1.22.2008

what's up next

I've been back from the UK for a little over a month now, and in about 3 weeks (my how time flies) I'm getting ready to move on to my next ministry assignment. This time there are no planes involved, just a car trip down the New Jersey Turnpike and then a bit of a jog on 1 & 9 to Jersey City.

Our Sisters have long had a presence in Jersey City - it is where our first American foundations were started in 1884. I'll be living right next door to one of our sponsored ministries (Cusack Care Center) and near the site of our original School for the Blind (which has since moved a few blocks away). We have a good number of houses in and near Jersey City. I'm looking forward to getting the chance to know the Eastern Province better.

I'm also really looking forward to my ministry experiences. From mid February to mid May, I'm going to be splitting my time between two amazing programs that work with women in need - the Catholic Charities Human Trafikking Program and a domestic violence program in Jersey City. They both promise to be challenging and rewarding experiences. I also think they will help me on my own journey as I continue to live into life and ministry as a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace.
Because our founder showed particular concern
for justice toward women,
we commit ourselves to be involved in ministries and action
which affect the contemporary situation of women
in the church and in society.
In the meantime, I'm continuing to work on some reflections and reading assignments. We've also got a variety of classes and workshops here at the Novitiate. Life is certainly never dull!

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Wonderful news! You'll be living with a great group of Sisters. Is the Trafficking Program the archdiocesan one in Newark? Sounds like you'll have a full three months.

Susan Rose Francois, CSJP said...

yes I will, yes it is, and yes I will. :)

Lisa said...

I am so happy for you! I know those CSJPs on Pavonia Ave. very well. I worked with some of them in the early days of York Street (ok, the early days of the current YSP, not the original :) and got to know others when my grandmother was a resident of St. Joseph's Home for the Blind and Aged (before it was known as the Cusack Center), and as you know one of "my Sisters" works at CC in the anti-trafficking program. Jersey City will be quite a change from Englewood but I know you'll find God all throughout the experience. I cannot count the number of steps I've walked through the neighborhoods where you'll be ministering, living, and serving. In a way, Jersey City will always be home. I wish you lots of blessed surprises and graces during your experience.