Our Blog: Holy Names Voices

In 2017 I traveled to Lesotho bringing 60 water filters and a desire to provide clean water for 60 women with children. Each of the women would pledge to filter water for three other women with children, bringing the total to 240 families being served for 10 years.

In 2018, I asked our U.S.-Ontario Province to help me return with 60 more filters to serve another 240 families with children. I also traveled to Brazil and trained 15 women to use the filters, providing clean water to 60+ families. Many donors helped to make our SNJM Water Project possible.

I am not sure I know how to share with you the profound gratitude of the women who received the filters or the impact this project has on their families, but I’ll share some of their remarks and pictures with you.

I returned to Brazil in September 2019 and to Lesotho in October 2019. An article about the Water Project in our newsletter SNJM Now inspired very generous donors. I specifically remember one donor asking me if I had more resources, would I be able to expand my reach? I did not hesitate to answer because of an experience I had in Lesotho last year.

We arrived in a village for our last meeting. We only had 15 filters left. Over 100 hopeful people showed up. I cannot tell you the pain I experienced in the pit of my stomach. Many of these people had walked a long way in hopes of getting clean water to keep their children from sickness and perhaps death from contaminated water. All we could do at that time was to put everyone’s name in a hat and have a little boy draw 15 names. To this day, I have a vivid picture of the look on the faces of those who left very disappointed. I asked God to make a way for us to return to that village in Peka with more filters.

Well, this past October we were able to do three training in Peka, which allowed us to reach about 180 families. I asked each woman to sign a commitment that she would not only help three other women with children, but to also help at least one elderly person. I had noticed that many of the elderly live alone and could use clean water.

My goal this year was 200 families in Brazil and 500 in Lesotho. I am very happy to say we reached the goal in Brazil and we surpassed the goal in Lesotho. When I left Lesotho, we had reached 510 families. While there, I worked with local Sisters who serve on the SNJM Justice Network and trained them to lead the training sessions. I left with them enough filters and materials to do three additional trainings, which will bring our total there to 735 families. This is why I say, “Look what God can do!”

The women and the Sisters in both places are so grateful for the SNJM Water Project. They just kept thanking me and saying, “We cannot believe that you would come all the way here to help us” and “We cannot believe that people who do not even know us would make it possible for us to have clean water for our children.” They thanked me and asked me to please thank everyone back in my country for them. People had big smiles on their faces when they left, and many would hug me and say, “We love you.” It was so humbling to see their reaction to something we take for granted every day.
Women receiving water filters from the project have two requirements: they sign a covenant to provide clean water for three other women with children and one elderly family, and they also agree to meet once a month for at least six months to support one another and continue to build community.

In the photos, you’ll see that many of these women are very young. They walk a long way to get to the site where we hold the trainings, often bringing their little children. What we have been able to do so far has had an enormous impact on their quality of life.

But there are so many more wanting and needing our help. At times, we are still turning some people away. Let us continue to ask our good God to make a way for us to continue this much needed project, and perhaps expand it in the near future.

Blessings,
Sister Barbara Spears

By Mary Annette Dworshak, SNJM

As we approach the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita on Feb. 8, I struggle with the reality of global human trafficking. According to a September 2017 report from the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Walk Free Foundation: “An estimated 24.9 million victims are trapped in modern-day slavery. Of these, 16 million (64%) were exploited for labor, 4.8 million (19%) were sexually exploited, and 4.1 million (17%) were exploited in state-imposed forced labor.”

The numbers are staggering. The reality is dehumanizing.  In 2014, Pope Francis directly identified the immorality of human trafficking: “The human person ought never to be sold or bought as if he or she were a commodity. Whoever uses human persons in this way and exploits them, even if indirectly, becomes an accomplice of injustice.”

As a teacher of Contemporary Problems to high school seniors at Holy Names Academy in Seattle, WA, what can I do? In 2004 the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary adopted our corporate stand against human trafficking in which we promised to “educate ourselves and others regarding the magnitude, causes and consequences of this abuse, both wherever we are missioned and throughout the world.” We committed ourselves to work in collaboration to “advocate for policies and programs that address the prevention of trafficking or provide alternatives to women and children in danger of being trafficked.”

Fifteen years later, I wonder “What have I done?” Although I have not provided shelter to those trafficked in India or provided job skills training to survivors in Nigeria, as a member of our SNJM Justice Networks, I have collaborated with others to promote awareness about human trafficking, not only within our own community but in our schools in Lesotho, Manitoba, and the United States. Every year some of my students have participated in the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center’s Just Video contest in which they have dramatically and effectively educated others about the tragic reality of human trafficking right here in Seattle along the I-5 corridor.

Sometimes a few of my students or colleagues have joined some of us on the First Sunday of the month for the IPJC Anti-Trafficking Vigil across the street from Seattle’s Westlake Center. After prayer, we stand holding our signs answering questions of the curious, listening to the stories of those who have been trafficked, or smiling at those who give us a “thumbs up” as they walk or drive by.

A few years ago, when the Sisters of the Holy Names focused on the issue of fracking and the Keystone XL Pipeline, I invited my students to research the impact of fracking upon water and the environment. We also explored the reality of the promise of the oil boom along with the impact on the economy of the surrounding area and the workers who moved there. The Jan. 28, 2019 issue of TIME reported on women who have been bought and sold in oil patch trafficking. Windie Jo Lazenko tells her own story, which prompted her to assist other trafficked victims.

Just last week in class, I assigned this topic to my students: “Two years ago the Sophomore Social Justice Committee studied human trafficking. What have you done about human trafficking since 2017?” I heard students respond, “I haven’t done too much; I am more conscious of where I shop and what I buy; I advise younger women to be more aware of their surroundings and social media; I have researched more about Fast Fashion and am concerned about labor trafficking, as well as sex trafficking.” What these comments say to me is that there are ways to work on stopping the demand through the lens of labor trafficking, as well as sex trafficking.

There are ways in which each of us can make deliberate choices to refuse to be accomplices of injustice harming all of us in our common home.

Sister Mary Annette Dworshak teaches religion and serves as Peace and Justice Coordinator at Holy Names Academy in Seattle, WA.

By Julie Tilghman, SNJM Associate

My name is Julie Tilghman, and I am one of the campus ministers at Holy Names Academy in Seattle. I began my ministry at Holy Names in the fall of 2005, and have been an Associate for almost two years. In my current role, I teach World Cultures to ninth graders, and help develop student life programs related to the spiritual life and social justice work of our school.

In recent years, the work that has most animated my spirit is leading our Charism Committee, a dedicated group of 14 teachers who help plan our Charism Week in November, our biannual personnel retreats and our quarterly Charism lunches. Since first walking through the doors of HNA in 2005, I have developed a profound admiration for the work of the Holy Names Sisters. As my Jesuit pastor likes to quip: “The Holy Names Sisters are doing the work that the Jesuits talk about.” The SNJM Charism and work of the Sisters is directly connected to the life and ministry of Jesus and Mary; the Sisters are a direct reflection of the core Gospel values. The Sisters’ dedication to developing the whole person is evident throughout Holy Names, and serves as a guiding light in the ministry of our faculty and staff.

A peak spiritual and professional experience of my 21-year career took place in 2017, when I traveled to Montreal for the “Pilgrimage of the Heart” with Sister Lorna Cooney, SNJM. Alongside 23 other SNJM school representatives, we visited the sacred sites of Blessed Mother Marie Rose’s life. My mind and heart were illumined by the richness of the SNJM tradition. Our group hailed from eight different schools, each of us honoring Mother Marie Rose’s legacy by educating young women of diverse backgrounds, in unique yet common ways. The sense of sisterhood that we felt was surely animated by the spirit of Mother Marie Rose, as our hearts burned with a renewed passion for our unique ministries in the SNJM schools.

I am grateful each day for the gift of the Holy Names Sisters in my life. As a teacher, campus minister, SNJM Associate and a mother of two, I feel profoundly blessed to count myself as a member of this beautiful community.

Every refugee has a unique story, but almost all of them share a common need – a safe place to live. With support from the Sisters of the Holy Names, Mariposa Ministries was founded in 2017 to provide a home and caring support for up to four women in transition who want to succeed.

Volunteers at the ministry’s House of Mercy in Portland, OR help the residents adjust to living in the United States and provide education so that they can be productive members of society. The house is also a sacred place for study, reflection and prayer.

Mahshid, the first resident to arrive, has become the ministry’s first success story. Mahshid, 47, came to the House of Mercy in October after spending four years in limbo on the island of Nauru. Originally from Iran, she is a gifted painter whose art hangs on the living room wall of the House of Mercy. In February, she found a job working as a baker for a company that operates neighborhood coffee shops in Portland.

Pramela, age 50, moved in the week before Christmas. A refugee from Sri Lanka, she suffered the loss of her husband during the two years they spent waiting for a host country to accept them. Sister Lucinda Peightal tutors Pramela in language skills three days a week, in addition to the many hours Pramela devotes on her own to improve her English so she can apply for a job.

The ministry’s volunteers warmly welcomed the most recent resident, Terhas, when she flew into Portland on March 14. Terhas is the youngest resident at age 30. She fled Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa that has been the subject of many human rights complaints. Terhas is just beginning her English studies with Sister Lucinda. She knows that English is the key to a job and a new life here.

This ministry reflects the commitment of the Sisters’ 34th General Chapter, which urges them to create intentional, mission-focused communities that will be intergenerational and intercultural in membership and will be aligned with the community’s major social justice commitments, called corporate stands. The Chapter envisions collaboration among SNJM Sisters, Associates, Lay Consecrated persons, volunteers and others in the formation of these communities. The House of Mercy is one small community responding to this call.

On the first Friday of each month, St. Vincent de Paul Ministry Committee members prepare, serve and clean up meals for guests. From left: Sister Barbara Gfeller, Associate Juanita Saldivar, Sister Mary Sullivan, Tom Somerville and Margaret Gavette. Photo by Scott McMullen.

Located along a wide bend in the Columbia River, The Dalles, OR gets its share of cold, wet and windy weather. When a group of residents recognized how difficult the winter season was for their homeless neighbors, they decided to respond.

Collaborating with St. Vincent de Paul in downtown The Dalles, a committee formed in 2010 to find ways to help. The result was the Warming Place, a haven of hospitality where people without shelter can find a welcome, a meal and a safe place to sleep. The Warming Place is one of the beneficiaries of the Sisters of the Holy Names Ministry Grants program, which provides financial assistance to a wide variety of ministries in which Sisters are involved.

Sister Barbara Gfeller, who serves as secretary to the St. Vincent de Paul Warming Place Committee, and Associate Mary Beth Thouvenel report that in 2016-17 the ministry served 903 guests, with an average of 10 guests per night. The Warming Place is now in its seventh season.

Serving others with kindness and care fits squarely into the Holy Names Sisters’ commitment to provide hospitality. This commitment thrives at the Warming Place, as those who host freely share God’s love for all.

In addition to serving hot meals three nights a week, the St. Vincent de Paul dining room is open on cold nights from mid-November to mid-March to shelter people in need. Volunteers remove the tables and set up cots with blankets for the guests.

St. Vincent de Paul also operates a food bank twice a week, serving over 250 people on a monthly basis. In addition to Sr. Barbara, the volunteers include Sister Mary Sullivan and Associates Lois Dunsmore and Juanita Saldivar.

Advent greetings from Winnipeg! As I spend time on retreat before my vows, I am watching the beautiful snowflakes fall so gently. As they create this seamless blanket of white covering the ground it is not difficult for me to dream of a white Christmas. Admittedly, I am praying for a moderately warm one, too!

Life has been full since I last communicated, as I am sure it has been for you, as well. The discernment time with leaders of the two provinces – the Province Leadership Team for Manitoba and Sisters Maureen Delaney and Beth Liebert for the U.S.-Ontario Province – went well. I will profess my first vows as a Sister of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary on Jan. 3, 2018. Official preparations were under way the day after the announcement. I am grateful to have so many of the SNJM family involved, especially through the commitment of prayer. It is an exciting time for all of us in the Congregation. Our family has never celebrated a religious profession, and it has been 40 years since the Manitoba Province had someone make profession (I think this means our time in the desert is over)! God is good! We look forward to welcoming several people from the U.S.-Ontario Province to Manitoba in a few weeks for the celebration. I ask for your continued prayers.

While this development is unfolding, so too are many others. My ministry in the Charism and Mission Office at St. Mary’s Academy in Winnipeg has been sprouting signs of new life. In addition to the business as usual, the initiatives in November focused on retreat days – one for staff and another for our two main boards. It is exciting to witness the energy and enthusiasm as the greater community hears and shares the common language of our charism, rooted in the Gospel. In some ways, it feels like the New Evangelization – the call for us to share the message in ways that reach this milieu.

On the health front, although not much has changed and I remain frustrated with falling iron levels and high eye pressures, I am grateful for the persistent medical personnel who are trying to search for causes and more effective treatments. I am constantly reminded as I watch the news that although I am challenged by my health limitations, they are merely inconveniences. My prayer for peace, safety and hospitality for so many in our world has been intensified during this Advent season.

As I am approaching first profession, in many of my emails and conversations I have referenced myself as “soon-to-be-Novice-no-more.” I am willing to close this chapter of my journey and await what God has in store for me (and us). This time as a novice has been incredibly rewarding, challenging, growth-filled and enlightening. I find myself in one of those deeply theological moments of the “already and not yet.” This has also been the gift of my waiting during the Advent season. My joyful expectation of welcoming the Christ-Child again is accompanied by my welcoming of the deeper commitment to the Christ-Child. No matter how much I think I am ready, I am never fully prepared. But that’s okay, God will take care of the rest!

Note: Michelle Garlinski was received as a novice of the Sisters of the Holy Names in July 2015. During her first year living with Sisters at our Province’s welcome house in Berkeley, CA, she began sharing her journey through a series of “News from the Novice” letters. She spent her missionary novice year at St. Mary’s Academy in Winnipeg, Manitoba. To learn more about becoming a Sister and the SNJM formation process, please click here.

November marks a defining time of harvest and abundance, a diminishing time of light and the remembrance of those gone before us. Gratitude is an emotion, an attitude, and a virtue that covers all these dimensions.

Gratitude as an emotion:  It’s a feeling like joy, happiness, delight, gaiety and bliss.
Gratitude as an attitude:  It’s a mindset, a disposition, a worldview that we hold or lean toward.Gratitude as a virtue:  It holds a special place in our heart and soul. Some would say it can be a form of prayer. Meister Eckhart reminds us “if the only prayer you say in your whole life is thank you, it will be enough.”

In addition, gratitude goes by many other names. In academic circles it is often referred to as “appreciative inquiry.” In the private sector it may be referred to as “best practices.” In the psychology field it is called “attentiveness bias.” In the metaphysical world it’s called “the law of positive attraction.” And in faith-based circles we’ll hear the words “blessings” and “grace.” This is one sign that the concept of gratitude is universal. There are some wonderful synonyms for gratitude as well: appreciation, gratefulness, thanks and thankfulness.

Despite our current political climate, wars, declining living conditions, environmental crises and the worsening conditions for immigrants and refugees, there is much to be grateful for in our lives and in our world. In the U.S., we have refined religious life into a ministerial profession and opportunity for service and carrying out the call of the Gospel. So many corners of the world still have underserved and neglected communities. If you read the online resource Global Sisters Report, you will find daily reassurance that Sisters continue to be present wherever there are marginalized and disenfranchised populations. Regardless of terrible conditions these people face, a sense of gratitude prevails, even if it’s often in small ways.

Whether we are experiencing crisis, scarcity, loss or merely frustration, expressions of gratitude lift the human spirit. They help us see that with some practice, we may gain insights from the challenges in our life and work. Gratitude also encourages us to stay positive, to focus on what is going well around us.

Each life situation offers an opportunity to intentionally notice gifts, insights, blessings and graces received. Even during our most challenging times, we have a choice about where to focus our attention. It is important to develop an eye for the good around us. All religious orders and ministries are experiencing extremely high demand for human services, advocacy and social change. In the midst of this work, many of us already have a practice of cultivating gratitude in our daily lives. This season is an opportunity to ramp it up.

Today I am grateful for my position on the Province Leadership Team, which allows me to accompany our Sisters and to be part of our transition to a new vision of religious life. I am grateful for our sense of teamwork in service of the SNJM U.S.-Ontario Province. I am grateful for those I serve as liaison to Mission Centres and on various committees. I am grateful to those I go home to, who help me renew my energy for the next day. I am grateful for the comfort and security I am privileged to experience. I’m grateful for our excellent staff throughout the Province. I’m grateful for our separately incorporated institutions. I’m grateful for so many “best friends” within our religious community. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of a positive collective force making a significant difference in this country and in the world. What are you most grateful for during this season of gratitude?