downloadable PDF file: Women of Faith Resources February 2018
February Quotes
“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
“One can never consent to creep when feeling the impulse to soar.” ~ Helen Keller
Featured Feast Day: February 8 – St. Josephine Bakhita
Birth: Around 1869 in Olgossa, Darfur, Sudan
Death: February 8, 1947, in Schio, Veneto, Italy
Canonized: October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II
Patron: Patron saint of Sudan, children, and victims of human trafficking
For biography see For Spiritual Reading below.
Lectio Divina: Scripture for spiritual reading and meditating
- Luke 9: 23-26
- Matthew 5: 1
- A Prayer Service in honor of St. Josephine Bakhita
Audio Divina: Music accompanied by images
Enjoy the following selections and let your heart and soul be touched by their messages.
Don’t Walk Away: Awareness raising of human trafficking, this modern day slavery.
Human Trafficking Remember Us Song
For Spiritual Reading
Biographical notes of St. Josephine Bakhita by Vatican News
“St. Josephine Bakhita, a Model of Faith”, by Christopher Heffron, St. Anthony Messenger, January 22, 2018.
Monthly newsletter on anti-human trafficking from Stop Enslavement
Now, l invite you to take a look at the images in the Visio Divina section that follows.
Visio Divina: Art for Prayer and Meditation
“Visual images are another doorway to sacred awareness. They can touch into our desire to grow in intimacy with God. So, we encourage one another to let ourselves be touched by the colors, shapes, figures and symbols that capture our attention most as we are praying. While gazing at an image ~ a painting, a photo, an icon, a sculpture, a piece of pottery … something may leap out at us, calling our attention to something of God just waiting to reveal itself to us.”
(Ideas inspired by Christine Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman in their book, Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction. See also Abbey of the Arts.)
As you gaze on this icon of St. Josephine Bakhita, what wells up from within your heart? Talk to her or pray to her about what you are hearing.
Consider this poster. How might this quote apply to your reflection on human trafficking or on some other topic that effects particularly women and children?
Featured Movies
The Storm Makers: An explanation of Cambodia’s undercover human trafficking world
Cecilia: A Delhi-based documentary film-maker investigates the death of his housekeeper’s daughter
Chosen: The true story of America’s trafficked teens
Featured Website
Holy Cross International Justice Office: resources for social justice topics