Millennium nun discovers joy of religious life

Thirty-four-year-old Teresa Grace Baillargeon came to Albany in 1990 because of a computer job with the Veterans Administration. She found another reason to stay.

Today, she is computer network coordinator for Resurrection Nursing Home in Castleton. And she has a new name: Sister Teresa Grace. She is slated to profess her final vows August 15, 2000.

Choosing a way of life for the third millennium that dates back to the founding of Christianity is not frightening for Sister Teresa Grace. Rather, it fills her with great joy.

Happy with choice

"The greatest joy a person can have is doing what God wants you to do," she said. "I'm so happy. I wish all people could discover what their vocation is."

She is pleased that the Sisters of Resurrection are able to use the abilities she brings to the order. "The community looked at the gifts I brought and tried to use them," she said. "A religious community can't be without that."

Sister Teresa Grace's vocation goes back to her childhood when "I wrote a letter to Dear Abby. I would see sisters, and I would think it was the neatest thing, but there were few nuns in town."

While she doesn't know if "Dear Abby" responded to her letter because the local newspaper stopped carrying the column, the idea of becoming a woman religious stuck with her. "God was tugging," she said.

Making the leap

While she talked to her college campus minister about her vocation, she didn't address the tugging thoughts for many years. Then a conversation with her older brother, Vic, brought all of the thoughts and feelings to the forefront.

"We were talking at my parents' wedding anniversary," she said. "He said, 'You still think about being a sister?' I burst into tears and said, 'Yes, I do.' They were tears of relief."

She met the Sisters of the Resurrection through the "Called by Name" program, a diocesan vocations program. "I met the vocations director, and there was a twinkle in her eye," Sister Teresa Grace recalled "There was a joyfulness and happiness that was easy to see."

Age of prayer

Age means less and less to her. In fact, she had to take a moment to think about her age when asked. "I live in a home with 21 other women, most who are retired," she said. "I don't feel an age difference."

She is impressed with the prayerfulness of the Sisters of the Resurrection, describing them as "women who take prayer very seriously."

Family life

She is certain that this way of life is for her and has no regrets. When she thinks about not having children of her own, she says, "It's a reality I've been able to accept with the grace of God. I've been involved in serious relationships, but this fills me even more. I love children, I love teenagers, but there's no deep loss."

Her own family has played an important role in her vocation. "I had the support of my family," she said. "They told me to live my life."

When she told her siblings and friends that she was entering, few were surprised. "As I spoke to them, they were supportive and weren't surprised," Sister Teresa Grace said. "The rest of the world expected it."

Hope for future

Sister Teresa Grace is well aware that fewer people are choosing religious life. In the past, many women entered a religious community at a time, but she is the only woman in her order who will take final vows in the year 2000. That doesn't discourage her.

"Even if I am the last Sister of the Resurrection, I'll live my charism to the last minute," she said. "I have hope. There is a lack of people saying yes, but it's changing. There is such hope."

To improve the future of vocations, she encourages parents to create a climate where children are open to the possibility of religious life. If a child approaches a parent with the idea that they are interested in religious life, Sister Teresa Grace gives this advice: "Admit, 'I don't know a lot about it, but we can learn together.' They should take it seriously. That kind of statement doesn't come from the self."

That kind of statement may be a tug from God.

(01-15-98) [[In-content Ad]]