“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.
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.
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.
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.
Scripture Reflection for January 23, 2022
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
“’Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep’—for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.”
When the people heard the Word of God for the first time in ages, they wept — in my mind, weeping in joy because the Word of God was among them again. Children do not do well in a totally undisciplined environment, nor do adults. We need to know what are the limitations, what are the expectations. Too many rules can be deadening, but too few rules is pretty scary. I remember when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines, there were minority groups in the rural areas who still believed in the forest spirits: if you stepped on a spot that belonged to a particular spirit, that spirit might strike you lame or make your family sick. It was arbitrary — there was no way of knowing what was safe and what was not. It reflected their lived experience, but that is not the lived experience of most of us today. We want to know there is a certain amount of order. Then we can handle the chaos, because it has a framework. I have long loved the words of M. Louise Haskins: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, and that shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
Sister Carol J. Crater, SHF
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