FAITH INTO ACTION JUNE, 2022 NOTRE DAME SISTERS 3501 State Street, Omaha, NE 68112 (402) 455.2994 | NotreDameSisters.org
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BELOW ARE UPDATES ON OUR WORK.
June is Pride month. Sisters spread the love of Christ to LGBTQ people In 2021, the LCWR, the largest network of women’s religious community leaders in the U.S., as well as more religious communities, joined a statement to support LGBTQ youth and asked forgiveness for rhetoric used in the past that caused harm to LGBTQ people. This Pride Month, Sr. Joy Connealy, ND, shares her story about assuring a young adult that he was made in God's image. As a young sister I was working with a team to develop young adult ministry in our diocese. We had to find out what young adults saw as their needs and so we did interviews with a variety of young people. I had conducted several interviews and the concerns and needs they shared were about what I expected. Many valued their faith and hoped the Church could be more open to how they live their faith. One night I had an appointment with a young man who was very articulate. He hand a deep commitment to social justice and was giving a lot of his time to others who need a helping hand. When I got to the question of what he wished the Church would do for young adults he broke into tears. He explained through his pain that he was gay and that the Church didn’t recognize or welcome him as he was. He said he felt deeply connected to God, had an intimate relationship with Jesus – but the official Church told him he was a sinner. He poured out his heart and soul and I had never before heard such honesty and integrity. This brief, intense experience led me on a path of discovery. It challenged me to reflect on how we are all created in God’s image. It helped prepare me for ministry and how listening to another’s pain opens us to new insights and frees them to let go of some of the pain they are carrying. This young man later wrote me a letter and said how meaningful our dialogue had been for him. He never shared his pain with anyone who represented the Church and it gave him hope to be part of the Church some day. He taught me to speak my truth because the truth, even if it’s painful, could help someone else find their way in life. That encounter was filled with honesty and is a reminder of God’s love and compassion bringing healing through pain.
Sweatshirts available for NDA Alumnae To celebrate Notre Dame Academy Alumnae, we are offering sweatshirts to the graduates. These sweatshirts can be picked up at the reunion or mailed anywhere in the US. September 10 is the NDA reunion. Enjoy a reunion at Notre Dame Housing (previously Notre Dame Academy) Saturday, September 10. We will offer Mass at 3PM, class photos at 4 PM, and at 4:15 PM, tours of the building and refreshments with light appetizers. We will be specifically celebrating the classes of 1972 (50th anniversary!), 1967, 1962, 1957, 1952, and 1947. Fore more information about the sweatshirt, the reunion, or to RSVP, visit our website at notredamesisters.org/alumnaereunion
PRAY WITH US! People across the United States and the globe are experiencing cruelty and hate -in wars and conflicts, at work, in schools, and in families. We are deeply troubled by racism. We commit to working to dismantle such injustice. Let us continue to work and pray for acceptance, respect, healing and love for one another as Jesus teaches us. Pray with us for our Armed Forces, currently active, and pray with us in memory for those who lost their lives serving their country. Pray with those living in and fleeing the war in Ukraine, and for the conflict to end.
Learn more about our Associates Program This program of the Notre Dame Sisters provides an opportunity for persons who are not canonical members of the Notre Dame Order to enter into a formal relationship with the congregation. For more information visit NotreDameSisters.org
Former students shared fond memories of Sisters during Teacher Appreciation Week Teacher Appreciation Week was celebrated in May. We asked alumni of the Notre Dame Sisters, from all schools they have served, to share memories of the Sisters as educators. Mary (Buglewicz) Duffy was educated by the Notre Dame Sisters from first grade at Assumption School in Omaha to 12th grade at Notre Dame Academy. “To say that they taught me everything I know is an understatement. These very knowledgeable and religious women taught me problem-solving, creative thinking, how to work with others in a cooperative manner, how to meet the unmet needs in society but above all a love for God and how that love guides my daily actions,” Mary Duffy said. Other memories were of Sisters who passed away, but whose memory lives on in all of the students they educated. “When I was in fifth grade at Assumption School, Sr. Martin (✝Mary Beth Kubesh) believed in using current events to teach the math concept of percentages. She taught us how to compute batting averages during the World Series. Talk about meaningful learning!” remembered Mary Duffy. Another student of Sr. Mary Beth remembers her fondly, and has something to remember her by. “Sr. Martin was the cook in Dodge when I was in grade school in the early 50’s,” Irma Farrell said. “I used to get out of class by asking to go to the bathroom and I'd go down and visit with her. When names changed, she was Sr. Mary Beth, and I still have flowers growing that she gave to me 20 years ago.” See photos and read the full story at notredamesisters.org/news.
Thanks for your generous gifts from our Amazon Wish List - distributing them was a blessing! Throughout the year we Notre Dame Sisters will be posting tips for ecological and climate change on our Facebook page. Below is some history as to how this became a priority to Catholic religious and caring people everywhere. In 2006, to address growing ecological awareness and the need to implement Catholic social teaching on ecology within the US Church, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) helped form Catholic Climate Covenant. The Catholic Climate Covenant is a group grounded in the Church’s deep history of teaching on creation, ecology, and the poor. Caring for creation and caring for the poor have been a part of the Catholic story since the beginning, but in recent years St. John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and especially Pope Francis have added a sense of urgency to their call for Catholics to act on climate change. The US Bishops themselves having been calling for action since 1981.