Associate Report to Chapter

Province Chapter, July 14, 2013

I was born in Western Canada and have always been proud of my Canadian roots and that connection with Eulalie Durocher.

My parents and family members were professional educators and were the prime educators in the faith for their 5 children. As a child and teenager I saw my parents’ active in our home Parish and in the Seattle community in a variety of ways….their lives were ones of service.

This journey of relationship and belonging continued when I enrolled in Holy Names Academy, Seattle in 1958-1962. Ultimately drawn by God to the SNJM Charism, I experienced mentoring in my admiration of my SNJM teachers and I want to acknowledge with thanks several who are here at the Chapter: Sisters Dorothy Dees, Rosemary Parker and Mary Sullivan (Sheron Marie.)

I entered the SNJM Novitiate at Marylhurst in 1962, which was the summer that the Washington and Oregon Provinces divided. Prior to arriving at Chapter, I stopped at Marylhurst, saw a few still familiar sites in the Convent, spent time in the still familiar Chapel and went to the Cemetery. I gave thanks at the graves of peers, in particular Sister Mary Medved, and remembered the wisdom women of my novitiate years: Sisters Tharsilla, Petronella, and Marian Elizabeth…their lives of imparting the SNJM Charism continues to live on in my life.

Years later and ministries of education across Washington State, SNJM Formation Team, and Campus Ministry in California, a poem by Mary Oliver, “A Summer Day,” hit home…She asks,
“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” In 2002, I made a significant shift from that of a vowed commitment to Associate membership.

In living the SNJM charism today, I participate in Southern California regional gatherings, Justice and Peace activities, the Associate Advisory Committee, and the Retreat Planning Committee for Villa Maria del Mar’s summer retreats/retreat coordinator.

In closing, “I am your sister Pat, and I am with you!”