Religious Sisters enrich us all

On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 2-3, we will celebrate World Day for Consecrated Life; on Saturday with a day of reflection and on Sunday with a Mass in the Cathedral in which the sisters and religious brothers will restate their commitment before the entire diocese.

Women religious played a very important role in my spiritual formation and also in my vocation to the priesthood. From the early years of second grade, I recall an Incarnate Word sister–Sister Oliver McGee–who encouraged vocations but also encouraged us in the second grade to listen intently to the Gospel on Sundays and to speak about them on Monday in the classroom. This left is an indelible impression upon me from the very beginning.

Also in my family there were two religious women. A Poor Clare sister in my mother’s side, my mother’s aunt, and a Dominican sister from Houston on my father’s side, his aunt as well. I would write to them and they would write letters that were very encouraging and spoke to me of the importance of prayer in my journey of faith, my journey to the priesthood.

Religious women have played a very important role in the development of our diocese. As we are aware, the Incarnate Word sisters existed in the diocese before the diocese was formed. Many other orders have come to the diocese and worked in the classroom teaching; evangelizing in parishes; in social services helping the poor and homeless; assisting those who are confined in hospitals; and caring for the elderly. From the very first act of Christian life, the Pink Sisters have had a tremendous influence on the spirit of prayer in our lives as they pray for the whole diocese.

We of course can always benefit from more vocations. It is important that young women open their hearts to the call of Christ to serve in so many ways. I pray that more young women from our diocese become aware of these various religious communities in our diocese and beyond and dedicate themselves to a life of consecration to Christ, to serve in our diocese and to serve in the Church.

At present, the women religious in our diocese have formed a vocations committee to work together to visit parishes and the various diocesan events in order to make themselves known, especially among the young. I also call for vocations when I give homilies and especially when young people are present.

We can always do more and hopefully as we try to form vocation committees in our parishes that this awareness can be channeled through parishioners in our local parishes, calling young women to consecrated life to serve.

Without the presence of religious women we would be poorer as a diocese. Their role is always to express the commitment and the love of Christ. These committed and consecrated women in our diocese continue to play a vital role in the life of the diocese.