Living Peace - Featured Articles
History and Roots: Sister Alphonsus Mooney
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace were healers early on in their founding, starting healthcare ministries in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Many sisters have been nurses, caregivers or administrators of hospitals, nursing homes, and healthcare systems. In this issue, we bring you Sister Alphonsus Mooney, who received the Royal Red Cross decoration from King George V for her service during World War I.
Meet an Associate: A Job that Led to So Much More
by Pat Weidner, CSJP-A
Being an associate with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace for the past 23 years has been so life-giving. My journey with the sisters began with my employment on May 30, 1994, when I became administrative assistant to the Provincial in St. Joseph Province, Sister Ann Rutan (RIP). Having been raised in a Catholic household and educated in a Catholic grammar school, I always had a deep respect for nuns and an admiration for all they do.
Stepping out of Comparison into Curiosity
by Stephanie Peirolo, CSJP-A
We can’t be truly open to another person’s grief unless we have metabolized our own. To be effective partners in healing for others, we need to be engaged in the healing process ourselves. Not finished with it, not done, because some griefs may never be processed or complete in the way that society expects. But if we are engaged with our woundedness, we can be more helpful to others who are wounded.
FrankTalk: Healing Happens through Encounters
by Frank McCann, Congregation Peace through Justice Facilitator
Franciscan Sister Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso’s diminutive size and beautiful smile disguise her formidable commitment and passion. Sister Laura is a descendent of the Indigenous Kariri people who no longer exist. She now lives one week each month with her religious sisters in Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil, and the rest of the month with the indigenous Karipuna people whom she accompanies.
Planting Seeds for a Sustainable Future
by Kelly Marsicano, Communications Coordinator
Sustainable Peace Ministries was founded in 2019. The committee consists of representatives from each of the five sponsored ministries—Holy Name, Peace Care, St. Joseph’s School for the Blind, Waterspirit, and York Street Project—who gather quarterly to share best practices and sustainability efforts. Leaders meet to collaborate on resources and ideas for making each ministry more sustainable and contribute to the Congregation’s desire to live a “Covenant of Peace with Earth.”
Healing Ourselves, Healing the World
by Kathy Galleher, Ph.D
Acknowledging and embracing our collective woundedness with tenderness can bring deeper peace within ourselves and allow us to bring greater tenderness and peace to others and the world. As priest and author Gregory Boyle writes, “Once we are reached by tenderness, we become tenderness.” Anything that brings healing and peace to our own hearts can bring healing and peace to the wider world.
Using a Collective Voice to Heal the World
by Melody Maravillas, Congregation Chief Financial Officer
With growing inequity, advocacy is needed now more than ever to remind the upper one percent about their relationship to Earth and the rest of the world. For the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, shareholder advocacy is a crucial component of our Resources for Mission efforts. Each share of stock that we own is a voice. It represents influence and the power to raise awareness when wealth has been blinding.
Fresh Voices: From HR Generalist to Fitness Trainer to Acupuncturist
Talking with Une-Hi Song
When I was younger, my mom always made us take our vitamins and eat our veggies. I was the only one of the four of us she never had to chase down to make sure we did. She also made us drink this dark herbal concoction she made in the crockpot that she learned from her father who was an herbalist in Korea. She told us stories about how he would go up the mountains every day and scavenge fresh raw herbs to sell to local pharmacies.
Little Ripples of Love that Echo into Eternity
by Liz Dodd, CSJP
How do we measure success when there is no happy ending? We don’t: we create, I think, an environment where healing can take place; we work to dismantle the systems that keep people homeless; we trust God with the rest.
History and Roots: Stick to Your Colours
by Susan Francois, CSJP
In our Congregation archives, we have the final advice of Mother Evangelista (Honoria Gaffney) to the assembled community of sisters in Nottingham from her deathbed, as recorded by Sister Ignatius Killian.
These words ring true to her lived experience as a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace, from the beginning of her vocational call to her very last breath.
Just Work
by Stephanie Peirolo, CSJP-A
I work as an executive coach and consultant for companies that are in the business of making money. I got into this work because I wanted to improve a system that I thought was broken. But recently I’ve come to believe that the system isn’t broken. It is working effectively as designed to make owners and shareholders richer at the cost of the people who actually do the work.
Responding to the Signs of This Time
by Kelly Marsicano
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace 2022 Chapter Call states: “These new times demand a change of heart: to be, think and act differently.” It is a recognition that we find ourselves in a place we have never been.
With this change of era, we have a choice: to try to reclaim what was or to respond in new ways.
FrankTalk: Can We Grow in Awe and Wonder?
by Frank McCann, Congregation Peace through Justice Facilitator
Becoming a Congregation that lives Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ involves more than just turning off lights or taking shorter showers to conserve water. We are committing to a new consciousness concerning our relationships with Earth, our neighbors and fellow creatures.
The Refugee
by Bryan Johns, CSJP-A
I had a dream the other evening. In my dream, you were only seen by someone if they loved you; if you loved someone, you could see them.
All Are Welcome But…
by Melody Maravillas, Congregation Chief Financial Officer
In 2017, Hidden Figures hit theatres nationwide. The film is based on the true story of three African-American women who were crucial to NASA’s efforts during the 1960s space race. Sixty years later, despite the great strides society has made, our progress still feels half-baked.
Fresh Voices: Recognizing the Intersections, Inspired by Love of Their City
by JV Valladolid
Meet JV, 33 years-old, born and raised in Newark, they have been working for the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) for close to 10 years, first as a volunteer in direct family services and for the last two years as a Frontline Communications Manager for environmental justice. JV shared with us what drew them to this work, why they are passionate about it, and how they keep that passion alive.
Overburdened Ironbound Provides Hope and Beauty
by Rachel Dawn Davis, Public Policy & Justice Organizer for Waterspirit
Waterspirit is a spiritual ecology nonprofit inspired by the beauty of the Jersey Shore. We envision a world where water, trees, and food are sufficient for everyone. It is our hope that shared activism can push such visions into reality.
Prayer
by Andrea Nenzel, CSJP
Prayer is talking with God. Listening. Dancing for joy. Sharing presence with God. Screaming in anguish. Prayer happens in sacred spaces, at home, in nature, anywhere, anytime. Prayer can be shared with those of my faith, and prayer can be shared across denominational and faith lines because there is but one God and we are all sisters and brothers.