There are 10 Associates and 56 Sisters of St. Joseph of Annecy ministering in Wales, in parish work, diocesan administration, as catechesis, in health care, hospice, chaplaincy, schools, university, prisons, and hospitals. We are invited to pray for them and for the people of Wales during these Christmas Days.
This week we are invited to prayer for the 3740 Sisters of St. Joseph, the 2609 Associates, and the 34 Agrégées who live and minster in the United States of America. They minster in soup kitchens, shelters, universities, schools, hospitals, courtrooms, prisons, retreat centres, offices, nursing homes, laboratories, studios, and hospices, functioning as educators, lawyers, doctors, nurses, family therapists, social workers, patents advocates, spiritual directors, parish minsters, theologians, psychologists, physical therapists, administrators, artists, authors, musicians, poets and a myriad of other professions. Congregations of St. Joseph living in the United States are: Baden, Boston, Brentwood, Buffalo, Carondelet, Concordia, Congregation of St. Joseph, Erie, Orange, Philadelphia, Rochester, Springfield, St. Augustine, Watertown, West-Hartford-Chambery, and Winslow-Lyon. Perhaps the best way to see a wide overview is to visit the US Federation website: http://www.cssjfed.org/
For the rest of this week we are invited to pray for the people of Dubai and the three Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambéry who minister there. An article from the 2017 journal. Please scroll to the last page for news about Dubai: http://www.csjchambery.org/site/upload/csjournal/csjournal_83_en.pdf
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet presently have 3 sisters ministering in Uganda. In 2008, five Sisters of St. Joseph were welcomed to Gulu, Northern Uganda, by Archbishop John Baptist Odama. They immediately began setting up education classes, worked in health clinics, provided child care services, and began training catechists. Today that ministry continues. They have helped to build a maternity clinic in Gulu, where about 16 women in Uganda die every day from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. They also work with the Water with Blessings project, providing vital water filters to women in the area. To read more about the ministry happening in Uganda go to csjgulu.blogspot.com. (from the Carondelet web site) Read about a 2017 volunteer project to Gulu: https://www.csjsl.org/news/fontbonne-universitys-gulu-immersion-project And December 16, 2019 News: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uganda-refugees-un/ugandas-refugee-farmers-sow-seeds-of-change-idUSKBN1YK0D8
We are invited to pray for the Sisters and Associates serving in Tanzania and for the people of that country. Eighteen Sisters from the Congregations of Annecy, Chambéry, and Congregation of St. Joseph serve in a variety of ministries: hostel for girls, parish work, pastoral work, hospitals and dispensary, education, faith formation, and village visiting. Read about Sr. Jackie Goodin’s experience: https://www.csjoseph.org/cleveland/sister-jackie-in-tanzania/ https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2019-12/tanzanian-president-releases-5-000-prisoners.html
We invite you to pray for the people of Switzerland and the Sisters and Associates who minister there. From the Congregations of Annecy, Cuneo, and Lyon there are a total of 11 Sisters and 30 Associates ministering in: parish work, education of dropouts, pastoral work with migrants, home care for the elderly, education, and presence through retirement. Here are two articles of interest: Climate change: https://www.euronews.com/2019/12/02/before-and-after-see-how-swiss-glaciers-have-shrunk-dramatically-across-150-years https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/cleanspace-_outer-space--switzerland-takes-the-lead-cleaning-up-the-mess-/45422094
we are invited to pray for the 5 Sisters and 5 Associates from the Chambéry Congregation ministering in Sweden in pastoral care and refugee work. An interesting historical perspective of the sisters presence in Sweden may be read at: https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publication/53313ac7-4e7d-45ff-bb80-401efdb52fdb Please click on the link to “summary”. And a good news story: Video is 2 minutes long: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/steel-making-city-swedens-greenest-community-191205122043843.html
We will pray for the people of Sri Lanka and the three Sisters from the Lyon Congregation who minister there in pastoral and social work. Check out the Lyon congregation tree on: http://www.sjlindia.org/presenceothers.php News about Monday’s extreme rain fall in Sri Lanka: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/502051