The following is a homily that
was given in 1986 by Bishop William Hughes, (Ordinary of the Diocese of
Covington, 1979-95) who presided at my Perpetual vows. I was twenty-one years of age when I entered
the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker. Eight years later, kneeling before our
Bishop, “in the presence of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, of our holy patron St.
Joseph, and of all the Heavenly court” I professed my vows to Almighty God
Himself.
In just a few moments, Sister
Patricia Jean will make her solemn final profession of vows as a member of the
Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker. For her family, for this religious community,
for all of us here, for all of the people of the Diocese, this is a very
significant moment. After much prayer
and reflection, Sister Patricia Jean is publicly offering vows of poverty,
chastity, and obedience, and living according to the rules of the Sisters of
St. Joseph the Worker.
As Catholics, we believe that a
religious vocation is a particular call from God to a particular person asking
for a particular response. The call to
each person is unique. Some experience
it in a given religious moment, almost like a flashing sound, while others
discover it only after a long process of prayer and discernment (searching). There is an interesting reference to this in
today’s first Reading about the prophet Elijah.
The Lord told him to “go out and stand on the mountain for the Lord is about to pass by.” Soon, there was a
great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in
pieces, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an
earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the
earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire
there was the sound of a
tiny whispering silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face
in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there
came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He found God where he least expected Him, in a tiny whispering sound. All of us are worrying today about the
decline in vocations to the priesthood and religious life in our Church. Perhaps Elijah has a lesson for us – Are we
looking for God where He is not to be found? It is
still true that the calm voice of a parent, a teacher, a friend, a priest, or a
sister is the gentle breeze indicating God’s call and
asking for a response. Faith is
at the heart of that response.
And Faith is the lesson of
today’s Gospel passage. The traditional
understanding of Peter’s failure to walk on the water after his initial success
is that his faith was too weak. He took his eyes off Jesus. He paid attention to his surroundings instead.
This is why he faltered and began to sink.
This was a onetime failing in faith.
By the time he was crucified, he had performed as many miracles as Jesus
had alone, including raising a woman from the dead. He had enough faith to let Jesus grow from teacher
to Messiah to Savior in front of him. He
also had enough faith to travel all over the Mediterranean basin preaching and
suffering for the man he encountered walking across the waves on the turbulent
Sea of Galilee. He, like Elijah, was a
person of firm faith.
It is faith
that is at the heart of Sr. Patricia Jean’s response to God’s call. When our Blessed Mother said “yes” to God’s
call she was not aware of what lay ahead of her. She did not know that she would see her Son
rejected, abandoned, and crucified. She
did not know she would suffer that enormous sorrow of a parent – burying her
own child. Yet she remained faithful to
her “yes”, because she had faith in God’s love for her and in His call.
Sr. Patricia Jean says “yes”
perpetually today, not totally aware of what God has in store for her –
assignments, changes, health problems, etc. These are the unknowns in religious
life. But in faith she believes that God
is at the heart of it all – sometimes easy to see as in an earthquake, but
at other times like a gentle breeze, --but always there—to comfort, to console,
to bless, to love. She has confidence in
the words of Jesus “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Live on in my love.”
Finally, the question is asked in
today’s society, “Is it possible to make a permanent commitment in
today’s society, with constant changing of jobs, moving from city to city,
divorce so common?”
I read an article some time ago that
was entitled, “Can anyone say forever?” It was about permanency in religious
commitment and written by a Jesuit. His
answer was that the only love worthy of a response to God’s call was a permanent,
lasting one. He went on to describe how impossible a part-time or
short-time commitment would be in relation to the love God has for a person in
extending the unique call to religious life.
Thus he says the only possible answer to God’s loving call is “yes”, I
give myself forever.
“No one who comes to Me will ever be
hungry; no one who believes in Me shall ever thirst again.”
As
I write this, thirty-eight years have passed; thirty-five of those years as a
professed Sister. Not a day goes by that
I do not thank the good Lord for my vocation for it is in looking back that I
see how His hand has guided me through the people He sent into my life, and I
trust He will continue for the future.
Opening
a letter my second grade teacher, Sister Mary Leonilla, OSB of Atchison, Kansas
had written to me long ago, I read: “The religious life, like all others, will
have its good days and bad days. We just
have to try to accept them as they come but don’t take them too seriously for
they won’t last forever! They remind me of the weather: sometimes rain,
sometimes storms, sometimes sunshine, sometimes hot, and sometimes cold. The crosses and trials come into every state
of life. But God never sends one too heavy.
He will send the grace to bear it along with the cross.” This is
true. It is only by God’s grace that I
am where I am, and who I am today.
My
dad once said to us children, “I do not have much in the way of material things
to pass on to you, but what I do have, I give to you, and that is
perseverance!” Mom and dad have been
married for sixty years! We learn by
example!!
For
those of you reading this who may be discerning a vocation to the priesthood or
religious life, look back in your life and see all the people God has placed in
your path. Is it not possible that they
are the gentle breeze indicating God’s
call for you as a religious sister or priest? Will you not keep your eyes
on Him Who stretches out His hand so you can “walk on water?” Could He not be
saying to you, “What are you waiting for?”
