Friday, March 22: We're in the Louisville airport, waiting for our plane. We talk about the tour of Louisville that Sister Janet, who grew up here, gave us yesterday after the podcast. We saw lots of Ursuline history, including the historic Motherhouse originally in the downtown area. These days, the sisters remain very involved in ministries to help transform people's lives, especially people who are poor.
Thursday, March 21: It's podcast day! We broadcast from the library of Sacred Heart Academy, with a full house of sisters, associates, and students in the audience. Sacred Heart, which is on the Motherhouse campus, is an all-girls school with awesome academics and winning sports teams. The chatroom was moving fast with lots of good conversation.
Wednesday, March 20: We fly in over the winding Ohio River and land in Louisville, home of the Ursuline Sisters for 160 years! Kathy, the Communications Director, gives us a tour of the Motherhouse, with its incredibly beautiful chapel. In the evening, we have dinner with the sisters and Kathy, and we learn about a Louisville classic meal, the Hot Brown.
Left: Sister Janet Marie Peterworth is president of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, Kentucky. She has been a member of her community both before and after Vatican II and has seen many changes in a nun’s life. Before returning to Louisville to take on administrative responsibilities, Sister Janet served 25 years in West Virginia—20 of those years in the southern coalfields of that state where she ran a non-profit agency that worked primarily with mothers and children. Over her time in ministry, she has served as a middle-school teacher, a principal, a pastoral administrator in a parish without a resident priest, and a hospital chaplain. Sister Janet, who comes from a small family, is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. She is an animal lover and misses the dogs and cats she had in West Virginia.
Right: Sister Jean Anne Zappa is a self-described “Italian extrovert” who grew up in a large Catholic family in Pittsburgh. She credits the influence of the Sisters at Ursuline Academy in Pittsburgh with her decision to join the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville. She entered the community in 1967, during a period of great change in the Catholic Church and her community as a result of Vatican II. Sister Jean Anne has been a teacher, director of mission effectiveness for the Ursuline Campus Schools in Louisville, president of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, an intern at Network in Washington, DC, and has been Mission Advancement Coordinator of Shively Area Ministries since 2009. Sister Jean Anne is passionate about life, relationships and people and believes the point of religious life is to share the charism with others, spread the gospel and serve the marginalized.
The Mission of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville is teaching Christian Living. This corporate ministry, cutting across socio-economic, racial and national boundaries, assists women, men and children to live more fully and to develop a personal relationship with God.
The Charism of St. Angela Merici and the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville is a contemplative love of God and a resulting openness and eagerness to serve the needs of others.
Left: Sister Janet Marie Peterworth is president of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, Kentucky. She has been a member of her community both before and after Vatican II and has seen many changes in a nun’s life. Before returning to Louisville to take on administrative responsibilities, Sister Janet served 25 years in West Virginia—20 of those years in the southern coalfields of that state where she ran a non-profit agency that worked primarily with mothers and children. Over her time in ministry, she has served as a middle-school teacher, a principal, a pastoral administrator in a parish without a resident priest, and a hospital chaplain. Sister Janet, who comes from a small family, is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. She is an animal lover and misses the dogs and cats she had in West Virginia.
Right: Sister Jean Anne Zappa is a self-described “Italian extrovert” who grew up in a large Catholic family in Pittsburgh. She credits the influence of the Sisters at Ursuline Academy in Pittsburgh with her decision to join the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville. She entered the community in 1967, during a period of great change in the Catholic Church and her community as a result of Vatican II. Sister Jean Anne has been a teacher, director of mission effectiveness for the Ursuline Campus Schools in Louisville, president of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville, an intern at Network in Washington, DC, and has been Mission Advancement Coordinator of Shively Area Ministries since 2009. Sister Jean Anne is passionate about life, relationships and people and believes the point of religious life is to share the charism with others, spread the gospel and serve the marginalized.
The Mission of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville is teaching Christian Living. This corporate ministry, cutting across socio-economic, racial and national boundaries, assists women, men and children to live more fully and to develop a personal relationship with God.
The Charism of St. Angela Merici and the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville is a contemplative love of God and a resulting openness and eagerness to serve the needs of others.
