Saint Mary by the Sea’s June Meeting: Associates and Sisters Gather for Christian Growth

Associates and Sisters from Saint Mary by the Sea Christian Growth Group in Cape May New Jersey live our mission of unioning love…

“We, SSJ Associates in Mission, are aware of God’s urgent longing for our mission of unioning love to transform the world in our times…”

Saint Mary by the Sea Christian Growth Group Associates and Sisters gathered together in June for their monthly meeting at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Cape May New Jersey. Associate in Mission, Anne Hainsworth, shared stories, and photos from the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia Annual Pilgrimage to Le Puy and Lyon, France. Anne was one of eight Pilgrims who took this journey and found themselves “immersed in the history of our founding sisters and the holy ground of our beginnings.” Anne added to her presentation by discussing the socio- economic and political situation in France at the time of the founding of the Congregation. Then, as she is now a Quaker, she presented the socio- economic and political situation in England at the time of George Fox and the founding of the Quaker Religion.
The connection for Anne was when she realized that…

“Fox and the Founding Sisters and Father Medaille were literally contemporaries! That hit me when we were at the kitchen in Le Puy!”

“…To deepen and widen our SSJ Spirituality and our lived expression of it in relationship with every level of the Joseph family…”

Pictured are members of the Saint Mary by the Sea Christian Growth Group and the 2023 Le Puy Pilgrims standing in the original kitchen where our first sisters gathered.