The Year for Consecrated Life
November 2014 – February 2016

Holy Child Sisters awake each day with a mission — to help others believe that God lives and acts in them and our world and to rejoice in God’s presence. With the motto, Actions Not Words, the Sisters spring into “action” to annually serve well over 10,000 people of all faiths, races, and socio-economic backgrounds through their educational, social justice, healing and spiritual ministries on four continents.

As the Church celebrates The Year of Consecrated Life in 2014-2015, Holy Child Sisters are attuned to Pope Francis’ call for consecrated life to “wake up the world” and “be witnesses of a different way of doing things, of acting, of living.” The American Province’s vocation office embraces the Pope’s message and has initiated new ways to make the Church more inviting, especially for younger people.

Director of vocations, Anita Quigley, SHCJ, explains that she and a group Sisters meet with people wherever they are — geographically, spiritually, professionally, and emotionally — and assist them in exploring their vocational calling, albeit a life of consecrated life or not. Sister Anita shares, “We go and see people. We pray and listen, and we ask people to be open to God’s call and respond with an open heart. For some, this means working in the corporate world or being married. For others, this means taking religious vows. The most important part is giving witness to our Catholic faith. And the Holy Child Sisters are here to support them.”

In honor of The Year of Consecrated Life, the Province’s vocation office has expanded their plans to attract women to consecrated life. Through social media, print, personal witness, retreats, and gatherings, the Society wants to convey that being a Sister brings inner peace and joy to oneself and others. The Holy Child Sisters are a community of women rooted in faith, hope, peace, respect, and action.

Incorporating the Pope’s position that “formation is a work of art, not a police action,” Sister Anita creatively develops a job description for a Holy Child Sister using probing questions:

• Do you want to add meaning to your life?
• Are you drawn to peace and compassion? Are you concerned for justice in the world?
• Is family important to you? Do you want to belong to a community that is centered on hope and action?
• Do you enjoy working with children? Are you interested in serving the poor?
• Do you want to awake each day helping others to believe that God lives in acts them and our world and to rejoice in God’s presence?

If “yes,” contact the Society of the Holy Child Jesus. Salary and benefits are divine. Life-long benefits include joy, community support, and reverence, and dignity.

“When the calling is there,” says Sister Anita, “who wouldn’t want to wake up every day as a Holy Child Sister? It’s a meaningful life full of goodness and good people.”

Sister Nancy Bello-Nunez and Sister Anita Quigley

For information on vocations in the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, please contact Sr. Anita Quigley in the American Province at (610) 626-1400, ext. 304.