Stories of Our Call

"Jesus appeared in Galilee proclaiming the good news of God: 'This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel!'" (Mt. 1:14-15)

Sister Elsa Garcia

In religious life I believe Sisters center their whole lives around Jesus Christ. We join together to grow in love for our Lord and together we help each other build the Kingdom of God. I know that single women can do this also. Before I became a Sister of Divine Providence, I was doing social work helping the poor. I worked for Catholic Charities and was active in my parish. But when I began to go to vocation functions, I realized that being a Sister was so much more than doing ministry. I began to identify with the “inner fire,” the passion of consecrated life, the giving of self to others – to the church and to the community. I guess I realized that somewhere down deep I not only understood, I thirsted for this way of living my love for God. I have been in religious life for 24 years and I am still searching for how to fall in love more profoundly.

Sister Barbara Hyzak

I entered the convent at a young age, just as I finished elementary school - 8th grade then. I had two other older sisters that had joined the convent. I knew I always wanted to be a Sister, and the most important factor for me was that I would be doing something good for God. I wanted to do good for others. I am now a nurse practitioner and continue doing good for others in God's name.

Sister Theresa Ann Billeaud

I have been involved in three activities recently, but first let me state that my motivation for these actions comes from the following belief statements:
1) All of creation, including humans, have God as the core of their being.
2) “Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel….” (Synod of Bishops, 1971)
3) With advances in weaponry, no war can meet the requirements of a just war; whether historically any war has is debatable.
4) “If you want peace, work for justice.” (Paul VI)

These statements enlighten our Chapter Statement for me.

Activity 1: Having been back in New Orleans since last October, I could not make myself get involved in the dirty work of rebuilding our city until the parish where I go to weekday Mass—an affluent, predominantly Caucasian, slightly damaged parish—organized a group to gut houses in a working class, predominantly African American, devastated parish. It was the hardest physical labor I have ever done because the heat intensified by the protective clothing and gear we had to wear. That’s what I get for not having been motivated in the winter months! Normally, I would think of this activity as an act of charity more than a work of justice. But it gave me a basis for understanding the parishioners in the affluent parish and their commitment to transforming the world. I saw that justice is a constitutive dimension of their faith. The experience changed me.

Activity 2: I gathered e-mail addresses of our Pax Christi members in diaspora so that we were able to meet in February to talk about how we might continue as a group and, specifically, whether we were capable of having our annual peace mass in October at which we had planned to honor Bishop Thomas Gumbleton for his uncompromising voice for peace through justice. We decided that, for now, we’d have a less structured organization, but that we definitely should proceed with our plans for the peace Mass. Again through e-mail with people as far away as Knoxville, we have been able to plan the Mass and a forum on justice for October 6. Y’all come!

Activity 3: I signed The Declaration of Peace in which I pledged to pressure Congress to produce a plan by September 21, 2006, which would end the war in Iraq and provide for an internationally supervised withdrawal of U.S. troops and the stabilization of the country. I pledged to demonstrate and continue to pressure Congress if there was no such plan by September 21. Anticipating that the September 21 deadline would not be met, four of us organized to have a demonstration in front of the federal building in New Orleans on September 22. We asked folks to carry signs calling for an exit plan from Iraq. We will continue such demonstrations until the United States troops leave Iraq.

Sister Rita Louise Petsch

I was taught by the CDPs in all my years at home. I saw how happy the Sisters were in their daily work of teaching and helping others in need. I wanted to be a teacher so here was my way of being both a teacher and a Sister doing God's work and enjoying it!

Sister Christine Stephens

Houston, Texas -- Sister Christine Stephens works as a community organizer helping hurricane survivors grasp the redemptive aspect of their suffering by making their collective voice heard. In the dark aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she organized hurricane survivors to help themselves and make full use of disaster relief.

In an article in the New York Times, Sister Christine was recognized for teaching others to use anger (due to the mishandling and inadequacies of disaster relief) to fuel sustained constructive action for good. She found and consolidated leadership among evacuees, who in turn became a strong grassroots presence at the decision-making table. Some of the changes this new leadership initiated, as cited in the article, included securing a children’s playground and special space for the elderly for the thousands of evacuees sheltered in Houston’s Astrodome; continuance of cell phone service and delay in bill payment was negotiated with the Federal Communications Commission; the location of available housing close to Houston, where they were sheltered, versus moving to Arkansas. Now those empowered evacuees are reaching other evacuees nationwide to sign petitions outlining their interests in the reconstruction of New Orleans and the next mayoral election.