Diocese’s religious women honor five jubiliarians

At least three dozen sisters from locations as far away as Marion, Polk and Brevard counties came together Oct. 24 to honor five jubiliarians in the Orlando diocese.

ROBYN KURTH | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Posted: 10.29.09

WINTER PARK | Sisters from across the Orlando Diocese joined Bishop Thomas Wenski Oct. 24 to honor the many years of service and the thousands of lives touched by the women celebrating the golden and diamond jubilees of taking their vows as sisters in the Catholic Church.

In a liturgy held at the San Pedro Center here, at least three dozen sisters from locations as far away as Marion, Polk and Brevard counties came together to honor five jubiliarians in the Orlando diocese. Sister Giovannina Saleeby, Sisters of the Names of Jesus and Mary, celebrated her 60-year diamond jubilee. Those celebrating their 50-year golden jubilees included Sister of Mercy Joseph Barden, Dominican Sister Diane McMeekin, Sister of Mercy Kathleen O’Brien and Sister of St. Joseph Kathleen Power.

“The dedication, commitment and achievements of all women religious are well- represented today by our jubiliarians,” Bishop Wenski said during his homily. “I could never say enough about how grateful the Church is for all that your communities have done and continue to do to advance the mission of the Church.”

In a luncheon that followed the liturgy, the jubiliarians reflected on the lives they have touched as part of their vocation. Sister Saleeby took her vows 60 years ago as a Dominican sister in the island nation of Malta. She had assignments in Malta and Australia before coming to the United States in 1969 in order to continue her work in Catholic schools. She transferred to the Sisters of the Names of Jesus and Mary in 1978.

“They sent us on a mission as Dominicans, but with all the changes that happened (in Malta) they wanted us to go back home, but we couldn’t teach because the government wouldn’t let us teach in schools,” Sister Saleeby said.

Now retired and living in Lakeland, Sister Saleeby reflected on her 40 years of service in Catholic education, which included 20 years as a teacher, 20 years as a principal, followed by 15 years in pastoral ministry. “I enjoyed teaching … and I enjoyed my pastoral ministry,” she said. “I still make visits to the sick because I can’t sit down.”

Like Sister Saleeby, Sister Barden came to the United States after taking her vows in her native land. She took her vows in May 1960 in Ireland before getting her first assignment as a teacher at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic School in Satellite Beach in 1966. She was principal of Ascension Catholic School in Melbourne for 29 years and has served as the development director of the school since 2000.

Sister Barden was especially proud when Ascension was selected as a National School of Excellence in 1986 and she was invited to the White House to meet President Ronald Reagan. “I feel I was able to achieve a lot in the school. We started with hardly anything and we built it up,” said Sister Barden. “We had to work very hard to get what we did, but we had a special spirit in our school.”

Sister O’Brien also took her vows in Ireland before arriving in Florida in 1962, just as Brevard County was growing to accommodate the space program. Sister O’Brien recently retired from teaching at St. Teresa Catholic School in Titusville, but still volunteers there. “It was the happiest thing I ever did – I was more rewarded because the children came in full of vim and vigor.”

In a tribute to Sister O’Brien, Sister of Mercy Hilda Cleary noted that out of Sister O’Brien’s family of six children, three brothers became priests, two sisters became nuns and one brother married Sister Cleary’s sister. Regarding Sister O’Brien’s dedication to her work at St. Teresa’s, Sister Cleary said, “She reminds me of the Pied Piper because she attracts children.”

Catholic education has played a powerful role in the vocations of all of this year’s jubiliarians. Sister McMeekin, who is the preschool director at Good Shepherd Catholic School in Orlando, credits the Adrian Dominican sisters who taught her in Michigan for helping her find her vocation. “God kept calling,” she said. “It was definitely a calling and the sisters really changed my life.”

Earlier this year, two of Sister McMeekin’s former students came back to thank her for everything she had done for them. More than 30 years after she last saw him, one man stopped by Sister McMeekin’s office and spent more than three hours talking to her. Another former student called to thank her four decades after she was his teacher. “I hadn’t seen him since 1967. … He just wanted to let me know what I had done and what it meant in his life,” she said. “You never know whose life you are touching.”

Like Sister McMeekin, Sister Power has also experienced the gratitude of her former students. Sister Power entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in July of 1959, just two months after graduating from Bishop Moore Catholic High School in Orlando. Now associate vocations director for the diocese, her earliest work was as a teacher in Miami, where she taught children who were part of Operation Pedro Pan, a program created by the Catholic Welfare Bureau (Catholic Charities) of Miami at the request of parents in Cuba to send their children to Miami to avoid communist indoctrination.

“I met the Pedro Pan students who came over from Cuba in 1961. I met them again after 40 years and I had never been so touched and brought to the point of tears at what it meant to them to be taught at St. Mary’s Cathedral School in Miami,” Sister Power said. “They all came to my jubilee two weeks ago.”

She added that women who choose religious life will find great joy. “I tell (prospective sisters) that God has a special plan for their lives and that’s where they’ll find their greatest happiness.”

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