newsletterVol. 7 No. 1Spring 2021

Poor Clare Sisters of Omaha

BLESSING HERALDS THE YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH

The Poor Clare Nuns of Omaha and the family of Dr. George and Maureen Emodi held the Blessing of the new Monas-tery Statue of St. Joseph on the 5th of December 2020. It

was the first Saturday of the month, and the Blessing was preceded by the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated by Fr. Patrick C. Harrison at 8:00 AM in the Chapel of the Portiuncula, for the special intentions of Dr. George J. Emodi Family. At the end of the Mass the group walked to the site of the Statue of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus in the parking lot. The Blessing Prayers included the Hymn to St. Joseph, and singing of the Litany of St. Joseph.

The celebration gave honor to St. Joseph, and entrusted the Emodi Family who donated the statue; to the paternal care of St. Joseph, “Pillar of Families.” It was followed by breakfast at the San Damiano Hall.

Three days later on December 8, 2020, the Year of St. Joseph was pro-claimed by Pope Francis with the Apostolic Constitution Patris Corde, “With A Father’s Heart.” It marks the 150th Anniversary of the Proclama-tion of St. Joseph as Patron of the Uni-versal Church. Blessed Pius IX, who sent Mother Mary Magdalen Ben-tivoglio, OSC and Mother Mary Con-stance Bentivoglio, OSC from Rome to USA; was the Pope who made the proclamation on December 8, 1870. Does this explain why St. Joseph is the Patron of the first Monastery of St. Clare in Omaha, Nebraska? And is it not both meaningful and beautiful that the new Statue of St. Joseph was blessed to herald the Year of St. Joseph December 8, 2020–December 8, 2021?

This whole Year of St. Joseph and the years that follow, St. Joseph holding the hand of the Child Jesus, welcomes

1. Fr. Patrick C. Harrison blessing the statue of St. Joseph.2. Emodi Family and Poor Clare Nuns participating in the blessing.3. The group sang the Litany of St. Joseph.4. L-R Maureen and Andrew Emodi, Carolyn Sonderman, Matthew, George Peter Paul, and George James Emodi. It was a day to remember.

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all who enter the monastery gate “With a Father’s Heart.” St. Joseph is ready to take us by the hand when we are burdened and in grief: He is the “Com-fort of the afflicted”. When we are battling with ill-ness and pain: He is “Hope for the sick.” When our families are challenged with division: He is the “Pil-lar of Families.” When we are faced with the pass-ing of a loved one: He is the “Patron of the Dying.” When evil and harm come our way: St. Joseph is the “Terror of Demons”.

The Poor Clare Nuns of Omaha entrust all bene-factors and friends, and all prayer requests to St. Joseph this year. And the Year of St. Joseph invites everyone to “Go to St. Joseph”! (Please go to page 7)

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2022 PRAYER CALENDAR

Mother Theresina R. Santiago, OSCAbbess, Poor Clare Nuns of Omaha

All information to sponsor a Month, a Sunday or a Weekday of Prayer was sent in the mail. Please find

it also on www.omahapoorclare.org and click on “calendar”. For more information, you may contact Connie Cosentino at conniecosentino@yahoo.com. Let the Poor Clare Sisters pray for you, your loved ones, and your special intentions!

Calls for your Participation

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Hi Sister,

Thank you for your prayers. Alex was hired and started his new job two weeks ago. And he is doing well. Thanks again and many blessings to all of you for being prayer warriors!

Carla

Dear Sr. Theresina,

I hope you and all of your Sisters there have a Merry Christmas.

Thank you so much for answering all my requests.

It means so much to my wife and myself. I hope someday we will see you in heaven. I know that you will be there, and hope that we will be there with you.

All the prayer requests I have sent to you have come to be. I know that Jesus must love you very much. I pray that my faith in God gets stronger each day. We will pray for all of you. May God Bless all of you.

Love, Mark and Laura Cerutti

Mother Theresina,

I hope you are well and, Happy New Year!

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and all the Sisters for your prayers. My Condition has been improving since you started to pray for me. And it is comforting to know, every night as I go to bed that holy people as yourselves will be praying for my health and wellbeing.

God bless you all, and please know that all of you are in my prayers as well. And of course if a miraculous healing takes place, you will be the first to know.

Mr. Anant Kishore

Sister,

My Mom had a good report. Thank you for your prayers. I appreciate it very much.Chrissy

Dear Sisters,

Last week I sent a request for prayers for my daughter Mary, who was very sick with COVID-19. You may now please pray in thanksgiving. She was pretty sick for a while, but has now recovered enough to go back to work tomorrow!!

Thank you so much for your prayers for her.Jane

Dear Sisters,

Thank you very much for your prayers for my husband during his battle with COVID-19. He recovered well. Best wishes and God bless.

Mary Wilwerding

PRAYER & FAITH“Ask and you shall receive...”

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IN LOVING REMEMBRANCEYour Poor Clare Nuns pray for your Beloved Departed

Sister Theresina and the Poor Clare Nuns of Omaha express gratitude and a pledge of prayers… to all friends and benefactors who remembered them during the

Christmas Season with financial and material support! May the Lord continue to protect and to bless you! May St. Joseph keep watch over you and your families.

Kathy Abel Anne Briganti

Joe BushLavern Bush

Art CamenzindSal Carta

Caesar CruzEdwardo & Rosario Cruz

Freddie & Ester CruzManuel Cruz

Oscar & Lily CruzDorothy Czyz

Marian DeluccaPublio & Lillian Hernandez

Leonard HigginsDonna Claire Holmes

Harold P. KreskiDonald Lewis

Dorie LordemanDennis MartinAlvina Mertes

Fe MesinaRev. Russ Monzu

Margaret PetersonMary Ann PisciRafael Redding

Betty TorresDonald VapRita Vaughn

Pedro & Nelly VillenaDaniel L. WagnerArley WestendorfRobert Wichert

Helen Zaller

Dear Mother Theresina,

I am overjoyed and beside myself to share some amazing news with you!

Today Thomas Lauer and family went to do an MRI and testing, and the result is that Thomas is cancer free!

I could leap for joy for Thomas and his family! Thank you so much for your prayers! I know that we were just a piece of the massive collection of prayers ascending to our loving and merciful God but my heart is on fire with love and so grateful to God to have been allowed to be a part of this prayer team! I know you will feel the same.

Thank you always for your prayers again. Please help me pray also for a little girl named Riley Faith who is Thomas’s age, 4, and also has a very aggressive stage 4 cancer.

May Jesus and Mary be with you always, Dillion

PRAYER & FAITH“Ask and you shall receive...”

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The celebration of Catholic School Week in the Archdiocese of Omaha brought 35 letters to the Poor Clare Nuns from students from K-1 to 2nd Grade to 7th and 8th Grades of St. Philip Neri

and Christendom Academy.

The Nuns are happy to share with you a sampling of what they wrote:

Catholic School Week Letters To The Poor Clares!

Dear Sisters, I am Praying an Our Father for you.

Love, Margaret

Thank you for becoming a Sister! This week is great because we have something new and fun everyday. I hope your life is good and you are doing well!

Sincerely, SPN 8th Grader

Thank you for becoming a Sister. I like going to recess. I will say a prayer for you.

SPN 7th Grader

Thank you for becoming… a great role model. I hope you pray with me when I say that every-one with COVID may feel better, and let the Lord comfort them in their sickness.

Nolan

Today we celebrate vocations, and I am glad that you get to be a part of it. I hope this day and week are great for you! I’ll be sure to send prayers.

With smiles, SPN 7th Grader

Thank you for saying YES to God, and becoming a Sister. What I like doing at SPN is dismissal. I’ll say prayers for you.

A 7th Grader

How is your life? I know you love Jesus. I like Jesus too. My Mom is going to have a baby. I like Pokemon. What school do you go to? Do you like pizza? Did you have a big family? I like dragons too. I’m signed up for soccer. My Mom is the coach. I want a pet lizard.

Write back soon, Amelya

Do you like pie? Have you taken karate? I did. Are you a baker? You like turtles, right? I just had Reconciliation. I am the spelling bee champ. My favorite sports are: football, soccer, baseball and bas-ketball. Do you like them? Write back soon, I am in 2nd Grade.

From Finn

Do you like winter? I don’t like it. Do you do Math? Do you like peacocks? What is your language? I want a pet monkey. I have a re-ally good friend, Isaiah. My name is Keegan. I am in St. Philip Neri School. Please come visit.

From Keegan

Do you like cheeseburgers? Do you like school? I am signing for soccer. Do you play soccer? I hope you write back!

From Isaiah, Grade Two

We look up to you!! Something I like at St. Philip Neri is the small and loving community. One fun thing about Catholic Schools Week was our virtual Cathedral Mass.

SPN 8th Grader

Thank you, Poor Clares! I care about Catholic Schools a lot because my Dad and Grandma are both principals in Catholic Schools. My Mom and Aunt work for Catholic Schools. Plus my Grandpa is the head of mainte-nance for Saint Cecilia Cathedral and School.

Love, Anna J

I am praying Hail Mary for you. Love, Isaiah

I love you.Love, Addie

I am in 2nd Grade. I had Recon-ciliation. I have many miracles happen to my family. I have 8 family members. I want to be a Sister. I am 7 years old. What is your job in the convent? How old are you? Write back soon.

Love Erin Anne Kelly

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ENTRUST YOUR FAMILYTO ST. JOSEPH!

The Family in our society today is challenged in many ways: Illness, relationship problems, un-employment, drug, sex and child abuse, abor-

tion, violence, spiritual, emotional and legal issues. St. Joseph who was entrusted with the care of Jesus and his Mother Mary is the best person to go for the pro-tection of your family, and the families of your friends.

On this Year of St. Joseph, December 8, 2020-2021, the Poor Clare Nuns invite you to “go to St. Joseph” and entrust yourself and your families to him!

• Get one or two of the St. Joseph Bricks carefully arranged around the Statue of St. Joseph and Jesus.

• Submit the name of the individual or family for each brick.

• Each brick can have a maximum of 3 lines of text.

• Each line has a maximum of 15 letters.• The cost of each brick is $250.• All individuals and families entrusted to St.

Joseph this year will be remembered at the Votive Mass of St. Joseph on Wednesdays.

• They will be remembered at the daily Prayers to St. Joseph by the Poor Clare Nuns.

For reservations and more information, please contact Sister Theresina, OSC at srtheresina@omahapoorclare.org or Galen Lewis at gdlewis1@cox.net. 1. Bricks around the stand of the statue of St. Joseph and Jesus.

2. Bricks with names of individuals and families.

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First of all, I’d like to thank you for accepting when the Lord called you to be a Nun. I think it is so amazing how God calls each to serve him in different ways. Aright now at St. Phil’s, we are celebrating Catholic Schools Week in our own special way. We’ve had a different themed dress down day every day this week. Also we have the Blue and Gold Games. Our school is divided into two teams, blue and gold, and over the week each class competes to win their team points. It’s pretty fun and always makes Catholic School Week more interesting.

Before I end this letter, I’d like to pray for you and your vocation.Dear Lord, please help guide this Sister in her walk with you and lead her to your everlasting home in

Heaven. Amen. Sincerely, An SPN 8th Grader

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Poor Clare Sistersof OmahaFranciscan Monastery of Saint Clare22625 Edgewater RoadOmaha, Nebraska 68022

NON PROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE

PAIDOMAHA, NE

PERMIT NO. 776

PublisherFranciscan Monastery of St. Clare

22625 Edgewater RoadOmaha, Nebraska 68022

Websitewww.omahapoorclare.org

Editorial StaffErika Schmidt

Jon Engel, Larry RedingSister Kathleen Hawkins, OSC

Advisory CouncilSister Theresina R. Santiago, OSC

Jim CzyzJon Engel

Deacon Terry FicenecConnie Cosentino

Ruth Ann PoppMartha Krings

Callista AmbroseLarry RedingTom Ackley

PRAYER FOR THE YEAR OF ST. JOSEPHHail, Guardian of the Redeemer,Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.To you God entrusted his only Son;in you Mary placed her trust;with you Christ became man.Blessed Joseph, to us too,show yourself a fatherand guide us in the path of life.Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,and defend us from every evil.Amen.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church,Pray for Us!St. Joseph, Foster Father of Jesus,Pray for Us!St. Joseph, Spouse of Mary,Pray for Us!