Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Nun renews vows – 50 years on

I'm always impressed and humbled by such examples of fidelity and trust in God's will.
Perhaps one day, I may also be given the grace to take the plunge in obedience to his call.

From The Star:

Active and serenely happy, she is still continuing the same voca-tion she chose when she turned 23 – serving the poor and elderly as a nun of the Little Sisters of the Poor.

The Roman Catholic Order, which has international commu-nities around the world, operates two homes in Malaysia for the el-derly poor. They are in Kuala Lum-pur and Penang.

Based in Penang since Novem-ber 2000, Lazaroo, taking the name Sr Jeanne Du Coeur Immaculee, made her first vows at 26, exactly a half century ago on Jan 6, 1957.

Now 50 years later and coinci-dentally at the same place – Pe-nang – Sr Jeanne, renewed the same promise to serve God.

Professing the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience and hospitali-ty, Sr Jeanne has no regrets what-soever in leaving her secular life and quitting her job then as a civil servant in the Income Tax Depart-ment.

Among the family:Sr Jeanne with her sisters,sisters-in-law and other relatives from Malacca,Singapore and Perth, Australia.
In front of her fellow nuns in-cluding the Hong-Kong based Mo-ther Provincial, Mother Theresa Lee and Mother Superior, Sr Maria Clarette, family, friends and resi-dents of the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged in Penang, Sr Jeanne recently renewed her vows during her celebration mass.

Friends and family had travel-led from as far as Perth, Singapore and Malacca – Sr Jeanne’s home-town – for her Golden Jubilee Ce-lebration Mass, which was follo-wed by lunch.

Before serving in Penang, Sr Je-anne had also served in Hong Kong for almost 16 years and then another 20 years in Kuala Lumpur.

The Golden Jubilee mass was indeed a joyous occasion, cele-brating constant fidelity and trust in God.

Rev Fr Benedict Nieukey, cha-plain at the Home and the celebrant of the mass said Sr Jeanne is a very kind and concerned person.

“She sees to the little things that many people would miss.

“She is very caring and will tend to the needs of the people even before they ask anything!

“Her faithfulness and generosity to say ‘Yes’ to God and persevering all through the years, are an inspiration to everyone,” declared Sr Maria Clarette, the Mother Supe-rior of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Penang.

The celebration was a reflection of Sr Jeanne’s service to people re-gardless of race and religion be-cause friends from various religions – Christians, Buddhists and Muslims – were there to celebrate with Sr Jeanne.

When asked about her cheery outlook in life, Sr Jeanne who looks at least two decades youn-ger than her age smiled and said:

“I always talk to God and tell him everything. It’s the same as talking to a friend.

“If I have any secret to my hap-py life as a nun, it’s that I always turn to God – always,’ chuckled Sr Jeanne, her eyes twinkling mer-rily.

2 comments:

Ttony said...

I was going to comment on your JPII post, but thought that this, in its own way, was just as edifying a message to all of us. turn to God, and he we give you all the help you need, whether you are a Pope, a nun, or just a humble toiler in the vineyard.

Andrew said...

Ttony, I found this example of lifelong fidelity very edifying as well. Yhwh jireh, Scripture says, the Lord will provide, if He calls, the He will supply what is needed.

In this fact, I am greatly comforted.