Sister Barbara Battista: What does it mean to you to be a Catholic Sister today?

Note: Here is the ninth blog in our series celebrating Catholic Sisters Week, which concludes on March 14, 2020. During the week, many sisters will share here on our blog what being a sister means to them. Sister Barbara Battista has written the ninth of such blog posts below.

Justice is What Love Looks Like in Public – Cornel West

When I sit with the question, “what does it mean to me to be a Catholic Sister,” the quote from Cornel West comes to mind. Living a common life centered in the Gospel virtues of poverty, chastity, and obedience has opened and stretched me beyond my wildest imaginings.

As a Sister of Providence, I made, and reconfirm quite regularly, public vows within the Catholic Church. These vows describe a life of service, service to neighbor near and far. I experience this life of service as a call to love without limits.

We now consider Providence Associates, Sisters of Providence, Providence staff, White Violet Center, Providence Health Care, and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College as part of our Providence Community. What a powerful witness for good we can be! I am so blessed to have these partners in this journey of seeking to be love, to be mercy, and to be justice in our world.

I will close with another quote, this time from Saint Catherine of Siena, a powerful woman of the church whose life teaches me, perhaps us, that speaking truth to power is an act of love! Here’s the quote:

“Be who God meant you to be and you’ll set the world on fire.”

Amen, May It Be So!