In Gratitude for Investiture 2018

Praised be Jesus and Mary!

In the ceremony of investiture, as with any rite or Sacrament in the Catholic Church, the exterior form is the sign of the interior reality. Investiture was the moment when, from the bottom of our hearts, we gave up the “pearls” of this world for the sake of a life given totally to our Lord. We even surrendered our names! But why? In answering our vocation (from the Latin, vocare, “to call”), we become a “new creation.” As Fr. Simeon Leiva-Merikakis so simply put it, “vocation is nothing less than recreation.” Christ Himself many times gave a new name (by which He called them) to those for whom He had a new and distinct mission.

We sisters now have a different “look,” we are called by a different name because we are different. We have made the choice to answer a call, to turn our lives inside-out for God, and practice what it would be to consecrate ourselves to Him. God willing, in a few years, we may be able to take vows to solemnize these desires.

Until then, we live our lives in community here at St. Mary’s, ever aware of our debt of gratitude to God who has put His plan and our vocation in motion.

Our gratitude is immense following our investiture. How can we number the many gifts the Lord has given our little community?! We would not have this great sense of peace, had we not the generous welcome from all the parishioners of St. Mary’s, who have so readily made this a home for us. We would not have been able to be a community at all had not Father Matthew Bartulica offered this convent, on behalf of St. Mary’s, and so readily supported us in every way.

We are indebted to our dear parents, siblings and friends who came all this way to celebrate with us this weekend, and who have formed us into the women we are now. Had they not responded to God’s graces in their lives, we would not be here.

Above all, we are indebted and grateful to Blessed Mary, our Mother, and to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is present for us each and every day in the tabernacle. He is our comfort, our love, the reason we get up every morning, our joy, our Savior. It is an honor to be numbered among His family, to minister to His brethren, to live as His bride, to be a Christian!
May we and all the earth ring out on this and every day with the praise of Him, Who did love us first and unto eternity!