Summer Gathering for New Religious

CHESTER  On the lawn of the Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel here on a sunny Aug. 27 afternoon, Salesian Sister Janna San Juan led a few fellow religious sisters and brothers in a round of her favorite game: Frisbee. These young religious from various communities that serve the Diocese often laughed as they jostled for the plastic disc which made the game seem more about camaraderie than competition — one of many opportunities for fun and fellowship at this year’s diocesan Bishop’s Summer Gathering for New Religious and those discerning religious life.

Not far from the Frisbee game, a larger group of religious sisters played a game of volleyball at the end of the gathering, which brought together 70 young religious men and women from the Diocese. Many arrived with other members of their religious communities, including their formators and vocations directors. The event included Mass in Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s chapel with Bishop Serratelli, a reflection by him on religious life, a question-and-answer session about his reflection and then a cookout meal followed by games in the backyard.

“This is a great way to meet other young religious in the Diocese. We are giving of ourselves radically and joyfully,” said Sister Janna, a novice, who lives with fellow Salesian Sisters at Auxilium Convent in Newton. Soon she will be finishing her final year of study at Assumption College for Sisters in Denville, and anticipates taking her first vows next year.

At folding tables on the lawn, the young religious — including sisters, brothers, priests and those in formation — held conversations about their family backgrounds, vocation stories, studies, ministries and spirituality. They hailed from the following communities: the Salesian Sisters in Newton; the Religious Teachers Filippini in Morristown; the Sisters of Christian Charity in Mendham; the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in Paterson; Vocationist Sisters in Florham Park; and the Benedictines in Morristown. Others included student-sisters of Assump­tion College for Sisters, many who come from international communities, and young women still in discernment from Casa Guadalupe, House of Discernment in Clifton.

During the dinner, Sister Janna talked about having lived in Minnesota and Georgia. There, she dated and worked as an environmental engineer. Then, Sister Janna started teaching an eighth-grade religious education class — a joy-filled ministry that sparked her religious vocation.

“To be with young people is where I feel truly fulfilled and happy,” Sister Janna said. In between studies, she teaches religious education at St. Joseph Parish, Newton, and helps lead retreats for young people, who are preparing for first Penance, first Holy Communion and Confirmation. “No matter how tired I am from studying, I am filled with energy to be with these young people and lead them to Jesus,” she said.

Bishop Serratelli served as main celebrant and homilist of the Mass and Father Stephen Prisk, diocesan vice-chancellor and the Bishop’s priest-secretary, served as concelebrant. Before the liturgy, Carmelite Hermit Sister Teresa Margaret Des Bois, prioress of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Her­mitage, told the gathering that the intention of the liturgy would be in memory of the Bishop’s late mother and father, Eva and Pio. His parents, she said, “raised a wonderful priest and bishop for the Diocese” and they serve as an inspiration for families of the Diocese in cultivating more vocations.

In his reflection after the Mass, Bishop Serratelli urged the religious to guard against a sense of entitlement that society promotes today. Filled with “excessive self-love,” entitled people feel that they deserve special privileges to do or say what they want, are more important than others, can destroy someone’s good reputation, and can engage in self-pity if they do not get their way. Narcissism is “contrary to the Gospel and religious consecration” and can “stunt religious life and community and then our vows just fade away and weaken,” he said.

Instead, religious should follow the example of Jesus, who practiced “kenosis”: the emptying of self in order to do God’s will. “This is at the heart of the Incarnation and our Redemption. For religious sisters, brothers and priests, that means humility. This doesn’t bring us instant gratification but we become more and more like Christ and it’s always worth the sacrifice,” said Bishop Serratelli, adding that religious must be “servant of all” like Christ.

Afterwards, the Bishop fielded questions from the religious about how to cultivate a deeper humility and other topics. Then, everyone processed outside to pray in front of the grave of Mother Mary of Jesus and St. Joseph, the Carmelite sister who founded the hermitage in 1980. She died on April 28 at 92 years old.

Sister Theresa Margaret, who operates the hermitage with another Carmelite, Sister Rose Campbell, called the gathering “a wonderful day.” It was the first time that Our Lady of Mount Carmel hosted the diocesan event.

“We religious in the Diocese know of each other but don’t know each other. It is good for us to get together in fellowship,” Sister Teresa Margaret said.

Participants feasted on a cookout dinner, thanks to food donated by local businesses and cooked by members of the Neocatechu­menal Way. Several members of the diocesan Religious Vocation Committee, who coordinated the gathering, were in attendance. They included Dominican Sister Patricia Stringer, Sister of Charity Maryanne Tracey, Filippini Sister Barbara O’Kane, Vocationist Sister Gelsy Mosca and Sister of Christian Charity Joan Daniel Healy, diocesan chancellor and delegate for religious.

On that Aug. 27 afternoon, Benedictine Father Demetrius Thomas of St. Mary’s Abbey in Morristown watched the Frisbee game along with Father Stephen Prisk and a group of the religious. Father Demetrius, a native of Hastings, Pa. who teaches at Delbarton School in Morristown, serves as an assistant to a parish in Warren and serves the abbey as an advocate for young men in formation. In 2017, Bishop Serratelli ordained him a priest in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Paterson.

“I love being a priest. I love the ministry and the people — to be the face of Christ to them and to preach in my actions and words,” Father Demetrius Thomas said.