“The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.” (Ps 46:4)Happy Gaudete Sunday! This third Sunday of Advent the Church invites us to rejoice with her as we continue to approach the celebration of God coming

Read More

Like me, you might be overwhelmed at all the hubbub on the Year of Mercy, which begins today. All the plans, documents, suggestions, reflections, actions, initiatives ... and then there's those Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy! There's 14 of

Read More

In her book, One Thousand Gifts,Ann Voskamp sets out on a quest for “the fullest life,” a life of daily gratitude to God. She keeps a journal in which she records memorable and mundane miracles she stumbles upon each day

Read More

I’ve always been a little uncomfortable with authority figures. Strange though that may sound coming from someone vowed to obedience, it’s the truth. I guess there’s part of me that has a really hard time trusting the good will or competence

Read More

All-night Adoration My alarm went off, and I awoke suddenly from my dream. I sleepily turned to look at the alarm on my desk, and the red numbers 12:45 stared back at me. Yep, it was 12:45…A.M. My first thought

Read More

Dear Friends and Benefactors, It’s been almost 3 months since Sr. Agnes Thérèse, Franciscan University of Steubenville student Morgan Gilchrest and I completed our wonderful and grueling trek through Raccoon Creek State Park.  Before I get down to the business

Read More

“To make known His merciful love” This phrase is all over our website, Facebook page, newsletters, brochures, etc.  Why?  Because it is our mission. Our desire is that all peoples will come to know God’s personal and merciful love for

Read More

I am not a “natural” Franciscan. Even the tamest and most domesticated of animals tend to run the other way when they see me coming! I have always liked “nice things” and during my discernment process, I grappled with the

Read More

About eleven weeks ago, I got a call to say that my Dad was on the brink of death. While not unexpected, this was still shocking news and I rushed to Vienna airport in Austria where I was based at

Read More

                  I approached the “Helping Hike for the Poor” with some mixed feelings. I was excited for a challenge, nervous about how it would go, grateful for the opportunity and my sisters’

Read More

When someone learns that our daughter is a Sister, he or she typically responds in one of two ways.  Most people, especially other moms, relate to the difficulty of being separated from their daughter.  They say something like, “Wow!  That

Read More

We don’t use hashtags in our daily experience of religious life (unlike many of you, dear readers), but if we did, a lot of our posts these days would probably say #TRANSITION. It’s just that time of year. In early

Read More

Sr. Katherine at her First Profession of Vows  in 1990  25 years ago on this day, the feast of St. Clare, our own "St. Clare" and one of our foundresses, Sr. Katherine Caldwell, gave over her life by pronouncing her

Read More

As I think about the week I spent advising 40 Franciscan University students who chose to spend their Spring Break serving others right here in Steubenville, the phrase that keeps ringing in my heart is “Christ meeting Christ.” In their

Read More

 “It is Christ’s fidelity that is most beautiful.” - Fr. Boniface Hicks, O.S.B. Almost every woman, either as a girl or a young lady, has dreamed about her wedding day and honeymoon.  In the midst of the details of the

Read More

I remember receiving the complete works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for Christmas when I was in my early teen years. I devoured his poetry, and one of my favorite poems at that time was “The Builders”, which includes these stanzas:

Read More