“HIV/AIDS: Bernadette Kinniry, RSM, of Siloam Ministries”

I am co-founder of a spiritual ministry for persons infected with/affected by HIV/AIDS. A friend introduced me to your music, and I’ve watched how your words and voice have penetrated deeply into the deepest spirit of persons who have been terribly alienated, and often enough have alienated their own selves. You are an agent of light and grace among us as a people and I, first of all, want to say a warm thank you for what you are doing with your life journey. You obviously are no stranger to the stuff of your own life, which translates into connection with the lives of others.

Secondly, the ministry I’ve been called to create has been one that has turned me upside down and inside out, for I’ve met a diversity of God’s creation that I’ve never known existed…and it has been good for me. Our belief is that all persons are by nature spiritual, and we try to offer safe ways for those whose lives have been touched by HIV/AIDS to simply access their God-given spirituality, for wellness. We have had to make a distinction between spirituality and religion, for so often persons with AIDS have been hurt in the name of religion. I am a Sister of Mercy (Catholic nun), and I sense the deep hunger for spirituality in our times, that organized religion is not necessarily addressing. It has been astounding what happens when we are connected to that deeper truth, which your songs so gently yet fiercely celebrate.

Continued blessings on you and your loved ones.
Peace.
Bernadette Kinniry, RSM
Siloam Ministries
1133 Spring Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123

Another communication from Bernadette Kinniry:

In October, we had two 3-day retreats for persons living with HIV/AIDS and our many volunteers, and I was, more than ever, amazed and deeply touched/enlightened by what is shared when safety and dignity are present. The group was persons of all faiths, or none in particular, at least none that they felt would claim them,

• of all ethnic backgrounds
• of all sexual orientations
• of all financial brackets
• of all educational histories
• of all life experiences
• of all ages, from mid twenties to seventy-three.

Your music profoundly eeked its way into their familiar defences, underneath, and I could see the reclaiming of a truer self, especially with the songs:
“How Could Anyone Ever Tell You”
“It’s in Every One of Us”
“Where I Sit Is Holy”

We gifted some of our retreatants with your music, and you would have thought we gave them a healing of their very illness. Thank you!

On November 11, my community of Sisters of Mercy celebrates the death of our loving foundress, Catherine McAuley. At the convent where I live, the sister who led us in prayer chose for the music of our prayer your “The Flower that Shattered the Stone”. What a perfect fit. My prayer for this hardened stony time in our country, religions, world is that ‘flowers’ will continue to shatter what needs to be shattered.

Fondly,
Bernadette Kinniry, RSM
Siloam Ministries
1133 Spring Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123