After serving her fellow sisters as a member of the congregation’s Leadership team for eight years, Sister Roberta Smith was open to a new ministry. When a friend approached her about teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to adults, she agreed. “There is a Hispanic population down in the Bronx that needs help with
Sister Grace Michael Souza has ministered as an elementary school teacher in New York, New Jersey and since 1982, in Hawaii. Later this year she will retire as a preschool teacher at the St. Francis Intergenerational Center of St. Francis Healthcare System and return to Syracuse, New York where she will live at Franciscan Villa.
By Sister Marion Moeser As I write, wildfires ravage Australia, caused by record high temperatures and record low rainfall. Famine threatens several countries of Africa forcing mass migrations, again drought related. Concerns about the lack of rain and famine are expressed often in the Old Testament. Worshiping false gods, particularly Baal the Canaanite god of
Sister Mary McCaffrey To say that I am nostalgic and gloriously joyful when I think of my grammar school days is an understatement. St. Catharine’s in Pelham, New York, was a haven where we met wonderful people, learned amazing things, and played after school until the six o’clock whistle blew for us to go home
2018 Report of Appreciation Sister Amy Williams's status as a vowed woman religious brings an extra component to her work as a hospice nurse in Pennsylvania. Along with caring for physical needs, she also ministers to the spiritual and emotional needs not only of individuals with a terminal illness and their families but to her
Mauricio and Evelyn Melara were 18 when they left civil war-torn El Salvador in 1988. They walked to the Mexico – U.S. border and eventually ended up in Buffalo, New York, hoping to gain entry to Canada. But a backlog of refugees left them, and hundreds of other asylum seekers stranded in Buffalo with little
12/26/2019 BY HAWAII CATHOLIC HERALD By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald Two new faces can be seen in the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. Specially commissioned portraits of St. Marianne Cope and St. Damien de Veuster went up in December on each side of the crucifixion scene on the high altar. Read more
In Her Own Words: Sister Ann Helene Koenig The Christmas Gift Project, also known as the Santa Claus Project, began in 1983 while I was a Principal at St. Agnes School and Parish in the Buffalo area. My telephone rang one day; a representative from St. Joseph’s Hospital in Cheektowaga wanted to know if I
When Sister Conchetta LoPresti began teaching sign language classes at Resurrection Church in Cheektowaga, New York, the goal was to keep the parish from dividing along hearing and deaf. Ten years later, Sister coordinates the Deaf Ministry for the entire Buffalo Diocese; this year, the sign language classes have gone beyond the parish and its
By Marion C. Moeser This December, two Sunday gospel readings from Matthew are about John the Baptist. Who was John and what do we know of John and his interactions with Jesus? An important source about John, outside of the New Testament, is the Jewish historian Josephus (36/37-100 AD). He wrote to justify the Jewish