Sister Mary Kirchen addressed the Women’s Assembly at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, USA.

Good morning. I bring greetings from my sister, the author of these words, Michelle de Bexodon, of Immaculate Heart Community in California. And I bring them in memory of the Reverend Dr. Gwen Keyboard, past trustee of the Parliament, as we breathe in and breathe out. 

May the work we do here together enlarge us. May it forge in us all that we need to meet its challenges. May it give us the will to do better than we think we can. May we trust that our work matters, like plowed Earth.

We often know ourselves only as raw ground, and cannot imagine the ripening of the seed and the flowering to come. So may we learn to trust the process of growth in all of its seasons, because we do not work alone because what we do takes the hands, and hearts, and minds of all. 

May our example, our encouragement and our gratitude awaken gifts in one another, enabling each of us to find joy in what we do. Our work is a blessing and a challenge. May it be worthy of the gifts of our lives.