Sisters' Stories

We love sharing stories from and/or about our amazing SSND Sisters. 

Please send us your submissions to comm@amssnd.org.

Listen Each New Time

I find Lent a challenge. How do I keep to the good things I intend to do this year? As in all things, I pray to follow the example of Jesus who was led by the Spirit to the desert. 

The "God of No Matter Whatness"

Recently, when I heard Father Greg Boyle talk about his work with gang members in Los Angeles, he talked to them about the “God of no matter whatness.” He said, "This God dissolves the toxicity of shame and fills us with tender mercy.”

Prodigal Mercy by Sister Delia Calis

By Sister Delia Calis, SSND

Oh Son, do you not yet trust my love for you?

You are always with me and everything I have is yours.

I need you to shepherd with my heart – my love, compassion.

Lent Collage Graces Bulletin Board at The Watermark

Creating the community bulletin board at The Watermark is a prayerful, artistic process for Sister Justine Nutz, SSND. Using scraps of paper, fabric, yarn, pictures, words, and other items, her evocative designs invite reflection. Her 2024 Lent board also recalls the Paschal Mystery.

Lent in a “Post-Covid” World

As we approach Lent, I wonder what will come. Will we be able to celebrate together? Will we face another Covid outbreak as family and friends come to visit?  

Living into Prophetic Witness of Universal Communion

Every year, we celebrate the same feasts, often with the same liturgical readings.  What can we do to ensure that our journey is a spiral and not a circular treadmill?  How is God near to us this Lent in ways that will call us to be fully alert and attentive?

A Stella Maris Snowflake Party

“It snowed last night. It snowed last night!” The Notre Dame Prep Middle Level students sang the fun winter song to the Sisters at Stella Maris. They added hand movements to their song.  This was just one of several activities that the students and Sisters engaged in during the “Snowflake Party” organized by the NDP Middle Level Campus Ministers on January 30. 

Pajama Day and Vocations

February 1st was Pajama Day at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy in Jamaica, New York. I know this because I was invited to give a vocation talk to the girls in grades 5-8 as part of Catholic Schools Week.

Waterdown Sister Carla Shares Creative Flare

Sisters recently attended a Sip and Paint in Waterdown, Ontario. Sip and Paint is is a fun and social way to explore one's sometimes hidden creative side. The Sisters all enjoyed a relaxing and informal atmosphere while creating. Some enjoyed sparkling juice while others enjoyed wine as they painted their simple yet beautiful creations.

Catholic Charities of Baltimore Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary of Service

Bill McCarthy, the Executive Director of Catholic Charities Baltimore, invited the School Sisters of Notre Dame to be his guests at the 100th Anniversary celebration. In attendance were Sisters Kathleen Feeley, Delia Dowling, Peggy Juskelis, Miriam Jansen, Kathy Jager, Bernice Feilinger, Raymond Lorenzen, and Mary Fitzgerald. Also in attendance were: Sisters Sharon Slear, Linda Stilling, Patricia Murphy, Grace Okon, and Sister Grace Sciamanna who had served on the Centennial Committee.

Sister Marie Jeannette Blatz Interviewed for StoryCorps

Jane Johnson interviewed her aunt, Sister Marie Jeannette Blatz, SSND about her life and experiences as a School Sisters of Notre Dame as part of the national StoryCorps Archive. Sister Jeannette is currently living at Ozanam.
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