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A Prayer for International Women's Day

from the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

Women are a reflection of the glory of God.

Today we honor the women of all times and all places:

Women of courage.

Women of hope.

Women suffering 

Women mourning.

Women living fully.

Women experiencing joy.

Women delighting in life.

Women knowing the interconnectedness of the human family. Women honoring the sacredness of the relational, the affective. Women quietly tending the garden of human flourishing. Women boldly leading the transformation of unjust global structures.

Women seeking Wisdom.

Women sharing Wisdom.

Women receiving Love.

Women giving Love.

Women: life-giving.

Women: the image of God.

Loving God, we celebrate your faithfulness and love. On this day we commit ourselves to the promotion of the full humanity of all women everywhere. We know that whatever denies, diminishes, or distorts the full humanity of women is not of God. Help us to be faithful to your call to love.

Amen.

"Selah."

It's this word that get repeated a lot in the Psalms. While no one entirely sure what it means, there are some who think it indicates a shift in the music that was meant to accompany many of the psalms into a minor key.

Whether or not that's true, though, life shifts into a minor key during Lent. Things are a little more somber, reflective, and inward looking during this season. Throughout Lent, we'll think about what it means to live life in a minor key, while knowing that Easter is ahead of us.

Mary Shelley

Frankenstein, new edition

On March 11, 1818 Mary Shelley published Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus). Her novel quickly became a sensation for its critique of masculinity and the exclusion of women. After all, the novel readily suggests that when men are left to create - to have reign over science - something terrifying is the result.

Clearly, toxic masculinity needs dismantling. And, unfortunately, sometimes, the Church has reinforced toxicity over the centuries.

How can you - as young people of faith - harness the elements of our faith for good change and the privileging of women's voices?

Think about this week - and always.

Inspired by the lives of saints like Francis and Martin or Tours and Therese and Catherine, St. John’s Hero Academy VBS invites children to consider how following Jesus’ call to love and serve others is the most heroic thing of all. Children will create projects in the Hero Maker Design Studio, play high-energy games in the Gamer’s Gauntlet, hear stories of the faithful in the Hero Archives, and relax with a treat or two and the Holy Hero Caf?. All the while, they will discover that we can indeed serve like the saints!

This year, we are partnering with the 3^rd Street Boys and Girls Club once more and hope to show God’s love and care to even more children than last year! But this means that WE NEED YOUR HELP! IF you would like to volunteer to help with VBS, read the volunteer descriptions HERE. Then sign up next to your desired work area with your name and availability HERE.

Acolytes for Sunday!

Acolyte Schedule Available HERE!

Questions? Contact Sam

sam@stjohnsdecatur.org |662-656-653