‘It’s a very rewarding and happy life,’ says Sister Catherine

Sister Mary Catherine Brehony

Sister Mary Catherine Brehony, IWBS is not just a math teacher, she teaches people. White-haired now and standing at all of 5’2”, she may be overlooked not just for her stature but as described by former student, Sister Annette Wagner, IWBS, “as humble and self-effacing, but with a delightful sense of humor which she can dish out with a twinkle in her eyes.”

After just a few moments in her presence, though, the contradiction shines through. It is easy to see her in command of a high school classroom.

Baptized Teresa Evelyn Brehony, Sister Catherine felt God calling her at an early age. Her parents John and Catherine McDonagh Brehony were devout Catholics who taught their seven children to pray the rosary every night. The family farmed for their livelihood in Sligo, Ireland where Sister Catherine grew up.

Sister Catherine became curious about consecrated life when she met two Sisters of Mercy, who taught in her secondary school, but it was not until her mother’s sisters wrote about their consecrated life in Texas that she knew she wanted what they had, a life given over to God.

Her aunts’ lives unfolded on paper as they wrote about being a part of a group of nuns in a convent far away in a place called Corpus Christi, Texas, the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament.

Sister Catherine retired from teaching in 2011 but still manages to stay busy. She tutors and helps manage the IWA bookstore. Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic

In 1947, at the age of 18 and just two months after her father’s death, Sister Catherine and her cousin, Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS left their family in Ireland to join their aunts in the IWBS convent and begin formation in consecrated life. At that time she did not know if or when she would ever see her family again.

Sister Catherine began teaching at St. Patrick School in 1950—when it was still next to the cathedral, then at St. Theresa School in 1954 and Christopher Junior College—now closed—in 1964. She began teaching secondary level math at Incarnate Word Academy in 1959 until she retired in 2011. She coached IWA’s team in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools competition and is very proud that her students won first place eight years in a row.

Sister Catherine received part of her education by attending night classes at Del Mar College and the University of Corpus Christi, while she taught children at IWA during the day. During the summers she went to school to complete both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, respectively. She also attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston for religious studies.

Sister Catherine humbly gives credit to God for the insight she gained in her first year of teaching. “I thought I had to be very strict, then it dawned on me I’m not going to just teach math, I’m going to teach people,” Sister Catherine said.

She found her niche teaching high school students. “I like the older ones better, my sense of humor didn’t fit the younger ones,” she said. She taught everything from algebra to calculus. She loved teaching math and she was good at it. Stacks of thank you notes and letters from former students attest to it.

“I looked forward to going to her class even though geometry wasn’t my favorite subject,” Sister Annette said. “She was very fair, hard and easy. She had her standards and if you made a grade you deserved that grade.”

Sometimes Sister Annette would interrupt class to get Sister Catherine to open up about her life in the convent. “I was attracted to her enjoyment of teaching. It was so natural for her. She has been a good role model, a great example of religious life,” Sister Annette said.

Sister Catherine is as invaluable to the IWBS congregation as she is to IWA. She served as Coordinator of Initial Formation and Director of Postulants for 12 years. She was Vocation Director for six years, a Councilor in the General Administration for three terms and served on many commissions and committees.

Math was not the only subject Sister Catherine taught. She feels her contribution to religious education was just as important. “I feel I have a better flair for math, but I wanted to do more than math, something that would involve emphasizing the Word of God,” she said.

For many years she and Sister Agnes Marie Tengler, IWBS spent nights and weekends teaching CCD at Our Lady of Refuge Parish in Refugio and St. Paul the Apostle and Holy Cross Parishes in Corpus Christi.

Sister Catherine enjoys saving memorabilia from former students. One is an excerpt from a valedictory speech written by former student Brigid Tinning delivered in 1995. It read, “What greater gift can one human being give to another than to encourage him to reach outside of himself to help another? This is what you have taught me, Sister Catherine.” Tinning is also in consecrated life, living in Rome.

In 1988, Sister Catherine received a certificate from the Red Cross thanking her for bringing aid to victims of Hurricane Gilbert. She remembers piling in a van driven by Bishop Danny Flores, who was a seminarian at the time. They went to Bishop and the surrounding area to deliver food to shelters and churches.

Sister Catherine retired from teaching in 2011 but still manages to stay busy. She tutors and helps manage the IWA bookstore.

Her advice to those interested in consecrated life is “it’s a very rewarding and happy life.”

“Your reward comes from the fact that you have an opportunity to give to the Church, build up families and prepare them to take over to make our society better by the way they live and their values. You are going to have to work for it, you have to sacrifice yourself and see it as building up the kingdom of God within and through Jesus,” Sister Catherine said.

This year Sister Catherine celebrates her 65-year jubilee. She taught future priests, nuns, doctors, teachers, parents and more. She taught the person not the subject.