Search Results for: Community – South Central

Lifting Spirits in Coastal Mississippi

June 19, 2019

By Karel Lucander

In high school, Sister Janice Kaiser became interested in broadcast journalism and planned to make that her career. Growing up in southern Louisiana and central Mississippi, she enrolled in the area’s best program at the University of South Mississippi.

“But then I took one class and couldn’t imagine shoving a microphone in someone’s face when they are suffering,” she says. At that time, she was also active in the Catholic campus organization and became good friends with a woman who wanted to enter religious life. Janice tagged along while her friend was “convent shopping.”

“That’s when the seed was planted,” she adds.

Sister Martha Milner keeps ‘fighting the good fight’ in Mississippi

May 16, 2019

By Karel Lucander

Born and raised in Mississippi, Sister Martha Milner has stood up against racism as far back as she can remember. At 15, she drove some dear friends—who happened to be black—home from school. In response, the Ku Klux Klan adorned her family’s front yard with a burning cross. This incident, along with others that her friends and neighbors endured, ignited Martha’s lifelong battle against ignorance and prejudice. “I can smell racial discrimination, whether obvious or hidden. And I can be fierce when I encounter racism or misogynism. I have no fear; I’ll go in where fools fear to tread. My family was like that, especially my mom,” says Martha.

Program in sister’s name helps students explore medicine

April 4, 2019

By Karel Lucander

Sister Agnese Neumann has covered much territory during her many years in ministry—producing fruit, sparking joy and serendipitously becoming the namesake of a new opportunity for future medical professionals.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Sister Agnese attended high school at Mount St. Agnes. As a young girl, she dreamed of becoming a nurse. But when she entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1947, she was asked to become an educator—which, of course, she did.

Vocation minister documents sisters’ stories

January 3, 2019

By Karel Lucander

Vocation Minister Sister Sue Weetenkamp holds fast to one of her favorite tools – the video camera she uses to tape the stories of fellow Sisters of Mercy. To date, she has visited and video-documented 125 sisters and counting.

As a vocation minister in Baltimore, Maryland, Sister Sue Weetenkamp travels regularly to high schools and other places, talking with young women about the Sisters of Mercy. She also spends time on the road visiting with other sisters, documenting their stories with her video camera. These two passions complement each other – her special project of capturing and preserving the sisters’ experiences can be shared with the next generation of discerning women religious. During the past four years, she has interviewed 125 sisters. “For them, it’s like being on a trip down memory lane,” says Sister Sue. Read More »

Sister Mary-Anne Brings Heart to Mission Services

October 17, 2018

By Karel Lucander

Members of St. Joseph/Candler’s Emergency Department Medical Home team (from left): Jackie Lambert (full-time E.D. Medical Home coordinator, who began as a student health coach), Sister Mary-Anne Plaskon and Selmman Padridin (Georgia Southern University M.H.A. graduate intern).

Deepening the faith of teenagers was her passion. For decades, she worked in youth ministry and religious education. At one parish, she designed a curriculum for junior and senior high school youth attending public school. With a master’s degree in theology, she also completed the layperson’s associate program through the Sisters of Mercy. She remained in the program for 17 years before becoming a sister. Read More »