A gift of warmth on a chilly day
December 4, 2010 by Sarah
A baker’s dozen gathered in the basement of K-State’s Catholic center this morning — but it was blankets, not baking on the menu.
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Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia along with students from Kansas State University and Cloud County Community College, plus faculty from St. Isidore’s Church, which includes the Catholic Campus Center, took part in the project to sew blankets for the Manhattan Homeless Shelter.
The project was spearheaded by Sister Beverly Carlin, the congregation’s vocation director who is based in Manhattan, and Sisters Julie Christensen and Betty Suther, both of Concordia. Sister Betty often leads the popular quilting retreats at Manna House of Prayer in Concordia.
The “quilting crew” cut fabric, sewed pieces together and quilted it all for extra warmth.
A special message: ‘What you have received as a gift, give as a gift!’
December 3, 2010 by Sarah
This command from Jesus — in Matthew 10:8 — has been our guide for decades! It is a reminder that abundance of attitude and giving is the core of who we are. And we have been gifted with so much that we cannot but give in return.
Until the last two decades we have been able to provide for ourselves and our ministries with our earned income. But today, fewer of us earn an income, more of us volunteer and many of us are of an age where neither working for a wage nor volunteering in exchange for a living is possible. Consequently, what earned income we have goes more and more for the care of our elderly sisters and less for our ministries and charities.
That is where our friends and benefactors have come in. You understand that we receive no financial support from the official Church, and that we are self-supporting in everything we do. So if we are to continue to love our neighbor as Jesus intended, through our ministries and charities, we must look to you for help.
Through your gifts — whether they be prayer or contributions of labor, money or matching grants — you demonstrate that you are our partners and companions in this Way of Jesus, for whom giving was a way of life.
And if “gratitude is the heart’s memory,” then be assured that you are indeed well-remembered by each and every one of us daily.
With gratitude and affection,
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia
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Dec. 3, 2010: Year of Peace, Civility Pledge are gifts to our community, by Sister Janet Lander
December 3, 2010 by Sarah
December has arrived, and so has the trickle of Christmas cards into my mailbox. A number of my cards each year bear the words, “Peace on Earth and goodwill to all” or the verse of angel choirs, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (Luke, 2:14)
Do we believe it?
Belief is powerful. Jesus once claimed it could move mountains. Recently I did a search on Google for “The Power of Belief” and found more than 1,700 entries of related items you could purchase from Amazon alone! Scientists and counselors, preachers and poets are all telling us something quite similar, though from different vantage points. What we do with our minds, our consciousness, matters. Not only our actions, but the words we speak, matter for our own well being as well as that of our neighbors and the world.
The Institute of HeartMath has done research on the power of thought and word. Researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto exposed containers of water from sources around the globe to various types of music, the spoken word and words affixed facing inward on vials of water. Negative, violent words or music destroyed water crystal structures, making them look broken and muddy. But words of positive, peaceful, loving intention as well as folk music, classical music and the like caused stunningly beautiful crystals to form. In fact, prayer purified polluted water, which then developed crystals as stunning as any other pure water.
If this is true of water in a Petri dish, what possibilities might this hold for any water, or for us? After all, humans are 70 percent water. Thoughts and prayers for “peace on earth and good will to all” bring peace closer to reality. Thoughts are the seed for action, cellularly, intrapersonally, interpersonally and globally!
During the last 16 months, Concordia has been focused on peace, as we celebrated our Year of Peace. As this year concludes we might pause to see how we, individually and as a community, have been changed for the better. I believe it has made a difference: our thoughts of peace and peaceful thoughts, our discourse about peace and more peaceful discussion.
The Year of Peace Committee believes, though, that the work of promoting peace is not finished until peace is our way of life. So, we invite the Concordia community to journey with us into “Another Year of Peace.”
We begin by giving everyone another chance to sign on to a “Civility Pledge” for 2011.
Last December many groups and organizations circulated the Civility Pledge throughout Concordia. Then, in February, the Blade-empire published a full page of signers. In all, 244 Concordians signed the pledge and made the commitment to civility.
Wouldn’t this be a wonderful New Year’s Resolution for all of us? How would our lives be different if all of us pledged to be civil in public discourse and behavior, to stand against incivility when we see it and to be respectful of others whether or not we agree with them?
Signing the pledge can be a gift given to ourselves and our community in this season of gift giving. Living the pledge would be a splendid way to live ANOTHER YEAR OF PEACE.
For more information see www.civilityproject.org. Forms to sign the Civility Pledge are available until Jan. 15 in the following locations: Neighbor to Neighbor, Frank Carlson Public Library, the Chamber of Commerce and online at www.csjkansas.org .
— Sister Janet Lander is on the staff of Manna House of Prayer and is a member of the Concordia Year of Peace Committee.
Neighbor to Neighbor receives $20,000 grant
December 3, 2010 by Sarah
For the second year in a row, Neighbor to Neighbor has received a major grant from the Kansas Health Foundation.
The center for women in downtown Concordia is the only organization in Cloud County to receive funding this year from the statewide organization.
The grant of $20,175 will help pay for programs at the center, which is operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia and does not charge for any of its services, classes or workshops.
A year ago, Neighbor to Neighbor received a grant of $24,988 from the foundation to help with its start-up costs. The center opened at 103 E. Sixth St. in May.
The “Recognition Grants” from the Kansas Health Foundation are designed to help nonprofit organizations throughout the state as they do “meaningful work” toward “improving the health of all Kansans,” according to the grant announcement,
For Fall 2010, the foundation announced grants to 59 organizations across the state. Grants typically range from about $1,500 to a maximum of $25,000.
Meanwhile, Neighbor to Neighbor has also launched a fundraising drive to help pay to expand its services by renovating the second floor of its historic downtown building.
Since it opened this past spring, local women and their young children have made more than 1,800 visits to the storefront center. But such success has a downside: The center that opened with community fanfare in May is proving too small to contain the growing array of programs offered and women taking part.
So construction began this week to double the center’s space and add an art room, a private counseling or small meeting room, two more bathrooms, lots of storage space and a kitchenette that will look out over a large play area for children.
As with renovation of the first floor, Motherhouse employees are doing the bulk of the work, which keeps the labor costs for the project low.
But Neighbor to Neighbor’s fundraising drive will pay for materials and furnishings. A donation of $24.33 will pay to renovate one square foot of the upstairs space; a donation of $48.66 will pay for two square feet, and so on.
“We hope this will truly give people in Concordia and Cloud County a sense that they are investing in what we’re doing here,” said Sister Pat McLennon, one of the three women who operate the center. “Neighbor to Neighbor is for the women of Cloud County, and this is a way for individuals to help us by paying for a piece of it.”
The fund drive began Dec. 1, with the hope that people throughout the area will consider tax-deductible donations before the end of the year.
Greg Gallagher, facilities manager for the Sisters of St. Joseph, expects the work on the upstairs to be completed next spring.
To learn more about Neighbor to Neighbor, call the center at 785/262-4215 or visit any day. The center is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thursday from 1 to 9 p.m.
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