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Quick Links
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Allegany Franciscans Website
FSA Jamaica Website
UPCOMING MEETINGS
CL Meetings
CL Prayer Day at Mt Ireneaus
Dec 15
Franciscan-Clarian Spirituality
Nov 30 - Dec 2
General Commission
Dec 8-9
(rescheduled after Hurricane Irma)
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Issue 5.20
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November 13, 2017
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Feast of St. Elizabeth (November 17)
On November 17 we celebrate our Franciscan saint, Elizabeth of Hungary, also known as Elizabeth of Thuringia (1207 - 1231). Elizabeth was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary who became a member of the Third Order of St.Francis. She is celebrated as the patroness of the Third Order.
As was custom at that time, she was married at age 14, and widowed by the age of 20. After her husband's death she sent her children away and regained her dowry, using the money to build a hospital where she herself served the sick and the poor. She became a symbol of Christian charity after her death at the age of 24 and was quickly canonized.
May we learn from her conviction to put people above status, material wealth, and possessions.
"We are made loveless by our possessions." - Elizabeth of Hungary
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 St. Elizabeth Mission Society Offers Christmas Mass Cards
By: Connie Cooper, SEMS Communications Coordinator
Send your special prayer blessings to friends or loved ones this Christmas with Christmas Mass enrollment cards from St. Elizabeth Mission Society. As members of the Mission Society, their intentions will be remembered at Christmas Eve Mass and in other Masses celebrated throughout the year in the Motherhouse chapel. They will also share in the prayers and good works of our Sisters in Brazil, Bolivia, Jamaica, and the United States.
As a sponsored ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, the St. Elizabeth Mission Society shares in its spiritual aims, one of which is to advance the awareness of God's love. Donations given for the cards are used to support the ministries of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany who work to educate, heal, clothe, and feed those who are desperately poor in Jamaica, Bolivia, Brazil, and the United States.
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 St. Anthony Convent Holds Hunger Drive
By: Margaret Foley OSF
At our recent Assembly in Florida, the sisters of St. Anthony's Convent invited other sisters and associates to a hunger drive to benefit Daystar Life Center, a local non-profit organization in St. Petersburg, FL. The hunger drive was inspired by Pope Francis' recent invitation to "Share the Journey". Pope Francis' vision in launching this global campaign is to promote the strengthening of relationships among migrants, refugees, and communities. Daystar's mission is "To provide the necessities of life to our neighbors in need and to alleviate hunger, homelessness, and hopelessness." Thank you to all sisters and associates who participated. Daystar said the food was what they needed and they were well pleased.
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 Diocese of St. Petersburg Jubilee Celebration
On Sunday, October 29, 2017, at St. Jude the Apostle Cathedral, the Diocese of St. Petersburg celebrated the religious Jubilees of 14 men and women who have reached milestones in their commitment to the Church and to their Congregations.
Representing a total of 910 years of consecrated service to the Church and the people of God, the religious renewed their vows during the 11:30 a.m. Mass with Bishop Gregory Parkes presiding.
A heartfelt thank you and congratulations to the Jubilarians listed below!
85 Years
Sister Helen Lange OSB
75 Years
Sister Ruth Barthle OSF
70 Years
Sister Merita Strahler SND
65 Years
Sister Gladys Sharkey OSF
Sister Anne Martin Robonie OSF
60 Years
Sister Mary Joan Burke OSF
Sister Suzanne Hixson SNJM
Sister Mary Clare Neuhofer OSB
Sister Margaret Rumsey OSF
Sister Mary Patricia Plumb SNJM
Brother Valerian Vaverchak OFM
50 Years
Rev. Eric Carpine OFM
40 Years
Sister Irmilda Lyari CDNK
25 Years
Sister Mariellen Blaser SNJM
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 SJH Founders' Day Celebration
From BayCare CHAT News
On October 1, 1934, the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, NY, opened the new, 40-bed St. Joseph's Hospital at 7th and Morgan Streets near downtown Tampa, FL. Every year on or around October 1, we celebrate Founders' Day to honor the Sisters and the difference they have made in the lives of millions of people in the Tampa region.
From those humble beginnings, the legacy of the Sisters now lives on in the five St. Joseph's
Hospitals across Hillsborough County.
The Mission Integration team honored the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany with a Founders'
Day Mass on October 4. Vice President of Mission Integration Arlene McGannon offered these
words of appreciation at the close of Mass:
"Thank you to the Sisters who had the courage and tenacity to open a hospital on the heels of the Great Depression. Thank you to the Sisters who had the faith to purchase the cow pasture where this campus now sits. Thank you to the Sisters who have led and served St. Joseph's Hospitals over the years. Thank you to Sr. Marie Celeste who had the vision and the hope to purchase a couple of tracts of land in the middle of nowhere where St. Joseph's Hospital-North and St. Joseph's Hospital-South now stand. We stand on your shoulders and on the shoulders of all those Sisters every day. And we all know it is a privileged place to stand. God bless you!"
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 Peace in the Desert
A reflection by Pat Reid OSF
I don't know how, when, or why, but when I completed my term in leadership, the desire to go to the desert consumed me. When I saw the advertisement for the Redemptorist Renewal Center in Tucson, AZ, I knew it was for me. A time of quiet, rest, contemplation, and discernment. With the blessing of Sr. Margaret Mary and the council, I made plans to attend during the cooler months in the desert, October to December.
We are nine people in the group - three women and six men - from various parts of the world, including Australia, Ireland, the Philippines, Spain, and the United States. We have Mass every day at 7:30 a.m., followed by breakfast, and classes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:30 - 11:30. Wednesday is a prayer day with nothing on the schedule.
The first day, Fr. Greg told us that we don't choose the desert - the desert invites us and we're called to listen. Hospitality is the gift the desert offers and as we listen a deep inner healing is occurring within us and the universe. The attachments we cling to, the people we have dominated, or the people we let dominate us, in the end they all call us to freedom. Life is truly a mystery and God is calling.
I have never seen so many cacti in my life. Each day when I walk I pray for you, our sisters and associates in Bolivia, Brazil, Jamaica, and the United States, but I don't stop there. I pray for Mother Earth, for an end to violence, and for peace.
Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and I want my last words to be "thank you." Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be here, for your prayers and support, and with all my heart, Happy Thanksgiving!
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 To be understood as to understand...
By: Judith Terrameo OSF
The following is the eighth in a series of reflections by the Franciscan-Clarian Spirituality Committee on the Peace Prayer of St. Francis. These reflections will be shared in future editions of the e-newsletter.
How often we seek to be understood, rather than to understand. When we seek to be understood, we have closed our hearts and our minds to the other's point of view. Doing so only causes more frustration and angst, and nothing really gets accomplished.
What if, instead, we entered into situations simply seeking to listen and understand. We might be amazed at what happens. Maybe we might learn something about ourselves, about the other and know a peace not known before.
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Upcoming deadlines:
Submissions are not guaranteed publication. All submissions will be edited prior to inclusion,
and may be held for future use if deemed appropriate.
November 22, 2017 - Second November e-newsletter
December 1, 2017 - Winter edition
Allegany Connections
Due to the timing of Christmas on the fourth Monday of December, there will be only one edition of the e-newsletter next month. That issue will be released on December 11.
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