On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the former feast day of St Louise De Marillac, the Pittsburgh Area Associates hosted a Lenten Afternoon of Reflection for all those Sisters and Associates that could attend. Some Sisters visited from Nazareth. They joined the Sisters at 11 a.m. Mass at St Louise Convent and then adjourned to the Gathering Space at Caritas Apartments for a meatless meal of homemade soup and salad, followed by a Lenten reflections program and prayer.

The group used glassware and metal utensils in an effort to be more sustainable, and some of the Sisters and Associates brought their own mug, cup or glass. Each Sister and Associate brought personal care items being collected for North Hills Community Outreach (NHCO) during Lent for low-income families. Current SNAP benefits cannot be used to purchase personal care items, which can be too expensive for those on low or fixed incomes. These items will be distributed to individuals and families that use NHCO food pantries.

After a filling meal, the group spent an hour reminding themselves of the call during this Lenten season to conversion and transformation. They asked themselves to identify where God was calling each of them to transform their lives — to free themselves from material and spiritual clutter in order to focus on what God was asking them to do. Each Sister and Associate was asked to acknowledge the longing of their hearts for their Lenten journey. To discern their intimate walk with God, to reorient, to transform, to turn back to God with their whole hearts. They also paused to reflect on how they may live a more sustainable life to preserve the beauty of creation for future generations. As part of this effort, each attendee was given a packet of wildflower seeds to add to the natural beauty of creation!

A final reading was adapted from Joyce Rupp’s We Are One from Out of the Ordinary

I am your sister. I am your brother. We are one.

I am the people of the East.

I am the veiled woman of Iran. I am the office worker biking in crowded streets of India.

I am the Tibetan Buddhist nun. I am the Vietnamese fishing family.

I am the forgotten one on the streets in Calcutta.

I am your sister. I am your brother. We are one.

I am the people of the South. I am the factory worker in Mexico.

I am the singers and dancers of Haiti. I am the aboriginal children playing in Australia.

I am the orphanage director in Africa. I am the mother of the disappeared in Central America.

 

I am your sister. I am your brother. We are one.

I am the people of the West. I am the sheep herders of the Alps.

I am the widow in Bosnia. I am the homeless in earthquake ravaged Turkey.

I am a child in a high-rise apartment being bombed in Ukraine.

I am the nurse in a HIV clinic. I am the peacekeepers in war-torn lands.

 

I am your sister. I am your brother. We are one.

I am the people of Pennsylvania. I am the children of the 3 Rivers Indian Tribes.

I am the teacher in intercity Pittsburgh. I am the Black Lives Matter activist organizing for justice. .

I am the farmer in Washington County. I am the steel worker at U.S. STEEL. I am the nurse at UPMC.

I am your sister. I am your brother. We are one.

I am the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. I am the Sisters of the Western Province serving those in the United States & Belize.

I am The Sisters of the Bangalore & Patna Provinces serving those in need in India, Nepal, Kenya & Botswana.

I am the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth’s Associates serving beside the sisters for over 50 years across the globe.

 

I am your sister. I am your brother. We are one.