Caring Together, Summer/Fall 2023
Click Below to read the Summer/Fall 2023 edition of Caring Together; Beauty in the Arts 1
https://jolietfranciscans.org/caringtogether/
Job Opportunity – Part-time Musician
We have an opening for a part-time musician at Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home in Joliet, Illinois for our 4 p.m. Mass on Saturday and 3-4 times during the week.
Applicants should be proficient on the keyboard, be able to be a leader of song and be familiar with both contemporary and traditional liturgical music. The congregation is made up of residents and people from the surrounding neighborhood.
If interested, please contact Sr. Barb Kwiatkowski, at 815-725-8735, ext. 119 or bkwiatkowski@jolietfranciscans.org.
Collaborative Statement Calls for End to Gun Violence
Collaborative Statement Calls
for End to Gun Violence
May 2022
The undersigned communities represent over 23,000 Catholic women religious, associates, and partners in mission in over 30 states.
Today, we are all residents of Uvalde, Texas, a relatively small community more than 80 miles from San Antonio. On Tuesday, May 24, the world witnessed another horrific, senseless tragedy as a lone gunman shot and killed 21 people, including 19 students, at Robb Elementary School just two days before the end of the school year.
We are once again heartbroken. Whether in Uvalde, Parkland, Newtown, or Littleton, all of us, God’s people, deserve to live in communities free of gun violence. The massacre of children is abhorrent and should never be accepted as “normal.” These acts of violence can no longer be tolerated. They have to stop. It has to end.
Both shooters in Uvalde and Buffalo legally obtained their weapons. The United States, when compared to peer countries, has far more guns per capita, incidences of gun violence, and some of the least restrictive gun laws. According to Education Week, there have already been 27 school shootings in America in 2022 – averaging more than once a week. There have been 251 mass shootings in our country this year, and there have been more mass shootings in the United States than in any other country in the world.
We challenge ourselves, our Church, and all people of goodwill to rededicate themselves to end the scourge of gun violence in this country. To pray for the conversion of society. We plead that all continue to contribute to this movement by taking some of the actions listed below.
Actions we can take:
- Donate to the Uvalde Victims First Fund, the Buffalo 5-14 Survivors Fund, or Catholic Charities of San Antonio Crisis Relief Services.
- Send messages to national elected officials to pass gun safety measures through Moms Demand Action, Sandy Hook Promise, or March for Our Lives. If you have a Republican Senator, consider calling to ask for their support for the Background Check Expansion Act. If your senator is Kyrsten Sinema or Joe Manchin, call to ask for their support for a filibuster exception for gun safety legislation.
- Pray in solidarity with protests at the NRA convention on Friday, May 27th.
- Join or pray in solidarity with national and local March for Our Lives marches on June 11.
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Human trafficking is a $32 billion dollar industry present in all 50 states. The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking worldwide. Here are signs to watch for: Human Trafficking Signs
Please take a few minutes to view this video produced by the IWRAHT (Illinois Women Religious Against Human Trafficking). You can view their video on Youtube and searching for: IWRAHT 10th Anniversary.
Two Sisters Welcomed Home to Joliet
D
uring the month of August, Sister Irene Yosick (left) and Sister Kay Uchman were welcomed back to Joliet and to Our Lady of Angels Retirement Home. Sister Irene Yosick was living in Shelby, Ohio, ministering in Elder Care, while Sister Kay Uchman had been living in Scottsdale, Arizona.
We are happy both Sisters Irene and Kay are home in Joliet and are part of the OLA community. They will now be able to spend more time with both Sisters and Associates in the Joliet area.
Sister Deborah Gaughan Makes Profession
On April 28, 2018, the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate celebrated the perpetual vows of Sister Deborah Gaughan. She becomes the 1,256 perpetual professed member of the Congregation. Sister Deborah willingly professed her vows of living in poverty, in chastity and in obedience according to the Rule and Life of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis and the Constitutions of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate. She then accepted a ring, as a sign of Jesus’ love and faithfulness and as a reminder of her commitment to Him and to His people. God’s plan for her had come to fruition. What was planted in her as a first grader has become a reality.
To read more about Sister Deborah’s profession, as highlighted in the Herald News, please click here: Sister Deborah
Supper With The Sisters and a Special Guest
Have you wondered about religious life? We invite you to join the Sisters of the Joliet Diocese (and our own, Sister Peggy Quinn) to Supper with the Sisters and special guest, Bishop R. Daniel Conlon. This event will take place on on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 from 5:00 – 8:00 pm at St. Ann Parish Hall located at 24500 S. Navajo Drive in Channahon (door 4). You will need to RSVP by March 9th to Renee McIlheran at renee_ever@yahoo.com or call (815) 467-2910.
Relaxing Time at Franciscan Autumn Feast
This year’s 28th Annual Franciscan Autumn Feast proved to a relaxing time where guests were able to get together and enjoy each other’s company while also supporting the Mission and Ministries of the Sisters of St. Francis. Nan Nagl, Mission Advancement Director, was told during the event, “it was like being at a family party.” The Sisters are very grateful to all who participated to make this event a huge success.
In addition to raising funds for their ministries and retired sisters, the Joliet Franciscan Sisters also took time to recognize two honorees who have made an impact on both the Sisters lives and the Joliet community at large. St. John the Baptist Parish was honored with the Mother Alfred Moes Award and Joseph and Jodie (posthumously) received the Joliet Franciscan Heritage Award.
In presenting
the Mother Alfred Moes Award, Sister Dolores Zemont, President of the Congregation, reminded those present that without the invitation of the pastor of St. John’s to Mother Alfred, the foundress of the Congregation, the Joliet Franciscans would probably not be here today. “All of the ministries in which we have served for the past 152 years, as well as our beginnings, evolved from that very first invitation from St. John’s Church to teach their children in 1863,” said Sister Dolores. Today, St. John’s continues to make an impact in the community providing various programs including social justice initiatives and food assistance.
In honoring the Adlers with the Joliet Franciscan Award, Sister Dolores stated, “…Together, they strove for justice for all. Together, they were involved in the Christian Family Movement. They were founding members of the Will County Conference of Religion and Race as well as the Spanish Community Center which still continues contributing to the lives of our brothers and sisters on the east side of Joliet.” She went on to say, “Even after Jodie’s death in 2014, Joe has continued to be a force for peace and justice in the Joliet area through his tireless contributions of time, talent and treasure, meeting many needs of the Joliet community. Justice for all burns in his heart and his soul, as it did for Jodie.”
“We are very grateful for the work of the Autumn Feast Committee, our friends, our supporters, our sponsors, our benefactors and friends who all make this event possible,” added Sister Dolores.
For the past several years, the sisters have asked guests to bring a box of pasta, jello or cereal to this event to share with a local food panty. This year, two vans were filled to capacity with the food that was collected during the event. These were then taken to St. John the Baptist Food Panty.
Joliet Franciscan Sisters Announce 2017 Honorees
The Joliet Franciscan Sisters will present the annual Mother Alfred Moes Award and Joliet Franciscan Heritage Award at the 28th Annual Franciscan Autumn Feast on Sunday, October 22 at the Bolingbrook Golf Club.
The Mother Alfred Moes Award was first presented in 2008. Mother Alfred Moes, Joliet Franciscan foundress, was a woman ahead of her time. A pioneer and a visionary, she used her own dowry to transform her vision into service. Mother Alfred responded not only to the needs of the people of Joliet, but wherever the need of communities across the country called her. This award, named after Mother Alfred, recognizes individuals and organizations who also transform vision into service.
This year, the Mother Alfred Moes Award honoree is St. John the Baptist Parish. In 1863, Mother Alfred was invited by the pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish, a parish which was only 11 years old, to come to Joliet and begin teaching the children of the predominantly German immigrant community. All of the Sisters’ ministries, from the beginning of their history, evolved from St. John the Baptist Parish. Throughout its 165 year history, St. John’s has responded to the changing needs of its parish family and beyond through its many programs, including a food pantry.
The Joliet Franciscan Heritage Award was established in 2010 to honor individuals and organizations that recognize the needs of their community and use their gifts of time, talent and treasure to care for those needs. The 2017 Joliet Franciscan Heritage Award honorees are Joe and Jodie (posthumously) Adler. The Adlers were involved with the Christian Family Movement, were founding members of the Will County Conference of Religion and Race and the Spanish Community Center. They were active in the civil rights movement since the 1960s. Joe and Jodie were founding members of the Will County Habitat for Humanity.
After Jodie’s death in 2014, Joe has continued to be a force for peace and justice in the Joliet area through his tireless contributions of time, talent and treasure to the many needs of the Joliet community.
For more information about the 28th Annual Franciscan Autumn Feast, please contact the Joliet Franciscan Sisters’ Mission Advancement office at 815-725-8735, x116.