Tina Bauer (l.) LaDonna Manternach, BVM, Tracy Bauer, Robert Monfort, Lori Ritz, and Debi Marek shared adventures and inspirations on a cultural immersion trip to Ecuador. A shared cultural immersion trip to Ecuador brought individual reflections. Read observations and…
Danita Grant (l.), Liam Grant, Mary Ann Conzett, Carol DeCarvalho, Lori Ritz, and Mary and Tim Moothart helped build a house, experienced the hospitality of another culture, and learned about themselves and each other during a volunteer service trip to…
This All Saints Day I’m doing something different. Instead of concentrating on the saints who have gone before me, I’m remembering the saints in my life who are still with me. The saints in my life are the people who…
The Season of Creation officially concluded Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. It is fitting that Pope Francis named his 2015 Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’—On Care for our Common Home, with…
Mary Frances Clarke speaks to me. Though I am sure I would delight in the lilt of her Irish brogue, her voice usually sounds more like Sister Kathy Carr, Sister Peggy Nolan, Associate Norm Freund, or Sister Harriet Holles. Last week,…
The Season of Creation began Sept. 1 and continues through Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of ecology. In 2015, another Francis—Pope Francis wrote the Encyclical Laudato Si’ On Care for our Common Home, utilizing words…
Like most feast days of Mary, her birthday on Sept. 8 has a long tradition in our BVM congregation. From simple festivities on the prairie to rather noisy entrance days for decades, this annual feast continues to elicit the celebrative…
Faces of the seven children and infants who have died in the U.S. Government detention centers haunt me. Their photos hung in a cage at the Prayer Service held in Solidarity with the Catholic Day of Action for Immigrant Children…
August 15, the Assumption of Mary—I’ve always wondered about this holy day. As a child, I imagined Mary floating into the clouds similar to Mary Poppins but without the umbrella. As a young adult, I didn’t give it much thought…
Our Lady of Mount Carmel continues to be a significant part of my BVM life. History tells the story of Hermits who lived on Mount Carmel in the 12th century and later of miracles attributed to Mary saving John…