social justice - Related Content

In honor of National Catholic Sisters Week, Show me a sign posed the question "What inspires you about religious life today?" to women religious in our community. Here's what Sister Janet Fischer, a retired-yet-volunteering-everywhere-in-Claxton-Georgia Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, has to say.

Sister Janet engaged in "Lenten Gospel Reflections" (image courtesy Kadee Dasher)

As I recall I spent at least five or more years fighting God about going to the convent, about becoming a religious sister. Looking back as a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration I now realize God could not have given me a greater Gift. There are so many things that continue to inspire me:

Sister Janet joins St. Christopher Catholic Church's chili cook-off team for a cancer fundraiser (image courtesy Sarah Gove, "Claxton Enterprise").

~ The justice and peace issues that women religious are a part of: we stand with the folks on the margins of society.

~ The young sisters with their willingness to share their God-given gifts.

~ The simplicity of the life style and the concern for Earth and all creation.

~ The trust lay people put in me with their personal lives ... this really inspires me.

Gleaning "inspiration," Sister Janet continues to serve the community of Claxton in retirement (image courtesy Connie Mitchell).

*Do you know someone experiencing discernment of religious life? We invite you to share this link, www.fspa.org/showmeasign, and join the conversation. 

"It's hard to ignore a sneeze" that opens your mind to living your faith life.

Photo by Jan Kop?iva on Unsplash

With the arrival of spring comes the season of cleaning. Now is the time to open the curtains that have kept your homes warm and cozy all winter and let in the beautiful sunshine. Streams of light may reveal dust lurking in dark corners and many months of grime accumulating on window panes. Perhaps clutter has overtaken closets and countertops. As we diligently pull out our dust rags and buckets and move furniture to get at those baseboards, our world temporarily shifts. 

Now is also a good time to open the curtains to the windows of your spirit, to remove clutter that may be clogging up your communication with God. What if, buried underneath, covered in dust, there are unopened love letters from God? Invitations to discern religious life, sent to you in triplicate, enumerating your gifts, talents and propensity to flourish when helping others in need? These messages may be covered in dust, spiritual dust. Spiritual dust is tricky and can set off sneezes with surprising momentum. It’s hard to ignore a sneeze, especially one that clears your mind. Provides clarity. Reveals a plan for living the faith life that has been inside you all this time.

When your clutter is cleared, your cleaning is done and your house — the physical and the spiritual — is put back in order, sit down and read God’s letters. Entertain the invitations and discern what they are calling you to — perhaps cleansing the world of the evils of starvation, physical and mental abuse, global warming, gender inequality, racial divides, societal hierarchy, corrupt institutions, education disparity and other suffocating pollutants all around us. Discern the light radiating from you: is it brightest when it shines in collaboration with others with whom you can unite in a commitment to living together and sharing Gospel mission? Is it guiding you to religious life?

How will you begin spring cleaning and ask God to guide you in this new season of your life?

Are you discerning religious life? Walking with someone who is? We invite you to share this link, fspa.org/showemeasign, and join the conversation.