The bond of friendship leads to lives as sisters

Having a good friend become a religious sister can be a great way to explore your own calling. This was the case for two of our newest Sisters of Providence (SPs).

Sister Emily TeKolste who entered the Sisters of Providence in 2016 became interested in joining the Congregation after sharing in the experience of a friend who joined first.

Sisters Tracey and Emily

Sisters Tracey Horan and Emily TeKolste

Sisters Emily and Tracey Horan met in 2013 at the Catholic Worker House in Indianapolis. Tracey had finished an internship with White Violet Center for Eco-Justice, a ministry of the Sisters of Providence, and had decided to enter the Congregation. While completing the SP entrance process, Tracey found full-time ministry work with the Indy Hunger Network, which helps all people gain access to nutritious food.

Tracey rented a room down the street from the Catholic Worker House and asked to join the residents Wednesday nights for dinner. This is where she met Emily.

Emily wrote in her blog about that time, “When I heard there was a future sister wanting to join the community, I kind of rolled my eyes. Who joins the nunnery these days, especially someone who wants to work in social justice?”

Tracey remembers, “Emily greeted me but I think she was a bit leery.”

Tracey kept showing up and she and Emily discovered that they both liked to run. They began running together before work, to train for a half marathon.

“Emily wasn’t used to talking with a buddy while running, so I ended up doing most of the talking. I shared my experiences of the discernment process and working with my spiritual guide, Sister Carole Kimes,” Tracey said. “I never put it together that it was something that Emily would consider. She was a friend who was accompanying me through this year of tough questions.”

Emily began asking Tracey questions about faith, God and life as a woman religious. Emily says she had first thought about religious life in high school but “not in any serious way.”

“Tracey invited me to a Come and See Weekend and we had a lot of fun — I fit right in,” said Emily. “I actually came away from the weekend at peace about not pursuing religious life. Something wasn’t right. So I began looking at the Providence Associates” (a group of non-vowed women and men who desire a deeper relationship with the Sisters of Providence.)

Tracey didn’t want to “color the process” for Emily, she said. “I didn’t want to pressure Emily but I could see a light and energy in her and I wanted her to be happy. We were close but she needed to do the work on her own. I had to stay out of the way.”

Tracey entered the Sisters of Providence in 2014. Emily’s Providence Associate Companion, also Sister Carole Kimes, encouraged her to visit and consider other religious communities. Emily did.

While on a trip to Guatemala to visit her sister, Emily was overwhelmed with certainty that she was going to be a sister and she needed to move forward with it. After visiting other communities, Emily realized that she didn’t feel the same connection with them that she did with the Sisters of Providence. Today, Emily is in her second year with the Sisters of Providence.

(Originally published in the Winter 2018 issue of HOPE magazine.)