Carrying on in Community

The following is a reflection written by Katy Gill, one of this year's North House Volunteers.

As the story goes, an old, old nun, known as Sister Clotilde lives in limbo amongst us Amate North volunteers, never to have left this convent which was once her home. She lurks about the halls, once inhabited by the habited. (Pun!) Mostly keeping to herself, Sister Clotilde is only spoken of on occasion, when something goes missing, or strange noises are heard. She is very mysterious. She is very inconspicuous. And she is very… made up.

It’s certainly a fun way to entertain ourselves, musing about what Sister Clotilde might be doing with her days in this place. But it’s perhaps more curious to imagine what the real sisters who dwelled here before us, were once doing long before we arrived – the very real sisters, whose ghosts don’t really haunt our bedrooms, but whose legacy has been left behind, and perhaps been a bit forgotten.

To follow in the footsteps of vowed religious life: what big shoes we must have to fill. But the shoes are nowhere to be found. How are we to know whether our feet are really fitting into the sweet little black sneakers that once squeaked about these grounds? We don’t see the faces or know the names of the leaders here before us.

History doesn’t tell us much of the Saint Mary of the Lake sisters. We know, however, that it was the Sisters of Mercy who first taught at the St. Mary of the Lake School, beside which we reside. Their foundress was Catherine McAuley, an Irish laywoman who simply recognized a need to help the poor in her community, in the early 19^th century, and who found determination in gathering a group of lay Catholics to pursue a mission of service. Recognizing her efforts, her bishop approached with recommendation to establish a religious congregation, which is just what she did. She took her vows in 1831 and although she only lived another 10 years, by the time she passed, 150 Sisters of Mercy had joined her mission. Today, 4,000 are continuing to serve throughout the world.

Similarly, we’ve been drawn in to serve the poor in our Chicago community, to those suffering from material to spiritual poverty, and everything in between. We are meager young adults with little experience, no official order – only a desire to reach out with the loving hands of Christ.

And just as Sr. Catherine began with small steps – no plans to pursue a religious vocation beyond her response to God’s call of service – we are here at the beginning of our service year, also taking small steps. But again, as Sr. Catherine was called to something greater, so are we. Discerning our missions, individual or as a whole, is not a short-term task. Chances are we will not fulfill our life’s purpose in this year alone. But the great blessing of community life is having others to challenge us to keep pushing toward this mission, as clear or vague as it may be at this point in our journey. We’ve been given the gift of our eyes to see the needs of the people, and we’ve found the gifts of our talents to serve. Now it is up to us to multiply these gifts and return the fruits of our labor to God.

We may not be habit-clad. We may not scoot about in little black sneakers doing the Lord’s work. And we may not be keeping Jesus as much company as He once had in our chapel, sadly. But we are here with a purpose. And the shelter of our home will not go unappreciated. We will thrive in this place, just as sisters have before us, being present to God’s needy people.