Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sr. Mary Teresa Bettag Professes Perpetual Vows

Sister JulieAnn Sheahan

July 17, 2023

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Community Director Sister Natalie Binversie congratulates Sister Mary Teresa Bettag on the morning of her Perpetual Profession of Vows, July 16, 2023. We share Sister Natalie’s words at a special breakfast in our Holy Family Convent cafeteria along with a few images from the actual 2 p.m. Eucharistic liturgy. Expect more coverage of this blessed day.

Good morning on this Perpetual Profession Morning for Sister Mary Teresa Bettag! We rejoice with you, Sister Mary Teresa, that this day has finally come!

The title you chose as a Postulant to be your inspiration was, Daughter Zion. How fitting that this was the first Scripture reading last Sunday as you began the week of Retreat with our Lord. This gave you pause to reflect on the meaning of your Perpetual Profession.

Religious Consecration is Baptismal Consecration lived more deeply. At your Baptism, you were named Mary, in honor of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord. She is also Daughter and Spouse. Women religious are called to show the beauty and self-giving of a person’s capacity to love as a Mother. As Daughter, one’s dignity lies in how much we are loved by God. It is God who calls a woman religious to be Spouse, Bride of Christ, Spouse of the Holy Spirit. To be Daughter Zion is to be that chosen people personified. Mary, the Mother of God, is model and guide.

The Scripture readings for today, the fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary time, have us considering the cycle of life. In Isaiah, we hear that snow and rain come to water the earth to make it fertile and fruitful. So, too, God’s word comes to us and it does not return to Him until His will is done and achieves the end for which He sent it. In his Letter to the Romans Paul expects some form of total transformation of both the entire human race and the actual material world according to God’s plan. We wait in hope for its arrival. The Gospel for today is the Parable of the Sower. The sower represents God spreading His Word. Some hear and respond. Some people hear for a while and others do not hear at all.

As we go forth from this day of celebrating the profession of the Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, may we carry with us the deep desire in our heart to live in hope. May we listen as Mary the Mother of Jesus did. May the Holy Spirit direct us to see, listen and understand how we bring God’s Word to fulfillment in our life every day.

Thank you, Sister Mary Teresa for listening to and responding to God’s call to you to be Mother, Daughter, Bride of Christ, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, as a consecrated woman religious in this Congregation of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity. Thank you for being a model for us in responding in trust and in hope with great love to the commitment to fulfill God’s plan.

Congratulations and God bless you. In gratitude for the gift of your life, we recognize the blessing that your parents and family have been in your life. Enjoy this day with your Sisters, your Family and your Friends!

Article Comments:

Fr. Placid Stroik, OFM 07/17/2023 @ 2:16 pm

That it will never come again
Is what makes life so sweet. Emily Dickinson

And then
there is this:
if you had
not come
into this world
just as you are,
and just in the way
you came,
could anyone
anywhere
ever
have lived your life
in your stead?
David Whyte, p.54 Still Possible

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Sr. Sharon Paul, O.S.F. 07/18/2023 @ 8:01 am

Congratulations, Sr. Mary Teresa on this your Profession to your Creator, God. You have chosen a special life filled with many challenges but graces & blessings as well. We, here at Cambridge, OH are blessed to have THREE Seminarians here to work with for two months. We usually have just one per Summer. God’s graces & do have a enriched year out West with your Sisters! A PRAYER for you!
Keep those track students TRUCKIN’!

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