Vocation Awareness Is

Mission Possible

Sisters of St. Joseph Explore Possibilities

with High School Girls

By Marie Elena Giossi

Teenage girls chatted with friends as they eyed assorted snack-size bags of Doritos, Fritos and Grandma’s Cookies.

“Dear children of God, heirs of heaven, princesses, there are plenty of choices,” Sister Mary Walsh, CSJ vocation director, assured students as they selected their snacks – but she wasn’t only speaking about the obvious choices before them.

Marie Elena Giossi Photo

Senior Amanda Leconte from The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates, at left, presents the “WCSJ” network listing she created with two classmates during Mission Possible, a vocation awareness retreat developed by the Sisters of St. Joseph Vocation Development Committee for young women attending Josephite-sponsored secondary schools in Brooklyn and Queens.

Choices, and more specifically, an honest discussion of life choices, is what brought 16 young women and nine Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, to The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates, last Friday evening, March 2.

Together, the two groups of women embarked upon Mission Possible, a vocation awareness retreat developed for young women of high school age by the Josephites’ Vocation Development Committee.

Students voluntarily sign up for the four-hour after-school retreat, which runs from 4 - 8 p.m. and is being piloted in Josephite-sponsored secondary schools in Brooklyn and Queens.

The retreat is designed to help young women explore their baptismal call and consider their response to that call through the living of their vocation, with an emphasis on religious life as a realistic option.

Participating Schools

Retreats have already been conducted at Bishop Kearney H.S., Benonhurst; Stella Maris H.S., Rockaway Park; and Fontbonne Hall Academy, Bay Ridge. The CSJ Vocation Committee is now gearing up to visit St. Joseph H.S., Downtown Brooklyn, and return to Stella Maris.

At each school, students have overwhelmingly suggested that the Sisters return and host more retreats.

Sister Marie Mackey, TMLA religion teacher, invited students to take seats in the chapel just after 4 p.m. Chairs formed a circular pattern and filling the spaces between the girls were several Sisters, including Sister Kathleen McKinney, TMLA principal; Sister Filippa Luciano, TMLA assistant principal; Sister Susan Snyder, teacher at The Academy of St. Joseph, Brentwood; Sister Suzanne Franck, theology teacher at St. Joseph College; Sister Patricia Mooney, TMLA nurse; Sister Patricia Lucas, academic counselor at St. Joseph H.S., and Sister Helen Kearney, counselor to the CSJ Leadership and professor at St. Joseph College.

Students and Sisters took turns introducing themselves and Sisters Susan and Suzanne led the opening prayer, which focused on biblical figures who followed Jesus.

Sister Mary Walsh then took the floor to speak about each person’s baptismal call to follow Jesus. She told girls that they will each have to decide how God is calling them to use their individual gifts and talents – through vocations to marriage, single life or religious life.

“Every one of us here has a vocation. God calls us inside and you know that comfortable feeling of when He’s calling you to do something,” she said.

She explained that the retreat would provide a window into the vocation they know the least about – religious life. She opened that window with the video, Faith Journey, about the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Two Sisters then offered to share their own vocation stories.

Sister Kathleen McKinney removed her proverbial principal’s hat and revealed her human and humorous side.

“As I look back, there is no defining moment. There was no being knocked off my horse like St. Paul,” she said.

She spoke about her upbringing in a “happy family” in Holy Innocents parish, Flatbush, during the Eisenhower era. “The parish was the center of our lives,” she said.

She went to parish dances, joined the Legion of Mary, and had many boyfriends.

“It was the ’60s and it was wonderful. And then there was something. I looked at the lives of the Sisters and it was a life of service, a life of direction. I tried to ignore it (the call)… and it kept getting bigger and I couldn’t ignore it anymore.”

After her first year at St. Joseph’s College, she entered the novitiate, and her parents “were not happy.”

She reviewed her experiences through the years and expressed gratitude for the opportunities she’s had.

Just like single and married vocations, she said, “there’s a constant renewing and making decisions… It’s not always easy but I’ve always been happy.”

Sister Marie Mackey, who made her final vows in 2005, recounted her “struggle” with God’s call.

Throughout her youth, she was active in her parish, Nativity BVM, Ozone Park, joining both the youth and folk groups. Her parents were faithful people who often had the parish priests and Ursuline Sisters over for dinner.

She attended TMLA in the late ’70s when Sister Kathleen was a teacher there and religious Sisters comprised about 70% of the faculty.

“I never thought about entering religious life until two Sisters (a Josephite and an Ursuline) approached me during my senior year of high school. It wasn’t even on my radar,” she said.

She taught high school, actively dated and attended graduate school, “but this religious life question kept coming up. In my 20s and into my 30s, I was running away from it.

“Little by little I took the steps. I said if it doesn’t work out, at least I tried. And it has been a perfect fit,” she said.

Young women mulled over both stories and were able to chat one-on-one with some of the other Sisters over pizza. Senior Chrislee Imperial, who comes from a “really religious” Haitian family, said hearing the Sisters’ stories made her think about her own vocation.

“When Sister Marie was talking about how her family and friends suggested she join an international community, I thought maybe I could do that,” said Imperial, who wants to pursue an international business career.

‘WCSJ’ Challenge

Creativity flowed during the retreat’s second half as young women were challenged to create a TV Guide listing for a “WCSJ” network, which would have programming that upholds the CSJ mission of unity, reconciliation and all-inclusive love.

In teams of four, students clipped magazine pictures and crafted positive programming with the Sisters’ guidance.

On “WCSJ,” news reports said the troops were coming home from Iraq, peace broke out in Darfur and cures were found for cancer and AIDS. Finally, Married for Love was an afternoon soap opera and a Judge Judy helped reconcile a separated couple. The prime time lineup included Extreme Spiritual Makeover, The Samaritan of Queens and Pretty Betty.

Sisters then opened the floor and allowed students to ask questions and receive honest answers about religious life.

Young women and Sisters discussed educational and career opportunities, the congregation’s hierarchy as well as the past, present and future roles of women in the Church.

Then one young woman asked the question that seemed to be on the other students’ minds as well: “Is it hard not having a husband, not having that kind of companionship?”

“We don’t look at it as a deprivation,” answered Sister Helen Kearney, who explained that there are “so many other gifts when you’re part of a congregation.”

However, Sister Patricia Lucas acknowledged, “you’re always going to have sexual feelings. That won’t go away.

“Sometimes I miss not having a beloved or children or grandchildren… but I love who I am and what I’ve done with my life.”

Sisters closed the retreat with a guided meditation and girls received bags of M&Ms – “vitamins” for Mission and Ministry.

Before leaving the chapel, Sister Marie told the young women, “We’re a great group of women. We’re really trying to make a change in the world and we’re supporting each other. It’s not the choice for everyone but it’s a choice to consider.”