Storyburgh: Amplifying human experience through words and images featured Sister Janice
Within the article Jennifer Szweda Jordan and Will Halim mention the motto of the Sisters of St. Joseph, “‘serving God and the dear neighbor.’ It doesn’t just apply to the person next door.”
Through Sister Janice’s’ work throughout Latin America she witnessed similar conditions as mentioned in the article “Sister Janice.” “In Peru, I would see the children with all kinds of disabilities begging on the streets. They had no services. In the mountains of Guatemala, people were living on dirt, sleeping on dirt and with very little food.”
Throughout her work Sister Janice took strength in Our Lady of Guadalupe, a prominent cultural and religious symbol of Mexico. According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, a Mexican peasant. As Sister Janice states in the article “She indicated she was on the side of the poor, on the side of those…who were suffering terrible lives.”
Additionally Sweda Jordan & Halim write about Sister Janice’s awareness of social injustice as mirroring teachings Latin American bishops were advocating in the 1960s and 1970s. These teachings, known as the “preferential option for the poor” focused on Biblical texts promoting “giving favor and voice to the dispossessed and disabled.”
Read the entire article here.