Charity Reflections
Spiritual reflections by Sisters and Associates
Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, Sunday, June 19, 2022
A reflection for the feast of Corpus Christi By Sister Regina Bechtle CALL TO PRAYER Leader: As people formed by the Eucharist, we seek to live in grateful thanksgiving. All: May Charity...
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton — Speaking the Language of Tenderness
By Regina Bechtle, SC The following is from the Winter 2022 issue of VISION. After Pope Francis’ July 2021 hospital stay, a headline in Catholic New York read: “Pope, recuperating from surgery, shows tenderness to fellow patients.” (Catholic New York, 7/15/21). In...
Prayer: The Feast of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
On January 4th we celebrate the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.The following prayer was prepared by Sisters Judy Mertz and Kathleen Flanagan, Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, New Jersey. Celebrating Saint Elizabeth Ann SetonGod’s Presence in the World...
January 2, 2022, Feast of the Epiphany
Blame it on this year’s calendar: the Scripture readings for the 2021-2022 Christmas-Epiphany season could give us whiplash. It’s like the rapid pivoting we’ve all had to do with the COVID-19 virus and its fast-moving variants. December 26, the day after we...
Against All Odds – 175 Years of the Sisters of Charity of New York
December 31, 2021 marks the 175th anniversary of the beginnings of the Sisters of Charity of New York. It’s when “the first election of community superiors was held in the chapel of the Prince Street asylum.” (Walsh 1, 137). Sister Elizabeth Boyle was...
Reflection for December 19, 2021 – Fourth Sunday of Advent
“Silence has a special place during Advent, a time of waiting and expectancy. Two women who are central to the unfolding Christmas story – Elizabeth and Mary – are themselves in a state of waiting. They are pregnant. And like women the world over, they are tuned to...
Reflection for December 12, 2021 – Third Sunday of Advent
“Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!... the Ruler of Israel, the Holy One, is in your midst, you have no...
Reflection for December 5, 2021 – Second Sunday of Advent (Year B)
“Up, Jerusalem! Stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from the east and the west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God. Led away on foot by their enemies they left you, but God...
Charity Wisdom, Autumn 2021
This season brings many challenges: to continue the hard work of protecting all from the coronavirus, to work for healing of broken persons and unjust structures, to hold the common good as central. We pray for students, teachers and parents, for those who are...
From a Small Seed, A New Community Grows
July 31 marks the foundation day when Elizabeth Seton began the community in Emmitsburg. By Regina Bechtle, SC On a hot summer day in 1809, a group of women made their way to a lush valley in the rolling hills of northern Maryland, near the village of Emmitsburg. They...