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September 19, 2023“For everything there is a season.A time to weep and a time to laugh.A time to mourn and a time to dance.”
This litany from Ecclesiastes names all the ordinary rhythms of human life and reminds us that everything has its time and place. This passage reflects for me the past 60 years of my life as a Presentation Sister.
I entered religious life as Pope John XXXIII called the institutional church to open its windows and allow Vatican II to move the church into the modern world. These were times of sweeping liturgical reforms, ecumenical efforts towards dialogue with other religions, and the gift of the universal call to holiness for all. And within our Presentation congregation the total renewal of religious life was called forth. Those days offered new and challenging experience for myself and those sisters entering religious life.
In the midst of all of the changes, I found excitement in the gift of my teaching ministry. I traveled from urban settings to suburia, teaching elementary, junior high and high school. Every year was a new experience.
After 20 years in education, I moved onto congregational leadership. During these 18 years, I experienced a new set of “learnings” and found the wonder of God’s call in Presentation sisters around the globe. Nano Nagle’s dream to “be of service in any part of the globe” was a reality and her followers were bringing Nano’s dream to birth on six continents.
After completing my time in leadership, I went on to served the religious in the New York Archdiocese as vicar for religious. In meeting sisters and brothers from so many congregations, I was in awe of the many religious who shared the journey to be God’s loving presence through their works of love, justice and mercy.
Returning to leadership in my congregation, I am more aware of our polarized world, where cultures experience difficulty in living alongside one another, where the powerless encounter oppression and inequality abounds. My call today is to listen with the ear of my heart and to touch our world by acknowledging the dignity of each person and sharing our respective gifts so that all may live as brothers and sisters.
And so on this 60th anniversary, I stop and savor the blessings in this community. I give thanks to a faithful God who has blessed me on the good days and on the dark ones. I give thanks to all who have brougth me to this moment and especially for the gift of family, community, friends and co-workers who have been a presence in my life. I embrace the past 60 years as a Sister of the Presentation and walk gently into the next season God has planned for me.
