Serving the Lord as women religious today

Today is the 25^th day of the month, the day that Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother devote to praying for an increase of vocations to religious life.  Why, you may ask, do you promote your religious community?  Are you not aging? Diminishing? The answer to those questions is “No”!  We are flourishing as a community of women devoted to serving the poor in several countries: the USA, the Caribbean countries of St. Lucia, Grenada, Trinidad, and the Dominican Republic; in the European countries of Austria, Germany and Italy; in Brazil and in Tanzania.  Our mission in Tanzania opened as recently as 2006.  The Franciscan Institute staffed by our Sisters in the Caribbean was created in a 2001 brainstorming session with the Sisters in the Caribbean who were looking to establish a corporate ministry.  This mobile ministry serves St. Lucia, Grenada and Trinidad. We also run a secondary school (high school ) on the island of Grenada. In the Dominican Republic we also serve the people in healthcare, education and community development ministries. In the US we began and continue to serve the needy in several healthcare institutions. Some of our Sisters in the US, as volunteers or staff members of various professional entities, work with Native Americans, Immigrants,  prisoners, the mentally ill and those suffering from the disease of alcoholism and drug addictions.  Others work in education to children ages 4-14. So, every day, we are vibrant and growing more deeply in our commitment to Franciscan values and to the Gospel. Religious today, are like Gideon in the Scriptures: our numbers are smaller but we are strong in the Lord.