Associating with loving Provident God not just for adults

“You don’t need to be an adult to want to associate yourself with a loving Provident God.”
A reflection on the Commitment and Recommitment of Providence Associates

Providence Associate Jen and her 10-year-old son, Evan.

Ten-year-old Evan Drake watched his mother and grandmother recommit themselves as Associates of the Sisters of Providence on Saturday, Nov. 9 — for the fourth time.

He was proud of that fact — that he was participating in the fourth such ceremony. His aunt is also a Providence Associate and his father was welcomed as a Candidate-Associate in October, so there are probably a few more trips to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in Evan’s future.

When asked if he might be a Providence Associate himself someday, he was quick to nod in the affirmative. And when told that would make him the third generation of Providence Associates in his family, he immediately turned to his grandmother and whispered that when he had a son, he also could be a Providence Associate and that would be another generation.

Thank you Evan Drake for reminding me, reminding all of us, that you don’t need to be an adult to want to associate yourself with a loving Provident God or to be part of a group that commits itself to communicating that God’s providential care to others through works of love, mercy and justice.

No doubt Evan’s family has played a large part in his faith development and in his knowing a loving God. But I would like to give his association with the Sisters of Providence some credit!

He can’t have missed how genuinely excited people seem to be about being Associates, about being part of something bigger than themselves, about knowing that the unity they share with the Sisters of Providence and other Associates through this relationship enables them to be better people and to have an impact on life as they know it.

The Providence Associate pin.

And I know he didn’t miss how proud Associates are of being Associates and of wearing the symbol of this relationship — a slender gold Chi X Rho P (Greek letters for Christ) superimposed upon a circle in a small pin, taken right from the official Sisters of Providence white enamel cross. I know that because when his mom took him to the Gift Shop at the Woods on Saturday he picked out a small cross for himself. He was still wearing it long after the ceremony.

And my guess is, he’ll be wearing it or some similar symbol of his faith until he receives his very own Associate Cross. I sure hope I am there to participate in that ceremony.