Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth
The Charity Federation was well represented February 17-19 at the Giving Voice 40s Retreat – themed “Come to the Living Water” – held at the Sisters of St. Joseph’s houses in Seal Beach, California. Sisters Melissa Camardo and Rejane Cytacki, of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, were among the 18 sisters from 15 communities in attendance, along with Sister Christine Kunze, Sister of Charity of Nazareth and Sister Romina Sapinoso, Sister of Charity of Cincinnati. The Giving Voice Retreat gave participants the time and space to renew body, mind, and spirit together. Sisters Kristin Peters, FSPA, and Jenny Wilson, RSM, facilitated this year’s retreat.
“This time was filled with joy-filled reunions, new friendships, and prayer,” said Sister Rejane. “With two sisters from the Caribbean and one from New Orleans, we included the season of Mardi Gras and Carnival celebrations into our weekend.”
Sister Rejane continued, “Centering on Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, our discussions focused on two questions: How are we living water for others and Who fills up our buckets? Sharing stories, laughing, and dancing together, we all left feeling refreshed, renewed, and grateful for our time together. By being living water for each other this weekend, we can continue to be living water for those with whom we serve.”
Giving Voice is a peer led organization that creates spaces for younger women religious to give voice to their hopes, dreams and challenges in religious life.
As a network of younger Roman Catholic sisters, Giving Voice strives to cultivate peer accompaniment and community that empowers young women religious to live their vocation fully.
Young women in religious life today, just like their Sisters before them, are seekers. They seek to live their vocations rooted in their congregational charisms and grounded in God’s hope for the future of religious life. They seek to connect with one another to strengthen their commitment, deepen their fidelity to religious life, foster connections that sustain their vocations, and create ways to live religious life in the present and into the future.