Archbishop praises ‘witnesses to fidelity’
in religious life
By Sean Gallagher
Religious men and women from across the archdiocese gathered on Feb. 5 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis to participate in the World Day of Consecrated Life Mass.
Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, the primary celebrant of the Mass, gave special honor to many women religious present who will celebrate jubilees of religious life in the coming months.
He described the jubilarians as “witnesses to fidelity in a world that recognizes little about the beauty of fidelity and commitment.
“By God’s grace, you’ve kept your promises to seek him and to journey toward the kingdom according to the vows and rules of your respective communities,” Archbishop Buechlein said. “What a great gift. People can see that with God’s help we can keep promises in a world of broken promises.”
One of the jubilarians recognized was Providence Sister Ann Casper. She entered her religious community based at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods on the day after her 17th birthday in 1956.
In the years to come, she served in parish pastoral ministry, and taught and served as the principal at various schools, including the former St. Agnes Academy and former Ladywood-St. Agnes Academy, both in Indianapolis. Later, she served as the provincial of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods from 1977-84 and as general secretary from 1986-96.
Sister Ann said that as she enters her 50th year of religious life, she is struck by the strength of the many powerful relationships she has formed, both within her religious community and in the schools and parishes where she has served.
“It gets to be kind of overwhelming at times, and certainly calls for much gratitude in one’s heart and a certain awe at how God has guided and lured me and directed me through this life,” said Sister Ann, who currently serves as the executive director of the Office of Congregational Advancement at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
Benedictine Sister Marie Oliger, who will celebrate the 60th anniversary of her profession of religious vows this year, was also present for the Mass.
A founding member of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, Sister Marie entered religious life at Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, Ind., in the Evansville Diocese. She grew up a member of St. Joseph Parish in Jennings County.
She was a teacher and principal at many schools across the archdiocese, including St. Paul School in Tell City and St. Barnabas School in Indianapolis, where she helped to establish the school.
Looking back over her many years of religious life and service, Sister Marie expressed gratitude, but also acknowledged its trials.
“It’s really been grace-filled,” she said. “It’s been more than I expected. But it doesn’t mean that everything is heaven.”
Still, Sister Marie encouraged young men and women to be open to a religious vocation.
“The blessings come every day,” she said. “Whatever you need, you ask for it. Somehow, God answers your prayers.”
In his homily, Archbishop Buechlein praised the religious men and women in the cathedral for the example that they give to young Catholics.
“How tremendously important it is for our young Church and our youth in general to see that there is a kingdom worth living for and worth dying for,” he said. “Your lives of consecration sow the possibility of meaning and promise.”
The archbishop also turned in gratitude to the religious who “are in the evening
of life” and were not able to come to Indianapolis for the celebration because
of infirmity.
“You older sisters and brothers have served long and well in many different ways,” Archbishop Buechlein said. “But you know what? Your ministry of patient prayer—maybe from wheelchairs, maybe from infirmary beds—is perhaps even more beautiful because the ministry of prayer is so much a part of the life of a follower of Christ.”
One older sister unable to attend was Franciscan Sister Noel Marie Worland, who will celebrate the 75th anniversary of her entrance into religious life this year.
In a telephone interview before the Feb. 5 Mass, Sister Noel Marie, now a resident of her congregation’s motherhouse in Oldenburg, spoke in gratitude about her three-quarters of a century of consecrated life.
“These 75 years have been wonderful,” she said. “I call this place the vestibule of heaven.”
Sister Noel Marie entered the “vestibule” from St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville. Her family, which included many priests and religious through the years, is deeply rooted not only in archdiocesan history but also in the history of the Catholic Church in the United States.
An ancestor of Sister Noel Marie came from England with Lord Baltimore more than 300 years ago to the Maryland colony, among the first English Catholics in North America.
By the 19th century, her family had moved to present-day Shelby County and eventually donated the land for St. Vincent de Paul Parish there, which was founded by the Servant of God Simon Bruté in 1837, just three years after the Diocese of Vincennes was established.
But no matter how illustrious the history of her family might be, Sister Noel Marie’s eyes are fixed on Christ.
“Model your life after what Christ did,” she said. “He did kind things for many people. If we can do wholehearted service to others, I think we would be happy.” †
