Sister Mary Catherine Keene

Sister Mary Catherine Keene passed away on Saturday, July 20, 2024, at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. She was 85-years-old and had been a Sister of Providence for 67 years.

Commentary

By Sister Marie McCarthy, SP

My life flows on in endless song above Earth’s lamentations.
I feel the real, though far off song, that hails a new creation.
No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since Love is Lord of heaven and Earth, How can I keep from singing?
How can I keep from singing?

How, indeed? For Mary Catherine, it was simply impossible. Her entire life was one continuous song – from beginning to end. It will surprise no one who knew Mary Catherine that “How Can I Keep from Singing?” was her favorite song.

Nor that her favorite readings from scripture included the passages:
“I came that you may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10),

“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord and holding fast to him for that will mean life to you …” (Deuteronomy 31:19),

“I am sure of this much, that the one who began the good work in you will carry it through to competition” (Philippians 1-6), and

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in speech.” (Romans 8:26).

Can’t you just see and feel Mary Catherine in each of these passages as well as in the song?

The song of her life began when Esther Josephine Keene was born to Bernard and Esther Roberts Keene on December 20, 1938, in Indianapolis. She was joined three-and-a-half years later by her sister Mary whom she loved dearly. Mary describes Mary Catherine as a really good big sister, letting her tag along wherever she went.

Mary Catherine attended St. Thomas Aquinas grade school and St. Agnes Academy in Indianapolis, and entered the Congregation on February 2, 1957. She professed first vows on August 15, 1959, and perpetual vows on August 15, 1964.

Mary Catherine completed a bachelor’s degree in music education, a master’s degree in music and a master’s degree in theological studies – all of which she put to extraordinary use throughout her rich ministerial life, which included:

• Teaching music first at St. Mary’s grade school in Aurora, Illinois, and then at Guerin High School in River Grove, Illinois,
• Serving as part of the team of educators at St. Ann’s school in Terre Haute, integrating music and fine arts throughout the curriculum,
• Heading liturgy departments, first for the Diocese of Memphis, Tennessee, and later for St. Margaret Mary Parish in Algonquin, Illinois,
• Serving one term on the provincial leadership team for St. Gabriel Province and simultaneously caring for her aging mother, and
• Ministering as an activity director while continuing to care for her mother for a number of years – first at A Caring Place in Indianapolis and then as activity director for our sisters living in Owens Hall and, later, those living in Providence Hall.

The song of Mary Catherine’s life played out in differing ways through each of these ministries. If we listen to how various people describe Mary Catherine, we will hear several themes or motifs repeated throughout.

Her friends, her ministry partners, her band members and her family all describe Mary Catherine as incredibly creative, artistic, warm, friendly, bubbly and filled with boundless imagination.

As Sister Jeremy Gallet put it, “She was a true Renaissance woman who had an enormous ability to think outside the box.” In fact, Jeremy wrote, “I doubt if she knew there actually was a box!”

Her band member, Sister Sharon Richards, said of her that she was “like her favorite flower, the Sunflower. She seemed to spread sunshine herself.”

And Sister Susan Dinnin recalled how her heartwarming laughter made the day a better one for everyone at A Caring Place.

Sister Mary Catherine loved life and loved it passionately. From her earliest years, she was completely enthralled and fascinated by life in all its forms – from the tiny chicks and the horses on the farm, to the dogs and cats and the weeds and plants. This fascination with life remained with her throughout her life and was evident in recent years, when she had moved to health care. Even there, she regularly watched out the window, delighting in the play of the squirrels, the leaves dancing in the trees or the birds coming to the bird feeder. In fact, when you went to visit with her, you were likely to find yourself drawn into a delightful conversation about the antics of the squirrels at play. These conversations frequently ended with a big belly laugh.

Sister Mary Catherine was a woman who brought life to others in so many ways. She shared her love of beauty and her creativity everywhere she went and encouraged and invited out the creativity in others.

Her friend, Father Bob Karris, whom Sister Mary Catherine met when she was studying at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, spoke of her as a wonderful, multi-talented right-brainer who helped him see the beauty of nature, art, music and people. Her recalls an afternoon walk one spring day from the school building over to Lake Michigan. “As we were walking along, and I was talking non-stop about the meaning of Luke’s Gospel, Mary Catherine would say: ‘Bob, look at that beautiful flower.’ Or, ‘Isn’t Lake Michigan just spectacular today?! Look at those little kids playing and enjoying the water.’ I finally got the message and opened my eyes to the wonders all around me.”

She offered her gifts freely to her family and friends, to the community, and to those she served in ministry. Her niece Sheila recalls how, when Sister Mary Catherine would come to visit, she would engage Sheila and her brothers in some adventurous and creative undertaking. One time, when Sheila and her brothers were visiting Mary Catherine at St. Ann’s convent in Terre Haute, Mary Catherine took them all over to the school encouraging them to play with the multitude of musical instruments and the art materials throughout the building. Sheila remembers they made a mighty racket while having a great good time. She also spoke of the many interesting and unusual decorative pieces, often handmade, throughout their home, that came from Sister Mary Catherine. She spoke of how, often, when in her mother and father’s home, she would look at something and say, “Oh, that came from Mary Catherine.”

Sister Mary Catherine offered her creative gifts freely in community and ministry, regularly creating numerous beautiful rituals and prayer services over the years. One of her contributions was working with the team of four Sisters of Providence who created a Charism Retreat for the Congregation in preparation for the celebration of our Sesquicentennial. It was one of Sister Mary Catherine’s great joys to be able to travel to Taiwan to guide our sisters there in this retreat.

In the prayers, retreats and rituals that she so lovingly prepared for us, she regularly encouraged us to use all of our senses in our prayer, thus earning her the nickname, “smells and bells.”

If Sister Mary Catherine was a lover of life, she was also a lover of people. She was everybody’s best friend, welcoming others with a warm hospitality and generous embrace. She received each person exactly as that person was, not trying to change them. She just loved them and tried to support them.

She was always attentive to the needs of others making sure that no one felt left out. Sister Donna Butler recounts a memory of her days at St. Ann’s school. There was a young child with a medical condition that prevented her from going out to play at recess. Sister Mary Catherine, seeing the situation, began giving her private music lessons at noontime so that she would not feel left out.

Sister Mary Catherine wanted everyone to feel included, loved, cherished. Sister Susan Dinnin recounts that while ministering with Mary Catherine at A Caring Place, a new client started coming for care. He was a gentleman in his late 60s with advanced Parkinson’s disease. Sister Mary Catherine noticed his giftedness in art and took him to a distant mall to observe an artist who did sketching. After this, the center purchased paper and materials to get him started, and, over the next six years this gentleman developed his technique and completed several hundred sketches of participants, to the delight of many.

If Mary Catherine couldn’t keep from singing, she also couldn’t keep herself from helping out someone in need, like the time Sister Janet Gilligan got stranded at the Indianapolis airport due to a canceled flight. Sister Mary Catherine dropped everything to go and rescue her.

She made sure that the sisters had movies to watch on the weekends – spending long hours reviewing the films often falling asleep in the midst of her reviewing and having to start over.

When Sister Adelaide Ortegal’s health began to decline and she was in need of support – Sister Mary Catherine was right there. And, as Sister Marianne Mader’s health was failing, Mary Catherine began assisting her with various needs, seeing her through to her death.

Even in her own declining years, when she had moved to long term care, she kept looking for the little things she could do to help another out, stopping to chat or to cheer someone up, picking up things they had dropped, seeing if they had what they needed at the dinner table.

Sister Mary Catherine’s own final years were, at times, difficult for her. The pandemic with its accompanying lock downs and isolation took a great toll on her gregarious and outgoing spirit. Yet even here her imagination and her lack of knowledge that “there was a box,” came to her rescue as she began eating her meals sitting in the doorway of her room properly distanced from others and visiting with Sister Rosemary Ward whose room was kitty corner across the hall.

Sister Mary Catherine’s loss of hearing was another great hardship for her. It made it impossible for her to sing with a group as she couldn’t hear if she was in tune or not. And she had great difficulty following a conversation. Even in this trial, however, her great sense of humor shone through, when she would realize the difference between what had been said and what she had heard and break into gales of laughter.

Perhaps the most difficult trial for Sister Mary Catherine was her own cognitive decline. She would speak of the “brain fog” she was experiencing, of trying to figure out just what was happening, of trying to find the connections between words and thoughts. And, even then, her zest for life remained intact. Not infrequently, when Sister Marsha would take Sister Mary Catherine out for some appointment or other, as they were ready to head back, Mary Catherine would turn to Marsha and say, “let’s stop and get something to eat.”

What sustained Mary Catherine through all the good times and difficult times was her deep and intimate relationship with God – this was the very heart of the song that was her life and it began early in life. Sister Mary Catherine, herself, when being interviewed for the Congregation publication, All Things Possible, recalled as a young child her mother saying to her, “Listen to me! God is with you everywhere, all the time, even in the dark.” She goes on to comment that early in life, she latched on to “my ‘God in the dark,’ who filled my days with seasonal rhythms of birthing and dying, planting and harvesting … I loved to roam freely, knowing I was safe in the ever present company of God …”

In her journals, Sister Mary Catherine addresses God, The Holy One, with great affection as Mon Dieu. In one entry, she wrote, “Mon Dieu, I surrender into Your embrace … You are enfolding my Am … You are. I am in Your are.” She knew that the Holy One lived in and through her just as she lived in and through the Holy One.

All of these themes and motifs came together in Sister Mary Catherine’s dying. In a conversation we had years ago, she said to me, “I think dying is a lot like being born. When you’re in the womb, it’s nice and cozy and you have everything you need. Why would you want to leave? You resist being born because you can’t imagine anything better. I think death is like that. We have a hard time imagining something better so we resist dying.”

As Sister Mary Catherine was dying, I found myself wondering if she was slow to leave us because she loved life so much. I got my answer when I came across this response she wrote to the question, “What matters most to you at the end of your life?” She wrote, “I really haven’t done much planning on dying because I am too busy living each day!”

Well, Mary Catherine, you were indeed busy living each day right up to the end. And now you have lived your way into a new reality so much richer and fuller than even you could imagine.

Now, you can just sing and sing and sing.

We will miss your physical presence with us desperately. And we know we will hear the song that is you continuing to sing through our days. Thank you for choosing life. Thank you for choosing love. Thank you for bringing so much beauty, joy, light, love, laughter and music into our lives. Sing on, my friend. Sing on!

Funeral Information

Funeral services for Sister Mary Catherine took place on Thursday, August 8, and Friday, August 9, in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

A Wake took place from 2:30-4:30 p.m., on Thursday, August 8. Mass of Christian Burial was at 11 a.m., on Friday, August 9.

Memorial contributions may be made in honor of Sister Mary Catherine to the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

We welcome you to share your memories of Sister Mary Catherine in the comment section below.

Sister Mary Catherine Keene

Complete Ministry

In Illinois: Teacher, St. Mary, Aurora (1961-65); Teacher, Mother Theodore Guerin High School, River Grove (1965-71); Liturgical Director, St. Margaret Mary Parish, Algonquin (1981-86).

In Indiana: Teacher, St. Ann, Terre Haute (1971-77); Provincial Councilor, St. Gabriel Province, Indianapolis (1986-90); Retreat Ministry, Indianapolis (1992-94); Retreat Ministry/Activities Assistant, A Caring Place Adult Day Care, Indianapolis (1994-95); Activities Assistant, A Caring Place Adult Day Care, Indianapolis (1995-98); Music and Art Specialist, A Caring Place Adult Day Care, Indianapolis (1999-2005); Special Program for Memory-Loss Residents, Lakeview Manor Health Care, Indianapolis (2005-08); Activities Coordinator for Providence and Owens Hall, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (2008-15); Activities Coordinator for Providence Hall, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (2015-17); Residential Service, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (2017-21); Providence Health Care Visitor, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (2021-24).

In Tennessee: Co-Director of Liturgy, Diocese of Memphis, Memphis (1979-80); Director of Department of Liturgy, Diocese of Memphis, Memphis (1980-81).