By Anthony Barich
Sister Jean Wojcik, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, renewed the vows she took after entering Religious life 50 years ago at Masses celebrated at Mater Dei College in Edgewater and Our Lady of Grace Parish in North Beach.
Each celebration was a catechetical act showing that for Catholics, career is only part of a vocation, she said. This past week has prompted her to reflect that while secularists would define a career as “one’s entire life until death”, “a Christian lives a vocation, our baptism through our lifestyle, be it Religious, married or single”, she said.
The Golden Jubilee Mass on 8 September had a dual purpose: “To thank God for what He did for me, and as a catechetical moment for students, as they¹d never see a profession of a Religious making vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.
Sr Jean was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in June, 1944, joining the Congregation after her 16th birthday. Today, she advises people considering marriage or Religious life to wait until they’ve travelled and get a job, where they learn to deal with people.
“Today people bring those skills to the community, where as when I was 16 we developed those skills in the community,” she said.
“Jesus calls us to discipleship, sharing our gifts. That’s why, in discussing career options with students, we discuss where their gifts and interests lie, so they can best serve the community and live out the plan God has for them,” she said.
“The greatest thing of being a professed Religious is that God calls you to live out that plan He has for you, so it’s not so much what you’re doing for God, but what He’s doing for you in what you¹re being and doing.
“As a professed Religious, it¹s God helping you fulfil His plan for the world, and for you in the creation He’s making you.”
Sr Jean has travelled the world since joining the Congregation in 1960.
She first spent 18 months in Rome for her novitiate, returned to Michigan to do a Bachelor of Arts. She worked in primary schools in Michigan and worked for a year in the Order’s school for emotionally disturbed children in Pittsburgh before arriving in Sydney in 1972.
This is Sr Jean’s third posting in North Beach. She taught Grade 5 at Our Lady of Grace School in North Beach in 1979.
She started Our Lady of Grace Catholic Primary School¹s music programme during her second stay here. In 2005 she returned to work at Mater Dei College as the school’s Career Development Officer.