| Sister Mary Luellen is Having a Conversation with God | |
| It was when I was in grades seven and eight that God began talking
to me about being a Sister. I would sit during classes and just look
"hard" at my teachers, Sister Mary Lenore and Sister Mary Anthony, and
dream of being one of them – what would it be like to BE A SISTER? I believe my vocation to religious life was God calling me to a loving relationship with Jesus Christ and this divine initiative as also grown into a life-giving relationship with all God's people. Through the years I have become more and more aware of God gifting me in many ways. God's grace helps me to use the gifts He has given me, sharing freely with others. I met the Sisters of Notre Dame at St. Matthias School in Huntington Park. Then in high school I was a boarder at Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles and entered the convent in my senior year, graduating in 1956. |
 |
 |
I became an elementary school teacher after graduating from Mt. St.
Mary College, but in 1966 my teaching career ended abruptly when I was
asked to go to our Motherhouse in Rome, Italy. For seventeen years I
lived in Rome and assisted the Sister nurse in caring for the sick and
also served in the apostolate of prayer. I was one of twelve sisters
who took turns before the Blessed Sacrament, praying in perpetual
adoration for the needs of our sisters around the world and for all
intentions recommended to prayer. When I returned to California in 1983, I began study for my nursing license. I ministered in our Notre Dame Center in Thousand Oaks, caring for the sick and retired nurses. I also volunteered as a hospice nurse and at a free clinic. In 1996 I moved back to Los Angeles. God called me to a unique field of nursing at St. Vincent Medical Center where I minister as a Transplant Coordinator Nurse at the National Institute of Transplantation, specializing in patient care of kidney/pancreas transplant recipients. I feel privileged to minister to others as Jesus the healer did, compassionately caring for others. |
Every day as I talk to God in prayer, I
am energized to renew my commitment of love and continue serving others
as Jesus did. |
|
|
|