Back to News
by New Windsor Presentation Sister Mary Catherine Redmond
Often when I am asked who I am and I respond, “I am a Presentation Sister” I am met with a blank stare. Unless you went to a “Presentation School” or know the Sisters in some way, Presentation Sister often carries little meaning of who we are as Presentation Sisters and Associates. Unlike the Sister of Charity or Mercy or the Dominican Sisters of Peace, our name does not speak our charism – charity, mercy, peace. When asked what our charism is, I frequently find myself putting together an explanation of our outreach to the poor, our involvement in education, health care, social services, etc. Yet when asked to describe who we are as Presentation Sisters, often the word hospitality is used to describe who we are. Those who stay with us frequently comment on being made to feel “at home.”
This past Christmas, in the wake of our presidential election and the custom of posada – welcoming in, I reflected a great deal of time on the difference between bringing the light of Christ out and welcoming in. I realized that when I bring the light of Christ to others, often I do it on my terms, in my way, in my time. That is a great thing and no one would ever fault me for bringing the light of Christ to others. However, when I welcome in, I open myself to the unknown. What will be the need? What will be asked of me? What else might I have scheduled or want to do at that time? When I “welcome in” I am vulnerable, I will change because of the interaction. Welcoming in may call me to give someone my coat – which I really need and love, when I wanted to give my shoes – because I had another pair at home or they hurt my feet. Welcoming in will call me to go places that stretch me, challenge me and ultimately grace me because I have met Christ there. How we encounter Christ is different in the vulnerability of welcoming in.
Presentation Sisters and Presentation Associates are people of hospitality. We welcome in those we meet each day and we have centuries of experience welcoming in. In the spirit of Nano Nagle, we have welcomed in the lost student, the troubled parent, the parishioner seeking a place, the woman needing a place to stay. What are the places and times you have welcomed in? Who are the people you welcome in daily? Our sisters, the staff, the poor, the student, the parishioner?
At this point in our history, our world needs the charism of Presentation Sisters and Associates. Nano was radical in her welcoming in. She welcomed in all to her heart. A heart aflame with the love of Christ to bring justice, freedom, human dignity to her world. In Nano’s footsteps, our radical hospitality welcomes in the lost, broken, uneducated, sick and those looking for a place to belong. We do it daily and are called to continue to be vulnerable in our welcoming in. This is our gift to the world. It has been given to us to pass on to others so that for centuries to come to love of Christ, taught to us in the ministry of Nano is our mission.
In hospitality, we welcome in.