{"id":8739,"date":"2019-07-05T10:42:35","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T15:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=8739"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:40:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:40:34","slug":"rejoice-with-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2019\/07\/05\/rejoice-with-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejoice with me"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Giving Voice National Gathering planning team, from left to right, front row: Kristina Ortega, facilitator; Sr. Lisa Perkowski, Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Scranton; Sophie Vodvarka, Giving Voice communications coordinator; middle row: Sr. Kathryn Press, Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Sr. Clare Bass, Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis; back row: Sr. Mary Therese Perez, Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose; Sr. Julia Walsh, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration; Sr. Adriana Calzada V\u00e1zquez Vela, Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio (Provided photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Along with three others sisters in their mid-30s, I am in a busy caf\u00e9 in St. Louis, Missouri, enjoying a lunch of sandwiches and salads. A bit ago, we prayed over our food. Between bites, we’re laughing and chatting about the work we need to do. Feeling happy and a little anxious, we still have many tasks to complete before nearly 80 more sisters arrive from all corners of the country.<\/p>\n

It’s the final day of preparations for the Giving Voice National Gathering at Fontbonne University that the four of us \u2014 along with a team of three more sisters and two other women \u2014 have been planning since the fall of 2018. The theme for our gathering is “The Boldness and Beauty of Communion: Living Religious Life NOW!” and we have four days of prayer, presentations, discussions, workshops, art and fun planned to help us break open how our communal lives compel us to be “experts of communion,” as Pope Francis insisted. We long to be awake to…<\/p>\n

[This is the beginning of my latest column for the online newspaper, Global Sisters Report<\/a>. Continue reading here<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"  Along with three others sisters in their mid-30s, I am in a busy caf\u00e9 in St. Louis, Missouri, enjoying a lunch of sandwiches and salads. A bit ago, we prayed over our food. Between bites, we’re laughing and chatting about the work we need to do. Feeling happy and a little anxious, we still...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":8745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2528],"tags":[1885,231005,7104,20786359,2416,198878,698755374,789,401,11991251,7816,895469,5840,517971,197,137119,12722,99164],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-8739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-beauty","tag-bold","tag-catholic","tag-catholic-sisters","tag-church","tag-communion","tag-community","tag-creativity","tag-faith","tag-giving-voice","tag-god","tag-good-shepherd","tag-joy","tag-rejoice","tag-relationships","tag-religious-life","tag-teamwork","tag-vocation","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/img_4395-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

Rejoice with me<\/a><\/blockquote>