A Journey as a Woman Religious

10/14/2015

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Sr. Catherine Sheehan, DW, Provincial, USA Province was recently interviewed on radio by Frère Buteau and Bishop Guy Sansaricq in recognition of the Year of Consecrated life. In this interview she reflects on her decision to enter religious life and expresses the spirituality and heart of the mission of the Daughters of Wisdom. The following is some excerpts from that interview.

Tell us about yourself and the reasons that motivated you to be a Daughter of Wisdom:

I entered the Daughters of Wisdom in January 1979 when I was 22 years old. I graduated from college – St. John’s University the previous May (1978). I was familiar with women religious from having gone to Catholic elementary and high schools. Especially in high school, there was the opportunity to interact more with the Sisters. My impression was that most of them were happy.

The summer of my junior year in high school I volunteered in a program with the Diocese of Brooklyn. It was called Project Fun. It was a summer camp program for children dealing with physical and mental challenges. I worked with the campers who were 18 years old and over that were developmentally delayed. The leader of the group was a Daughter of Wisdom. Over the next few years, we became friends and when I was in college, I participated in vocation weekends with the Daughters of Wisdom. I was impressed with the way they interacted with us (young women discerning a vocation) and found them open and friendly. This was enough for me to continue to pursue becoming a Daughter of Wisdom.

The more I lived into my call it became clearer to me that being a member of an international congregation was special.