LCWR honored with 3012 Hecker Award at Paulist Center



Sisters and Associates with Florence Deacon, OFM [red jacket]

Quite a few sisters and associates from various congregations in the Boston area were on hand when this year’s Isaac Hecker Award honored Sr. Florence Deacon and all women religious of the LCWR congregations. The award is named after Isaac Hecker, the founder of the Paulist Fathers. It is given to Catholics from North America for their extraordinary work for justice and peace.

In her opening remarks Susan Rutkowski, Pastoral Minister, at The Paulist Center commented:

 

The Women Religious of the United States have taught us to pray, educated us on how to live and work in our ...ever-changing world, nursed our sick and old, cared for our abandoned, reached out to all the marginalized, and taught us how to respect the dignity of all. They have, in sum, shown us how Jesus might live in our world today. Like Isaac Hecker, they have worked tirelessly to foster the growth and development of American Catholicism, showing us what a socially just society could look like. Let us support them and follow their example in our own quests to model a more inclusive American society and church focused on justice for all.

Read more about this in National Catholic Reporter.

Here are a few more pictures of the event.

 

 

 

Anti-Trafficking YouTube & Soundings Update

 

Anti-Trafficking Prayer Vigil -- January 6, 2013

Anti-Trafficking Coalition -- Boston Unit -- LCWR

at Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston Motherhouse



Please watch a new video on our Boston CSJ YouTube page. It's a short 3-minute summary of the January 6, 2013, Prayer Vigil in commemoration of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day [Jan. 11]. Since President Obama has proclaimed January "Human Trafficking Awareness Month" this still has a lot of relevance.

In addition, the January 23, 2013 issue of Soundings Update is available at:
http://www.csjboston.org/su-Jan-1-23-13.pdf

Blogs by Catholic Sisters & Vocation Awareness Week

This week our Church Celebrates National Vocation Awareness Week. There are many blogs out there by Catholic sisters. Sister Julie Vieira and Sister Maxine Kollasch have a great blog called "A Nun's Life." One feature is a page that lists blogs by Catholic sisters. Here's the link: http://anunslife.org/resources/blogs-by-catholic-nuns/

Human Trafficking Awareness Day & Polaris Project



We commemorated Human Trafficking Awareness Day
earlier this week with over 125 sisters, associates, friends, and neighbors

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day and The Polaris Project is  launching a new petition to help protect and support young victims of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation.

When minors are involved in commercial sex, they are kids, not criminals. When a boy is sold for sex by a family member, he needs services, not a prison sentence. When a girl is trapped by a pimp who sells her for sex online, she needs protection, not prosecution. Yet, all too often, these children are still arrested and treated like criminals.

They are fighting to pass Safe Harbor laws in 2013 to protect these vulnerable kids. These laws define child victims of sexual exploitation as kids, not criminals, and provide funding for the services they so desperately need.

Sign the petition and in honor of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, forward this email to 5 friends who don’t know about Safe Harbor laws.

http://www.change.org/petitions/state-lawmakers-kids-not-criminals-pass-safe-harbor-laws

Soundings Update & National Vocation Awareness Week

Soundings Update for this week can be viewed at: http://www.csjboston.org/su-Jan.9,%202013.pdf

In this issue:

• reflections from delegation to El Salvador
• Ever-widening circles of Holiday Giving
• Commemoration of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day
• An invitation to extend to women discerning vocation to religious life
• dates to remember and more...Please note that all are welcome at our Motherhouse liturgies. The times are listed in Soundings Update.

...Considering a Vocation to Religious Life?

Next week is National Vocation Awareness week. So I'd like to highlight the invitation to women discerning a vocation to religious life. Here are the details:

Fiat is a discernment group for women in the Archdiocese of Boston who are considering a vocation to religious life. Our next meeting will be held on January 30, 2013 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Our Lady Help of Christians Church, 573 Washington St., Newton.  Our time together will include prayer, conversation about vocational discernment and an opportunity to meet Sisters of the Archdiocese. Light supper will be served.  For more information, please contact Sister Marian Batho, CSJ at 617-746-5637, Sr_Marian_Batho@rcab.org

Commemorating National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

On Sunday, January 6, 2013, approximately 125 sisters, associates, and friends gathered for a prayer vigil sponsored by the LCWR Region I Boston Unit Anti-Trafficking Coalition. The prayer vigil marked the commemoration of the sixth annual National Human Trafficking Awareness Day [January 11].

Participants began with prayer in the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse Chapel, continued outside with a silent vigil on Cambridge Street, and concluded with reflection and sharing of a commitment to a personal action on the part of those gathered. 

The next event is planned for April 6, 2013, at Fontbonne Academy, Milton, when the coalition will host a performance of Soul Cry, a dance presentation by the Accendo Dance Company based on a true story about human trafficking. This event will mark the sixth symposium offered by the Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition.