Sisters of St. Joseph Celebrate Year for Priests with Evening Prayer

The May 19, 2010 issue of Soundings Update is now available on our Website. It features Bethany Health Care Center's Celebration of National Nursing Home Week during which all the residents were welcomed aboard a virtual "cruise" around the world.

In this issue there is an update on the activities of "The Women's Table" a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Something that did not make this latest issue due to timing was the celebration of Evening Prayer that took place at our Motherhouse on May 18. Several months ago our sisters began talking about a way to celebrate the Year for Priests. By the time the day arrived, we had about 120 priests and as many of our sisters who had indicated they were coming.

The words of welcome from our president, Sister Mary, are worth repeating here. They set the tone for the evening and capture the essence of who we are and how we came to host this celebration.

It is more than with a sense of pride and gratitude that I welcome each of you, Cardinal Sean, our brother priests and all Sisters of St. Joseph to this celebration of who we are together as witnesses to God’s Presence and ministers to God’s people.

As Sisters of St. Joseph, we see relationship at the heart of mission. During this Year for Priests, we who share life in an apostolic diocesan, religious congregation are grateful for the collaboration that has existed and continues to exist between and among us.

Since our arrival in Boston over 136 years ago, thousands of our Sisters have partnered with you in parishes, schools, health ministries, social service ministries, retreat centers, archdiocesan ministries…any place there was a need.

And so, it is with grateful hearts and a desire to further the mission of Jesus that we gather this evening for prayer and conversation. In this joyful time of being together, the presence of the Spirit will be reflected in the energy and enthusiasm that we share.

Thank you for accepting our invitation to celebrate you. May we be together for the Church of Boston “the fire that renews the face of the earth.”

Let us pray:

At that point, I had the privilege of standing in the gallery to take photographs as the male and female voices soared with the singing of the opening hymn  "All Are Welcome."

Here are a few photos from before and after Evening Prayer. More will be available on our website in the near future.

View a slide show of this gathering at http://www.csjboston.org/NEWSupd42.htm

View Cardinal Sean's blog at: http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/