Called to Be...

The Last Supper and the Passover Seder

Our Easter podcast is being released on Holy Thursday. As Catholics, Holy Thursday celebrations around the world focus on the night Jesus celebrated the Passover Seder with His disciples, the Last Supper. So, this month we focus on the Jewish roots of this sacred celebration with Sister Nancy Stiles, Holy Union Associate, Kathi Jeffra, and a good friend of Holy Union, Saralee Salk, a Jewish woman steeped in her faith and deeply knowledgeable on the traditions, symbolism, and rituals of Passover and the Seder meal. Our discussion reminds us of the significant overlap between Catholic and Jewish ritual, prayer, and tradition. It serves to unite us as a faith family who share significantly our, religious practice and spirituality.

The Embodied Spirituality of Lent

This year, as we adjust our podcast's focus to spirituality, Sisters Nancy Stiles and Alice Michael explore the season of Lent and its three traditional practices: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. With insights and observations from Popes Francis and Leo, local priests, a Holy Union Associate, and our own Sisters, this discussion unfolds how these Lenten practices deepen our spiritual journey, help us draw closer to God, and ultimately bring about spiritual growth through change.

Remembering Holy Union's Ministries and Presence in New York

This month's episode marks the beginning of our podcast's fifth year! Sr. Alice Michael hosts Marilyn Crum, Jeanette Borg, and Joan DiMarco, three women with whom she has worked in various capacities associated with Holy Union's ministries in New York over the years. Though Holy Union's initial ministry was focused on teaching children in the classroom across several schools there, the discussion traces their presence and impact as their work broadened to include new and even non-traditional roles within the parishes where they worked. These included adult religious education, caring for the homeless, the elderly, the sick, and special needs children. The episode concludes with a heartfelt remembrance of Holy Union's departure from Astoria, and the sadness the Sisters, parents, parishioners, and children felt as they pulled away. As with all endings, new beginnings and new opportunities for all lay just ahead.

What Does Christmas Mean to You?

As we begin the season of Advent, we hope this episode of "Called to Be..." inspires you to set aside a few minutes to reflect on the simple question: "What does Christmas mean to you?" We asked our Sisters, Associates and friends to send us their thoughts on this question and we were surprised and delighted by the broad range of responses we received... some profound, others nostalgic, and others were insightful. Sisters Alice Arsenault and Fran Cavey take turns reading the responses aloud and providing their own as well. We pray that everyone has a lovely Advent season, and may you all enjoy a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A Dream Come True! - Holy Union's US Bicentennial Project

Sr. Nancy Stiles moderates a fascinating discussion about a project that spans three countries, two continents, three generations, and multiple cultures. In this episode we hear directly from Sisters Shallotte Kum and Veronique Metiendjo from Cameroon, and Eugenia Mshana and Scholastica Mhea from Tanzania about their participation in the US Bicentennial Project, a long-time dream which became a reality in August 2025. Responding to the call from Holy Union's Collegial Assembly in 2023 for new orientations in all stages of formation, the Holy Union US Area created its Bicentennial Project. Paired with our congregation's celebration of 200 years (1826- 2026), this nine week enrichment program called for four participants to travel to the United States and immerse themselves in an intensive program of study, focused on advanced writing skills, spirituality, creativity, and culture. Newly completed, the fruits of this project could last decades or even centuries!