The Word That Unites Us

In September 2019, Pope Francis promulgated the Third Sunday in Ordinary time to henceforth be the Sunday of the Word of God.  The purpose of this new decree is to remind us of the importance of knowing, what he referred to as, the Scripture of the Word.  Pope Francis explained: “The Word that saves us does not go looking for well preserved, clean, safe places.  It comes into our complexities, into our darkness.  Today, as then, God desires to visit those places where WE think he doesn’t go”. The next year, after Pope Francis celebrated Eucharist on the Sunday of the Word of God, he gave bibles to many of those gathered.

The bible is the most read book in the world.  I treasure my mother’s well-used, tattered bible which became her prized possession. It was Mom’s special companion during her long years as a widow. She received it decades ago from Sister Eveline Gagner, in a scripture course conducted in the church hall in our little hometown.  Sisters of St. Joseph have been evangelizers since our early beginnings. 

I often think that I should spend more time plumbing the depths of my own bible.  However, a few years ago, I heard that if one follows the liturgical cycles A, B, C and ponders the OT books, follows Jesus’ life in the Gospels of the New Testament and epistles of his followers, one will have covered a lot of scripture. Someone has counted it as 85% of the bible excluding counting the psalms.

January 18-25th is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  Before COVID time, various Christian churches gathered for annual intercommunity prayer services to celebrate the shared tenets of our faith, the most important of which is the Word of God.  Additionally, in the preparatory document for a Synodal, Pope Francis points out that we are called to deepen our relationship with other Church communities with which we are united by the one baptism. How can we fail to be united in heart when we share Jesus and the unfolding of God’s revelation throughout time and history?

-Sister Jean Moylan, csj

Image: Unsplash/Humble Lamb

International Sisters of St. Joseph Pray for Peace and Healing in our World

In the midst of the world’s woes of ragging fires, torrential storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, aggression, and violence, for one quiet hour on Saturday, August 28 hundreds of Sisters of St. Joseph and Associates throughout the world settled into a period of reflection and prayer for the sake of our cherished earth and its peoples.

The international CSJ Chambéry Congregation designed and hosted the prayer hour using quotes from Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli tutti. Readings and prayers were spoken in various languages: Italian, French, Portuguese, English, with music in those languages as well as being sung in Urdu. To focus our reflection the hour was divided into these topics cited in the encyclical: Social Friendship, Envisaging and Engendering an Open World, A Better Kind of Politics; A Heart Open to the World; Dialogue and Friendship in Society; Paths of Renewed Encounter; and Religions at the Service of the Our World. Each focus contained brief statements, prayer, and song.

If you wish to join in the prayer:

Go to the home page of the Chambery congregation: https://www.csjchambery.org/pt/inicial

Click on the symbol for Facebook.

Why was this moment significant?

The energy of solidarity and compassion released a deep hope across the earth, rising from major continents with a heartfelt cry for healing. We were blessed to participate.

We know that many other faith communities hold similar events of prayerful reflection, contemplation, and petition. We join this singular moment on August 28th in solidarity with all who strive to bring healing and wholeness to our world.

Image from Unsplash, created by Elena Mazhvila @miracleday