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Articles by Eilis McCulloh
Ten el valor de saber cuál es tu postura
¿Cuál es nuestra postura? Hace poco más de un año, apareció la siguiente cita en mi muro de Facebook: "Sé cuál es tu postura y mantente firme en ella". Es una cita del padre jesuita Daniel Berrigan, conocido desde hace tiempo por su activismo contra la guerra y a favor de la paz. La he compartido en Facebook un par de veces, a menudo en una publicación con la luz que se filtra a través de las vidrieras de la capilla Magnificat de la casa madre de mi comunidad.
Indian lay group slams mob intimidation of nuns in West Bengal
The union, India's oldest Catholic lay organization, urged the state government to provide immediate security for the Salesian Sisters and protect the chapel and cemetery, which it said had been constructed after obtaining all the required government approvals. The organization also demanded legal action against those involved in the incident. "The right to worship and the right to maintain places of worship are fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution," Vas said.
Have the courage to know where you stand Original
Where do we stand? A little over a year ago, the following quote appeared on my Facebook feed: "Know where you stand and stand there." It is a quote from Jesuit Fr. Daniel Berrigan, who is long known for his anti-war and peace advocacy. I've shared it on Facebook a couple of times, often in a post with light streaming through the stained glass windows in Magnificat Chapel at my community's motherhouse.
Easter calls us to practice resurrection in a fractured world
Just a few days after Easter, a friend shared Wendell Berry's poem "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" on social media. This poem had long been my favorite, but I hadn't read it in quite some time. Watching the reel of the poem, I was struck by the very last line, which reads: "Practice resurrection." Practice resurrection? How is this even possible when my country is attacking Iran or when we are on the brink of war with any other country?
To be ridiculously courageous in love
I live and serve in Washington, D.C., which, in some ways, is the epicenter of everything going on in the United States. In August, the National Guard landed in my city, pushing out the unhoused community and, with the assistance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, began to wreak havoc on immigrant communities. That first week of the occupation, my walk to work was eerie.
No kings, just prophets who say: "Not on my watch!"
The final part of my community's mission statement reads: To fulfill our mission, we commit ourselves, with the Church, as individuals, and as a community to: embrace the diversity of all peoples; work with others to proclaim the Gospel message; use our resources to meet needs, especially those of people who are poor; and do justice. For the past several months, those final two words have echoed in my prayer. What does it mean for us to do justice today?
Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' not beautiful to these Catholic sisters
As lawmakers consider a range of drastic cuts in aid to the poor in President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Catholic sisters and their supporters from around the country showed up close to their doorstep June 24 to speak against it. "The 'big beautiful bill' is not beautiful. It is harmful. It is unjust and it goes against everything we believe in as Catholic women religious," St. Joseph Sr. Karen Burke said to the public.
As Trump returns, we cannot fear repercussions for standing up, speaking out
As I sit down to write this, it is Jan. 1 — the dawn of a new year and the hope of a fresh start. Yet, I find myself living in dreadful anticipation of the upcoming four years and praying that things will not be as bad as I think they will be. The United States will soon have a new president — a president who has shown us and told us exactly what he will do. Most of his priorities are not what we care for.
I'm a Catholic sister. Project 2025 does not reflect my values. Original
I am a Catholic sister, and my blueprint for how I live my life is found in the Gospel of Matthew's Chapter 25, in which Jesus instructs his followers to feed the poor, help the sick and console prisoners. As a Sister of the Humility of Mary, I am also impelled to take an interest in how policies enacted by our government do or do not reflect my values. So when Project 2025 first came to my attention, I was naturally curious.
I’m a Catholic sister. Project 2025 does not reflect my values. Original
(RNS) — I am a Catholic sister, and my blueprint for how I live my life is found in the Gospel of Matthew’s chapter 25, in which Jesus instructs his followers to feed the poor, help the sick and console prisoners. As a Sister of the Humility of Mary, I am also impelled to take an interest in how policies enacted by our government do or do not reflect my values. So when Project 2025 first came to my attention, I was naturally curious.
Vote: Dare to create the future of which we dream
In a little more than a month, the Catholic social justice group Network will once again hit the road with Nuns on the Bus. This year, our campaign is Vote Our Future. What exactly does this mean? We say: Vote our future so that everyone thrives … no exceptions! When I think about voting our future, I think about community. I think about going all in … together. It's about taking care of one another. It's about sharing from the same common pot to make sure that we all have what we need to thrive.
The Passion narrative unfolds in today's news Original
A few years ago, at a Palm Sunday liturgy, we were encouraged to listen to the Passion narrative and place ourselves within the story. Were we the chief priests? Bystanders? Were we accompanying Jesus? What did we hear or see? How did we respond? I remember seeing myself as part of the crowd watching in horror as the scene unfolded. Today, I feel much the same way as I watch the news.
How do we rejoice in times like these? Original
At Blessed Trinity Church in Cleveland, Ohio, we begin liturgy during the Advent season by singing and praying "Love's Pure Light" as we light the Advent candles. We've begun Advent liturgies with this song for a number of years, so I don't always pay attention to the lyrics.
A Mercy sister - a mom and a grandmother - talks about living in community
(Unsplash/Priscilla Du Preez) Sr. Barb Giehl is also a mother and a grandmother. In this clip she discusses her "amazing, amazing blessing" — being offered a second vocation in life as a Sister of Mercy. She talks about some of the challenges involved with living in community. Challenge No. 1? "People trying to understand why a woman in their 60s would even want to consider religious life." Click here to listen to the full "In Good Faith" podcast where this clip is from.
We must welcome migrants with open hearts and minds
In the poem "Home," British-Somali poet Warsan Shire writes: you have to understand, that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land I often think about this poem when a major news outlet reports on another "migrant crisis" at the United States' southern border. Sometimes, I want to shout the excerpts from "Home" from the rooftops so that those determined to demonize migrants and refugees can hear it.
We must welcome migrants with open hearts and minds
Humility of Mary Sr. Eilis McCulloh speaks at Network's Invest in Welcoming Communities press conference Sept. 13.
The Gospel fuels the spirit of truth and justice
In the weeks leading up to my annual retreat earlier this month at the Jesuit Retreat House in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, these were (some of) the stories in the news: Supreme Court overturns affirmative action, but legacy admissions remain untouched Supreme Court rules that businesses can discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community War breaks out in Sudan, sending thousands fleeing for safety Migrants bused from Southern border Supreme Court overturns racist gerrymandering laws in several states As I...
The Gospel fuels the spirit of truth and justice
In the weeks leading up to my annual retreat earlier this month at the Jesuit Retreat House in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, these were (some of) the stories in the news: Supreme Court overturns affirmative action, but legacy admissions remain untouched Supreme Court rules that businesses can discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community War breaks out in Sudan, sending thousands fleeing for safety Migrants bused from Southern border Supreme Court overturns racist gerrymandering laws in several states As I...
Who are the modern-day Mary Magdalenes?
I think about a quote from Indian author Arundhati Roy, who says, "There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless.' There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard." For millennia, Mary Magdalene — and her courageous witness to the Resurrection — was deliberately silenced. The Tennessee three were deliberately silenced by the silent forces of racism and the gun lobby.
Today, the flight into Egypt continues
I had worked with this doctor during my 16 years in Haiti. I know him as a good and gentle man who loves his work and country. I was put in touch with him because I live and work in a small immigrant community in Florida and assist new refugees, especially Haitians when they arrive. This would also be a miraculous intervention by the God who cares for those who suffer violence and fear and need to flee. There are just two of us religious sisters living in Immokalee, Florida.
Monday Starter: Hilton grant will assist vocation conference's intercultural efforts
The OSV News report said Allegri "sought God's will in prayer and serving others. Tradition holds that when she was 7 years old, she survived a devastating earthquake when a young boy appeared in her room and put her in an outdoor courtyard as her house collapsed." Pope Francis advanced the sainthood cause of Allegri and five others in signed decrees recognizing "that each of the six candidates heroically lived the Christian virtues," OSV News reported.
We all are called to community
Some years ago, I was introduced to Michael Card's song "The Basin and the Towel." In the refrain, he sings: I think, on some level, even amid the rampant individualism that threatens to divide us, we all are called to some form of community. We all crave a place where we belong — a place and people that can hold our questioning, our dreaming, and our joy. We all long for a group of like-minded individuals with whom we can commit to a cause or a shared way of life. The Rev.
How Mom came around to my call
Dominican Sister of Peace Ana Gonzalez shares with Sr. Rae Schen her mother's skepticism as she discerned her call to religious life. Gonzalez lives in New Haven, Ct., where she works in the admissions office at Albertus Magnus College. Her mother, though worried that life in a women's religious community would be lonely, and she lamented that her daughter would not get married or have children. A brief stay with Dominican Sisters of Peace in New Orleans changed her mom's view.
Challenges must be fought with weapon of charity, pope tells Sisters of Social Service
Many Christians who died for the faith did so not because they were denied the freedom to worship, but because they were living out their faith and defending freedom, justice and truth, Pope Francis said. "May God give us the strength to be witnesses of that love, of that truth and of that justice in living the vocation to which he has called us," he said in a text given to members of the Sisters of Social Service, who had an audience with the pope Jan. 20 at the Vatican.
An Advent transformation of heart and mind helps build global community
Like many people my age, I was inspired by and — dare I say — radicalized by Shane Claiborne and his book The Irresistible Revolution. Among the many stories he shares, I always remember the one in which Claiborne and his friends join forces with people experiencing homelessness to occupy a Catholic Church in Philadelphia. You see, these folks had called the church home and were now being evicted.
A reflection for the twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings (Year C): Sirach 3:17 – 18, 20, 28 – 29 Psalms 68:4 – 5, 6 – 7, 10 – 11 Hebrews 12:18 – 19, 22 – 24a Luke 14:1, 7 – 14 Reflection: Who is invited to the table? Years ago, I sat down at an already crowded dinner table at my community’s motherhouse. “Are you sure there’s room,” I asked when they motioned me over. “You can always make room for one more person at a round table,” a sister told me as everyone squeezed together and stacked their trays to the side.
Sisters are called to be present to one another and to the world
We were 76 sisters from 40 communities, and speaking 13 languages. We were teachers and principals, social workers and case managers, students, pastoral ministers, spiritual directors, campus ministers, justice coordinators, health care personnel, advocates and organizers, and vocation directors. We represented sisters under the age of 50. We are Giving Voice. In one open-space conversation, we discussed the prophetic nature of religious life and asked ourselves, "What is the work of sisters today?
The time for reparations is now
Jun 24, 2022 On June 15, Network Lobby and the Cleveland Network Advocates Team hosted "Repair and Redress: A Vigil for Reparations" at St. Aloysius-St. Agatha Parish in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood. We gathered as a community to listen, learn, pray and act as we called on President Biden to establish an H.R. 40-style federal commission to study reparations. We were honored to welcome the Rev.
When is enough enough?
May 20, 2022 Last week, I spent time in Louisville, Kentucky, for a little vacation. While looking for things to do, I came across a website that listed a number of murals in the city. "Say Their Names" caught my attention. The mural depicted Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and other Black individuals who had been brutally murdered. I was drawn to the mural as a way to memorialize Taylor in her own hometown of Louisville.
A reminder as Russia invades Ukraine: If you want peace, work for justice
Feb 25, 2022 My introduction to justice work was Corita Kent's colorful painting of Paul VI's powerful 1972 statement, "If you want peace, work for justice." I remember seeing it printed on a church bulletin not long after the second Gulf War began. In my heart of hearts, I did not understand how a war would solve the elusive search for weapons of mass destruction, but I was in the minority.
The Spirit invites us to touch reality
Jan 14, 2022 Last summer, on the occasion of my perpetual vows, I was gifted with a modern rosary. Each decade, represented by different colors, invites me to pray with: mothers and children, migrants and refugees, those experiencing racism, those in need of clean water and/or hurt by natural disasters, and the LGBTQ+ community. Lately, these beads call me to sit with the following questions: How do I touch reality? How does reality touch me?
'Find Us Ready' to respond to needs of the times
Oct 22, 2021 Last weekend found me on Zoom again for my community's October meetings. On Saturday, we spent the day reflecting on our "Litany of Hope and Promise." In the months prior to the meetings, we were asked to commit ourselves to an individual action. Today, we would begin to discern a way forward. We began our time together in small group conversation, sharing about our own commitments.
A year in The Life: We have interwoven our lives and dreams
Inspiring. Enriching. Expanding. Sustaining. Nourishing. Creating solidarity. A profound sisterhood. A shared community of life around the world. That is how the panelists described their experience of writing for The Life this year. This month — the last month of the 2017-18 panel — we invited all the panelists to reflect on the year.
The spirit of the ministry: community charisms in action
"Celebrating the Moments" by Nancy Earle, a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother Of God (Courtesy of MinistryOfTheArts.org) Being "neighbor." Preaching truth. Accompanying. Practicing radical hospitality. Proclaiming the Word. Engaging in ministries of leadership or education. This month, the panelists consider the unique charisms of their particular congregations and discuss how their individual ministries reflect that charism.
'God with us': the blessings of Advent and the joys of Christmas
Children light an Advent wreath at the Garden of Oneness in rural Zambia. The wreath has a cosmic spiral at the center holding the unfolding love story of God -- within this story Jesus was born among us.
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