosse’s WAFER Food Pantry.

For the past 40 years, the Franciscan Spirituality Center’s Spiritual Direction Preparation Program, one of its longest-running programs, has shaped lives by forming women and men to listen deeply, accompany others and nurture spiritual growth.

Sister Karen Lueck’s new book, “The Green Thread: Reclaiming Our Spiritual Authority,” is part memoir, part research narrative about what happens when church and earthly powers form an unholy alliance to keep people, especially women, subservient.

We are called to live out our lives in the steps of St. Francis, with a full awareness of how deeply we are interconnected with all creation. How does our Franciscan heart influence the way we live loving presence both in the chapel and in our lives? 

On Sept. 4 the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration honor the feast day of St. Rose of Viterbo.

Today, Aug. 11, we honor the feast day of St. Clare of Assisi – a woman who embraced poverty, humility and joy.

Sister Therese's upbeat disposition, willingness to make fun of herself and positive attitude bring energy to herself and to others.