Feb 9, 2023
Join Franciscan Sister Callista Robinson as she breaks open her experience as an African American woman of faith, rooted in her own culture. A life-long learner and teacher, her hospitality and compassion serve to build bridges of relationships across cultures.
For a video version of this episode, see: https://youtu.be/x9N0uDm-A_E
From Sister Callista’s interview:
“Franciscan values of compassion, serving the very poor and underserved, have really influenced me as a Franciscan Sister. And peacemaking and social justice, those are Franciscan values. It seems to me you cannot talk to a Franciscan without hearing that person say something about social justice and how we have to go out to those who are not served. … Another Franciscan value that we have is we’re very hospitable.”
Wisdom to share: “Have a conversation with God, which we call prayer, an open and honest conversation where you let God do the talking and you do the listening. And from there each person will receive the wisdom that they need, whether that is to be more trustful, to be more compassionate, to be more accepting of others from a different culture, whatever that might be. Listening and talking with God – but more listening rather than talking.”
For a full transcript, please include episode number and email: fslfpodcast@fslf.org.
References:
School Sisters of Saint Francis: https://www.sssf.org/
Loretto Academy, Chicago, an integrated high school for girls: https://www.preservationchicago.org/loretto-academy-institute-of-the-blessed-virgin/
Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, founded by Saint Katharine Drexel; their mission was to evangelize and educate African Americans and Native Americans:https://www.katharinedrexel.org/st_katharine_drexel_overview/founding-of-the-sisters-of-the-blessed-sacrament/
Saint Anselm Catholic School, Chicago: https://stanselmchicago.com/?page_id=7
Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minnesota, history: https://www.fslf.org/aboutus;
Sister Thomasine Schmolke: https://thecentralminnesotacatholic.org/little-falls-franciscan-sister-writes-new-history-of-her-community
Vatican Council II: a five-minute video about the Council by Franciscan friar Casey Cole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyVq1hnxAqg .To hear other podcast guests references as well as to see show note links (click on ‘Read More’), type ‘Vatican’ into the search bar of this website, and several options will come up to explore.
National Black Sisters Conference (NBSC), founded to support each other as African Americans: https://www.nbsc68.com/
LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious): https://lcwr.org/
Center for Consecrated Religious, at CTU (Chicago Theological Union): https://ctu.edu/cscl/
Network: https://networklobby.org/about/catholicsocialjustice/
Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, Milwaukee: https://www.stfrancismil.org/
Brother Booker Ashe Lay Ministry Program, Milwaukee: https://blackandindianmission.org/news/congrats-brother-booker-ash-lay-ministry-graduates
Adult Learning Center, Milwaukee: https://www.alcmke.org/
Black History Month: https://asalh.org/about-us/origins-of-black-history-month - also see: https://blackhistorymonth.gov/
Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, Archdiocese of Milwaukee: https://www.sfs.edu/SFSHome
Dr. Antoinette Mensah, MD, Director of Archdiocesan Office for World Mission and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Archdiocese of Milwaukee: https://cx.uwp.edu/antoinette-mensah.html
Sister Callista with students from Harambee Community School in Milwaukee