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April 2021
 
BRIDGING CONNECTION
 
FROM THE OFFICE DIRECTOR

Like the newly emerging spring buds, we are slowly coming to life this April after the pandemic. Little did those tender shoots anticipate the snow flurries yesterday, but they weathered them. Our life too, is a continual invitation to Life through seasons that challenge our fragility. If Teilhard de Chardin would speak to those sprouts of new life in their precarious state, I imagine he would say:

Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet, it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability--and that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you...don't try to force (things) as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow.

...Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete. (excerpt from Hearts on Fire)

My prayers are with each one of you as we enter this new season of life and respond to Jesus' call to new Life.     Maria

YEAR AT A GLANCE

April
  • 4.25.21 POPE FRANCIS' MESSAGE: WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS!
  • 4.27.21 Zoom and See Discerner Series, 7 - 8 pm. Register tinyURL.com/Zoomnsee.

Upcoming

Fall
  • 10.9.2021 Let Service Shine - Bicentennial Event organized by Religious
  • 10.23.21 TBC Jubilee Celebration for 2020 and 2021
  • 11.4-7. 21 Religious Formation Conference: National Congress, Chicago, IL
  • 11.10.21 TBC Major and Local Superiors meet with Archbishop
 
Meet our Vocation Ministers
I consider myself blessed to work with an incredible team of Vocation Ministers, lay and consecrated men and women who work together to promote a culture of vocation and Consecrated Life in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It is our hope that young people will discover the path planned for them through our endeavors. It would like you to meet these wonderful people.
Cathy Bauer, OSB
 
Sr. Cathy Bauer, OSB is a Benedictine sister of St. Walburg Monastery, professed 1981.  I graduated from Thomas More College in 1984 with BA in social work, 1992 from Catholic University with MSW and in 2016 completed a two-year Spiritual Direction Internship Certificate Program.  Until 2003, my ministry has been working in Northern KY with individuals and families in need, those with mental illness who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. Even though my full-time ministry has changed, I continued to be very active in developing programs that provide community service opportunities along with prayer and reflection for high school and college students.  These experiences include "Seek" retreats for 8th grade students in preparation for confirmation and "Live out Loud" a weeklong volunteer Summer service program for high school students.

Presently, I am a full-time vocation direction for St. Walburg Monastery and a spiritual director for a number of adults.  I’ve developed vocation awareness programs with vocation directors within the Greater Cincinnati area, Archdiocese of Louisville and Diocese of Lexington.  I have been invited to speak at schools, direct retreats and being a spiritual advisor/director for college students. 

It has been a humbling experience to be called to walk with individuals discerning their baptismal call to holiness. Providing them with the opportunity to come and visit our monastery has given our community the gift of hope and openness to Christ’s presence. My hope is to have women to come and stay with us in our volunteer live-in program.

I love to bake bread and make cheese ball sculptures. Being outdoors enjoying nature in every season has broadened my relationship with God. My family is very dear to me and I enjoy being with them and celebrating life with them.

Discernment Events
Part 2 in the Series

This online series for discerners creates fellowship for those seeking to discover God's will for their life. They can register here or https://tinyurl.com/Zoomnsee or email me.


JOIN US! To celebrate 200 years of faith of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the women’s & men’s religious communities are coming together to recall their ministry in the Archdiocese with a day of service! Many orders came to serve immigrants and hope to continue our legacy through involving every Catholic in the Archdiocese to join in a day of service to welcome our new neighbors!
Learn More
Religious Brothers Day Virtual Gathering
Join the National Religious Brothers Day Virtual Gathering, Saturday, May 1, 1:30-2:30 p.m. (ET). The afternoon will include prayer, reflections by younger brothers and small group conversation. Learn more and register for the link to this free gathering here.

Presenters include Br. Luis Guivas, CP; Br. Herman Johnson, OP; Br. Nicholas Romeo, OFM Conv.; Br. Rafael Vargas, SDB; Br. Bill Boslet, OSF; and Br. Peter O'Loughlin, CFC. The sponsors for this event are CMSM, National Religious Vocation Conference, Religious Brothers Conference, and Religious Formation Conference.

Learn More / Sign Up
May 12: Young religious: Fratelli Tutti and community life
Invite young religious from your community (within five years of ordination or final vows) to this special online event. Fratelli Tutti: Dialogue and Friendship in our Communities will be an engaging online discussion for young religious with reflections on what social friendship looks like in our own religious communities, as well as challenges such as intergenerational differences, social dialogue and reaching consensus. Free, but you must register in advance for the link.

Bicentennial and 33 Day Marian Pilgrimage
         To celebrate the bicentennial of the archdiocese a website has launched with an extensive timeline history of the archdiocese, ethnic and religious communities in ministry in the archdiocese and events planned in celebration of the bicentennial. Included in the planned events, a 33 day, more than 300-mile, Marian Pilgrimage. The longest Marian Pilgrimage in the U.S! Consider signing up!

Website Resources


Eldercare Summit

For the first time, the eldercare summit held in New York each year is moving online and will be accessible nationally.

This special event, on Sept. 14 and 15, 1-3:30 p.m. ET, will include presenters on wellness and healthy aging; supporting the mental health of elderly members isolated by the pandemic; and support during cognitive loss. Participants will have the opportunity for discussion with the presenters, and with each other during a final breakout session to synthesize and concretize the findings. Learn more and register here.
Update Your Listing in the Catholic Directory
We are so grateful to the many congregations who have helped us set the record straight. Our goal is to have complete and accurate listings of all the consecrated women and men in the 2021 Catholic Directory. If you have had membership changes in your community, please click below and let us know!
UPDATE NOW

Grant Opportunity
The Sisters on the Frontline program in collaboration with Catholic Extension (through the generosity of GHR) has given the Leadership Collaborative $100,000 to distribute to 100 Sisters at $1,000 each.  For this grant, an application is made to the Leadership Collaborative by any woman religious between ages 20-70 yo.  The $1,000 is to be spent on a community/family/person in need in the US – Sisters receiving these grants will have full discretion on how to use the funds when received but of course there are some reporting requirements.  Here is a link to a flyer that will give you information of this $1,000 grant. Leadership Collaborative Invitation to Sisters on the Frontline
 
 

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