paying it forward in somerset
On behalf of the St. Vincent DePaul Society at the Catholic Community of St. Matthias in Somerset, N.J., our own Sister Marie Therese Sherwood (center) accepts a $500 check from the Ifeatu-Ifediche Anambra Women of New Jersey toward Thanksgiving baskets for those in need. Sister joined the church’s St. Vincent DePaul members and youth in packing food baskets and delivering them to nearby Franklin Food Bank to put food on the tables of needy families for the coming holiday. The ladies who presented the check are also St. Matthias parishioners. The Ifeatu Ifediche Anambra Women are a nonprofit organization that supports underprivileged women and children in the United States and Nigeria.
reaching out in san antonio
Sisters Jo Goolish (center) and Yolanda Escamilla joined alumnae from the St. Francis Academy Class of 1971 to sponsor a food drive for the poor in San Antonio, Texas. The drive ended on November 15 with a lovely luncheon of chicken caldo (soup). The weather was cold, but the spirits of the “girls” were high as they shared their favorite family Thanksgiving celebrations.
A Time to Give and to Be
SISTER GEORGETTE DUBLINO
This whole Fall season, God’s love and presence has filled my heart with such awareness of the Lord’s giftedness in such beauty. We haven’t had such a beautiful Fall for a while, and I was very aware of God’s love and presence in the beauty of His creation. Our world has so much chaos and violence, and it can be so depressing. But in the beauty of God’s nature, I experience Him saying, “Do not be afraid, I am with you.”
sister anece salay
It is wonderful to be back in the USA (after 30 years ministering in South Africa) and, this year, to be able to be with my family. Not everyone understands this day, especially those in other parts of the world. It’s a day to not just say, “Thank you,” but to feel “thank you” swell up in the heart. Thank God for all that was, is and will be — for family, friends, community, life, our joys and sorrows, too. Thanksgiving helps us to pause, to remember, to sit in a spirit of gratitude, and breathe a deep “Thank you, God, for all.”
sister pat marie buranosky
I am blessed and grateful to be part of God’s magnificent creation and to be alive for almost 88 years in the ongoing process of God’s magnificent creation. Deo gracias!
sister karen buco
I want to thank God for all his many wonderful gifts but most especially for the final signing of the adoption papers for a baby girl that my niece, Beth, has cared for since April 2020 in a short-term foster care program. The long-awaited day came on October 7, 2022. God be praised forever and ever.
sister elaine hromulak
I look to the words of the Psalmist for a perfect expression of gratitude at Thanksgiving and throughout the year:
“... for it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise and thank you because I have been fearfully, wonderfully made ...”
— Psalm 139: 13-14
sister rosalia giba
I’d like to share one of my favorite passages from author Max Lucado:
“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.”
sister bernadine marie stemnock
I am very grateful for God in my life, along with every person who ever came in contact with me. I am a better person for having known all of you. Thank you and God bless you! You are forever in my heart and always in the heart of my prayers.