The Path to Perpetual Vows: A Message of Hope
After ten years of journeying with our Providence Community, I feel joy in my final yes to God to live out my vows to Him in our charism and mission and according to our constitutions. It is for me a lifelong commitment to our community for the sake of the mission and a forever to my God. As a full member of our community and as a religious in the Church, I desire to serve God in His poor, vulnerable and voiceless. In following His lead, through personal and communal prayer and discernment, we come to know how the gifts God has given me can be best used for the sake of our Providence Mission.
My ministry is one of compassionate listening and presence to the people who come to the rectory at Sacred Heart Parish, the church of the First Nation Peoples in the inner city of Edmonton. I serve with our other volunteers those who come to our door for food, clothing, prayer or a need to share the burden they are carrying and at the same time I am being taught by them. This is the work of our charism and mission.
I was led to consecrate myself to the Lord in our Community of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence through our charism and mission as passed down through Mother Emilie Gamelin. I connected with Emilie as a mother, someone who had experienced losses and in her strong desire to serve God’s poor and vulnerable. I connected with her trust in Providence and I desired to grow in that trust. I also connected with our Mother of Sorrows and the great need for this nurturing compassionate presence in our world today. In reading Emilie’s Retreat Notes, I saw her realness, her profound faith, her humility and her human struggles in community life. It was so easy for me to relate and feel connected to her.
As I spent fifteen months visiting and looking at the community and at the same time discerning with a spiritual director and journeying with a member of the community, I listened to our elderly sisters who served the poor, under hard conditions in the north and in mission in several countries. As I listened to these stories, my heart’s desire resonated with them, I saw their gift of hospitality and I knew this is the community to which God was calling me to live out my Religious Vows to Him in service to His poor. There was a peace in my heart and an inner joy, knowing I was where I was meant to be.
My message of hope for our Providence Community is that we have the charism and mission so needed in our world today. We still have young women joining our community here in Canada and internationally. In our journey to oneness as a congregation, there will be more sisters available to bring our charism and mission to the world, giving hope to God’s people whatever their circumstance may be. During our General Chapter this past summer, I saw the joy, the love, the strength of our oneness for the mission and the beautiful loving interconnectedness of our international community. Great hope is within and among us and our God of Providence is with us. I feel as if we are on the edge of Advent and Christmas and something beautiful is taking place, like Jesus in the womb of Mary. Our God of Providence is birthing something new in our Providence Community and with His grace we are being invited to co-create with Him. This gives me great joy. Providence of God I thank you for all!
Sister Mary Phillips SP
December 19, 2022