Jubilarian Sister Mary Jo Gramig

Sister Mary Jo (Joseph Marian) Gramig, a Louisville native, is celebrating her 60th jubilee. The second of four girls, Sister Mary Jo says, “I grew up in a faithfilled Catholic family, where our lives intertwined with our parish school and church.” The Ursuline Sisters of Louisville taught her at both Holy Spirit and Sacred Heart Academy. Sister Mary Jo remembers, “Dorothy Hulsewede (Sister Carl Marie) was a close family friend who encouraged me to discern my own vocation.”

That vocation started in second grade. On a class trip to Bardstown, while visiting a church, Mary Jo prayed that she might become a religious sister if that was what God wanted. She didn’t express this calling she felt until high school, but it stayed in her heart over those growing-up years. Sister Carl Marie must have seen that in young Mary Jo.

Entering right before Vatican II, Sister Mary Jo remembers that, “There were larger classes of women then, and it was good to be a part of a bigger group of people who were answering the call to religious life. We attended monthly spiritual conferences at Bellarmine and had scripture scholars give talks to Sisters on the college’s campus. There was a lot of activity and opportunities for learning at that time.”

Sister Mary Jo has a bachelor’s degree in education from Ursuline College (1968) as well as master’s degrees from Xavier University (Montessori education) and Spalding University (religious studies). She started her teaching career in primary grades at St. Rita, Holy Trinity and Sacred Heart Model schools, before being asked if she’d be interested in being a Montessori teacher. She took classes at Xavier and “fell in love with the Montessori Method, where children learn in a prepared environment of specially designed sensorial materials, a way of learning which engages all their natural abilities and senses for learning. From 1970 to 1977, I was privileged to work with Sr. Marlene Oetken, founder of the Ursuline Montessori School, a Model teacher and wonderful mentor.”

Sister Mary Jo then taught religion at several parish schools in Louisville. Her last fulltime ministry position was with St. Frances of Rome as director of Family Religious Formation (1995-2018). Sister Mary Jo says, “The focus was always on family formation, not just the children. I have a firm belief that it is within the home that the child truly learns the way of faith, prayer and a personal relationship with God. I am forever grateful for the many families and staff I have served and come to know as lifelong friends.”

In the fall of 2018, Sister Mary Jo began volunteering as a helper in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) program, a Montessori based catechetical program for children 3-6 years old at St. Louis Bertrand Church. The director, Leslie Genius, and Sister Mary Jo now teach the program to Sacred Heart preschool and K-2 students two full days each week. Children in CGS interact with child-size liturgical materials, including altars, chalices, cloths and rosaries, and they practice pouring water and “wine” into vessels. They learn other aspects of Catholic teaching, such as care for creation by holding plants and watering them. Sister Mary Jo says, “Time and again I have been touched by the children’s responses and how they come to know Jesus as someone who really lived and walked on the earth and is very personal to them now…someone they talk to and listen to in the quiet.”

By her presence and ministry, Sister Mary Jo has truly been a role model to her students by helping them listen to that “small still voice” in following their own paths that lead them closer to God.