Latest News from the Sisters of Saint Joseph


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Edition No. 183—August 13, 2021 
Saint Joseph Villa
Dear Animal Neighbors Visit
August 10, 2021
Briar Bush Nature Center visited Saint Joseph Villa Tuesday to introduce sisters and residents to some dear animal neighbors native to Pennsylvania.
Liberating Pneumatologies: Spirit Set Free
 
Gloria L. Schaab, SSJ, PhD
I am happy to share that my new book Liberating Pneumatologies: Spirit Set Free is now listed on Amazon, Google Books, and multiple other sites with a release date of October 15, 2021

This book is a contemporary examination of the theology of the Holy Spirit from the perspectives of a variety of ecclesial and contextual locations with an emphasis on the liberating action of the Holy Spirit in human lives. Its ecclesial content includes Pentecostal, Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox pneumatologies, with insights from contemporary theologians from each perspective. Its distinctive feature is its examination of pneumatologies from the feminist, womanist, mujerista, Black, Latinx, and cosmological theologians, focusing on unique images and liberating actions of the Holy Spirit in the social and cultural contexts of human experience. Ultimately, this particular emphasis on the liberating action of the Spirit is what sets this book apart.

The cover is a detail from one of Sister Margie Thompson SSJ’s paintings called "Orange Energy Field". As some of you know, this is my fourth book publication since 2005. Not only is it being released on Founder's Day, but I dedicated it to our Congregation:

"To our Congregation -
The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia
May the Spirit always liberate us to a radical sense of mission!"
 
St. Stephen Parish
Elkin, North Carolina
Living the SSJ Charism
The SSJ spirituality and charism is vibrant in North Carolina! The St. Stephen SSJ Associate group gather regularly around a meal, shared prayer, and faith sharing on a topic chosen by the leaders of the gathering.

Liturgical appointments/ sanctuary furniture for worship and ritual, especially the Altar and the Ambo, are to be proportional in size, and clear signs of their sacred role as Tables of Word and Sacrament. One is not meant to "outweigh" in size or be of competing/mixed material. Sister Janis McQuade SSJ shared this concern with some of the Associates and drew a picture of an Ambo she had in mind.

Janis shared, “Associate, Dr. Skip Whitman, took my drawing and built an Ambo to match all the other appointments in the sanctuary. His son, Keith, helped him install the electrical wire for the microphone. Skip is a retired orthopedic surgeon, and a former parishioner of St. Stephen, Elkin, NC. For over 30 years, Skip and his wife, Diane, along with their five children, were deeply engaged in parish ministries and service.

In 2019 Skip and Diane moved to Charlotte to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Their spiritual and personal legacy at St. Stephen and the Elkin community continue to inspire and encourage us all.
 
Skip and Diane and Debbie and Phillip Parrish (Elkin, NC) 
are the members of the first SSJA group here. Last summer, they were joined by Kathy Jenkins (Elkin, NC),  Carmen & Brad Kitts (Hays, NC), Ronnie Krakovsky (Jonesville, NC), and Patty Topper (Mt. Holly, NC).

Jim Arnold, who carved the St. Stephen Statue from a dying
oak on our property, also made our Baptistry to compliment the other
appointments in the sanctuary. It looks like it's been there for all 66 years!”
Jim Arnold, pictured with the St. Stephen Statue he carved from a dying oak on the Church property, and the Baptistry he also made.
Pictured from left: Skip Whitman and Keith Whitman
Photos courtesy Janis McQuade SSJ
Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark SSJ
Mealtime Prayers for Ecological Conversion
Reprinted with permission from Global Sisters Report
Listen to Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark SSJ’s Q & A in the Global
Sisters Report: writing mealtime prayers for ecological conversion.
The African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC)
Recent Updates
[Kenya] Sr. Susan is using her education to feed her community through a successful, sustainable farm in rural Kenya. 
[Cameroon, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia] How Catholic nuns translate computer and tech skills into enhanced social services for Africa’s poor and vulnerable. 
Looking for Inspiration?
You can find it by clicking on images below!
"With the help of God's grace and in fidelity to our founder's expressed wish, we live and work lovingly among all persons with a special preference for those who are poor, which calls us wherever we are to be in union with them."
                         — SSJ Constitutions #21
Editor, Sister Carole Pollock SSJ | 215.248.7269 | cpollock@ssjphila.org |http://ssjphila.org/home/