Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Bringing Christ's love to the world
Missionary Sisters Eileen Currie (2nd l.) and Christine Marie Baltas (4th l.) and Sr. Roselle Santivasi (our photographer) welcomed Cabrini University CAVS Council and committee volunteers to their home for a springtime wine and cheese gathering. Mother Cabrini shooed away the rainy clouds in time for everyone to gather on the beautiful patio.
Our deepest thanks to the Sisters for their warm and gracious hospitality. Everyone had fun!
The Cabrini Immigration Commission of the Guadalupe Province, and the Cabrini University CAVS and community responded to an urgent need in a local school district in Southeast Pennsylvania. Three immigrant families in that district are in dire straits due to varying circumstances. When contacted by Karol Brewer, Co-Chair of the Cabrini Immigration Commission, Holly Oliver, the district social worker, explained the differing plights of these families. Due to the overwhelming generosity of Cabrini University alumni, faculty and staff and Villanova University staff members over the past year, Cabrini was able to provide support in the form of gift cards to assist these struggling families. Holly Oliver administers the gift cards to ensure that they provide the necessities needed. Abundant thanks to everyone who allows our support to continue.
Be sure to mark your calendars for Mother Cabrini’s 176th Birthday on July 15th from 1 – 4 pm at the Cabrini Cottage when we will once again be giving Mother “birthday gifts” that will enable us to support these families in meaningful ways.
Last Thursday evening, members of our Cabrini University community attended the Villanova University Endowed Scholarship Award Dinner, specifically to honor the recipients of the Cabrini High School Scholarship and the Cabrini University Alumni Association Scholarship.
Unfortunately, neither of the student scholars could attend the dinner – one is studying abroad and one had to cancel at the last minute. We applaud their academic achievements and look forward to meeting them both in the near future.
Cabrini University alumni and friends, in collaboration with the MSC Cabrini Immigration Commission, rallied before Christmas to donate winter clothing essentials – hats, gloves, scarves – for children in need in our partner school districts in Southeast Pennsylvania. These items were delivered just in the nick of time before Christmas to bring smiles and warmth.
Then, just after the new year, the Immigration Commission received an urgent request for coats for high school students in the Norristown School District. (Many of the earlier donated items were sized for elementary school children.) Our contact in Norristown shared that some high school students were coming to school without coats on the coldest days!
Again, due to the generosity of the Cabrini alumni and friends of the Missionary Sisters, last week, it was possible to purchase and deliver 30 brand new winter coats for high school students. The coats were distributed to students that very afternoon bringing much needed comfort to these young people.
The Cabrini University (CAVS) Social Justice Ambassadors, under the leadership of Dr. Jerry Zurek, former Chair of the Communications Department, welcomed former Cabrini University faculty member Vonya Womack to speak on refugees and the power of story and community as tools of seeking justice and freedom.
Ms. Womack shared that it is more difficult to look away from a person or an issue when you hear the story, the narrative. Data can dominate a conversation, sometimes overshadowing events, however, story can be riveting, humanizing and can change perspectives. We need people to speak out against injustice, she said. Story can arc into resistance. Words matter.
When people ask, ‘what can I do?’ she said, “your heart will tell you what to do. Your past will point you in your own direction, your niche.”
The webinar ended with participants contacting their congressional representatives about the upcoming funding legislation.
Missing their beloved Radnor campus, the Cabrini University community members take every opportunity to gather whenever and wherever they can…especially to celebrate the good cheer of Christmas
Throughout this year, retirees and senior citizens in their 60s, 70s, and 80s have teamed up with consecrated religious of many congregations to rally for the rights and dignity of immigrants. They have conducted rallies and prayer vigils outside ICE offices as well as the offices of elected congressional representatives. This is particularly so in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.
Journalist Meir Rinde of Billy Penn at WHYY, the local news outlet for National Public Radio (NPR), recently did a feature on these social justice-minded senior individuals.
The activists included Jerry Zurek, PhD, a retired Cabrini University Communications Professor who co-leads a regional chapter of the NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. Zurek said, “I believe we should welcome all people of good will. They enrich our country. I’m a former teacher, and I had so many students who were immigrants themselves, some of them undocumented. I want to do whatever I can to help them.”
Zurek, who is in his 80s, was one of many older people at [a recent] protest. He said he wanted to be there, despite the cold.
“I’m trying to do everything I can to support our immigrant community to make America better,” her said. “We just had twin granddaughters born, and we want to make the world OK for our grandchildren.”
Dr. Zurek was joined by alumni of Cabrini College/University who share his deep concern about the current treatment of immigrants.
To read the entire account, please click here
To learn about a prayer vigil for immigrants, please click here
In collaboration with the Cabrini Immigration Commission of the Guadalupe Province, the Cabrini University CAVS Alumni Association held a drive to collect winter hats, gloves, and scarves for the immigrant children of the Norristown and southern Chester County, PA school districts. Alumni, faculty and staff were invited to stop by the MSC Cottage in Wayne, PA, for an Open House where the warm aroma of mulled cider and Christmas cookies greeted guests as they dropped off their donations. Cabrini friends reunited for a time of relaxed conversation and camaraderie united in a meaningful cause.
The Cabrini University CAVS held their first annual Day of Service on Saturday, November 8th in honor of Mother Cabrini’s Feast Day on November 13th.
The Cabrini University community was invited to engage in an act of service wherever they may be located. Alumni, faculty, staff and their families and friends were encouraged to follow in Mother Cabrini’s footsteps and help an elderly neighbor or volunteer at a food pantry, whatever was particularly meaningful.
Two sites were offered for those who wished to serve those serving the poor, immigrants and those experiencing homelessness: the Mitzvah Circle in Lansdale, PA and The Blessing Shop in Norris
We had an enthusiastic turnout and look forward to growing this event in years to come.
To commemorate the Feast Day of Mother Cabrini which will be observed on Thursday, November 13th, the Cabrini Alumni Volunteers and Supporters (CAVS) will be hosting their first annual Day of Service on this Saturday, November 8th. No matter where they are located, alumni, faculty, staff, former students, family members and friends are encouraged to do something beneficial in your community inspired by Mother Cabrini’s example of helping immigrants, children, frail elders and the poor.
We, who have been gifted by the “education of the heart”, whether it is volunteering at a soup kitchen, spending time at a senior center or nursing home, or supporting your local school or non-profit, let’s celebrate Mother’s life and ministries by giving back as one Cabrini College/University family.
One day, one volunteer service of your choice, and over 18,000 alumni – we can truly make a difference together! Wherever you choose to serve, wear your Cabrini gear and take photos of your time of service. Photos along with a blurb can be emailed to cabrininews@mothercabrini.org Photos will be shared in an upcoming edition.
