Mid-Year Reflection – 2025

by Mikaela VanMoorleghem, MPA

What have I learned?

At the start of this year, I felt heartbroken. I entered 2025 anxious not knowing what was to come. So many decisions unfolding around me seemed to carry heavy consequences—particularly for women, immigrants, our environment, and those struggling to make ends meet. I didn’t know how to channel the grief or move forward with purpose. But what I’ve learned is this: Hope is not something we wait for, it’s something we create, together.

Through the Notre Dame Sisters, I found a way to hold space for that pain without becoming paralyzed by it. They invited me—and others—to share our fears, our hurt, our faith. And in doing so, they helped me find clarity, connection, and a path forward.

What do I hope for in the months ahead?

I hope we continue to amplify voices that the world too often silences. I hope that compassion outweighs cruelty, and that truth is louder than fear. I hope that the seeds we are planting now—through movements like #LikeACatholicSister and Sisters Speak Out—will grow into something bigger than we can imagine. I hope people remember the power of spiritual community and prophetic witness.

Most of all, I hope people don’t give up. Even when it feels like nothing will change.

What is mine to do?

To tell the stories.

To use my gifts and talents in ways that will help others.

To listen, to lift, and to remind others that goodness is not gone.

It is mine to stay in the fight, not with bitterness, but with conviction.

It is mine to honor the example of the Sisters who have nourished my soul and shown me what holy resistance looks like.

And it is mine to give others the same invitation I was given:

Come. Let’s do this work together.