Nuns on the Bus Blog: My journey to Wisconsin began in North Carolina where I left behind security of home and the familiarity of friends. I was somewhat apprehensive of what I might encounter, but a tinge of excitement bubbled within as I anticipated joining the Nuns on the Bus.
Nuns on the Bus Blog - "We the people." These words from the preamble to our U.S. Constitution were in my head and heart upon waking this morning in a simple convent room at the motherhouse of the Springfield Dominicans.
"Ah Lord God! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for you, who shows lovingkindness to thousands."
Nuns on the Bus Blog - It's begun! How do we mend the gaps and reweave the fabric of our society? That is the question at the center of this summer's Nuns on the Bus tour which will cover more than 2,400 miles to meet with individuals, families and communities in 13 states, 23 cities, and be present at both major political party conventions.
Colonization has not ended, said speakers at the July 7-10 Sisters of Earth convention: Governments and industries are still taking land from indigenous people, largely destroying ecosystems for profit.
Mandy Erickson is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She writes for National Catholic Reporter; works for FOSNA, a peace organization initiated by Palestinian Christians; and edits articles about health care and higher education.
Big corporations do not intimidate Sr. Patricia Daly. The Caldwell Dominican's job is to work with them, educate them, and help them be more socially and environmentally responsible, not to embarrass or cajole them.
Having just completed my 59th year of ministry in religious life, I am in awe of the knowledge gained along the way. I've spent these years largely in service to youth and young adults, so it is from them that I have learned about their lives and also mine; about God's working in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
Mercy Sr. Carol Mucha is currently Director of Mercy Care, ministering in campus ministry at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. Her former ministries included those of teacher, elementary and high school principal, education consultant in the Archdiocese of Chicago, vocation minister, parish and youth minister in Laredo, Texas, and presenter in the lay ministry and diaconate program of the Chicago Archdiocese.
"As I prayed I realized that in fact we are all blind. We really don't see all that is there."