First Sunday of Lent

                                               “This is the time of

fulfillment.

The Kingdom of God

is at hand.

Repent and believe

in the Gospel.

        Mark 1: 12 - 15          

  

There is always a sense of urgency at the beginning of the Lenten Season.  Our awareness of God’s Presence in and through and around us is heightened.  We hear once again the call to the more for ourselves and for our world.

Do we really believe that God’s Kingdom is in our midst?

How will we repent this Lent and live more deeply Jesus’ Gospel Values?

This first week of Lent, let our prayer and mantra be:

Jesus’ Mission is fulfilled in us here and now!

Jesus Feeds our Whole Being

“They ate and were satisfied”

Mark 8: 1-10

As we begin this Lenten Season it would do us well to remember the promise of Jesus to give us life and life in all its fullness.

Today as we feed our bodies, let these moments become a reminder that even more important is the ‘bread’ for our minds and ‘bread’ for our souls.  What challenges do we have to let the Bread of Life, Jesus feed and nourish our whole being this Lent?

Let our mantra throughout each of our meals this Lent be:

Jesus gives me bread

and

I am satisfied

Javouhey Community Welcome and Open House

In celebration of the Year for Consecrated Life, the Cluny sisters at Javouhey House, Newport, RI held an open house on Sunday, February 8^th.  We were happy to welcome 15 guests, among whom were former students, neighbors, parishioners, affiliates, associates, and good friends.

       Despite the gloomy and overcast skies the weather was fairly mild and the snow, which had fallen all night, was melting nicely. Inside Javouhey House we gathered to pray together led by Sr. Eugenia,  toured the house with  Sr. Anne-Marie, feasted on an abundance of  homemade ‘goodies’ with our tea and coffee provided graciously by Srs. Josephine and Rachel and enjoyed sharing stories, memories and laughter with  our good friends.

       On a gloomy February Sunday afternoon we enjoyed the opportunity to gather together and celebrate the various ways we have touched each other’s lives and rejoice in the blessings shared among us.

   

International Day of Prayer

The First International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking

The first International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking is scheduled for February 8, the Feast Day of St. Josephine Bakhita.  St. Bakhita was kidnapped as a child and sold into slavery in Sudan. After gaining her freedom, she became a religious sister and dedicated her life to sharing her testament of deliverance from slavery and comforting those who suffer.

To read the full story from the Vatican News go to: 

http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-the-first-international-day-of-prayer-and

Let Us Pray

  

Today we pray for … the exploited children, enslaved women, and betrayed men in                                             bondage in our midst.

We pray for …the woman who has just been sold today.

We pray for the conversion of hearts of traffickers.

We pray for the teenage runaways who are sexually exploited.

We pray for those enslaved in agricultural fields, mines and factories.

We pray for the young girls forced in into domestic servitude.

We pray for the parents of the missing children.

We pray for the survivors trying to begin a new life.

We pray for the women and children who will be sold today, Super Bowl Sunday.

We pray for the men who are sexually exploited and are afraid to tell.

We pray for those advocating to end human trafficking.

We pray for the safe return of girls abducted in Nigeria.

We pray for …

A Cluny Vocation Story

 

 

Anne Marie Javouhey,

 

Foundress

of the

Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny

1779 - 1851

 

 

 

The Vocation Story of Anne Marie Javouhey is rooted in an experience of God.

In one of her letters she shares the following:

“Nine years ago, God, in an extraordinary but sure way, showed me that He was calling me to the state of life that I have adopted, to instruct the poor and to care for orphans.  I was then only between 17 and 18 years old, and without financial resources of which I could dispose.  The religious communities had been destroyed by the Revolution and everything seemed to make the realization of this project impossible.  However, the Lord mad His Will known to me so clearly, that having consulted the most enlightened persons in our neighborhood, they advised me to put my hand to the plough, whatever difficulties I might encounter.   Letter 20, 3 (19, 5)

Faced with the apparent impossibility of responding to this call in the unsetted times in which she lived, Anne Marie set out on her spiritual journey to discover the Will of God.  She was to experience a long period of trial and error, through which she learned discernment, an ability which she exercised all her life as she sought to respond to the needs of her time.  Her vision of St. Teresa of Avila and children from all races, confirmed her vocation and expanded her horizons to embrace a universal mission.

  
Like Anne Marie, we live in a confused world marked by a thirst for but also a denial of God; by violence, but also a desire for peace; by individualism, but also by solidarity; by a culture of death, but also a culture of life.

Will you listen to the cries of so many oppressed men, women and children with the same passion which Anne Marie had in her search for the Will of God?