Grateful Jubilarians of 2022

Gratitude is a hallmark of our Sisters as we celebrate significant milestones in our lives as Sisters of St. Joseph.  This year was no exception as many of us gathered in joyful celebration on June 11th to honor our jubilarians of 60, 70, 75 and 80 years of living and serving God in prayer and good works in many and varied ministries as the Spirit beckons. 

Please join us in giving thanks to God for the life shared and the faith commitment of our Jubilarians of 60, 70, 75 and 80 years - as Sisters of St. Joseph.

Sister St. Bride - 80 years | Sister Nora - 60 years | Sister Kathleen - 75 years |

Sister Mary - 60 years | Sister Doreen - 70 years | Sister Veronica - 60 years |

Sister Wilhelmina - 70 years | Sister Yvonne - 60 years

Sister Yvonne Parent, celebrating her diamond jubilee, expressed gratitude on behalf of the celebrants:

With Thanks

With a spirit of deep gratitude, we thank all who have travelled with us through this journey of sixty, seventy, seventy-five and eighty years.

Our parents, siblings, cousins, and friends who have loved us through all the stages of life.

Our Sisters in community, who have taught us to pray, to ritualize loss, and to celebrate God's abundant blessings.

Our colleagues in ministry, who have encouraged us to mature our gifts and talents for the good of the world.

Our God, continually calling us into deeper relationship and drawing all things into Divine Mystery.

For all - we give thanks.

-Shared by Sister Jean Moylan, a Sister of St. Joseph for 55 years

Summer Reads

A Recommended Summer Read from a Self-Identified Bookworm

Dear Readers,

If you are on the hunt for an entertaining page-turner to enjoy this summer at the cottage, by the pool, in your backyard or on your porch may I suggest the novel, Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult.

I might be speaking to the converted. Professor Google informs me that this well-known author’s works are translated into thirty-four languages in thirty-five countries, and she has authored twenty-eight novels three of which are, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes and Harvesting the Heart. In addition, five of her novels have become movies: The Pact (2002), Plain Truth (2004) The Tenth Circle (2008), My Sister’s Keeper (2009) and Salem Falls (2012). Even before her latest book had been released, Netflix announced it had acquired the rights to Wish You Were Here, anticipating turning it into a feature film.

I have found each of Jodi Picoult’s novels to be an excellent read. She skillfully tackles current and thought-provoking issues through her thorough research. This captivating author’s riveting writing style is peppered with interesting twists and unexpected turns, which hold the reader’s rapt attention.

If you doubt my recommendation, here is Jodi Picoult in her own words introducing you to her latest book, Wish You Were Here

Happy Reading,

Sister Nancy Wales, csj Avowed Bookworm

World Oceans Day

United Nations World Oceans Day

Theme Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean.

I live along the Thames River and only rarely have had occasions to put my toes in the surrounding ocean of earth’s continents. Paul Bains, our Blue Community Coordinator reminds us in our June Newsletter that “Over 30 million Canadians live inland. One in two live along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. For many Canadians, it is not the ocean and coastline that frame our identity; rather, it is the vast interconnected landscape of wetlands, lakes, rivers, and waterways. Canada has over 2 million lakes and more than 8,500 rivers. All of this water flows through one of five drainage basins to the ocean – 60% of this water flows north to Inuit Nunangat (Inuktut word meaning homeland, used by Inuit in Canada). Thus, in Canada, ocean literacy is fundamentally about our relationship with the ocean and the waterways that connect us to each other and the sea.” (Sourced from: https://colcoalition.ca/our-work/)”

Our congregational heritage, having grown out of living the gospel, continually calls us to live in right relationship with God, with all people and with creation. And so, I am fascinated by this beautiful and mysterious system that God has loved into being – the ocean: the rich interplay of hundreds of thousands of marine species, deep cold currents transporting oxygen and nutrients, the fact that the ocean is really one continuous body of water that oceanographers have divided into four principal areas. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/all-about-the-ocean

The UN reminds us that “the ocean connects, sustains and supports us all. Yet its health is at a tipping point and so is the well-being of all that depends on it.”

Since 2017 when our congregation became a Blue Community, we have challenged ourselves with effecting change with the multiple relationships we have with water, from our misuse of it in over consumption, to clogging it with plastic, to advancing the awareness of water as a sacred right for all.

The many voices calling for change are heralds of hope.

This year there is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn more, and find out about the communities, ideas and solutions that are working together to protect and revitalize the ocean and everything it sustains. This day long event is hosted by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, with the generous contribution of Oceanic Global, which is made possible by La Mer. The event will be broadcast live. RSVP to join the United Nations World Oceans Day (UN WOD) virtual broadcast taking place on Wednesday 8 June, 2022.

Perhaps we will meet around the zoom screen!

Sister Loretta Manzara, csj