The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are a community of vowed Catholic women religious. Inspired by our foundress Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, we are passionate about our lives of prayer, education, service and advocacy.
Reconnect or find new opportunities with the Providence Community. Volunteer in one of our many ministries, be an intern on the farm, explore job opportunities or reminisce about your alma mater.
Live joyfully! Single, Catholic women ages 18-42 are invited to explore a fulfilling life as a Sister of Providence. All women and men of faith are invited to join the family of Providence as Providence Associates.
The 2025 incoming Providence Associates were welcomed by the Providence Community during the Rite of Commitment and Renewal Mass and Ceremony on Saturday, October 11, 2025. New Associates include (front, from left) Jessena Goddard and Beth Purcell, (second row) Katherine Ryan, Molly Burke Leon, Sheila Hussey and Madonna Buchanan, (third row) Kimberly Tabor, Deborah Way, Martha Sullivan and Helen Killeen, (fourth row) with General Superior Sister Dawn Tomaszewski, Providence Associate Director Debbie Dillow and General Councilor Sister Anne Therese Falkenstein.
For quite some time now, I have thought that this liturgy, with its rite of first commitment and the renewal of commitments, is among the most important experiences we share as a total Providence Community.
I believe strongly in its importance — AND, after reflecting on the first scripture reading selected for today and its admonition to be a cheerful giver, I have also decided that this particular liturgy is THE ultimate celebration of cheerful giving that anyone in the Providence Community could ever imagine. Just look at you, look at each other, and see what I see, what we see:
Generous spirits who have been sowing bountifully — all of your lives.
Let me recite a bit of a litany about our associates-elect. Oh, there is the usual stuff: you are mothers and daughters, wives and mothers-in-law, grandmas, aunts, sisters, and friends.
But you have also:
Shown hospitality to the differently able
Held healing writing circles for women in jail
Tutored people from Afghanistan
Serve as foster parents for animals in need of shelter
Help host a monthly “Wild Church”
Led widow/widower groups
Attended the canonization of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
And so much more …
You have survived:
Cancer
Difficult and abusive relationships
Issues with the institutional church
The death of your spouse
and only God knows what else …
Providence Associate Molli Burke Leon (left) speaks with Sister Marilu Covani.
Something in Common
But you all have something in common, whether you live here in the States or are among our wonderful Asian contingent of associates-elect this year. You desire to embody and reflect the mission and charism of Providence in your daily lives, to bring love, mercy, and justice into a world that cries out for our generous response. As one of you wrote, “There is much work to be done, and we need more hands to do it, not fewer. I offer mine.”
What I pray today for each of you is that this act of embracing the charism of Providence will be the enrichment you need to answer the call of which Paul speaks in that first reading: “You are being enriched in every way for all generosity.” Paul is telling us that God will always ask more of us and will provide what we need to accomplish good works.
You have responded to God’s ask, you have said yes to the more, through the work you have accomplished with your companion during the past year, and in your presence here today, where you will present the commitments you will keep over the next year.
A Commitment to God
And I want to be clear: those commitments are NOT made to us alone, although many of you will channel those good works through us and to us. Ultimately, your commitment is to God, however you know and love God.
Nancy Schreck, a Franciscan Sister of Dubuque, Iowa, who has spoken extensively about the Associate Relationship, says your commitment is also to the charism.
We know that a charism is a grace or gift of the Spirit given to us for the purpose of serving others and building up the entire community. For us, that community IS the Body of Christ. Theologian Bernard Lee calls charism a historical burst of energy.
As associates, you have your own vocation to this charism; you are not a subset of the Sisters of Providence. You stand alongside us in service to God and to the charism and mission God has gifted us with.
General Councilor Sister Anne Therese Falkenstein offered the welcome to the 2025 Providence Associates Rite of Commitment and Renewal Mass and Ceremony on Saturday, October 11, 2025.
The charism has claimed you just as it has claimed me, and our Provident God is counting on all of us to bring the mission of Providence to fulfillment. The mission has us.
Leaning on Each Other
And, of course, we lean on each other to deepen that belonging to Providence, to support each other’s efforts to be Providence in and for our world.
That is what makes this Associate Relationship so important. The mission needs us, and we need each other. Today, we have more hands and hearts to help make that happen.
Which brings me to the Gospel passage we heard from John today and the deeper commitment that Jesus invites all of us to.
We are to understand that Jesus’ words were spoken at the Last Supper, right after Judas, the betrayer, had left the table. Jesus had just washed the feet of his disciples, including Judas.
Once Judas leaves, Jesus delivers a speech about the Son of Man being glorified and God being glorified, which I am not sure the disciples really understood at the time. However, I do not think they could have missed Jesus’ final message:
“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”
Sister Barbara Sheehan singing.
Love is Required
Loving one another is not an optional component of our faith. It is a requirement. Or to put it in Jesus’ words: it is a commandment. And truly, it takes commitment.
On Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Leo XIV delivered his first apostolic exhortation, entitled, Dilexi Te” (dee-LEK-see tay) or “I have loved you.” The theme? “Love for the poor is not optional for Christians.”
He described “love for the poor in whatever form their poverty may take” as the hallmark of faithfulness to the heart of God. Like Pope Francis before him, Pope Leo declared: “There will be no peace as long as the poor and the planet are neglected and abused.”
A ‘Historical Burst of Energy’
I want us to remember Bernard Lee’s definition of charism as a historical burst of energy. I want the energy of our charism in this time to be united with that of Francis and Leo and all people of our day who seek love, mercy, and justice.
As you go about the work of being a Providence Associate, as you live out your commitment during the coming year, I want you, I want us to find a way to express love for the poor.
Pope Leo says that through our work, our efforts to change unjust social structures, or our simple, heartfelt gesture of closeness and support, the poor will come to realize that Jesus’ words are addressed personally to each of them, “I have loved you.”
Together, hand in hand, side by side, sisters and associates, let us love one another, sowing bountifully, sowing seeds of hope, sowing the energy of Providence for the life of the world.
Sister Dawn Tomaszewski was elected General Superior of the Sisters of Providence in 2016. She has been a Sister of Providence since 1975. Previously she ministered as a teacher, as communication and development director for the sisters and their ministries and as a member of elected leadership on the general council of the Sisters of Providence.
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