Congregational E-News ~ May 15, 2020
We live in a chaotic world where sometimes even listening to the local and national news tends to stir whatever calm or peace we strive to maintain in our everyday lives. From somewhere I recall the phrase “peace the world cannot give.” So…where do I find that “peace,” that spirit of serenity that allows me to live in peace amidst the chaos of a seemingly unsettled world? Help me, loving God, to live in your love—wrapped in your peace—a peace which, if sought and lived by each of us in our little segment of the world, would help to create a world of peace and serenity. 
Serenity
 
Spiral your call,
My gentle God,
Into the chaos of my self,
My world.
Calm my heart,
My mind.
Linger
In the deep recesses of unknowing,
Filling wells of fear and doubt
With God-love balm
That soothes and heals
The jagged edges of self-doubt,
Wells of peace that overflow
Into our sharp and shattered world
And bring your soothing calm
To heal your wounded world.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF
Heeding God's Call - Housing Nurses and Helping in Any Way We Can


As we continue to experience the realities of COVID-19, we pray for all those infected by the virus and their loved ones. While we self-quarantine to avoid encountering the virus, healthcare professionals willingly expose themselves to the pandemic every day. Their dedication and commitment is inspiring. At the same time, they are concerned about exposing their loved ones to the virus and putting them at risk. We hear news reports of them moving into hotel rooms, sleeping in their garages, or temporarily living in RVs.

Heeding our call to be a healing, compassionate presence, we offered health care professionals from Crozer-Chester Medical Center housing in our unused spiritual center spaces—Clare House and the Hermitages—during this crisis. These health care providers are unable to return home after their shifts because the family members with whom they live have compromised immune systems. The facilities can accommodate up to 12 individuals.

In addition, our own sisters in the health care field continue to serve on the front lines. We have sisters lending a hand in whatever way they can­—cleaning, making masks, giving virtual spiritual direction, and so on—both on the east and west coasts. During Lent we had retired sisters at Assisi House making sandwiches for St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia as well as sisters making food at the Ministry of Caring in Wilmington, Delaware. The sisters at the motherhouse have taken up a collection during Sunday liturgies to help families in need in addition to donations provided by the congregation.

Our sisters ministering at our sponsored and cosponsored ministries are chipping in to help as well. Approximately 75-85 guests arrive weekly and are provided with bags of food at Anna’s Place in Chester. Bags include canned goods, breads, fresh fruit and fresh baked cookies which come from a gentleman who bakes twice a week so every bag has fresh cookies. Neumann University also continues to reach out in a variety of ways.
Brewing Faith Episode 6: Welcoming the LGBTQ Community

The Catholic Church has a long tradition of caring compassionately for the poorest and marginalized of society. It should be no different with the LGBTQ community. Join us as we discuss inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics in our worshiping communities.

Read more
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Social Justice Grants - One Success Story

Over the past 40 years, the recently closed Social Justice Grants program has funded countless worthy projects all over the world both domestically and internationally. One project in particular stands out. In 2017 the Sisters of St. Francis gave a grant of $5,000 to Zoe Empowers, an NGO (nongovernmental organization) working with orphans and vulnerable children across seven countries and three continents. Zoe Empowers works with child-headed families—yes, you read that correctly—mostly orphans or children with disabled parents or guardians. These children are truly the most vulnerable members of their communities. They are often unclean, despised, and abused by others, frequently ill, hungry, and homeless with the oldest sibling frantically trying to care for the others. 

Zoe was founded in 2004 in response to the huge number of HIV/Aids orphans in Africa. The organization began as a typical relief agency providing orphans with emergency funds, food, medical care, and other services. After several years, the organization encountered a revolutionary way of caring for these children pioneered by a group of Rwandan social workers. These workers, led by Epiphani Mujawimana, had become concerned with the way typical relief work left children dependent on outside help, vulnerable to changes in external organizations, and unable to care for themselves. Instead, they found a way to empower children to become entirely self-sufficient while caring for themselves, their relatives, and other vulnerable children in their communities.  

Zoe Empowers helps children achieve food security, safe and reliable housing, health and hygiene, education, income, knowledge of their rights, community connections, and spiritual growth.  The organization provides them with small grants to help start their own small businesses, seeds to plant their first crop (which typically produces enough to feed them and to plant for the next crop), skills training, and access to land. Younger children return to school—first with Zoe’s help to pay fees and buy uniforms and then with money that their family has earned. Older siblings become the owners of multiple small businesses, including farming, hairdressing, baking, and other handicrafts. They go from being beggars to becoming bosses who employ and provide income to other at-risk children. 

There isn’t room here to detail the many stories of lives changed through Zoe and through the grant that the Sisters of St. Francis provided. I encourage you to go online to http://zoeempowers.org/resources/blog/ to read some of the children’s stories for yourself. 
Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia | 610-558-7726 | communications@osfphila.org | www.osfphila.org