Leadership Monthly

Reflection Column

The gnarled trees of the woods remind me of the wood of the cross. Yet these very trees will soon be covered with blossoms and budding forth with new life. The Good Friday experience of suffering, struggle and tears will be over as Jesus Christ rises from death to life in order to bring us to salvation and lead us to hope.

Every year we look at the resurrection of Jesus as a sign of God's great love for us. Every year the changes from winter to spring remind us that life holds a promise; new life thrusts itself through the hardened earth and explodes in beauty in crocuses, daffodils, and greens. Color invades our senses and the earth comes alive again after a cold and dark winter.

We, too, are emerging from the darkness and somberness of our Lenten journeys. Our journeys have led us to reflect on the conversion and transformation of our hearts, inviting us to deepen our faith and relationship with God. Now it is time for our lives to take on the "new spring look" for the season. It is time for the "alleluias" to ring loud and clear that the Lord is risen and hope abounds.

The Easter season is an opportunity for us to proclaim our hope in the Resurrection and to reflect the joy of being Christian. We are invited to walk away from the empty tomb of Easter morning and take the good news to the highways and byways. Our hearts are now filled with the greatest gift God can give, Jesus Christ Risen! New life – new hope! 

Catholic Sisters Week Food Drive Makes Huge Community Impact

Thank you to all who participated in the Catholic Sisters Week Food Drive on March 14, 2025 at Walt Churchill’s Market and at the Ursuline Convent Offices. Sisters and supporters collected 7,632 pounds of non-perishable food items and $4,260 in monetary donations to support the Toledo SeaGate Food Bank. The food bank says that every dollar will provide 4 pounds of food, bringing the total poundage of food collected to 24,672. Toledo SeaGate Food Bank supplies food at no cost to more than 400 pantries and programs throughout Northwest Ohio to supplement their inventories, including many Catholic parish food banks.

Participating in this year’s Catholic Sisters Week Food Drive were the Ursuline Sisters, Sisters of Notre Dame of the United States, Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Sylvania Franciscan Sisters, Tiffin Franciscan Sisters, Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Sisters of the Visitation. Your contribution to this worthy project has blessed countless families in our community!