Ponder ‘O Come Emmanuel’ a Franciscan Sisters’ Advent Podcast
Posted on December 1, 2009
Filed Under Franciscanized World, Image of the Month, Podcasts, Song of the Month | 79 Comments
In this month of liturgical seasons that anticipate and celebrate the birth of Jesus, rejoice and enjoy O Come Emmanuel, a podcast featuring the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity’s rendition of the medieval 
Catholic hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (Veni Emmanuel) with its beautiful, haunting melody and collection of titles ascribed to the Savior from Scripture. Reflect on stunning Incarnational stained glass windows found in one of the Franciscan Sisters’ Motherhouse chapels and other Northeastern Wisconsin churches. Made from the most ordinary materials, this stained glass is sand transformed by fire into a jeweled beauty that stirs souls and moves them closer to God.
Sisters Caritas Strodthoff,OSF (xylophone and vocals), Sister Chiara LaValley, OSF (flute), Sister Myra Jean Sweigart, OSF (vocals) and Sister Winifred Crevier, OSF (organ) blend their musical gifts to perform this traditional hymn translated into English by John Mason Neale (1818-1866).
How does this podcast move your heart?
Watch How the Franciscan Sisters Serve at Santa Cruz Parish and San Xavier Mission, Tucson, AZ
Posted on September 1, 2009
Filed Under Image of the Month, Podcasts, Vocations / Discernment | 33 Comments
Filmed on location at southside Santa Cruz 
Parish and an over 200 year old San Xavier Mission in Tucson, AZ, this podcast series tells the story of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity service among the people of God in two Catholic communities of faith. Come immerse yourself in the lives of Sister Carla Riach, OSF, Sister Delores Vogt, OSF, Sister Ellen Pachmayer, OSF, Sister Leonette Kochan, OSF, Sister Maria Goretti Scandaliato, OSF, and Sister Mary Gabriel Van Dreel, OSF.
Realize the Franciscan Sisters’ collaboration with Bishop Gerald Kicanas of the Diocese of Tucson, Franciscan Friars of the Santa Barbara Province, Christian Brothers serving at San Miguel High School, Principal Mrs. Shirley Kalinowski and other faculty and staff members of two Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson elementary schools, young people enrolled in Notre Dame University’s Alliance for Catholic Education Program, and of course the families and leaders of these two parish communities including the broader Tohono O’odham Reservation. This is a story waiting to be told.
View all four podcasts on youtube. Recent video activity will be exchanged and highlighted throughout this month. And the Sisters have promised to share their daily lives as it happens.
Any thoughts you would like to share?
View An Inspiring Pentecost Window, St. Peter the Fisherman Parish, Two Rivers, WI
Posted on May 1, 2009
Filed Under Image of the Month, Podcasts, Vocations / Discernment | 14 Comments
The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity invite you to contemplate one of St. Peter the Fisherman Parish, Two Rivers, WI, preciously designed stained glass windows. Pastor Father William O’Brien narrates the podcast revealing the depth of the picture pane’s spiritual meaning and its vocation significance.
During the month of May, the Francisan Sisters who presently serve in this Wisconsin city wide parish (i.e. Religious Education, Catholic Elementary School, visiting the sick and elderly) will also reflect on how the Spirit is moving in and around them.
How are you aware of the Holy Spirit in your life? How does this Pentecost window move your soul?
Catholic Discernment: Franciscan Sister Spiritual Director
Posted on December 16, 2008
Filed Under Franciscanized World, Podcasts, Vocations / Discernment | 56 Comments
Sister Anne Marie Lom, OSF, reflects on her call to be a Catholic woman religious, as well as a trained spiritual director on staff at St. Raphael Parish, Oshkosh, WI.
As a child, Sister Anne Marie remembers her own community of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity to be “happy, solid, practical women you could talk to…one like us.” Meeting with college students and others who desire to grow in daily spiritual practice, she encourages her clients to contemplate “the daily Incarnation of Christ in the world”.
Read Sister Anne Marie’s article: So Many Choices, One Precious Life to Live.
Franciscan Sister’s Vocation: Called To Be a Parish Director
Posted on December 9, 2008
Filed Under Podcasts, Vocations / Discernment | 60 Comments
Sister Pamela Biehl, OSF, comments on her call to be a Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity and a Parish Director of two growing parishes in the Diocese of Green Bay, St. Mary, Omro, WI and St. Mary, Winneconne, WI. Before being appointed by Bishop David Zubik, Sister received the blessing of her Franciscan Community Director to be the spiritual leader of these two congregations.
At the Eucharistic Liturgy formalizing the installation of Sister as Parish Director, Bishop Zubik says Sister is “a consecrated woman who is in love with God, in love with the Church, and in love with her community.” View podcast.
BENDING TOWARDS THE LIGHT - Music Bob Kindred. Lyrics Anne Phillips & Henry Timm.
Posted on December 1, 2008
Filed Under Image of the Month, Podcasts, Song of the Month | 29 Comments
Aware that the child in each of us longs for a heart-felt Chrismas pageant each year, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity feature a more than sentimental, truly spiritual song, Bending Towards the Light, music from Bob Kindred and lyrics from Anne Phillips and Henry Timm from Anne Phillips’ production Bending Towards the Light…A Jazz Nativity. Splendid stained glass windows from Fox Valley and Cudahy Catholic parishes in Wisconsin visualize the lyrics that retell the wondrous Christmas story of Jesus’ birth.
BENDING TOWARDS THE LIGHT has an interesting history. In 1985 the Rev John Garcia Gensel of St. Peter’s
We have since performed The Jazz Nativity in many different locations from Avery Fisher Hall at
Anne Phillips, singer, composer, arranger, conductor, producer, has been active in almost every area of the music business. She began her career as a sing/pianist in clubs such as No. 1 Fifth Avenue, on television with the Ray Charles Singers, and on hundreds of recording sessions with such artists as Burt Bacharach, Carole King and Mahalia Jackson. As a soloist, her classic album, Born to Be Blue, has recently been released to rave reviews. On her most recent CD, Ballet Time, she sings with such old friends as Dave Brubeck and Marian McPartland.
Anne is widely known in the industry as the writer/arranger/producer of many national commercials among them Taste That Beats The Others Cold for Pepsi Cola which she arranged and produced for such rock stars as the Four Tops and Martha and the Vandellas. Some of her memorable melodies won her Cleo, Pen and Ink and Cannes Film Festival awards. Her show Bending Towards the Light…A Jazz Nativity, the Christmas story told through the medium of jazz, has starred such greats as Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton and Tito Puente and has become a “a new New York Christmas tradition.” (New York Magazine)
Her musical Damn Everything But the Circus, book by Stephanie Braxton, music and lyrics by Anne Phillips is nearing a New York production. Her children’s musical, The Great Grey Ghost of Old Spook Lane, is performed around the country, her Easter Mass, Sing, For the Lord Has Risen, was given its debut performance at St. Patrick Cathedral; A Spark of Faith, a group of twelve songs connected by New Testament scripture, has played throughout the east coast, and another recent work What Are We Doing To Our World? had a showcase production at The Players Club this fall. In order to introduce inner-city children to the Great American Song, Anne and her husband, jazz saxophonist Bob Kindred, have begun Children’s Jazz Choirs through their not-for-profit organization, Kindred Spirits. Anne has been a National Trustee of NARAS, the Recording Academy, was on the faculty of the NYU Jazz Department and is a recipient of the Heart of Gold Award from the Best Friends Foundation for her work with her Children’s Jazz Choirs.
BENDING TOWARDS THE LIGHT
Music by Bob Kindred
Lyrics by Anne Phillips & Henry Timm
O’er the hills of
In the dark of night
Shimmering and glimmering
A shiny wond’rous light
All the grass and trees that grow
Everything in sight
Is shimmering and glimmering
And BENDING TOWARDS THE LIGHT
On the road to
Open to the sky we are
Open to the tender light
Of sun and moon and star
Look how it shines o’er the manger
Look how the darkness has waned
Replaced by the light,
The blessing, the miracle
And on this night in
On this holy night
We may see the world begin
A BENDING TOWARDS THE LIGHT
Catholic Journey of Hope Pilgrimage in Wisconsin
Posted on September 10, 2008
Filed Under Podcasts | 14 Comments
Having encountered God, pilgrims ponder what God is speaking to them after an Immigration Awareness Pilgrimage, A Journey of Hope on September 7, 2008. You are invited to do likewise.
The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross, the Norbertines of St. Norbert Abbey, the Diocese of Green Bay, and the Franciscan Friars (OFM) of the Assumption BVM Province collaborated to make this day possible. Members of St. Philip, St. Willebrord, St. Mary of the Angels and St. Francis Xavier Cathedral parishes of the Diocese of Green Bay, WI were also involved in the planning.
What longings, desires, fears and questions surfaced as you listened deeply and pondered prayerfully this day of pilgrimage? How might this pilgrimage influence your/our activities and involvements in the future? Is there any special memory that lingers in your heart?
Franciscan Sisters Serving at St. Peter Mission, Bapchule, AZ
Posted on September 1, 2008
Filed Under Franciscanized World, Podcasts | 16 Comments
The seven Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity serving at St. Peter Mission School will share their lives among the Gila River community, “nestled beneath a beautiful blue desert sky, amid breath-taking sunrises and warm golden sunsets.”
This homily on the Gospel of Matthew by Saint John Chrysostom, respected Doctor of the Church, is a reflection of the Franciscan life in this desert place.
Do you want to honor Christ’s body? Then do not scorn him in his nakedness, nor honor him here in the church with silken garments while neglecting him outside where he is cold and naked. For he who said: ‘This is my body’, and made it so by his words also said: ‘You saw me hungry and did not feed me, and inasmuch as you did not do it for one of these, the least of my brothers, you did not do it for me.’ What we do here in the church requires a pure heart, not special garments; what we do outside requires great dedication.
Called to Be Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Hawaii Mission Part Three
Posted on August 21, 2008
Filed Under Podcasts, Vocations / Discernment | 3 Comments
Gain more insights into the goodness of the Kauai, HI island folk of St. Theresa Parish and the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity who live and serve with them.
All of the major Hawaiian islands have Lei Day festivals. Don’t miss the scenes from the children’s May Day Program that celebrates Lei Day.
Keith Warner OFM offers a reflection on what it means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and leave footprints (on the beach or on any kind of earthy soil):
What does it mean to leave footprints? One has to have feet for walking, and Francis is well known for his devotion to the humanity of Christ. Second, one must travel or go on a journey to leave such marks behind. Third, footprints are clues to the means of locomotion and direction of the traveler. Even though he did travel by boat and mule, Jesus mostly walked, and by following his footprints, one can determine the path he took. Lastly, in order for others to follow his footprints, Jesus had a leave a mark where he traveled. For Francis, the world is capable of receiving the footprints of God’s son, of holding markings which lead us in the way to the Father.
What is stirring in your heart after viewing this podcast? Where is God leading you to leave your footprints?
Called to Be Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Hawaii Mission Part Two
Posted on August 13, 2008
Filed Under Podcasts | 3 Comments
Continue the story of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity serving among the good people of St. Theresa Parish, Kekaha, HI.
Fr. Roch Niemier, OFM in his book In the Footsteps of Francis and Clare devotes one chapter to prayer and mountain spirituality. As you view this podcast, is it possible to translate this paragraph to prayer and ‘ocean’ spirituality or whatever is your ordinary natural setting?
The spirituality of Poggio Bustone, or ‘mountain spirituality’ calls forth deep contemplative prayer. Heart-centered prayer or contemplation, is not so much our praying or speaking to God as it is becoming aware that it is God who is pursuing us and praying us, drawing us upward. All of Scripture reveals this wonderful mystery of our God. It is God who comes in search of us: it is God who desires us, desires to be one with us; it is God who loves with passionate longing. It is God who comes to us with overwhelming compassion.
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