Founders’ Day Letter 2023

Bishop William Emmanuel von Ketteler—July 13

Mother Marie de la Roche—August 1

Dear Sisters and Associates,

As I began to write this letter, I pondered the question: “What really makes a good founder?” In thinking about many successful companies today, immediately I thought of vision, passion, a sense of purpose. Stories of successful founders seem to begin with some inciting incident, a mission of sorts—wanting to change the world, make it better for others, answer a need. The power of the founder’s story transforms principles, values, and need into action. It becomes the thread running through the story and then compels others to join, to want to support it, and to find ways to sustain it. That’s exactly the story of our founders, Bishop Ketteler and Mother Marie.

They had a vision, they saw a need, they wanted to respond to the signs of their times with a presence, a compassion, a sense of purpose that down through the years compelled others to join them.  Thus our story began and continues to this present day.  So in this letter I want to share some “threads” from our founders that continue to weave through our own story. 

Bishop Ketteler said: “If we could only glimpse into the inner substance and spirit of the situations that come up in our lives, situations that often seem so insignificant and accidental, we might often recognize the all-loving will of God, his boundless mercy, hidden and concealed under these inconspicuous forms…Now I am beginning to get an overview of the work that God has entrusted to me within my calling.”

I would venture to say that each of us has looked into situations in our lives and tried to see God’s purpose in them for ourselves.  The God of Providence beckons us, just like Bishop Ketteler and Mother Marie, to listen, to be attentive, to seek out the poor, the sick, the unloved, because that is where the very face of God is in our world.  That is how we continue the story …the living of our charism of trust, of openness to the possibilities to which this world, this time, this hour is calling us.  It is the courageous and risk-taking spirit of Bishop Ketteler and Mother Marie’s compassionate and loving heart alive within us and in our Congregation that compels us forward. 

Perhaps a lesser known but powerful quote of Mother Marie’s is: “It was our Provident God who cast fire into my soul, the fire that burns, elevates and gives the strength to overcome.” 

We know some of what she had to overcome in her life.  Converting to Catholicism she knew would wreak havoc in her family, but she did.  Becoming a woman religious and being asked to lead a small group of German peasant women couldn’t have been easy, but she did.  Dealing with Fr. Autsch’s abuse of power and being deposed so unjustly had to have hurt deeply, but she complied.   It took a great amount of strength and trust in Providence to endure these things, but she did.  Today it is that fire in her spirit alive in us that will help us give our very best efforts to whatever we are asked to do.  It is her “thread” woven through our lives that will give us courage to work for justice, speak truth to power, and treat others with dignity, respect, and love.  As Sister Joan Albaugh wrote in the Volume 2 Book of Hours, today we strive “to discern her spirit in its very essentials, and make it our own.”

I end this reflection on founders, Sisters and Associates, with a prayer for each of us and our Congregation:

Provident God, we are mindful of the spirit of our Founders, Bishop Ketteler and Mother Marie de la Roche.  Give us their courage, the courage of our first Sisters, and the continued strength of every generation of Sisters that have followed them.  Open our hearts and memories to the creativity of our early Sisters as they used all that they possessed to make God’s Providence visible.

“Impelled by the Spirit of Jesus Christ” and believing that Providence and each other have been and continue to be the gift we share with God’s people, we place ourselves in Your hands.  With Jesus as our companion, assist us in our efforts to celebrate and proclaim who we are, where we come from, and where we still hope to go.  Amen.

May the God of Providence and Possibilities continue to guide us!

Sr. Barbara McMullen

Congregational Leader

Sources:  Adaptations from these two volumes

Book of Hours—Vol. 1:  A Celebration of the 200^th Anniversary of the Birth of Our Founders

Book of Hours—Vol. 2:  A Celebration of the 200^th Anniversary of the Birth of Our Co-Founder