By Sister Michele Morek Don’t you love greeting the New Year with hope? We are people of hope, so it might be surprising that one of Saint Angela’s most difficult sayings for some of us can be: “Have Hope and Firm Faith in God!” It’s easy to follow her advice when things are going well,…

This Advent, we will be reflecting again on “Comings,” though lately I have been especially focused on “Coming Again,” since I just moved back to our Ursuline Motherhouse in western Kentucky. I am remembering my first coming, in a hot September of 1961, when the four of us entering from New Mexico tried getting used…

Reflective Moments with Angela By Sister Michele Morek As I listened to the political speeches this fall, I was alert to the candidates’ use of irony (making political points in a joking manner). While I did not always agree with the points they were making, I could admire the irony. In fact, I love it.…

By Sister Michele Morek Now, (spoiler alert!) I am no theologian, but if you met Jesus and asked him to summarize his message and ministry in one word, I think he would say “Love.” If you met Angela Merici and asked her the same question, I’ll bet she would say the same thing. After all,…

By Sister Michele Morek In preparation for a panel discussion for Ursuline Associates and Sisters Day this year, the Sister panelists were invited to reflect on the questions: “After 150 years at Maple Mount, who are the Ursuline Sisters today?” and “How are we cultivating the vine entrusted to us by Saint Angela?” Since we…

By Sister Michele Morek I love the post-Easter readings from the Acts of the Apostles. I can just imagine the disciples discussing with each other what the new church should be like; for example, what Jesus really meant for them to do when he said, “go out to all the world and proclaim the Good…

By Sister Michele Morek She reunited families, facilitated relationships, was a model matriarch and source of strength for women, and is a powerful figure of knowledge and wisdom. Did you think I was talking about Saint Angela Merici? You could be forgiven for thinking that unless I added a little more information: She also participated…

In a recent webinar on contemplative prayer, I heard Islamic scholar Omid Safi talk about the spirituality of Sufism. In describing spirituality, he used the image of a bird, which needs two wings to fly. (I had an interesting moment in which I imagined how one would fly with one wing!) One wing could be…

By Sister Michele Morek Visiting New Mexico about five years ago, Sister Angela Fitzpatrick and I were attending Mass in the Saint Joseph chapel of the Santa Fe cathedral, where we were approached by an elderly little man who said he was a retired janitor. His retirement project was making crosses out of barbed wire,…

By Sister Michele Morek Sister Angela Fitzpatrick, the Sister with whom I live, and I both received Ancestry DNA kits as gifts for Christmas. (That’s the kit that lets you spit in a collection tube and send it off to learn more about your family history by analyzing your DNA.) We are anxious to get…