What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
James 2:14, 17, 18b
Life as a Sister: Healthcare
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”
Luke 6: 36-38
Life as a Sister: Education
We begin our profession of faith by saying: I believe or We believe. Before expounding the Church’s faith, as confessed in the Creed, celebrated in the liturgy, and lived in observance of God’s commandments and in prayer, we must first ask what “to believe” means. Faith is man’s response to God, who reveals himself and gives himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life. [Thus we shall consider first that search (in Chapter One), then the divine Revelation by which God comes to meet man (in Chapter Two), and finally the response of faith (in Chapter Three).]
From Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 26)
Life as a Sister: Community Based Outreach
We are your people and your inheritance. Thus may your eyes be open to the petition of your servant and to the petition of your people Israel. Hear us whenever we call upon you, because you have set us apart from all the peoples of the earth for your inheritance.
1Kings 8:51-53a
Life as a Sister: Using Your Gifts
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
Luke 11:29-32
Life as a Sister: Spirituality
Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to the one who sows
and bread to the one who eats,
So shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11
Life as a Sister: Using Your Gifts
So I exhort the presbyters among you, as a fellow presbyter and witness to the sufferings of Christ and one who has a share in the glory to be revealed. Tend the flock of God in your midst, [overseeing] not by constraint but willing, as God would have it, not for shameful profit but eagerly. Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
1 Peter 5:1-4
Life as a Sister: Visiting Religious Communities
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
Mark 9:33-37
Life as a Sister: Community Outreach
He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
He also said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.”
Mark 8:34-9:1
Life as a Sister: Spiritual Direction
“Now is the time that I veil My holiness and My justice. Do you thoroughly grasp what I am saying? Now is the time for love, long-suffering, patience, compassion, confidence in what I expect from you: your generosity, your response. That is the true picture of your God now as long as you are on your planet.”
“I implore you, live in My love every single second. I don’t force you. I never force, even with regard to My gifts. You are free to take or leave them. How often your freedom has crucified Me! And so, I wait…I wait for centuries. Don’t you realize that I’ve been waiting a long, long time for you? No two souls are alike. None other can give Me what I expect from you.”
(From “He and I” by Gabrielle Bossis, February 16, 1947 diary entry. “He and I” is a journal/diary collection of personal interior conversations between Jesus and Bossis.)
Life as a Sister: Deepening Your Relationship With God
