Her home parish site of final vows

When she took her final vows as a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, she was surrounded by family and friends at St. James Church in Albany -- the church where her parents were married 38 years ago, where she was baptized 36 years ago and where her brother, John, still serves as leader of a contemporary music group.

"St. James is a special place for my family," said Sister Joan Mary, currently the campus minister for the Academy of the Holy Names in Albany.

Memories

"The church hasn't changed at all," she noted. "Maybe the presider's chair has been moved, and the baptismal font was in the back of the church. There's something sentimental about it -- and also symbolic. Where I was baptized, I became a child of God. Now, when I make my perpetual profession, I'm saying I will live on as a daughter of God."

Final vows, she noted, mean that "I will live as a Sister of St. Joseph for the rest of my life, and for all eternity."

Life story

"I suppose there were seeds of the desire [for religious life] even when I was a child, but I sort of flipped them away," she remembered. "Then, in graduate school -- I was probably 23 -- I began to think about becoming a sister."

Part of Sister Joan Mary's examination of a vocation was studying theology. She earned a master of divinity degree and became a catechetical director. In the process, some Sisters of St. Joseph became both professional colleagues and friends.

Call from God

She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1993 because she wanted to be a part of "a joyful community of women." Three years ago, she took her temporary vows and never looked back -- except to St. James, where she ended up coming back as a parishioner and lector when she moved back into the neighborhood.

Today, Sister Joan Mary is also a student at Iona College, working toward a graduate degree in pastoral counseling. She will be a counseling intern with Catholic Charities in the fall, and hopes to use her new skills in her campus ministry position as well.

"It's a lot of fun. I'm having a ball," she said of her busy schedule.

Back home

When she took her vows on August 7, Sister Joan Mary wasn't the only one coming full circle. Her parents walked down the aisle together once again -- this time, to bring up the Offertory gifts during the Mass. Her brother provided music for the occasion.

Said Sister Joan Mary: "St. James will always be one of the places where God and I found each other -- and you can never leave that behind."

(08-12-99) [[In-content Ad]]