Yesterday's reading from Proverbs brought our Foundress, Mother Mary Theresa Dudzik, to mind -- particularly the following:
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.
Josephine (as she was called prior to the formation of the community) was moved by the condition of the aged, poor, abandoned, and orphaned whom she encountered in her on the northwest side of Chicago neighborhood. She came to their aid spiritually, physically, and emotionally, even sheltering many in her own family home. Chicago's severe financial crisis of 1893 resulted in greater economic stress and unemployment. Josephine, upon the advice of her pastor, formed a religious community to come to the aid of the elderly and those in need.
That religious community continues today, still aiding the elderly and those in need in the Chicago area as well as into Indiana and Ohio. Visit our website at http://www.chicagofranciscans.com/join-us/index.shtml if you feel you may be called to be of service as Mother Mary Theresa was.
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