Sisters of St. Joseph stand against racism

We, Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kansas, cry out against the unjust murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin. His use of unnecessary deadly force against an unarmed man, who is Black, speaks volumes about the blatant racism so obvious in our nation.

In addition, we stand in support of the nonviolent protests that are happening across the nation. This cry for justice for George Floyd and People of Color who have been victimized by police or other entities calls for radical change in many systems that we have grown accustomed to in the US. It also calls for laws to limit the unnecessary use of force by police officers, as well as hold them accountable before the law.

Creating a greener lifestyle

To learn more about the Sisters of St. Joseph Ecological Integrity Committee, CLICK HERE.

Choose to enjoy nature rather than go shopping.

 

N2N to gradually reopen in stages

A message from the Sisters and staff of Neighbor to Neighbor of Concordia:

Dear Friends and Guests of Neighbor to Neighbor,
We hope this finds you all well and staying healthy. You have been in our thoughts often these last couple of months.
We are creeping to an opening date and want to share our news. Neighbor to Neighbor can open on June 1. Anyone coming into the building will need to have their temperature taken and wear a mask. Social distancing will be necessary also. There can only be two people at a table so no big card games just yet. We encourage the use of hand sanitizer for your protection.
At this time we cannot have children in the building. It would be very hard (and traumatic) to try and keep them 6 feet apart all the time! We’ll keep you posted on when we can start our play groups again.
Baking classes will start at a later date.
Sister Ramona will not have painting classes at this time. If you are one of her students and would like to go and use the art room, please know that you are welcome to do that. Please try to honor social distancing.
Please stay well and we will see you all soon.

2020 Border Immersion Project

Border Immersion
September 12-19, 2020, in El Paso, Texas

Join us for a one-week experience that delves into the life and culture on the U.S/Mexico Border.
We will see first-hand the struggles of immigrants as we visit shelters, agencies and parish ministries that serve them in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico. A current passport is required. We will attend Mass in one of the detention centers, which will require filling out individual forms.
This experience is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia. In our commitment to Gospel living and nonviolence, we stand in solidarity with undocumented immigrants and aslyum seekers.
The week-long experience is provided by the Encuentro Project under the direction of Father Rafael Garcia, SJ. Brother Todd Patenaude, a Marist Brother, will coordinate our daily activities. We will stay at 1837 Grandview, El Paso, a communal residence and base of the program.
This communal experience requires that participants are in general good health, able to climb stairs, and willing to share a room. We will participate in personal and group reflections and regular community evening prayer.

PARTICIPANT’S COST: $400/person. Also, participants will be responsible for purchasing their own food as we travel to and from El Paso and will need to purchase their noon meal daily while there. Ground transportation will be provided by Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia for those leaving from Concordia. It is imperative that applications be received by July 1, 2020.

For information: Sister Judy Stephens at 785/243-2149 ext. 19 or jstephens@csjkansas.org

This event is subject to cancellation or postponement due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Call or check our Facebook page to see the latest information.

Annual Motherhouse Plant Sale set for May 9

The beautiful spring weather has people eager to work on their gardens and outdoor living spaces. Luckily, with the recent phase-one reopening plan for Kansas in effect, the annual Nazareth Motherhouse Plant Sale will be able to take place, with some restrictions.

This year’s event will be 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, May 9 — just in time to pick up goodies for Mother’s Day.

“This year will be a bit different because of the social distancing rules,” said Assistant Development Director Ambria Gilliland. “Shoppers will be asked to keep six feet between them and other shoppers and only 10 people will be allowed to browse at one time. Others will be asked to patiently wait in a designated area.”

Additionally, this year will not include the annual Manna House of Prayer garage sale. It is anticipated the garage sale will return this fall.

“If you haven’t been to our plant sale, you must check it out,” Gilliand said. “Our organic gardener, Lyle Pounds, has been busy this winter preparing beautiful flowers and hanging plants.

“We will have our ever-popular hanging baskets again this year with an array
of other plants and fun succulents,” Gilliland said. “Because of the lock-down, we don’t have the crafts we normally do, but we have many beautiful plants that are ready to go to new homes.”

All proceeds from the plant sale will go to further the ministries of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia.

The event is located south of the garages on the west side of the Motherhouse at 1300 Washington in Concordia. Parking is available in both the east and west parking lots.

For more information, contact Gilliland at (785) 243-2113 Ext. 1225.

Discover Camp Bingo!

 

Discover Camp 2020 BINGO

One of the many activities that we do during Discover Camp is to play Bingo with the Sisters. Though we are not able to have the game in person, we invite you to join us in playing BINGO! (this game is only open to the young women to applied for Discover Camp)

Remember a winning BINGO is considered five in a row …. either across, down or diagonal

Beginning on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker …. May 1 through May 13 — the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima — we will post Bingo Clues here.

Find the answer on your Bingo card and CIRCLE it on your card!

May 1^st

• One God, three Divine Persons.
• In the Book of Revelation, God says, “I am the ____ and the Omega, the first and the last.” meaning that God remains from the beginning to the end of time.

May 2

• The animal that is often associated with Jesus.
• Christian who is called to care and serve others.

May 3

• The Bishop of Rome
• The liturgical season we are currently in.

May 4

• April 19, 2020 was Divine ______ Sunday.
• The Holy Spirit is often depicted as this.

May 5

• In all Roman Catholic Churches one of these is in a prominent place.
• The Patron Saint of teenage girls.

May 6

• The Sacrament in which we become members of the Body of Christ.
• Protector of the Holy Family and the Patron Saint of the Universal Church.

May 8

• An independent state within the city of Rome, ruled by the Pope.
• We celebrate the season of Easter for _____ days.

May 9

• Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of “God’s boundless and passionate love for mankind”
• “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

May 10 

• Title for Mary because her son Jesus is both God and man.
• When conferring the Sacrament of Confirmation the Bishop says “Be Sealed with the __________________.” 
• Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

May 11

• Number of years the Israelites wandered in the desert.
• A Franciscan saint who suffered with the stigmata.

May 12

• Jesus changing water into wine
• Sacrament in which a man is ordained a deacon, priest and bishop.

 

Remember to do one of the Dear Neighbor Deeds!

Let’s Play Bingo!

 

 
If you want a better idea of what the experience is all about, below we have a five-minute video recapturing our three days of extraordinary adventure at the Nazareth Motherhouse in 2018!

The April 2020 Messenger encourages hope in uncertain times

We hope you enjoy our April 2020 edition of the Messenger.

It’s a little smaller than usual as we conserve precious resources. We hope you are inspired by our new Leadership Team! And we hope you are encouraged by our Sisters working to help their communities while still staying safe!

We also have a special story about Spiritual Direction. If you’re feeling unsettled, or feeling a call to do more, take a look!

The print edition has been mailed, and it’s available here right now as a flipbook. To open the flipbook edition, just use the black tool bar under the image below to flip through the pages:

Also, that little magnifying glass icon in the black tool bar below the Messenger will let you increase the size if you would like!

Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia closed to visitors

Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia will be closing to visitors

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia are taking the following measures to prevent our sisters, employees and the public from becoming infected with the COVID-19 virus that is spreading throughout the world.

• Effective immediately, no visitors may enter the Nazareth Motherhouse. This includes patrons who use the Motherhouse swimming pool.
• All programming at Manna House of Prayer has been canceled until further notice.
• There will be no public masses at the Sacred Heart Chapel at the Nazareth Motherhouse.
• All programs at Neighbor to Neighbor in Concordia have been canceled and N2N will be closed for as long as Concordia public schools are closed.
• Anyone seeking assistance from the Helping Hands ministry at Manna House of Prayer should call ahead at (785) 243-4428 and ask for Susan LeDuc or Cecilia Thrash to make an appointment to address their needs. There will be no walk-ins.

The Sisters of St. Joseph are actively doing their part in curtailing the spread of this disease. We will keep you updated on any changes to the policy. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Sisters to host community forum on 2020 census

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia will host a free Community Needs Forum focusing on the 2020 Census from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, in the Nazareth Motherhouse auditorium. A sandwich bar will be provided. It is free and open to the public.

Sister Jean Rosemarynoski, a member of the Cloud County Complete Count Committee, said participating in the 2020 Census is essential for Concordia and Cloud County.

Featured speakers at the forum will be Kim Reynolds, executive director of Cloud Corp and chair of the Complete Count Committee, and David Driscoll, a U.S. Census representative from Salina.

The census is used to determine distribution of about $6.5 billion dollars in annual funds from the federal government to Kansas. According to Census Bureau data, there are approximately 2.9 million Kansans, so for each person counted, the state of Kansas will receive approximately $2,082 each year for 10 years.

These federal dollars help support important local services such as school lunches, Head Start preschool programs, housing, foster care, special education, children’s health insurance, Pell grants for low-income college students, highway funds, community tax credits and block grant programs. In total it helps support more than 300 different programs in Kansas.

“I think people would be very surprised to know that your federal Pell Grants are funded based off the census, as well as special education, your free and reduced lunches, your school breakfast program, vocational rehab, so many of those are things that a lot of our residents in our community rely on,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said she is visiting with senior centers, schools, health centers to help them understand the importance of the census.

“People need to know the census questionnaire is completely confidential. They are not going to ask you questions like ‘what is your social security number’ or ‘are you a citizen of the United States.’ Those questions aren’t on there,” Reynolds said.

“It should only take people 10 to 15 minutes to fill out the census form. This year they’ll be able to do it online, through the mail or over the phone,” Reynolds said. “And the really cool thing about online is we are working in conjunction with our local libraries to have extended services or times where people would be available to help those who may not have the internet or access to a computer to still fill out their census form online if they would like that help.”

Some new things for 2020

This year it will be easier than ever for everyone to complete the census form.

• For the first time, residents can respond online, by phone or mail. All data is collected privately and protected by federal law.
• April 1 is the official date for the census, but the call to participate will begin in March. Households will be invited to respond by mail. First a letter will be sent, then a reminder postcard, then a paper questionnaire. For residents with a post office box address, or households who do not respond to the mail request, a census worker will hand-deliver the questionnaire.
• Also new this year, in November Kansas voters approved a change to align with most other states and count residents who may not be permanent but are living here now. If a person lives or sleeps most of the year in Kansas, then he or she should complete the census form using the Kansas address.

Learn more at 2020census.gov.

Lunch will be provided without charge by the Sisters of St. Joseph, and those planning to come are asked to RSVP to 243-2149 or sisterjean@csjkansas.org. Parking is available in lot on the east side of the Motherhouse. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

This is the 36^th Community Needs Forum. The Community Needs Forum grew out of informal meetings between the Sisters of St. Joseph and community leaders in the fall of 2008. The first working lunch was held in January 2009, and the continuing gatherings have identified what participants see as the greatest needs in the community and have established smaller groups to seek solutions. The working lunches provide an opportunity for updates on projects and a clearinghouse for new ideas.

 

Sister Jean Ann Walton recognized at Veterans art festival

Sister Jean Ann Walton, of Concordia, was honored to have her textile artwork selected to be in the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in the Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center auditorium on Feb. 28.

Her quilt, titled “Mom’s Lilac Bush,” was selected in the knotting, needlework, quilling and beadwork category.

The National Veterans Creative Arts Festival (NVCAF) is the celebration and grand finale stage show, art and writing exhibition that is the culmination of talent competitions in art, creative writing, dance, drama and music for veterans treated in the Department of Veterans Affairs national heath care system.

VA medical facilities incorporate creative arts into their recreation therapy programs to further rehabilitation for both inpatients and outpatients. This annual competition recognizes the progress and recovery made through that therapy, and raises the visibility of the creative achievements of our nation’s veterans after disease, disability or life crisis.

Sister Jean Ann is a Marine veteran, serving from 1969-1975 as an illustrator and drill instructor. She graduated Wichita State University in 1978 with a bachelors degree in fine arts and in 1980 with a bachelors in art education. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia in 2007 and professed vows in 2010. She currently lives at Manna House of Prayer assisting with retreat work.

 

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