Professing Jesus as Lord, 63 jubilarians celebrate 3,635 years of consecrated life

Men and women religious gather with Archbishop Vigneron to give thanks for decades of blessings, united with Christ

DETROIT — Some taught for decades. Others served as nurses and health care professionals. Still others ministered to the poor, led retreats or visited homes to spread the good news of Jesus. Some did all of the above and more.

And Jesus was present in all of it.

For 63 jubilarians celebrating significant anniversaries of consecrated life, a Mass and luncheon at Sacred Heart Major Seminary was a chance to thank God for 3,635 combined years of ministry guided by the Holy Spirit for the edification of God’s people.

Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, who celebrated the Sept. 7 Mass in the seminary’s chapel, encouraged the jubilarians to go beyond mere human thanksgiving, joining their gratitude to the sacrifice of Jesus in the Eucharist in presenting it to the Father.

The archbishop invited the jubilarians to think back to the day of their profession — a tall task perhaps, he acknowledged, especially for those celebrating 75 and 80 years of consecration.

“Think back and remember, as far as we can, what led up to that consecration, and think about all that followed,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “I’m sure there were many dark days and many days filled with the illumination of joy.”

Every joy, struggle and challenge was a unique gift of God, the archbishop said, a moment for thanksgiving, even if it didn’t seem that way at the time.

“I hope that I can help all of us to fill our hearts with thanks so that when I ask you to lift them up (during the Mass), and you affirm that you’ve lifted them up to the Lord, that they be rich with thanksgiving,” the archbishop said.

For religious such as Sr. Margretta Wojcik, OSF, thinking back to the day of her consecration meant reflecting upon the Franciscan sisters who taught her in grade school and became a model for her own eventual vocation.

“I was taught by the Franciscan sisters, and so that kind of led me to get to know them better,” said Sr. Wojcik, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio, celebrating her 60th jubilee. “I became a teacher for 30 years, and then I got into parish ministry.”

After teaching Montessori-style pre-school and kindergarten classes, including at the St. Francis Education Center in Sylvania, Ohio, Sr. Wojcik became a pastoral associate, serving at Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Redford.

Sr. Wojcik said her six decades of teaching and parish work has “given me life,” adding, “I think the biggest gift God has given me has been the gift of joy.”

As one vocation begets another, Sr. Mary Eucharita Wisk, CSSF, was sitting at the next table, celebrating a jubilee of her own.

“I’m celebrating 75 years in the convent and 92 years of life,” Sr. Wisk told Detroit Catholic. “I taught second grade for five years, and that nun there, I taught her in the second grade. And now she’s celebrating 60 years as a nun — that’s a blessing for me.”

Sr. Wisk said her own vocation began far before the vows she professed in 1949 — unbeknownst to her at the time.

“When my mother was expecting me, she had only boys before, and she said, ‘If it’s a girl, I’ll offer her up to God.’ She never told me that, but when anyone asks me when my vocation started, I always say, ‘In my mother’s womb,’” Sr. Wisk said.

After teaching, Sr. Wisk went on to become a nurse at St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, where she relished the opportunity to minister at the bedside of patients who were sick or dying.

“Once, I stayed with a woman with her husband through the night, and for years, she kept in touch with me because of that,” Sr. Wisk said. “It was so special for her to have someone with her when her husband was dying. That kind of thing happened often. When people see a nun, they just brighten up. Wearing the habit makes a difference.”

In his homily, Archbishop Vigneron reflected that, at its root, consecrated life is not just a profession of poverty, chastity and obedience, but a profession of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

“What we remember today in the lives of our jubilarians is that solemn moment of self-determination, whereby they took their lives — whether it was past and future — and gathered into one determination and said it would all be about confessing the Lordship of Jesus,” Archbishop Vigneron said.

What makes such a profession all the more of a blessing is the way it has been lived out daily in grace, charity and witness in the lives of each jubilarian, the archbishop continued.

“As we remember this anniversary, we remember all that these men and women have done in making the self-gift for all these years as a marvelous confession — the humble tasks and the great tasks, all proclaiming that Jesus is Lord,” he continued. “And so, it is for the grace that has been at work in the lives of the jubilarians, the grace of faithful confession, that the Lord has gathered us here today in order to give thanks.”