SSND leadership visits diocese, endorses efforts to promote unity, collaboration
“To be credible witnesses of the universal communion.”
That is a special goal every School Sister of Notre Dame (SSND), including the 10 who are living and serving in central and northeastern Missouri, is being called to pursue.
The SSNDs here are doing a fantastic job of that, according to two leaders of the congregation who recently visited from Rome.
“I see sisters reaching out in wonderful, beautiful ministries, giving life to people, teaching the faith and strengthening the human person, giving faithful witness,” said Sister Carolyn Anyega, a member of the SSND General Council.
Ten School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSNDs) are living and serving in the Diocese of Jefferson City, making them the largest delegation among the Consecrated Religious here.
They are part of an international congregation of about 2,500 religious sisters who live and serve in over 30 countries throughout the world.
The SSND charism — a unique gift of the Holy Spirit — includes working toward unity through the Eucharist, joyful simplicity, and educating people, especially those who are underserved, to help them reach their full potential from God.
The sisters profess lifelong vows of poverty, chastity and holy obedience, meaning they hold everything in common, refrain from marrying and having children, and submit their own will to that of the SSND leadership according to the SSND constitution.
The nexus of that leadership is the SSND General Council, headquartered in Rome.
The council members are elected by representatives of all professed SSND sisters throughout the world.
“Their role is to be a center of unity, to govern the congregation, to visit the provinces officially at least once during their term in office, and carry out other duties as delegated on behalf of the general superior,” according to the SSND Constitution.
Deep roots
Sr. Carolyn and Sister Christine Garcia SSND, members of the General Council, recently spent a day with sisters in the Jefferson City diocese as part of their official visit to what’s known as the SSND Central Pacific Province.
The province includes a large part of the United States, as well as Guam, Ghana, Japan and Kenya.
Sr. Carolyn, who is from Kenya, said that as a younger sister from a newer province, she was fascinated to see how deeply rooted SSND charism has become in this area.
SSNDs first arrived in central Missouri in 1866 to teach at St. Joseph School in Westphalia.
Their purpose was to help people, especially the poor, reach their God-given potential, primarily through education.
Hundreds of SSNDs followed them here in the ensuing decades.
Many have been here for years, forging intergenerational ties with parishes and schools.
Sr. Carolyn said she was pleased to see how, with far fewer SSNDs now living in this area than in the past, the sisters are discovering “new expressions of community living in religious life.”
“It’s not just people living under one roof, under one constitution in one geographic place,” she stated. “It’s the whole human family, all that God created, in relationship with one another.”
Sr. Christine was happy to note how well the sisters here collaborate with one another and the people around them.
“Collaboration is something we value,” she said. “Working together, reaching out, learning from one another, people from across our ministries, across the world, across the street!
“We all are children of God,” she emphasized. “And with that, we respond to God’s call to love all people.”
Point of unity
Sr. Carolyn is in her second year of her second, six-year term on the general council.
Sr. Christine is in the second year of her first term.
General council members split up the task of visiting every SSND province in the world every six years.
“The purpose of our visit,” said Sr. Christine, “is mainly to have a better look at the face of our congregation, to get to know how our sisters are living the mission, to learn from them and find out whatever concerns they have in their part of the world, and to be a support to them.”
She noted that the General Council serves as the point of unity for all SSND provinces throughout the globe.
“And for the current six years, we all have a goal and an objective to achieve,” she said. “So, we’re here to find how our sisters are implementing that.”
That objective is to promote greater communion within the Church, in local communities and beyond.
“Part of that means calling forth the Baptismal call of all people — all Catholics in our case, and people of other faiths — being true to what they sense the purpose of life, of service, is all about,” said Sr. Christine. “And also calling them forth to join us in directing our entire lives toward that oneness for which Jesus was sent.”
Sharing of gifts
Sr. Christine and Sr. Carolyn observed that the life of religious sisters has changed profoundly over the past 50 to 60 years. But the sisters accepting their call to Consecrated Life continues to bear fruit throughout the world.
“Yes! The charism, the call that we have, is for all,” said Sr. Carolyn. “It’s a gift of the Holy Spirit that is lived by all people, vowed and non-vowed members.”
At the same time, an increasing number of laypeople are engaged in direct collaboration with the sisters.
“And as we meet with them, they’ve shared with us that the Spirit is so deep, the charism was deep,” she said.
Sr. Christine said that in each province, the directors of the various SSND departments, most of whom are laypeople, are called mission leaders.
“When we visit them, we ask them, ‘What brought you to work with us?’” she said. “And all of them say, ‘It’s the spirit of working together to make the world a better place and collaborating, and having our gifts be recognized and appreciated.’
“They tell us they feel affirmed in their roles with us,” she said. “That strengthens them as individuals in their families and in their communities.”
Each lay mission leader has a professed sister from within the leadership of the province, who helps to orient them more fully toward the SSND charism, “to ensure that the values we live are brought into their specific departments,” said Sr. Carolyn.
And they are also connected with mission leaders in other provinces.
“So, there’s a mutuality of give-and-take and learning from one another, so that we think globally and act locally,” she said. “We are mindful of how what we do, what we say, within the local specific area affects the larger world community.”
Tending to the foundation
The number of SSNDs available to teach in Catholic schools reached its peak in the late 1960s. Since then, many of the schools they led and staffed for generations have been turned over to laypeople.
The SSND Central Pacific Province has a ministry office and commission made up mostly of laypeople and some sisters. They work with the people who are continuing in ministries that were once carried out by sisters.
“So, when you walk into a school or a ministry — it could be tutoring, it could be a school — you still sense that SSND charism,” said Sr. Christine.
Both sisters emphasized that the work of SSND needs to keep spreading out.
“It’s not ours to keep,” said Sr. Caroline. “It’s God’s grace to bring the world together.”
A growing community of SSND lay associates are attracted to this gift of the Spirit of making people one, which is Christ’s mission.
“These people are looking for a community for their mutual support and spiritual growth,” said Sr. Christine. “And we sisters are enriched by their presence, by their carrying-out the mission with us, in collaboration.”
There are now about 1,000 SSND associates worldwide, with the largest group living in the Central Pacific Province.
Active dialogue
On behalf of religious sisters serving in this diocese and around the world, Sr. Carolyn asked for prayers for a spirit of “participation, listening, dialogue, journeying together as a faith community” to flourish throughout the Church.
“Yes!” said Sr. Christine. “The Holy Spirit is alive and is in each person! How are we listening to the Spirit within ourselves and with one another?”
Sr. Carolyn emphasized that the gift of Baptism brings with it the call to participation, ownership and core responsibility for carrying out the Church’s mission of drawing souls together and walking with them toward Christ.
“And we continue to ask, ‘What does the Lord require of us at this time?’” she said. “God has communicated that in some way to each person. So, how can we hear that and really respect it and work with it?”
