Her love of the Eucharist, Christ’s Body and Blood, leads her to religious life

SPARTA  Kathleen Deighan loved her job teaching second-graders in a Catholic school. But she still felt something missing in her life, as she continued to wrestle with discerning her vocation — married life or religious life? When the young woman had breakfast with a religious sister, whom she knew from college — it turned out to be a meeting that was as challenging as it was providential.

“I cried the whole way home. I asked God, ‘Is this what you want for me [religious life]?’ ” said Sister Kathleen Deighan, who later joined the religious order of that sister friend, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, also known as the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. But before that, she took refuge in a familiar place that she had visited often in her life: the Blessed Sacrament. “In my heart, I heard a voice say, ‘Will you marry me?’ I had this warmth all throughout my body that I never felt before. I was overwhelmed. I said, ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ and ‘I don’t know.’ I did join the order,” she said.

Faithful in St. Kateri Tekak­witha Parish here sat in rapt attention, as Sister Kathleen, 31, gave a 20-minute witness talk on June 26 after the 9:30 a.m. Family Mass in the church. She chronicled how receiving Holy Commu­nion and praying before the Bles­sed Sacrament over the years have strengthened her relationship with Jesus and helped lead her to answer God’s call as a religious sister. It started with her parents, Mary and Michael, who instilled in her and her eight siblings a respect, a reverence, a sense of gratitude for the Body and Blood of Christ, said Sister Kathleen, a novice, at the Sale­sian’s Sacred Heart Center, a novitiate and retreat center in Newton.

“It’s important that we sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament with Jesus and ask him the big questions and the small questions. I grow happier and happier when I’m getting closer to him in the Blessed Sacrament,” said Sister Kathleen. She will make her first vows, also known as temporary vows, with five other novices on Friday, Aug. 5 in St. Anthony Church, Hawthorne. In the fall, she will teach second grade at Corpus Christi-Holy Rosary School in Port Chester, N.Y.

Sister Kathleen’s talk at St. Kateri took place during the Year of the Eucharist, which Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney designated for this year to encourage local Catholics to deepen their understanding of and devotion to the Eucharist and strengthen their relationship with Jesus through various activities on the diocesan and parish levels.

For Sister Kathleen, that devotion and understanding started with her parents, who taught her and her siblings to “recognize that Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.” Born in Charlottes­ville, Va., she remembers when her father reminded her to “walk back to the pew more reverently,” during her First Holy Communion.

“He gave me the sense that this is serious. I just received Jesus,” Sister Kathleen said.

When she made her Confirmation, Sister Kathleen started to “own — and live — my faith seriously.” She also started going to monthly confession so she could “receive Jesus with a clean heart” —“ready to receive him.” She also felt that she was “growing closer to the Lord,” she said.

While studying at Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., Sister Kathleen attended daily Mass and prayed in front of the Blessed Sacrament before and after Masses. On Tuesdays, she also went to Adoration, she said.

“It’s beautiful that we can visit the Bles­sed Sacrament in the tabernacle but how many more graces can we get in Adoration?” said Sister Kathleen, who earned a bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in theology from Christen­dom.

After college, Sister Kathleen taught second grade in a Catholic school for five years. She also suffered a romantic break-up.

“It hurt but I knew that it was the right thing. I know that I have someone who will never hurt me: Jesus,” said Sister Kathleen. While working, she would take time to visit the Blessed Sacrament, starting with five minutes and increasing the time incrementally, she said.

“As I did that, things in my life flowed nicely. I put God first. When you make time for God, he will make time for you. Jesus is always here, waiting for us. He is also in our hearts. But his favorite place is inside us when we receive him in the Blessed Sacra­ment,” said Sister Kathleen, who told the St. Kateri congregation of the Salesian tradition of making short “little visits” to the Blessed Sacrament. “Jesus was here [in his earthly ministry] for only three years but he gave us the biggest gift of all: the Eucha­rist. He is present — Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. That’s a lot to contemplate — and that’s OK. The Lord is the one who reveals that to us and increases that desire in us,” she said at the end of the talk, which was followed by a question-and-answer period with churchgoers.

In 2018, Sister Kathleen entered the Salesian order and has earned a certificate in theological studies, which permits her to teach elementary and high school theology. At the Mass at St. Kateri, Sister Kathleen introduced herself and four other novices. St. Kateri Knights of Columbus 13677 supports vocations in part by sponsoring Salesian Sisters in Newton, such as Sister Kathleen, with scholarships.

“The talk by Sister Kathleen was beau­tiful,” said Cheryl Wallace, St. Kateri’s director of religious education and pastoral associate, who noted that the Family Mass is typically attended by many young people and their families. She also shared a video of sister’s talk on the Flocknotes message app with parishioners. “She brought to us her love of the Eucharist. She described the practice of growing in relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist and Adoration. It could lead people to say, ‘I can have that too,’ ” she said.