A Look Back at 2023: Community Life, Ministry, Chapter, and Jubilees of Eight Sisters

After all the Chapter Meetings were completed, the St. Augustine Sisters took a fun day trip in April to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm to enjoy seeing the baby birds in rookery. 

As 2023 comes to a close, it is a good time to reflect on the past 12 months. As a Sister of St. Joseph with an Ignatian-Salesian spirituality, the question is, “Where did I see God in 2023?” Or, another way of asking is, where did my energies follow my attention the most, and for what am I most thankful?

One of the often overlooked aspects of consecrated life as women religious is living in community. Our culture puts so much emphasis on achievements and individualism, but as vowed Religious our congregation has always valued living in community. I have witnessed the love of God and neighbor many times during this past year in the care and love expressed for one another, especially for those with health challenges. The evident care on the part of the nursing staff at Lourdes Hall for Sisters has also shown me the face of God. We pray together, play together, and celebrate special occasions together. This past year we started having occasional game nights after dinner in the dining room.

Bishop Erik Pohlmeier with Sister Stephanie Flynn (far left) and members of the St. Joseph Neighbor Center Cohort One at blessing of renovations of St. Benedict the Moor School in January 2023.   

In January, we invited Bishop Erik Pohlmeier of St. Augustine to bless the renovations of the St. Benedict the Moor School in Lincolnville, which will become the home of the St. Joseph Neighborhood Center, our newest ministry serving young single mothers. I saw God in the young women and their children, and in the Dear Neighbors who attended the blessing and in many who have continued to partner with us in this ministry.

April was a big month for our Congregation as we held our Chapter of Affairs and Chapter of Elections, where we set directives for the future and elected leadership. I definitely saw the work of the Holy Spirit in what we were able to do with the assistance of facilitators. With our Chapter directives we have guidance for focusing our attention and energies in the coming years. All of us, both elected leaders and members, have a lot of work in the years ahead.

New Leadership Team who took office July 31st: (L to R) Sister Suzan Foster, Sister Carolyn Tucker, Sister Kathleen Carr, General Superior, Sister Jane Stoecker, and Sister Stephanie Flynn. 

Our Jubilee celebration this year was one of our biggest in a while, with eight Sisters celebrating. More than 350 persons attended an Oct. 14 Mass at St. Anastasia Parish followed by a reception in their Celebration Hall. There were three bishops and several priests con-celebrating with Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami presiding and preaching. On Oct. 15th a smaller Mass was held at our Motherhouse with Bishop Erik Pohlmeier presiding. The Jubilarians celebrated 50, 60, 70 and 75 years of religious life. I saw God in the beauty and joy of the liturgies and the receptions, and in the commitments of the Jubilarians.

Front row (L to R): Sisters Mary Josepha Butterfield, Edith Paschall, Lilia Fernandez, and Eileen Marie Flanagan. Second Row (L to R): Sisters Diane Couture, Elizabeth Anne Worley, Carolyn Tucker, and Jane Stoecker. 

As a member of our diocesan congregation of vowed Religious, I give thanks to God for the year that was, and look forward with hope to the year to come. As St. Ignatius would say, all for the glory of God, and would ask you and me to try find God in the activities of our daily life through regular examens of consciousness. St. Francis de Sales, known for his writings on gentleness, says to me, “Have patience with all things, but, first of all, with yourself.”