Thanksgiving celebration honours consecrated women in the diocese

By Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News

Sisters of various congregations and religious orders in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon gathered Oct. 7 for a diocesan celebration honouring their many contributions of faithful witness and service.

Consecrated religious sisters have been a “very strong and essential feature of the life of living the Gospel in our diocese and beyond,” said Bishop Mark Hagemoen in his homily at the Mass that opened the celebration on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Reflecting on the reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, the bishop noted the ongoing challenge “of how we live the fullness of the Gospel as we deal with the internal and external realities and pressures of the environment we live in… always remembering the poor and the needy, all of these things as we do them in communion, not in rivalry, but in fidelity to Christ and to the dignity of all who belong to him. That is the great task of ministry.”

Addressing the Sisters, he added: “May I say thank you very much for the way in which you have lived this well.”

“In many ways the faithful of God have looked to the religious communities to show them both a teaching and a pattern of what this looks like in our world today,” Hagemoen said, observing that the work and witness of religious women in consistently proclaiming and modelling Christ is a treasure that continues to bless the lives of the faithful.

During the dinner that followed, Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation Executive Director Raissa Bugyi said the event was an initiative suggested by the bishop, who in turn said it was a “pleasure and an honour” to have planted the seed for the celebration, appropriately held a few days before Thanksgiving.

The ongoing contributions and far-reaching legacy of religious Sisters is profound, the bishop again stressed in his remarks before the meal, pointing in particular to the work of religious women in Catholic health and education. The many contributions of Sisters in the diocese continues to resonate in the Catholic community, with the impact evident “any time you walk through any of our Catholic hospitals or Catholic schools,” he said.

“There’s so much evidence of the dedication, the work, and the ongoing investment by the religious women of the Saskatoon diocese and beyond,” the bishop affirmed.

Photos:

Preparing to welcome the special guests to the dinner organized by the Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

(Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Bishop Mark Hagemoen presided at Mass to open the celebration for the Sisters. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

(Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

A fabric artwork depicting the province of Saskatchewan and showing where religious women have served over the past 125 years was on display at the dinner. (Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

(Photo by Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News)

Catholic Saskatoon News

Diocesan News Portal

Thanksgiving celebration honours consecrated women in the diocese

Photos:

Video of Mass: