Dear Friends,

When we wake up each morning and either listen to or read about what is going on in the world, it can be unsettling. The world as we knew it in the past was quite different from our world of today. The advances of social media bring the sufferings of humanity right into our homes. As a result, for persons such as ourselves who believe that we are our sister and brother's keepers, we find ourselves perplexed and feeling helpless. We come face to face with hungry and maimed children, heartbroken parents, bewildered youth and, at times, those who are angry.


As I pondered these happenings, I recalled the Gospel story of the Good Samaritan. First, the priest walked by and even moved to the opposite side of the road. Next, a Levite walked by and he, too, moved to the other side of the road. The Samaritan stopped when he saw the beaten human being in the ditch in front of him. He treated his wounds and then loaded the suffering man onto his donkey and took him to the local inn where he made arrangements for his care.

He responded to the pain in front of him. It was not an earth shattering moment, but a moment of caring for his brother in need.
I ask myself: What can I do?

 

Visiting Refugees Behind Bars:

A Sister's Journey through Adelanto Detention Center

 

 

	Christ of Maryknoll Icon by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM

Sr. Diane entered the Sisters of Social Service order at 24 years old and has been committed to the religious life for 61 years. She earned a BA in Political Science and an MSW focused on community organizing. She has been working in as a community organizer for over 20 years and despite retirement hasn't seemed to slow down in her commitment to all of God's children.

"As long as I have the energy, I will exercise it," Sr. Diane explains. And exercise it, she has. Looking back on her years of social justice and work in the community, she views her work not as a step out of retirement, but as a continuation of who she  is and her promises to her community.

 

Sr. Diane began volunteering with the small group of women in January 2016, after learning about their work through a talk held at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. The modest but determined group of women, whom Sr. Diane joined in their ministry, come from a mix of Christian backgrounds, including the Presbyterian, Unitarian Universalist, and Roman Catholic churches.

 

Adelanto Detention Facility is a for-profit facility owned by GEO Group and subcontracted by ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) to house immigrants, many of whom have crossed our borders seeking asylum and have not been accused or convicted of a crime. The group is committed to visiting about 2 dozen detainees a month at Adelanto, alternating between visiting men and women, held in separate locations within the facility. Detainees at the center come from all regions of the world, including Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, and are being held as federal immigration detainees. (Full story attached)

Click here to read the full article and learn more about Sr. Diane's work with the people detained in Adelanto.

 

by Jamey Fitzpatrick, Development Director and friend 

With additions by Sr. Deborah Lorentz, SSS

Pray and Work that God  may be glorified in all things.

April 4, 1919 - August 13, 2016

As a parent from Holy Family Adoptive Services shared, 

Sr. Bertille "walked beside the young, the old, the great, the small, 

the rich and the poor, embracing each as a friend."

Sister Bertille Prus, SSS, passed into into God's loving hands and eternal life on August 13, 2016 at the age of 97.  She was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up   in a close-knit family of seven siblings - two boys and five girls. Even as a youngster, she was an avid storyteller. Her mischievous smile and sparkle were infectious - and her quick wit served her well as she grew older. 

After high school, she was called to religious life  and  entered the Sisters of Social Se r vice  novitiate in Los Angeles 

in 1938, where her sister, Sr. Elizabeth Prus, SSS, was already  a part of the  community.  Sr. Bertille   received 

her B.A. from Immaculate Heart College in 1944 and later her M.S.W. from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 1950. She made her  first vows on May 24, 1942 and her final  vows on June 1, 1952,  adopting 

the motto, " Pray and Work that God may be  glorified in all things ."

Her strong sense of purpose, deep  family roots and her faith provided an excellent foundation for her social work education and ministries that followed in Northern and Southern California.   Indeed, family was at the core of her life and her ministries.  

She and Sr. Elizabeth regularly visited relatives in Portland, traveled with family when it was possible,  and attended family reunions.    She delighted in any time she could talk with family or friends - and even learned to use Skype in her nineties to connect more easily with her sister, Bea ( who was also in her nineties). 

 Click here to read Sr. Bertille's memorial

 

Sr. Bertille holds one of the first Vietnamese babies that Holy Family Adoptive Services helped find a home for in 1975.

	Sr. Bertille visiting with her family from Oregon and Washington

   

In memoriam, Sr. Bertille Prus, SSS

by Michael O'Palko, Holy Spirit Retreat Center Volunteer

To receive our Social Impact Newsletter

in the mail or by email, 

or email [email protected]

Click here for a copy of our last issue

Sr. Diane Donoghue,SSS and Sr. Marianna Halsmer, SSS

 

 

"I support the Sisters because I greatly value
the ministry they do and have done throughout their
lives, especially the older sisters who have done so
much work for humanity. I want to support them in
their retirement and thank them for their gifts."

 - Penelope Tafoya, SSS Associate

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I believe so deeply in the work the
Sisters do and I admire these
 special and wonderful 

women in the community" 

- Kathie Montserrat, SSS Associate

 

 

In a few minutes it will ring.  Its sonorous ripples will fill the ears, the vibrations shaking the ground beneath me, and the echoes afterward calling all together.  In a hectic, noisy world, Pax, the bell, drowns out everything else.  For a moment, there is nothing but the toll of "peace", the release of sound.  Like a story shared from long ago, its echoes  tie together the past and the present in one instant.

 

 

For all who gather here on the Encino grounds, it calls us together:  for meals, for prayer, to celebrate and to remember.  It welcomes you, whether you are a part of the SSS Community, a retreatant, a friend, a new guest....

 

For those of you who know its origin - and the two women for whom it had a deep and special meaning from their childhood days - it also reminds us of their works of peace and commitment to social justice - and for the community's decades of work in this area. 

With the help of many hands, Pax arrived safely in Encino on the feast of Saint Isidore, October 25, 1963.

I am grateful for both Sr. Bertille Prus, SSS, and Sr. Elizabeth Prus, SSS, and their works of compassion, mercy and justice throughout their ministries and lives. Each had a unique way of being, a strong work ethic, and a love for those with whom they worked.  They lived their lives fully and completely, and each day was regarded as the gift it was, even in their elder years. They treated others with respect, whether they agreed with them or not, and were passionate about life and used their gifts to help those on the margins of our communities and world.

 

Click below for:

Pax, Our Bell

A Reflection by Jamey Fitzpatrick, Development Director