March 2023


“This Good Work” is the Congregation’s bi-monthly e-newsletter to give witness to Precious Blood Spirituality through the lens of social justice, rooted in Gospel values and Catholic social teaching. In it we share real, legitimate information and ways Sisters are thinking about and living out many issues of peace, justice and ecology. This is curated by Peace, Justice and Ecology Coordinator Jen Morin-Williamson and features articles by Sisters.

Color Blind
MLK quote
To the Fount
Death Penalty
dreamers
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From colorblind to culturally conscious

By Jen Morin-Williamson, Peace, Justice, and Ecology Coordinator

Following up on identity and bias, which I wrote about in the January issue of This Good Work, I wanted to share a little about my experience and discomfort as a white person learning about racism.

I grew up in a lovely small town. The people were kind and compassionate. It was a very safe place to raise children. And it was extremely homogenous. Literally everyone around me looked, talked and worshipped pretty much like me. Even with this lack of diversity, which I never noticed at the time, I was taught to be “colorblind.” I considered this to be pretty obvious, but I was told that it was progressive — until 15 years ago, when I had to take a diversity class in grad school. I was well into adulthood, and I did not think I would learn anything terribly new. Hey – I was colorblind, right? Read More


Book review — Then They Came for Mine: Healing from the Trauma of Racial Violence by Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts

By Sister Margo Young, CPPS, M.D.

This book invites everyone to embrace spiritual healing and racial reconciliation efforts by way of vulnerability and reciprocity. Lewis-Giggetts states that “More hate is coming if we don’t heal.” Black and people of color live “with the transgenerational implications of racial violence and discrimination.” White people have their own ancestral DNA perpetuating racial violence and reinforcing bias and privilege. Living from these threads of history has led to the dehumanization of the other and is mired in power-over-another that is not balanced by reciprocity. Racism is both individual and collective, as well as institutional and cultural. Lewis-Giggetts explores the questions and the way forward in an honest and wholistic manner. How will we navigate the anger, grief and loss of racial trauma to heal? How will we together investigate and dismantle deep systemic inequities? When will every sinew of our being know the goodness of all of God’s creation and reflect it in how we love one another? Will we heal for the health of future generations? Read More


Together to the Fount …

By Sister Marita Beumer, CPPS

As I pondered the term “racism” and how racism affects each of us individually and in society, I reminisced on some of my experiences, and I’ve come to some new conclusions.

In an article that I wrote a few years ago, “Precious Blood Spirituality: The Dynamic of Intercultural Ministry,”* I shared some of my experiences that were negative at the beginning but were channeled to a positive outcome.

One of the experiences shared in the article related how one of our Spanish-speaking youth where I was in ministry was shot and abandoned in San Diego. He, Juan Luis, had just become a member of the church youth group and was trying to distance himself from gang membership and activity. Read More


Our Opposition to the Death Penalty

By Sister Martha Bertke, CPPS

All life is sacred, and everyone has a right to life, which should be protected and valued at every stage. Catholic social teaching proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. Situations which undermine human dignity cry out for change; those actions that promote human life need to be fostered.

The use of the death penalty undermines human dignity, and I am convinced that an end to the use of the death penalty would contribute to the enhancement and progressive development of human rights. As a Sister of the Precious Blood, I oppose the death penalty.

We Sisters of the Precious Blood of Dayton, Ohio, strive to be a life-giving presence in our world. There are many concrete ways we can manifest our dedication to be life-giving. One way is to oppose the death penalty. Read More


Racism, DACA and the Latino community

By Sister Mary E. Wendeln, CPPS

Racism shows itself in subtle ways, such as discrimination, prejudice, bias and ignorance. Here are a few examples from my lived experience in ministry with the Latino community.

Systemic racism was most noticeable in federal government benefits. Cut was a 40-hour-a-week program in which qualified farm workers built their own homes decorated with flowers and gardens. Read More


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