St. John – St. Paul Catholic Collaborative

On February 12, Sr. Colleen sat down with Father Dave Dwyer, CSP, host of the Busted Halo Podcast, to talk about loss, presence, and how faith and community can hold us when words fall short.

We all walk through different seasons of life, and Father Dave welcomes Sister Colleen Gibson to discuss accompanying those in times of grief. Sister Colleen belongs to the Sisters of Saint Joseph [of Philadelphia], and co-hosts the “Beyond the Habit” podcast. She currently serves as the Coordinator of Pastoral Care at St. John-St. Paul Catholic Collaborative in Wellesley, MA, where among many things she helps run a bereavement ministry called “Seasons of Hope.”

Sister Colleen first discusses her religious order. “Sisters of St Joseph are ready for any good work. We were founded in the 17^th century and were one of the first apostolic communities of women religious, which means we went outside of the cloister,” she says. “We were founded by a Jesuit priest and our charism — or the gift that we share with the world — is that we love God and neighbor without distinction.”

In our responsorial psalm today, we hear the psalmist sing, “Create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me…” 

In what ways does your heart need to be purified? 

What grace do you need to receive from God in order to maintain a steadfast spirit?

As we pray for steadfast spirits this Lent, join in this one-night discussion of Struck Down, Not Destroyed, a spiritual memoir by America Magazine’s Vatican Correspondent, Colleen Dulle.

Exploring the inner workings of the Church and her own faith journey as a Millennial, Dulle’s story helps us reflect on our own journey of faith and what it means to claim our faith as our own in this day and age.

Join us for an evening of sharing and reflecting. Registration appreciated – please register below…

Each year the season of Lent invites us to dive deeper into our faith. This season is one of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It reminds us that our faith is meant to be lived and that we are blessed on the journey of life to walk with a God who uniquely knows what it means to be human. In Jesus, God became human and in Lent, we sit with our own humanity and draw closer to the Living God who longs to be in deeper union with us.

That union is beautifully captured in the paschal mystery of our faith—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus— that we remember especially in the Triduum. Yet, before we can come to these momentous days of Holy Week and Easter, we must first make our annual Lenten journey.

This year as a Collaborative our theme for this Lenten journey comes from Psalm 51: “Renew a Steadfast Spirit within Us.” (Psalm 51:12b)