Guide: Mother Josepha was a “person with a heart”. She lived from the center of it. Deep in her heart she was united with God.

All: The awareness of the love and presence of God in her heart was the integrating principle of her life, the one that impelled her to be with God and with people.

Guide: Mother Josepha invites us to be “people of the heart”. Every moment is an opportunity to listen, serve, love and make the face of God visible.

All: This particular missionary availability of Mother Josepha is an essential characteristic of our call to open all hearts to love.

Guide: Mother Josepha used the talents that God had entrusted to her in such a way that with them she could bring peace, joy, happiness and freedom to others.

All: She understood that to respond to these gifts what mattered was fidelity in service. Not the quantity but the legitimacy. Her entire existence proves how important fidelity was in the small, in the little.

Guide: A fabric of dedication and authenticity in her life and mission, her life was a life dedicated to the service of the Gospel.

All: The life of our co-founding mothers in Steyl, as well as that of so many Servants of the Holy Spirit today, give dynamism to the fabric of life and mission that Mother Josepha began in her own life.

Guide: Thinking about the organization of the Congregation, both women complemented each other wonderfully: the silk thread of the choice of Mother Maria Elena Stollenwerk for her mission land, finds its connection in the practical skills of Mother Josepha Hendrina Stenmanns, of spinning not only silk, but also a missionary life.

All: These harmonized fragments of thread continue to thread through our current stories of so many Missionaries scattered throughout the world.

Guide: Mother Josepha was modest, with respect to her person, she was satisfied with little, she had no pretensions and was always happy.

All: We are called to always seek new strategies, new ways of facing missionary challenges, remaining attentive to listening to the Spirit present and active in history.

Guide: We recognize her personal gift of being able to go beyond weaving a cloth, to the weaving of her own life and mission, as a model that continues to be woven into our lives as SSpS Missionaries.

All: in the face of so many women and girls who are forced to leave their homes to help their families financially; and the sad stories of human trafficking challenge us to network, to weave links of interconnection in our missionary services. Amen