Maybe God's plan for you is with the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago

Since we last reached out to all of you with news of our very active ministry, Sr. Lois Marie and I have been busy spreading to the good news of the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago and their lives of faith-filed community, spirituality and ministry to students, young adults, women and our many associates that work in our retirement/elder care facilities throughout the Midwest.

In March, we held our “Come and See” at Our Lady of Victory Convent in Lemont. We had four women in attendance and it was a weekend of fellowship, prayer, fun and discernment. Many of our Sisters joined in to help make it the wonderful weekend that it was – from sharing their knowledge of St. Francis to being prayer partners to just extending the warm, loving hospitality that the community is so renowned for to our visitors – the success of the event was truly a group effort! We are already busy planning the next “Come and See” which will be held at St. Anthony Convent in Crown Point, Indiana in October.

With new women from varied backgrounds considering their vocation to join the community, it seemed appropriate to explore just what it means to be “diverse” in today’s world. To that end, we invited Sr. Charlene and Fr. Luis Vera to share some thoughts with the community in a Multicultural Event entitled New Membership – Crossing Boundaries: A Prophetic Call, on April 10th. We had a great turn out and everyone left with “food for thought” about the invitation for the community to imagine a future for itself that is perhaps more culturally integrated and enriched by diversity than in the past.

This winter, Sr. Lois and I began working at the St. Stanislaus soup kitchen every Thursday –it has been a wonderful experience. It has taken us back to the community’s roots, presented us with an opportunity to do direct outreach to the poor and homeless and also provides us with a venue for engaging in ministry with inquirers.

We have several women that are in the process of discerning whether they are being called to religious life with the Franciscan Sisters of Chicago. We ask you to keep them and us in your prayers because we all need to be involved in the ministry of promoting religious vocations!