More than 30 consecrated religious sisters and 30 young women gathered at the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center, adjacent to Ohio State University, on Wednesday, Nov. 5 for a snack and chat.
The Marian Evening was organized by Sister Antionette Cedrone, a Salesian sister serving in the diocese as the bishop’s delegate for religious.
Young women ages 18-35 were invited to spend the evening with consecrated sisters from across the diocese. Religious orders displayed various booths in the Newman Center’s gathering space and shared their mission while chatting with attendees over iced tea, crackers and cheese.
A total of 224 consecrated sisters among 20 communities reside in the diocese.
Fourteen orders were present for the evening, including the Apostolic Sisters of St. John, the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget (Bridgettine Sisters), Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Children of Mary, the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Kilimanjaro, the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters).
Also attending were the Dominican Sisters, Immaculate Conception Province; Dominican Sisters of Peace; the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist; the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity; the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (FIH); the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (FIHM); and the Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.
In a break from tradition, the Marian Evening was held at the Newman Center rather than a parish church.
Sister Janna San Juan, a Salesian sister and the diocesan campus ministry coordinator, noted that the change in location made the event more accessible to college students and young people.
“A lot of them are in that phase of life where they’re deciding what to do,” she said. “I think vocation in general is a question that a lot of them have on their minds, and so, I think it was just a good opportunity to bring it to them.”
Sister Janna encouraged young women not to be afraid in getting to know religious sisters and consider God’s call for their life. She suggested observing how communities pray, interact with each other and serve.
“I think this is a beautiful opportunity for our students and young women in the area to get to know all of the sisters because some of them haven’t met them,” she added.
The Marian Evening took place during National Vocation Awareness Week, which was held from Nov. 2 to 8.
The diocese hosts Andrew Dinners about three or four times per year for young men to discern the priesthood. Bishop Earl Fernandes said young women need to see religious sisters.
“It’s one thing to see them from a distance; it’s another thing to talk to them, to spend time with them, to have a meal with them and to hear the stories of their own calls,” the bishop explained.
“It’s very beautiful, many of their conversion stories, but also how they feel so loved by Christ the Bridegroom. I think our young women need to hear this and to understand that this is a particular vocation, a special gift to the Church.”
Sister Ave Maria, who entered the Dominican Sister of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in 1999, shared a reflection with religious sisters and young women. The Michigan native and Franciscan University of Steubenville graduate teaches second grade at Worthington St. Michael the Archangel School.
She reflected on the story of the Anointing at Bethany (Matthew 26: 6-13). The passage, included in all four gospels, recounts a woman coming to Jesus with a jar of costly oil and anointing His Head.
Sister Ave Maria, who formerly worked as a nurse at the University of Michigan Medical Center, reflected on the Biblical woman pouring herself out for Christ. More broadly, her act represents giving oneself to God completely through consecrated life.
“We break the jar, so to speak, and pour out everything to Him through the three vows that we make,” she explained, alluding to vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in religious life.
Consecration imitates Christ’s total gift of love and self-emptying on the cross, and in the Eucharist, offering His Body.
“He’s inviting you into that kenosis (self-emptying) … that He’s already done, and isn’t that the definition of love?” Sister Ave Maria asked.
“Love is to will the good of another and to pour out yourself for the good of another. He’s inviting us into that pouring out.”
A total gift of self, she noted, is a sign of the end times.
“Religious, in a very profound way, are signs of heaven, so when you see a religious or a priest, you should think of heaven because they’re not living for this world,” she told young women. “They’re living for the wedding feast of the Lamb. We do see our vows – our consecration – as a wedding.
“Many religious will wear wedding rings, and I see my habit as a wedding garment. In heaven, there will not be marriage as we know it, but Christ will be married to each soul, and religious men and women incarnate that right now. So through our vows, we are living the wedding feast of the lamb.”
Sister Ave Maria concluded with an allegory of a young girl who was given a set of fake pearls. She loved and wore them constantly. When asked to give them up, the girl refused.
She told her father that he can have her stuffed animals or anything else, but not the pearls. Eventually, in tears, she relented and gave her father the jewelry.
The man pulled his daughter onto his lap, reached down and handed her a blue box labeled Tiffany & Co. Inside was a string of real pearls.
“That image to me,” Sister Ave Maria reflected, “is like God the Father. He wants to give us the real pearl, which is really Himself.”
Related to: Sister Paulina: from punk rocker to pre-kindergarten teacher – Catholic Times: Read Catholic News & Stories