Catholic Sisters Week is only six months away and it’s time to start thinking about how we’ll mark March 8-14, 2021, by Celebrating Traditions, Changing the World. COVID-19 caught the tail end of our 2020 Catholic Sisters Week events and it’s likely that many 2021 events will still be virtual.
So how do we recognize, celebrate and honor women religious today when we may not be able to gather physically? By moving into the future with these women who are “stepping out because the alternative is staying put and becoming stagnant and irrelevant,” writes Virginia Herbers, ASCJ, in the most recent issue of LCWR’s Occasional Papers. Her reflection on living religious life today is called “Dreaming Bold” and she believes the future looks like “gathering up all that used to be so certain and holding it gently, to sift through the wheat and the chaff.”
This is the bold spirt we will make the time to honor in a special way March 8-14, 2021. It is a spirt that doesn’t run away as old certainties fall away in the wake of a pandemic, the unmasking of the role of white privilege in maintaining systemic racism, or a growing political divide. Rather, the charisms and traditions of women religious shine light on this suffering and call us to awareness of our own complicity in it and challenge us to work for healing, peace, and justice.
Opportunity to feature your community: Would you like to see your sisters in Catholic Sisters Week media materials? If you would like to offer photos and they meet the criteria below, please email them to catholicsistersweek2021@gmail.
Photos for use in CSW media materials must
- Have permission from subjects to be displayed online or in print
- Show interaction between sisters and/or sisters and others
- Be sharp and clear without excessive background distraction
Lastly, many of you noted that you heard of Catholic Sisters Week via email. This tells us two things:
- We need to amp up our Social Media sharing You can help us by following Catholic Sisters Week and tagging us in posts so that we can highlight you in our accounts. Tagging and hashtags are two ways people can include us. Please use #catholicsistersweek #
changingtheworld #celebratingtraditions - We need to grow our email list You can help by forwarding this email to your associates, oblates, staff, co-workers, students, alum and faculty, parishioners, family and friends with a personal note encouraging them to sign up to receive Catholic Sisters Week emails. Sign up at Catholic Sisters Week.
We are grateful for each of you and your support of Catholic Sisters.Blessings on your planning!
The Catholic Sisters Week Task Force and Communicators for Women Religious
