In brief

Precious Blood Sisters have been busy with a variety of recent events. In all that we do, we strive to continue to fulfill our mission to proclaim God’s love by being a life-giving, reconciling presence in our fractured world.

The residents of Casa Sofia, along with Sisters Joyce Kahle and Terry Walter, kept busy through the winter months with birthday and holiday celebrations, baking Christmas cookies and candies, and visiting friends and family. Casa Sofia is our residence in Guatemala City where women may live without cost while continuing their education. Some residents enjoyed extended visits at home, while others took intensive courses at the university in December and went home to visit their families after the holidays.

In December, Sister Mumbi Kigutha traveled to Africa as part of her ministry with Jesuit Refugee Services. In Nigeria at the Pan-African Catholic Congress on Theology, Society and Pastoral Life, she delivered an address on the sexual abuse of nuns by clergy. At the Adjumani refugee settlement in Uganda, she offered a workshop on reconciliation.

Sisters remembered 10 homicide victims in Dayton from December to February, as part of the interfaith Community Homicide Prayer Vigil Group. The Sisters began this ministry, which prays at the site of homicides, in 2006 under a different name.

December 3 — The Sisters of the Precious Blood’s leadership team toured Brigid’s Path in Dayton, a nonprofit where drug-exposed babies and their families get the personalized care they need. Brigid’s Path celebrated their second anniversary in December 2019. Sisters Jean René Hoying and Arlene Hirsch are regular volunteers at Brigid’s Path, one of only two such non-hospital newborn recovery centers in the U.S.

December 4 — The Sisters of the Precious Blood will be planting a prairie under and around their new solar arrays which are currently under construction. Colleen Kammer gave a presentation to the Sisters about the important ecological services that prairies provide for our and our planet’s health.

December 7 – CPPS Sisters staffed a booth featuring items for sale from Guatemala, where they serve in ministry, at the Catholic Social Action Fair Trade Sale at the University of Dayton.

December 14 — Sister LaKesha Church graduated from the University of Dayton with a Master of Arts in pastoral ministry. Congratulations, Sister LaKesha!

January 14 & February 11 — Jenna Legg, vocation ministry coordinator, and various Sisters hosted women’s dinners and faith sharing. The monthly dinners aim at spreading Precious Blood spirituality and offering a faith community for women.

January 25 & February 22 — Sister Jeanette Buehler and the antiracism task force of the Weavers of Justice partnered with the Woodbourne Library in Centerville to conduct two out of three workshops titled “Culture and Race: What Divides and Unites Us?” Fifty participants were in attendance at each workshop.

January 27 — Sister Rita Rogier, along with Jenna Legg and Father Steve Dos Santos, CPPS, enjoyed lunch at Mother Brunner School during Catholic Schools Week.

February 4 — Colleen Kammer and Sisters Linda Pleiman, Jeanette Buehler, Marita Beumer and Mary Garascia attended the six-month anniversary prayer vigil for the victims of the mass shooting in the Oregon District. Held at the University of Dayton’s Fitz Center, the event also included speakers and panelists who addressed gun violence, its root causes and advocacy opportunities.

February 19 — Jenna Legg and Novice Sister Mi-Kyoung Hwang attended the archdiocesan Explore Your Call dinner in Dayton. Hosted by vocation directors from religious communities throughout the Archdiocese, the evening included discussion and prayer on discernment and vocation.

February 20 — Global Sisters Report, a project of National Catholic Reporter, published an online article by Sister Jeanette Buehler. Sister Jeanette wrote about the cumulative number of victims of Dayton’s individual homicides over the years, in addition to the recent gun violence victims of Dayton’s mass shooting on August 4, 2019. You can read the article here.

March 7 — The annual Community Homicide Prayer Vigil Memorial Service was held at Salem Heights, our central house in Dayton. Each year, members of the Community Homicide Prayer Vigil Group gather to remember homicide victims from the past year in Dayton, Trotwood, Jefferson Township and Harrison Township.

Top, Sister Terry Walter bakes Christmas cookies and candies with Casa Sofia residents; Sister Joyce Kahle photo. Second, Sister Mumbi Kigutha presents at the Pan-African Congress in Nigeria; Crux / Christopher White photo. Third, Sister Edna Hess, Colleen Kammer, Sisters Arlene Hirsch and Margo Young, Jane Snyder and Jill Kingston from Brigid’s Path, Sisters Patty Kremer, Marla Gipson and Ann Clark; contributed photo. Fourth, Sisters Marifé Hellman, Judy Niday, Marita Beumer, Patty Kremer and Joyce Langhals at the fair trade sale; Colleen Kammer photo. Fifth, Sister LaKesha Church graduates from UD; contributed photo. Sixth, Sister Rita Rogier and Father Steve Dos Santos with students and teachers at Mother Brunner Catholic School; Jenna Legg photo. Seventh, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley speaks at UD for the six-month anniversary prayer vigil for the victims of the mass shooting in the Oregon District; Colleen Kammer photo. Eighth, Father Steve Dos Santos speaks at the Explore Your Call dinner; contributed photo. Ninth, photo from Global Sisters Report – from left, Sisters Jeanette Buehler, Judy Niday and Ann Clark in the Oregon District; Flickr/Becker1999 photo.

Comments are closed.