News & Events

 

Sister Elizabeth McGill Professes Vows

by Sister Mary Elaine Anderson, IHM

Risk everything for God's dream!

LizMcGill-MaryElaineAnderson
Sisters Liz McGill and
Mary Elaine Anderson

LizMcGill

Maroney-Faliskie-McGill-Sanders
Sisters Ellen Maroney, Mary Kay Faliskie, Liz McGill
and Annmarie Sanders

Maroney-Faliskie-Sanders-McGill

On Sunday, September 26, 2021, Sister Elizabeth Ann McGill professed temporary vows of chastity, poverty and obedience in Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel in the presence of family, friends, IHM sisters and women religious of various congregations. At the beginning of the Eucharistic celebration, Sister Ellen Maroney, President of the IHM Congregation, warmly greeted Sister Liz’s guests. She spoke of the community’s joy at welcoming into the IHM Congregation a new member who comes with such an incredible energy and passion for religious life.

During the ceremony, Sister Ellen asked Sister Liz this question: What do you ask of God, of this congregation and of the Church? In her response, Sister Liz expressed her deepest desires and longings:

    “I long to co-create with Trinity… The mission of bringing the redeeming love of Jesus into the world is what I am called to do… Loving God, may I find you each day in the brokenness and the beauty of our world… all I need is your love and grace.”

    “I ask the Church to be open to new understandings, to embrace women as equal partners in Church and society…to join in solidarity with migrants, immigrants, refugees, and victims of human trafficking, seeking with them a more just and inclusive world. I ask the Church to strive to bring the love of God to all, be a Church that honors love in all forms…”

    “I ask you, my community and all the sisters present, to stand with me as we search for prophetic ways to live our vowed life in a world hungering for justice and meaning… let us lead paths of non-violence and work for systemic change… be willing to be a bridge from the lived structures of the past into the new, our emerging future. Choose to be inclusive of one another, expand your group, your circles. Join me, as we actively join with others. Let us embrace our vulnerability and step into communal discernment. Together, let’s risk everything for God’s dream.”

Sister Mary Elaine Anderson, the Director of Novices, stated that Sister Liz’s desire to deepen her relationship with God and her eagerness to expand her circle of relationships are the fertile soil needed for the something new that is emerging to spring up in religious life. She attested to Sister Liz’s willingness to live a vowed life that is intergenerational, intercultural and inter-congregational and her readiness to be a Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and also a sister to all women religious who, at this moment in time, desire to move boldly into the future together.

In her reflection following the gospel, Sister Janet Mock, CSJ, reminded us that it is what we are willing to risk for love that makes all the difference in our lives. She said that Sister Liz’s choice to profess vows as a woman religious is all about her love for God, God’s people and the mission of the IHM Congregation. She urged us to engage with the challenges that Sister Liz had expressed in her response to Sister Ellen’s question. She urges us to live fully the lives that we have been given and to risk everything for God’s dream.

Following her temporary profession of vows, Sister Liz will continue to live with Sisters Jean Louise Bachetti, Catherine Luxner and Eleanor Mary Marconi. Sister Liz will remain in her ministry at Marywood University where she currently is the Interim Executive Director of Student Services. Sister Suzanne Delaney has been appointed by Sister Ellen and the Leadership Team as the person who will accompany Sister Liz through her years of temporary vows. Let us pray for Sister Liz as she begins her years of preparation for perpetual profession.

Profession of Vows Liturgy: https://video.ibm.com/recorded/130955167