Hello and welcome to the show. I’m your host, Amanda Bruce.
Before we get into the main content of our Podcast today, I wanted to remind you of the upcoming feast day for Saint Cecilia, patron saint of music.
This year, NPM celebrates the patron saint of music with an opportunity to pray and reflect.
We're calling it Saint Cecilia Day, and we’re offering a free, guided prayer resource to ALL pastoral musicians. Make sure you listen all the way to the end of this episode so you can hear how to get it!
The NPM National office is providing a free resource for ALL pastoral musicians...
...non-NPM members
...cantors
...choir members
...ensemble members
...to reflect & pray on November 22nd, the feast of St. Cecilia.
This free, guided prayer resource will be made available this week on the NPM website. It will also be sent to all of the NPM membership via email. So if you are an NPM member, stay close to your inbox this week! If you aren’t a member of NPM, you can find the resource this week on npm.org.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled content!
Today on the podcast we speak to the women who minister in today’s church. We, as women, lead some of the most critical aspects of church life….although we do not lead in some of the highest forms of responsibility and influence. This is not an episode that will debate whether this is right or wrong, but it is a challenge that women face in ministry, among other things.
Enter…Sister Joan Chittister.
Sister Joan Chittister is a Benedictine nun from the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. Sister Joan is an international lecturer on behalf of peace, human rights, women’s issues, justice, and contemporary culture.
I find no better way to introduce Sister Joan than by our guest today, Jessie Bazan. Here are the words from the introduction of her book, “Dear Joan Chittister”:
“Halfway through the inaugural Joan Chittister Institute for Contemporary Spirituality (JCICS), ten millennial Catholic women crammed onto a raised platform for a panel discussion on hopes, struggles, and the future of the church. We traveled from across the country—and even Australia—to learn from Joan Chittister and connect with other women asking similar life questions. The two weeks we spent with the Benedictine Sisters of Erie ignited our hearts—and the publication of this book.
On the first day of the Institute, Joan mandated us to “speak our truths.” As we grappled with our truths and found the courage to speak them to ourselves and then to each other, we began to dream of offering them to you. This book, Dear Joan Chittister, is a collection of our truths.”
(Chittister, Joan. Dear Joan Chittister: Conversations with Women in the Church. Twenty-Third Publications.)
Today we talk to Jessie about “Dear Joan Chittister” and what we, as women in the church, can take as hope and inspiration from a lady like Joan.
SHOW NOTES
Sister Joan Chittister is one of the most influential religious and social leaders of our time. For 40 years she has passionately advocated on behalf of peace, human rights, women’s issues, and church renewal.
She served as president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization of the leaders of Catholic religious women in the US, president of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses, and was prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie for 12 years. She received her doctorate in speech communications from Penn State University, the primary site of her archive collection.
Joan Chittister is a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA. She is executive director of Benetvision, a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality and the founder and animator of Monasteries of the Heart, a web-based movement sharing Benedictine spirituality with contemporary seekers.
Jessie Bazan is a theologian and writer. She edited and co-authored the book, Dear Joan Chittister: Conversations with Women in the Church, released in September 2019 with Twenty-Third Publications.
Jessie also serves as the program associate for the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research. She works with the Communities of Calling Initiative and the Called to Lives of Meaning and Purpose Initiative, two initiatives aimed at helping Christians deepen their sense of calling.
Jessie is a regular columnist for U.S. Catholic magazine and retreat facilitator across the Midwest. She earned her Masters of Divinity degree at the Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota and Bachelor of Arts from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Jessie’s U.S. Catholic article, “This November, Find Your Communion of Saints”, can be found by clicking here.
Jessie’s website can be found here.
To order “Dear Joan Chittister” via Twenty Three Publications, click here.
A group discussion guide for “Dear Joan Chittister” can be found by clicking here.
Reflection questions for the book can be found here.
Visit NPM's digital resource library, referenced at the end of the episode.
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