By Sister Jill Laszewski
Remember the saying, “It takes a village...?” From the very beginning, the "Meet Our Sisters" Tour was a collaboration among many partners. Scheduled to coincide with National Vocation Awareness Week (NVAW) in the United States, the seed of the idea came from the group Communicators for Women Religious (CWR), whose Chicago members wanted to raise awareness of the many Catholic sisters who live and serve in the Chicago area. CWR is an organization that supports its members, who “promote understanding of women religious, enhance their image and advance their mission.”
Invitations were extended to area religious communities through CWR members. Trudy Hamilton and Caelie Haines, the communication directors of our two North American provinces, are CWR members and shared the opportunity with the SSND Vocation Team, who agreed this would be a great opportunity to share more about SSND ministries and long history in the Chicago area. Sister Jill Laszewski was able to connect with several Chicago area Sisters, and two SSND open house opportunities quickly emerged. Sister Miriam Patrick Cummings, Executive Director at Corazón a Corazón, a sponsored ministry of the Atlantic-Midwest Province, graciously offered open house times across four days. Sister Carolyn Jost, together with Sister Julice Bots, offered to arrange for an open house at Mater Christi convent in North Riverside, where Sister Julice lives. Sisters Catherine (Kits) Sarther, Maggie Buehler, and SSND associate Kathi Barth rounded out the group offering hospitality at Mater Christi.
To help advertise the event, CWR collaborated with several other partners and supporters, including the U.S.National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC), True Quest Communications, and Vision Vocation Network. Our communications staff also promoted the event before, during, and after, through web updates, Facebook and Twitter.
So how did it go? Eight religious communities plus the organization, Giving Voice, participated. Mater Christi had 12-15 parishioners stop by. There was an added bonus! During the open house, Sister Julice was invited to speak at the Mater Christi Holy Name Society men’s club later in the week. Sister Julice invited Sister Jill, and Sister Maggie also joined them for a brief sharing about our SSND congregation, foundress, and area Sisters. Following their presentation, the Sisters were treated to a wonderful meal and visited into the evening.
Keeping in mind that the Tour was a first-time event, Sister Jill felt it was a success: “Truly, ‘it takes a village.’Our Sisters (and Associate) were so quick to volunteer.” She added, “While we didn’t have many visitors this year, CWR Chicago has already gathered feedback from participating communities, in anticipation of next year. I am grateful to CWR for the opportunity, to our Sister and Associate volunteers for their generous participation, and to our communications staff for their ongoing support. I look forward to future collaborations. ”To learn more about the 'Meet Our Sisters' Tour, visit https://c4wr.org/meet-our-sisters/.