My mother died rather suddenly and expectedly on March 8. At her wake, there was a young woman in her early 30s who came to pay her respects. She actually came to the wake twice and seemed to be quite broken-hearted. I knew vaguely who she was but wondered why she seemed almost inconsolable. She told me how Mum had shown her such kindness and how she was so grateful. I sensed she had a story to tell but being overcome with grief, it did not come. When she left, I inquired of a cousin why she might be so broken up by Mum’s death. She explained that this young woman had fallen in with the wrong crowd and gotten herself into drugs, possibly prostitution, run afoul of the law and ended up losing her children. She was sentenced to do community service and Mum, being a leader in her local parish and believing everyone deserved a second chance, found her some odd jobs to do to serve her sentence.
On Saturday, March 26, Karen, a Congregation of Notre-Dame friend, and Associates Ann, Kate and Susan attended a vigil that was held at the Rhode Island State House - "Rhode Island STAND WITH UKRAINE". Multiple sponsors and partners organized this vigil asking for Russian President Vladimir Putin to lay down arms and to give Ukrainians a voice. Donations were made to UNICEF's Ukrainian children's fund.
General Conference is an experience of deep communion, where representatives of all Congregation de Notre-Dame provinces and regions join the Congregation Leadership Team in several days of prayer, reflection and conversation concerning the mission of the Congregation as a whole, global reality. Each General Conference meeting is distinct in the areas of our life and mission that we contemplatively review and discuss.