Sisters of the Holy Family | Advocating for the underserved in our community

“Their sturdy backs bent down, by labor and fatigue, their eyes intent upon the earth, sift through stubble discarded by the reapers.”

—Sister Michaela O’Connor

 

 

Above: The Gleaners, by Jean-François Millet (1857), depicting three peasant women gleaning a field of stray stalks of wheat after the harvest.
(funeral to be held September 2024)

Our Mission:
To seek out and advocate for the poor and needy, especially families, for the Kingdom of God since 1872

 

Celebrating Our Legacy
Past

As Gleaners, we stood at the edge of society where Christ was encountered in word, silence, and action as the power of His Kingdom pushed out the boundaries of our world. We have been recognized by our simplicity of life and visible presence among the most abandoned.

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Celebrating Our Legacy
Present

Our mission as Gleaners is to serve segments of the population who are underserved by Church and social institutions. As we celebrate this time in our history, our ministries will focus on children, homelessness, food insecurity, immigrants, refugees, and healthcare.

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Celebrating Our Legacy
Future

Reflecting the heart of our mission our legacy will live on into the future for others through the Gardens at Palmdale, our Opportunity Fund with Abode Services, our Archives Collection, and Early Childhood Education Scholarships.

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Sunday Scripture Reflection for October 27, 2024
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

God created the Earth and all that dwells in it, and therefore the whole Earth is a Holy Land. Yet in a special way we call Israel the Promised Land, the Holy Land, the land promised by God to his obedient servants. Looking at the Middle East today, there is so much violence, pain and suffering that it is hard to imagine it as a Holy Land. The pain and division go way back, at least to the time of Abraham. Three faiths find their origins in Abraham, and yet those three faiths — Judaism, Islam and Christianity — are squabbling children divided against each other for centuries, that division traceable to their very origins! Abraham’s two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, went their separate ways and founded the Arabs and the Jews. Isaac’s two sons, twins, fought within the womb and after birth went their separate ways, Esau marrying Ishmael’s daughter. It just got worse and worse. Christianity might have had some hope of bringing them together, but Christianity is divided among itself. Where will peace come from? The blind man in Sunday’s Gospel says to Jesus, “Master, I want to see.” What he sees with newly-opened eyes might not be pretty, but until he — and we, all of humanity — can see, there can be no change.

Join Us

There are a number of ways you can join our Family of Friends, including donations, prayer requests, connecting with a Sister, and joining our mailing list.

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Prayer

If you would like to request a prayer for yourself or a loved one, please let us know.

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News

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