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October 4, 2022, New London, Connecticut – As we move further into the season of fall and many begin to prepare for Christmas, it’s time to make spiritual preparations to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus.
Sister Janet Schaeffler, OP, has released Advent 2022: Awaiting the Good News. Beginning on November 27, 2022, the First Sunday of Advent, and running through Christmas Day, December 25, 2022, the booklet offers daily reflections on Scripture passages, inspirational stories, suggested daily practices, and prayers to aid in that preparation.
A retreat leader and a consultant for catechists and adult faith formation leaders, Sister Janet also once ministered as Director of Adult Faith Formation for the Archdiocese of Detroit. She is a recipient of the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL) Distinguished Service Award.
Noting the difficulties and challenges of the past few years, Sister Janet reminds readers in her introduction that “numerous instances and stories of goodness” have also been part of those years. Advent can be a time to focus on these positive stories. “These Advent days ahead of us invite us to show down and become more aware of the good news of God-among-us: the glimpses of goodness vibrantly alive in the everydayness of our lives,” Sister Janet writes.
Copies of Awaiting the Good News and of the Spanish edition, Esperamos la Buena Nueva, are available through Twenty-third Publications. They can also be ordered through the Weber Center Shop at Weber Retreat and Conference Center, 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI 49221; webershop@adriandominicans.org; or 517-266-4035. The shop is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The shop is closed for lunch from noon to 12:45 p.m.
September 23, 2022, Viera, Florida – In a guest Op-Ed column for Florida Today, Adrian Dominican Sister Lucy Vazquez, OP, spoke out against the practice of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of “importing” refugees from Texas to Florida and then sending them to Martha’s Vineyard to make a political statement about immigration.
Sister Lucy wrote that this latest political practice “is a complete contradiction” of the Jesus’ statement in the Gospel that we will be judged on how we treat those in need – including immigrants and refugees – for “as long as you did it to one of these, the least of my little ones, you did it to me” (Mt. 25:40). While immigration reform is needed, she wrote, “we need to afford those who seek refuge in our country the dignity of human beings.”
Writing as a refugee from Cuba, Sister Lucy noted the hard work of her father and of other refugees who sought work to support their families. “Florida would not be as prosperous as it is today without the untold contributions of refugees from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and other countries,” she wrote.
Read Sister Lucy’s guest column in Florida Today, “Political theater at the expense of refugees is unforgivable cruelty.”