09 Thursday Apr 2020
Posted in Events, Living the Gospel
This Holy Week is unique for all the world. It brings us to the heart of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. We might recall and ponder the words of T.S. Eliot in Four Quartets:
And so, we wait . . . and learn to have faith and to hope and to love.
11 Tuesday Feb 2020
Posted in Events
Seventh grade girls of Ursuline Academy/New Orleans were blessed with a whole day of retreat last week at their Archdiocesan Retreat Center. Directed and accompanied by several of their teachers, they tuned in to the Holy Spirit, listened and learned, prayed and sang. The beautiful grounds on a nice day added much. I loved helping them discover what “face of St. Angela” they want to bring to their school community at this time in their lives. They are true witnesses of Angela’s joy, concern for others, and desire to use their gifts in a spirit of “Serviam”.
30 Thursday Jan 2020
Posted in Events, Internationality
After countless beautiful celebrations for the feast of St. Angela Merici, today came news of a church named for her in Guyana. The town where the church is located is “La Parfaite Harmonie,” meaning “Perfect Harmony.” Would not our beloved Angela be delighted? And can we not see her rejoicing over this vibrant little community and the three Ursuline Sisters pictured with them?
Catholic Media Guyana said this: “The community at La Parfaite Harmonie is now St. Angela Merici Roman Catholic church. 
They celebrated their 7th anniversary as a community last Sunday. Please keep our Brothers and Sisters in your prayers,as they continue to build their community and spread the Good News of the Lord.”
23 Thursday Jan 2020
Posted in Events, Ursuline Heritage
The Ursuline family around the world celebrates the feast of our foundress, St. Angela Merici, on Monday, January 27. We thank God for the gift she is to our church and world and for the blessings of belonging to this 2020 global community!
11 Tuesday Jun 2019
Posted in Events, Living the Gospel
In less than 2 weeks, 8 Ursuline Summer Volunteers will gather for a week of service at the Humanitarian Respite Center sponsored by Catholic Charities in McAllen, Texas. The group includes students and alums of Ursuline schools in St. Louis and New York 
who know well the meaning of SERVIAM–I will serve.
The byline for our place of service is: Restoring Human Dignity on the Border. We will share in this mission as we help create hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable among us. We expect to sort donated clothing, clean, sweep, mop, make sandwiches, clean showers and bathrooms, make soup and prepare for the afternoon rush—that rush being when the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement brings guests by bus from their holding center. Recently, 500 to 900 people a day have arrived. We’ll be on call to assist families, children, and regular staff in whatever ways possible.
How will we restore human dignity? Well, stay tuned, because we’ll be blogging right here during the week. I imagine our efforts will include Spanish greetings and smiles of welcome; provision of a change of clothing, toothbrushes, chapstick, food; babysitting and playing games with children; and a loving sendoff to the bus station for the next leg of the journey.
It’s hard to imagine doing all this without also experiencing heartbreak. Our service group will take time each evening to reflect, pray together, and draw strength from words of Jesus and of St. Angela. We’ll be support for one another. We’ve chosen to be together for this week because we share values that are rooted in our Ursuline spirit of service and our deep desire for human dignity for all persons. We’ll keep before us the wisdom of Pope Francis:
Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women, and men who leave or are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more.
