Associate/Contact Sister Retreat
August 7, 2010
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| Sisters and Associates sharing |
On the evening before the retreat day, 15 sisters and associates who live a distance from Milwaukee gathered at St. Joseph Center and shared the reasons they came to the retreat and what was happening in their lives. They then shared prayer and had social time. On Saturday morning, 26 associates and 10 sisters gathered for a retreat day on the topic of compassion facilitated by Sister Rose Ann Trzil. Through presentation, table discussion and sharing, the participants examined the question of how to respond to suffering on a personal and global level. In the morning, the focus was on compassion for the self—looking inward at the “shadow” parts of our lives and egos and learning to forgive and heal rather than judging and doing violence to them. After lunch, the focus turned outward to ways of being compassionate to others. Concrete examples from the lives of the participants helped illustrate a variety of expressions of compassion, and reinforced the idea that compassion must start with the self before it can be shown to others.
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Associates Make St. Valentine’s Day Special
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| Associates Mary Foskett and
Mary Schweitzer
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What would St. Valentine’s Day in Milwaukee be without the special baskets prepared by several SSSF associates? Associates Mary and Dale Foskett, Mary Schweitzer, Anita Bodamer and their families and friends collected items and assembled 200 baskets. Wrapped in colorful cellophane and ribbon, the baskets included items such as “fairy food” chocolates and small stuffed animals. For fifteen years the group has made baskets to benefit the School Sisters of St. Francis. As they do each year, they first took the Valentine’s baskets to the rotunda of Milwaukee’s City Hall and sold 185 baskets in one day. Next, they set up a table in the lobby of St. Joseph Center and sold the remainder of the baskets along with other items such as jewelry. The result of their efforts was a donation of $1,800 to the School Sisters of St. Francis Development Office. The money raised will be used to help meet various community needs.
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