Meet Providence Associate Gene Majewski

Tell us about your life so far?

I just completed 16 years at Guerin College Prep High School in River Grove, Illinois. I am a theology teacher, campus minister and service mentor. I was involved in parish ministry and youth retreats before coming to Guerin.

What first drew you to the Providence Associate relationship?

Having taught at Guerin for five years, Sister Kay Manley, SP, approached me about becoming a Providence Associate. Ever since my first trip to the Woods, I was taken with Saint Mother Theodore and the charism and mission of the Sisters of Providence. The associate relationship seemed to be the next logical step. Sister Adelaide Ortegel (RIP) was my companion sister. I had met Sister Adelaide when she brought Guerin girls on Kairos retreats at what was then Resurrection Center in Woodstock, Illinois. I was in the first group of associates 10 years ago. I have since felt responsible to make sure the charism and mission of the Sisters of Providence are present in the life of the school.

Tell about your experience as a candidate associate.

My meetings with Sister Adelaide were a blessing each time. Because of our previous relating on retreats, our meetings were very comfortable. The spirituality expressed in our meetings fit so well in my personal spirituality; I felt I was being called in the right direction.

How do you live out your commitment to the Providence Associate relationship?

Gene Majewski prays during a meeting with sisters and Providence Associates.

Being at a Sister of Providence sponsored ministry makes living out my associate relationship easy. I am surrounded with opportunities to exercise the values of love, justice and mercy with our students in the classroom, in campus ministry, and by encouraging service opportunities to young people.

What does being a Providence Associate mean to you?

I have been a person who has always appreciated working with others in a community context. Being in relationship with the Sisters of Providence allows a mutual support in mission at the school and beyond.

What is your favorite part of being a Providence Associate?

The monthly Circle meetings, the annual associate meeting, the annual sisters meetings or chapters. And the opportunity to serve the mission of the sisters.

What are your hopes for the future of the Providence community?

Gene, at right, visits with, from left, Sisters Claire Hanson, Jeanne Hagelskamp and Anji Fan at a social event for sisters and associates.

Now that the associate relationship has reached the 10-year mark and with the number of associates increasing, I think that it is a fertile time for associates to take an even more active role in the mission of the sisters. I also think that perhaps associates and sisters can begin to think of sharing community by living in ministry groups to serve the mission of the community.

What do you look forward to as you begin serving on the Providence Associate advisory board?

I find it a humbling opportunity to help deepen and expand the relationship with the sisters. It is also an opportunity to serve the associates in a more direct way by continuing to deepen and develop our relationships with the sisters well into the future.

Learn more about walking with the Sisters of Providence as a Providence Associate. Is God calling you?