Sister Anne Marie Gastle

Sister Anne Marie Gastle In my 70 years as a Grey Nun, I have taught at almost every grade level. At Holy Angels Academy, I taught young women the beauty of art, design, watercolor, oil and other mediums. These were blessed years. In my retirement at the Motherhouse, I was a willing chauffeur for many. Eventually, it was time to slow down. Now I spend time in prayer and reading. I muse often at how blessed we all are to be here and to have each other. Being a Grey Nun and sharing my everyday life for these 70 years is a blessing. I consider myself most fortunate!

Sister Eileen Murray

Sister Eileen Murray Jubilee, my 70th, sparks gratitude, memories and a deep awareness of the privilege of being a Grey Nun of the Sacred Heart: a perfect fit for me. I found fulfillment as full-time “Group Mother” at St. Joseph’s Orphanage, Ogdensburg, NY, and in my teaching assignments in Grey Nun schools. My love for science sparked my students to learn as we delved into ecology, space science and ornithology. The finale: Parish Minister to the Elderly, St. Jude’s Church, Atlanta. Heartfelt thanks to my parents Eva and Frank Murray for nourishing my call to the Grey Nuns. Thanks to family, friends, and Grey Nuns Sisters who have loved and encouraged me over the years. God’s abundant blessings enable me to delight in being a daughter of St. Marguerite d’Youville!

Sister Marian Adrian

Sister Marian Adrian Being given 60 years in religious life is a great gift. The continual discerning of the best use of that time in light of Gospel values is a daunting challenge. The service of God’s most vulnerable people requires nothing less. Limited as the results may be, there is encouragement in the knowledge that our loving God smiles on the effort.

Sister Mary Teresa LaBrake

Sister Mary Teresa LaBrake My 60th Jubilee gives me an opportunity to thank God for my parents, my thirteen siblings, my Grey Nun Sisters, and the people I’ve met in ministry. I’ve seen God visible through the shining eyes of children, through the faith of teachers in my role as Principal and through teachers and principals in Ogdensburg when I served as Assistant Superintendent of Schools. Now, I have the opportunity in our parish to bring a knowledge and love of Christ to others. I have been blessed a hundred-fold by God. My deep love of the Eternal Father, my growing trust in Divine Providence, and an awareness of the Holy Spirit alive and active in my life have carried me through these many years.

Sister Anne McKeon

Sister Anne McKeon With deep gratitude, prayer and joy, I thank my family, my Grey Nun community and all who have enriched my life’s journey. During my 60 years as a Grey Nun, I have spent time in the classroom and in the parish as a Pastoral Associate. In response to God’s call to me, I have tried to develop in myself and my students and co-workers a deep sensitivity for the oppressed and those treated unjustly and so to be an instrument of God’s healing presence. I pray that each of us become our Father’s vision for us, in Jesus through the Spirit. Alleluia!

Sister Mary Courts

Sister Mary Courts As I reflect on 50 years as a Grey Nun, I realize how blessed I am. I am grateful for my parents who nurtured me and for the Community’s support for me in later years. I cherish the many friends I have made over the years and marvel at the opportunities Divine Providence guided me through. I am most grateful for people who have helped me grow spiritually and develop a closer relationship with God. May Marguerite’s spirit continue with me over the years!

Sister Mary Lee Farrell

Sister Mary Lee Farrell In many ways, I find it hard to believe that 50 years have passed. Time and grace have unfolded my life in ways and places and people I would never have foreseen. I have never been bored, but often surprised. I have never been more sure that I was in charge than just before a major crisis. I welcome Jubilee as a time to rejoice in all that has been and look forward with great enthusiasm to whatever surprises await in the next 50 years! Cry, Jubilee!

Sister Rita Lewandowski

Sister Rita LewandowskiWhat matters to God and to others is who we are and what is at the center of our hearts and lives. I entered religious life because I wanted God to be the center of my life. As I approach this 50th Jubilee, I am still on this quest and this cannot be taken from me. I am grateful to God for my vocation and to the Grey Nuns for my portion in our incredible, beautiful communal life together.

Sister Donna Lord

Sister Donna Lord It was an amazing time. To enter religious life after high school seemed quite natural. My motivation was to be close to God. Religious life has given me opportunities for spiritual deepening and for ministries that helped others find God in their lives. Our lives as religious women have been given to God in service to those in need. To share life with this group of sisters, each with great souls as well as quirks and foibles, has been enriching and encouraging. I thank God for the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart and my 50 years as a Grey Nun. May we continue to be a blessing to all we meet!

Sister Rita Margraff

Sister Rita Margraff Jubilee is a time to remember and a time to envision the future. I remember how my God has “carried me all along my journey until I arrived at this place” in my life. I began the journey with loving parents, have been surrounded by a loving and expanding family, have known the love and companionship of cherished friends and sisters in community. My heart is filled with gratitude for my 50 years as a Grey Nun of the Sacred Heart. I look forward to wherever the journey may lead in the future - knowing that God will walk with me.

Sister Catherine McGrady

Sister Catherine McGady Thank you, for supporting me, toward this 50th Jubilee: God’s Providence, religious loving mother, fun-loving musician father, courageous resilient sister, talented generous nephew, spunky affectionate niece, precious great-nephew and great-nieces, longtime friends, dedicated teachers, Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, inter-community Sisters, and co-workers. Because of you, I continue to believe that God is Love. I pray we continue to be: positive, optimistic, affirming, forgiving, just, peaceful, and accepting.

Sister Delores Ann O'Dowd

Sister Dolores Ann O’Dowd Jubilee! Celebration! Liberation! I look back with gratitude for the many people in these 50 years whose lives, intertwining with mine, have so enriched me - Grey Nuns, family, friends, those with whom and among whom ministry has called me. Looking forward, I hope to continue empowering others so that together we will bring true Gospel liberation to light and to reality in our world.

Sister Kathleen Purser

Sister Kathleen Purser The journey over these 50 years, always guided by a Providential Companion, has been one of many blessings, special friendships and treasured experiences. Never would I have imagined where the Spirit would lead me! I have felt the hand of God prodding me, supporting me, enriching me and affirming me through the various people whose paths crossed mine. With each new ministry came the wisdom of the past and a call to stretch in new directions and always the companionship of special people, both Grey Nuns and others, who journeyed with me to be God’s presence to the people we served. How blessed I have been!

Sister Denise Roche

Sister Denise Roche My life has been filled with beautiful and unanticipated surprises. One was returning to D’Youville College which I had loved as a student before entering the Grey Nuns. The people I have met, Grey Nuns and others, who have loved, supported, encouraged and challenged me brought me to a closer relationship with God. The events, people and circumstances of my life led me to see God in a myriad of ways and in the eyes of others, many of whom are unrecognized in our world. All in the D’Youville College community, particularly the students, are constant reminders of Marguerite’s mission of love of God and service to neighbor. I thank God for the journey of these 50 years!

Sister Jean Scharf

Sister Jean Scharf I am grateful to God for my call to religious life as a Grey Nun of the Sacred Heart. As I reflect on these 50 years, I am reminded of the refrain from the song, Companions on the Journey by Carey Landry. “We are companions on the journey, breaking bread and sharing life; and in the love we bear is the hope we share for we believe in the love of our God, we believe in the love of our God.”