VISION SPOTLIGHT
COURTESY OF DIVINE WORD COLLEGE
STUDENTS at Divine Word College who were on the 2023 Lion Dance team, part of the college’s annual celebration of the Lunar New Year. The college is run by the men’s missionary community, Society of Divine Word.
Religious communities have deep and diverse roots Religious communities find unique and varied ways to celebrate their cultural and ethnic heritages.
F
OR NEARLY 2,000 years, religious life has developed and shape-shifted while always staying true to its mission of discipleship. As the world has grown more interconnected, so too has religious life taken on an increasingly global character. All of the following communities are located in the United States, but their cultural heritage comes from around the globe. Some of these are religious institutes that came here from Europe to serve Catholic immigrants. Others are U.S.-initiated communities with members who represent the many cultures within the country. They incorporate their ethnic and cultural strands in their worship, community life, ministry, and more. Their members are proud of their multiethnic heritage, and they find many ways to celebrate it. Food, dance, song, prayer, art—nothing is spared when these sisters, priests, and brothers honor their roots. For more, see the 2024 Spotlight article online at VocationNetwork.org.
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