Sisters Nancy, Betty Ann, Susan with Wright Lassiter, CEO of CommonSpirit Health
Recently, Sisters Nancy Gerth and Susan Gatz participated in a pilgrimage to Baltimore and Emmitsburg held by CommonSpirit Health for its board of stewardship trustees and senior staff. CommonSpirit Health is the health care organization that consists of the legacy hospitals of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and the hospitals of 17 other religious women’s congregations. Their mission, “As CommonSpirit Health, we make the healing presence of God known in our world by improving the health of the people we serve, especially those who are vulnerable, while we advance social justice for all.”
As they carry out their mission across 24 states in the U. S., CommonSpirit is inspired by the founding congregations who boldly let go of their health care institutions, merging them together for the sake of the healing ministry of Jesus. This pilgrimage in early March focused on the charity charism (Caritas), helping the trustees and staff deepen their understanding of that charism.
Over the three days, the group learned about the beginnings of the charism, visited holy sites connected to Elizabeth Ann Seton, and prayed and reflected on the meaning of the charity charism for them as they live the mission of CommonSpirit Health. They listened attentively as Betty Ann McNeil, DC, explained the development of the charity charism from its origins with Vincent and Louise, through its birth in the U. S. with Elizabeth Ann Seton, to its adoption on the Kentucky frontier by Catherine Spalding and Bishop David. They celebrated liturgy in the Basilica at Emmitsburg and toured the houses where St. Elizabeth began her congregation.
Sister Susan and Sister Barbara Hagedorn, Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, shared with them the prayerful, careful process their congregations went through to make the challenging but necessary decision to let go of their hospitals to assure that the ministries could thrive.
During the pilgrimage, there was time for reflection on questions such as, What is the Spirit calling you to continue on behalf of CommonSpirit’s Setonian-Vincentian legacy of Caritas? The thoughtful responses spoke to the commitment that these women and men have to continuing the legacy they inherited from the founding congregations.
The SCN legacy hospitals in CommonSpirit Health are: Flaget Memorial in Bardstown, St. Joseph in Lexington, St. Joseph in London, Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, and St. Vincent in Little Rock, Ark.