Edition No. 207—May 6, 2022 |
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Sister Sheila Murphy SSJ
Receives The Bishop’s Medal
May 4, 2022
Sharon McCarthy SSJ
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Sister Sheila Murphy SSJ, along with other Catholic educators, was honored by Bishop Dennis Sullivan in a Mass held on October 17, 2021, in the Camden Diocese. She never knew she received the Bishop's Medal until she read about it in the newspaper. For several months folks tried to locate the award but to no avail.
Wednesday, May 4, 2022, during a school Mass for Wildwood Catholic Academy (k-12) held at St. Ann's Church, Sister Sheila was awarded her certificate and medal by Principal Joe Cray in front of the entire student body. Joe thanked her for her steadfast service to Catholic education in Math, English, Physical Education, etc., but more importantly, for her modeling of Jesus Christ to all that she met throughout the years.
Sister is pictured with Mrs. Jen Synder, who proudly followed in her footsteps as administrator of the lower school. Even though the certificate reads for 25+ years of service, it is widely known that Sheila spent over 35 years serving as principal of St. Ann's school, then Cape Trinity School and now Wildwood Catholic Academy.
Congratulations, Sheila, on a well-deserved honor.
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Pictured from left: Mrs.Jen Synder, and Sheila Murphy SSJ
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Pictured from left: Sheila Murphy SSJ and Sharon McCarthy SSJ |
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Photos courtesy Sharon McCarthy SSJ |
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Associates in Mission
Bayonne, New Jersey
Sharing the Charism with the Dear Neighbor
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Associates in Mission from Bayonne, New Jersey share how they are living the Mission and sharing the charism with the dear neighbor. For close to twenty years four associates, Jim Hughes, Dan Rauch, Julie Brannan-Rauch, and Betty Zywicki have served as volunteers in the Adult ESL program in Bayonne, NJ.
Betty Zywicki describes their experience. “We have taught joyously with Sister Kay Coll SSJ, who started this program years ago. Sister has given the gift of language to hundreds of learners and has given us the gift of watching these immigrants gain confidence and competence in a new language. We become a family with our learners and rejoice as they master the ability to shop, speak with their children's teachers, become citizens, visit a doctor, and gain employment.
During the pandemic, we were able to create a website and conduct classes on Zoom for several months. Even though Sister Kay has handed over the program to the Associates, she and the Sisters of Saint Joseph have continued to support this vital program with a generous grant from the Sisters' Mission Fund.
For the four of us, as well as with our other volunteer teaching staff, our ESL program is certainly a mission to our dear neighbor."
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Pictured from left: Betty Zywicki, Jim Hughes, Dan Rauch and Julie Brannan-Rauch
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The African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC)
Fighting for Education
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There are a few legendary stories that make their way around the ASEC offices. In one, an ASEC Sister in Africa is unable to find an internet connection except for in a nearby tree. Because she is so dedicated to her education, she went to that tree every time she needed to get a connection to complete her work. While we do all we can to make education more accessible, this shows that there are many challenges to overcome all the same.
This is just one story, but there are many – and not all of them are about finding Wi-Fi. Some sisters are working to leverage community disparities to give children a chance at an education. Some sisters have obtained education in order to research how they can make educational systems better in Africa. Some are implementing their findings in their congregations and local schools.
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Congratulations to our 2022 Celtic Golf Raffle winner, Steve Lieb!
Thank you to all who supported the Celtic Golf Raffle! You made this, once again, a successful fundraiser for our sisters at Saint Joseph Villa.
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Looking for Inspiration?
You can find it by clicking on images below!
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"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
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