Emily TeKolste

Emily TeKolste is a temporary professed Sister of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Originally from the Indianapolis area, she developed a passion for justice during her time as a student at Xavier University in Cincinnati and lived in the Indianapolis Catholic Worker community for three years before entering her community. She ministers (remotely) as grassroots mobilization coordinator for Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice in Washington, D.C. Her other passions include soil carbon capture, growing things, and soccer.

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Sr. Emily TeKolste transports sisters to an eclipse-watching party at the campus of the Sisters of Providence of St.-Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, on April 8.

Eclipse party models vision of beloved community with all of creation

For many of us, the eclipse gave us a vision — a reminder — of what moments of community with all of creation can look like. 

Everyone is welcome sign (Unsplash/Katie Moum)

'Todos, Todos, Todos': It will take all of us

Everyone is welcome at the table. Everyone has food to eat. Everyone experiences safety and shelter. Everyone has an opportunity to contribute and to develop their own gifts and talents.

"Cain and Abel" (1919) by Lovis Corinth (Artvee)

The vast question of 'What do we owe each other?'

Catholic social teaching makes it clear: it's not enough to be a good person. It's not enough to volunteer at or donate to our local food pantry. These things are good and important and commendable. But they're not enough.

City Hall of Terre Haute, Indiana. It's famously said that "all politics is local," and I'm seeing this more clearly these days. (Wikimedia Commons/Huw Williams)

Solidarity and subsidiarity call us to engage in local politics

Horizons - I've been reflecting on the interplay between federal and local governments. In many ways, it resembles the interplay between solidarity and subsidiarity in Catholic social teaching. 

A stamp on the sidewalk near Sr. Emily TeKolste's neighborhood in Terre Haute, Indiana, reads "Built by W.P.A. 1942." (Courtesy of Emily TeKolste)

I dream of a New New Deal

Horizons - What could our society look like if everyone had access to resources to put food on the table, live in decent housing, and have the security to work toward their dreams? There is enough to go around.

1 A participant at the "Care Not Cuts" rally holds a sign reading "Hunger hurts" April 26 in Washington. (Courtesy of Network Lobby/Catherine Gillette)

Take action to feed the hungry elderly in our midst

Horizons - Recently I reached out to the nurse and executive director of a senior center, to find out about experiences of food insecurity that their members might be facing. The stories they shared were profound.

Hands

Transform society from where you are

Horizons - My work, where I live in Terre Haute, Indiana, is to build cross-racial solidarity so that we can build a world where all can thrive. Where is your work? Where does your community hurt?

Pictured are women in initial transformation with the Sisters of Providence at the community's motherhouse campus at St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana. (Emily TeKolste)

Do we have the freedoms we claim?

Are all welcome in our church, our nation, our world? Only if we are willing to ensure all have what they need to thrive will all be truly welcome.

Chand minar, the second largest minaret in India (Unsplash/Setu Chhaya)

Push through the fear of losing white Christian privilege

Those of us who are both white and Christian must begin to atone for the ways these intersecting identities build upon each other to create spaces where we can dominate the narrative and the expectations.

(Unsplash/Nicole Fioravanti)

In Advent, and at Hanukkah, we look for light

Horizons - Are we listening? Are we shining our light into the darkness? Are we bringing attention to that which the powers-that-be would prefer remained hidden?

The 2018 Nuns on the Bus: Tax Justice Truth Tour travels down the road in West Palm Beach, Florida during the 27-day trip from California to Mar-a-Lago. Over the past months, Emily TeKolste has led workshops on racial justice and the tax code. (Courtesy)

Equity, not equality, is the Christian ideal

Horizons - When both a billionaire and a minimum wage worker have to rent an apartment for $3,000 a month, that's equality of opportunity, but it leaves the worker homeless. Equity says that is not enough.

Is religious life easy?

"Sisters, is your life easy?" an acquaintance asked. It was relatively easy for me to answer: "Easy? No. Good? Yes." Still, the question has stayed with me.

Living in a world of fear