Sister Celine Goessl and Sister Kathy Wiesneski with students during a Student Retreat at UW-River Falls, River Falls, WI.
God is Patient!
By: Sister Kathy Lange
I was following a lifelong career, or so I thought as a business teacher in the public school system of Bellaire, Michigan. God, however, had other ideas for me. When S. Celine Goessl came to my parish in Bellaire as a pastoral associate, everything changed for me.
She changed my idea of what "contemporary" religious life was all about. I became a lay associate of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross, and went to Merrill, Wisconsin, headquarters of the USA province, each summer after that to meet the sisters and become an observer when they held their Chapter meetings.
Eventually, I took an early retirement from teaching and became pastoral associate to S. Celine after she had become the pastoral administrator of St. Luke Parish. Under her tutelage, I found that pastoral work was something I dearly loved. During that time, when both my parents and my sister died, the Holy Cross Sisters and Associates were my spiritual support system.
I went to Rome for the beatification of Blessed Mother Mary Theresa Scherer, our co-founder, with several sisters in October 1995. From these experiences, I discovered that God was calling me to make a more permanent commitment to the Holy Cross Sisters. I took my first vows at age 50, and my final vows at age 56.
Today, I am doing what I dearly love--working in a parish of about 800 families as a pastoral associate. I am involved on committees for the Holy Cross Sisters and am grateful to God for guiding me throughout my life thus far. I am a living example that God's calling can come at any age and that God is very patient in waiting for a person to answer that call.
Why I Chose To Become A Holy Cross Sister
By: Sister Pam Hodgson, Metairie, Louisiana
Ever since I was in elementary school I wanted to become a teacher and a sister. After receiving my college degree in education I was hired as a second grade teacher at the Catholic School in Merrill, WI. During this time the thought about becoming a sister would pop into my head, but quickly answering with my "head" I would say to myself, "teaching in a Catholic School is just like being a sister." Finally after 25 years of teaching I felt as though something was missing in my life. I was searching for more in my life then material possessions. I felt a need to give God top priority in my life and to be able to talk about my beliefs with others. The thought of becoming a sister kept tugging at my heart and was now at the forefront of my thoughts. But this time instead of answering quickly with my head I took time to pray and discern over it and finally answered with my heart, "Yes, this is what God is calling me to do. Yes, this is what I want." Knowing many of the Holy Cross Sisters and being familiar with their charism and ministries I felt that this was where God was calling me to go.
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