New nun followed God's tugging

"I wasn't born this way," she told The Evangelist. "I had a paycheck. I know what it's like to go out on Friday night with the girls. But when you get married, you're not going out with the girls."

"Getting married" is the way Sister Teresa Grace describes her final vows -- a lifelong commitment to God. In fact, she called the last few weeks before the vows a "pre-honeymoon period: I'm spending this time with the one I'm committing my life to."

Family influence

When her uncle visited, said Sister Teresa Grace, "he'd always give us [children] a blessing, and after that, we'd run into his arms and he'd hug us. That had a really big influence on me." Seeing a priest as a person who loved her, visited her family and even played golf put a human face on religious life, she said.

Vocation call

While she doesn't know if the columnist ever answered her, she found herself wondering more and more about religious life as she got older. When she heard readings at Mass about God calling people, she said, "God was tugging at me."

However, she got her bachelor's degree in accounting and found a job with the Veterans Administration. When the VA switched from punchcards to computers, she enjoyed computer work so much that she accepted a transfer to a software-support position in the Albany Diocese.

Priest's words

The fact that Father Walsh had been able to give up his own career and income for that of a priest struck a chord with the young woman, who was making a good salary in her field.

"I think I needed a person like that," she said. "We always talk about what we're giving up, but he showed me, `Look at what you're going to get.'"

God's schedule

"Never give God a time frame," she said with a laugh. She had asked God to give her a year to get settled before having to deal with the question of a vocation again -- and 53 weeks later, her brother said to her casually, "You still think about being a sister?"

In tears, she admitted that she did. She nominated herself for the Called By Name program (originally intended for others to "call" people in whom they saw a vocation) and attended a meeting with, among others, Bishop Howard J. Hubbard and Sister Rosemary Ann Cuneo, then vocations director for the Diocese.

Close to decision

"I said, `I lost my pen!' [Sister Rosemary] starts looking, and I'm thinking, `I'm lying my teeth out!'"

The pair ended up talking for an hour. On Sister Rosemary's recommendation, Sister Teresa Grace attended a ceremony where another sister took vows. After Communion, she went back to her seat and admitted to God, "I know you want me to do this."

Making a choice

For four months, she tried a "live-in discernment program" that the Resurrection Sisters sponsor, living at their Castleton provincial house without committing to religious life. That solidified her desire to be one of them.

"I love my vocation," she said proudly. "If we could get people out there to say that, wouldn't it be wonderful?"

Still in computers

"There's a file server and 19 work stations. I'm also in charge of telecommunications," she noted. "I can open telephones and fix them!"

She called it "neat" that her religious community can use her talents, though she admitted that "there's a lot of trust in God to the fact that I'm serving the Church sitting in my office, running anti-virus software. That's probably the mystery of my ministry!"

Final vows

The new millennium's marking a new commitment to God is a source of pride for the sister. "I was hoping to do this during the year 2000," she said. "What a great year to do this, during the Jubilee!"

Though 19 of her immediate family members planned to attend the ceremony and a friend postponed her honeymoon to be there, Sister Teresa Grace said she wouldn't be looking at them as she pronounced her vows.

Once committed to her vocation, "I never once looked back, so I know when I do this, I won't look back," she explained. "But if I hear somebody blowing their nose, I might start crying!"

The ceremony wasn't the last exciting change in Sister Teresa Grace's life: Soon, she will be heading to Rome as a volunteer for a catechetical site at World Youth Day.

Being with other young women religious as an example to the youth at the event will be exciting, she said, adding: "I love to witness to my life. Everybody has a vocation; my prayer is always that somebody finds their vocation."

(08-10-00) [[In-content Ad]]