Vocation News (February 2015)

Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

Vocation News February 2015 visit our website: www.csjp.org Congregation Office - New Jersey

An Invitation!

If you are a single woman discerning God’s call to religious life, I invite you to get acquainted with our religious community, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. We were founded in 1884 to promote Christ’s Gospel of Peace in family life, in the church, and in society.

We respond to God’s people in need and promote social justice as a way to peace. Our life of prayer and ministry lived in community enables, sustains and challenges us in our mission.

February 2015 Profession of Vows! see story inside

I am excited to journey with you.

Please visit our website (www.csjp. org) and Facebook/Twitter/YouTube pages to learn more about our CSJP community. I can also send you more information and/or set up a time to talk.

Blessings of Peace, Sister Susan Francois, CSJP Congregation Vocation Director 399 Hudson Terrace Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey U.S.A. 201-608-5401 sfrancois@csjp.org

Sisters Katrina, Sheena, Juliana, and Dorothy

“As Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace we rejoice in God’s daily invitation to seek justice, to love tenderly, and to make the good news visible with our lives. We strive to respect the dignity of all persons and we celebrate the rich diversity of gifts, cultures, ethnic groups and sexual orientation in our Congregation.”

Community Seeking Justice and Peace

Meet Our CSJP Vocation Team Come and See

where God might be calling you...

COME FOR A VISIT

Sr. Susan Francois, CSJP Congregation Vocation Director Eastern U.S. link sfrancois@csjp.org “As a relatively new Sister, I am excited to draw upon my own discernment experience as I accompany you on your journey to discover the dreams God has for you.”

Sr. Jo-Anne Miller, CSJP Vocation Team Member Western U.S. link jmiller@csjp-olp.org

Sr. Laurette Bergin, CSJP, Vocation Team Member United Kingdom link laurette1@live.co.uk

“It gives me great joy to journey with inquirers and introduce them to our charism of peace through justice and to our wonderful community members!”

“In Vocation Ministry I initially try to be respectful of the broader Christian calling of each person I accompany and then focus specifically on our Congregation and our dynamic charism of peace through justice.”

with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace to consider a call to religious life as a vowed Sister

WE INVITE YOU:

Single Catholic Women 21 - 45 years old who desire to dedicate their life to God and God’s people.

To arrange for a visit contact one of our Vocation Team Members.

Come, risk the sacred journey!

Congregation Chapter Profession of First and Perpetual Vows

The Chapter Call: Radical Hospitality

We joyfully celebrated the profession of vows of four women at a Eucharistic Liturgy during our 22nd Congregation Chapter, held in Seattle, Washington last September.

Sisters and Associates from all three regions gather at Chapter every six years to celebrate our unity, renew our life and spirit, and reflect together on the call of the gospel. We unanimously affirmed the Chapter Call to radical hospitality. This short and simple statement, given below, contains a wealth of challenge and commitment for the next six years.

Sister Dorothy Verna, CSJP professed perpetual vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience. “Professing final vows is the next step on my journey as a disciple of Jesus,” said Sister Dorothy. “Following these vows also supports my growth in our community’s charism of peace through justice.”

Sisters Katrina Alton, CSJP, Sheena George, CSJP, and Juliana Ngozi Iwuagwu, CSJP made their first profession in the Congregation.

The three Sisters completed their novitiate in August, a two year period of prayer, study, and ministry formation.

“Profession of vows for me means publicly professing my life’s commitment, with the Congregation and before the people of God.” - Sister Juliana

“Disturbed by the Spirit, we recommit ourselves to Jesus’ way of radical hospitality.

We are called to a deeper and wider living of community for mission in company with poor and marginalized people. Our contemplative discernment pushes us, individually and as Congregation, to action; deeper mutual support enables us to take risks for justice, peace and the integrity of creation.

As disciples of Jesus, we respond anew to the call of Mother Clare to be “brave, noble, large-minded and courageous souls.”

“Having discerned that this is indeed the direction in which I am called to live out my baptismal commitment, I can offer to God and this Congregation, in solidarity with the poor and oppressed of our world, all that I am and all that God desires me to be.” - Sister Katrina

As always, we call on St. Joseph, our patron, as we respond to this Call. In the words of our Chapter prayer:

“It is a call to relationship with Christ, to follow him to the margins to love those we encounter there and to risk the vulnerability that ensues from it.” - Sister Sheena

St. Joseph, dreamer and practical one, help us live our dreams into reality.

Meet Our Recently Professed Sisters

Sr. Katrina Alton, CSJP Sr. Sheena George, CSJP Temporary Professed

As I was deepening my prayer to fulfill my desire of joining a congregation , I was browsing the websites for various congregations.

There I came across the name of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.

The very name St. Joseph of Peace caught my attention and motivated me to explore more about the congregation and its Charism.

Sheena is from Kerala, India. She lives with a CSJP local community in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Temporary Professed

Sr. Juliana Ngozi Iwuagwu

Temporary Professed After much prayer, particularly through the intersessions of St Joseph, I found the Right from the start I have been so much attracted to the Charism and Spirituality CSJP via our website. of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, and felt at home at my first encounter with I am ever more conscious that I am CSJP sisters. I was convinced that this is ‘standing on the shoulder of the ones the right Congregation for me to be able who went before us’, and am in awe of the prophetic risks our founder Margaret to live my call from God. Anna Cusack, and those first sisters, took. I believe our charism of peace in family life, Juliana is from Imo State, Nigeria. She lives with a CSJP local community in the church, and the world is as relevant London, England. now as it ever was.

Katrina is from Belfast in the North of Ireland. She lives with a CSJP local community near Glasgow, Scotland.

Sr. Dorothy Verna, CSJP Perpetually Professed Sister

Sr. Sukyi Hur, CSJP

Perpetually Professed Sister

Sr. Chero Chuma, CSJP

Perpetually Professed Sister Currently, I am a full-time student at Seattle University, majoring in Theology and Religious Studies as well as Nursing.

I am also involved with the Kenyan community locally and globally.

I appreciate very much the opportunity to practice my Professional background and healing Ministry in Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine. I see both of these complimentary therapies as a great way of enabling inner peace and harmony with individuals. I am happy to offer treatment to many of our Sisters in community and others who have found these treatments to be helpful and healing. I also minister with the local Catholic Korean community.

Chero is from Eldoret, Kenya. She is also involved with Giving Voice, a peerled network of younger Catholic Sisters Sukyi, originally from Pusan, South Korea in the United States. is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture. She lives in Bellevue, WA.

I have moved to Seattle and am living in our House of Welcome with other Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. l am currently studying at Seattle University in the the Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies program.

Dorothy is from Montclair, New Jersey and is a geriatric nurse practitioner.

“We are beginning a new order. We want brave, noble, large-minded, and courageous souls.”

-Mother Francis Clare, 1887

What are the steps to becoming a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace?

INQUIRY AND GETTING ACQUAINTED: First steps in discerning a call to religious life include praying, asking questions, seeking advice, meeting with a spiritual director, exploring a variety of communities, learning about qualifications. Through this process the inquirer is discerning if religious life is the best way for her to live out her life in a healthy, happy and holy way. She is also seeking to find a community where she feels ‘at home’ and where she identifies with the community’s charism and spirit.

If the inquirer is attracted to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and desires to become a vowed Sister, she contacts the Congregation Vocation Director. She then meets regularly, if possible, with the Vocation Director or a Regional Vocation Team member located in the East coast USA, West coast USA or the United Kingdom. She is invited to vocation retreat days, visits community gatherings of the Sisters, ministries of the Congregation and other ways to become acquainted with our charism, spirit, and community members. She also learns about the qualifications to become a vowed Sister.

APPLICATION FOR CANDIDACY: After mutual discernment with the Vocation Director/Regional Vocation Team member, the woman makes formal application to become a Candidate. This process includes receiving the following from the applicant: application form, autobiography, medical exams, letters of recommendation, immigration documents, background and credit checks. A psychological assessment takes place sometime during Candidacy. The Formation Director and Congregation Leadership meet with the applicant for discernment of readiness for Candidacy CANDIDACY: When accepted to Candidacy, the Candidate lives in a CSJP community household with other Sisters, joining in prayer, Eucharist, and daily life. The Candidate continues her work/career or participates in a volunteer ministry. (Financial arrangements between the Candidate and the Congregation are agreed upon.) The Candidate Director assists her in the on-going discernment and introduction to religious life and community living. Candidacy usually lasts about one year.

All personal debts need to be paid off by the end of candidacy. At the end of Candidacy, the Formation Director and the Candidate Director, with the Candidate, discern if Novitiate is the next appropriate step. A recommendation to begin Novitiate is made to the Leadership Team.

NOVITIATE: The novitiate, a two year period of prayer, study and ministry experiences with people who are poor, takes place in a setting with other novices of the Congregation and the Novice Director. The novice is no longer employed at her previous job and is supported by the Congregation. After mutual discernment and acceptance, the novice celebrates profession of first vows: poverty, celibacy and obedience.

TEMPORARY PROFESSION: The newly professed sister lives in community and begins a new ministry or continues her previous ministry. Perpetual profession of vows takes place three to six years after temporary profession.