Sister Mary Jo Curtsinger is a Catholic nun in the Sisters Of Saint Joseph congregation. The Sisters Of Saint Joseph is one congregation out of 16 in the country. There are sisters in this congregation based all over the country including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Chicago where Curtsinger is based. She is the Vocation Director for the congregation. She spoke about her journey with faith that brought her to this life and what her life looks like as a Catholic nun.
Curtsinger entered the convent as a candidate when she was 42, the first step in becoming a sister of Saint Joseph. She had finished her master’s in theology two years before and shared that the quest for God was already in her far before she decided to enter as a candidate. Before she studied theology she was a school psychologist and would volunteer in various ministries in her free time.
“I was in a mode of prayer and loved the church,” she shared.
Curtsinger also shared that she did not always know this would be her path.
“During those years, my twenties especially, I expected that I would get married and have a family,” Curtsinger said that part of the reason she picked the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago was that she decided “I will either meet Mr. Right or a group of Sister Mary Rights.”
Curtsinger then went on to meet her first Sister of Saint Joseph while attending CTU.
“In a nutshell, it was the desire to love and serve God, and by the time I was 42 I realized that I was called to be a person that is living the gospel by being with other like-minded folks,” she said.
Curstinger shared that one of the things that drew her to The Sisters Of Saint Joseph was that it was founded by a Jesuit. Father Jean-Pierre Medaille founded the Sister Of Saint Joseph In France with six women whom he saw living out the Jesuit values.
“So the Sisters Of Saint Joseph identify very closely with the Jesuit charism of finding God in all things,” she said.
Curstinger shared that for her it was not a single moment when she decided this was her path.
“It was multiple moments, and along the way a lot of times the moment would be during liturgy when I would be singing in the choir, or praying together it just feels so wonderful that you just know.”
She also said that the support you feel from one another keeps you excited to move forward with the process.
“The Sisters of Saint Joseph’s mission statement reads, ‘Receptive to God’s inspiration, we move always toward profound love of God and love of neighbor without distinction.’ We understand that this is the basic gospel, but Father Madaille talked about this total double union: when we are loving our neighbor, we are loving God.” Curtsinger shared that they express their charisma as a unioning love.
Curtsinger then went on to explain how ministry works in her congregation. She shared that they don’t have a specific ministry that they have to do.
“These days we understand that women and sisters are to discern what God is calling her to in terms of ministry, so it is based on her skills and what she desires to do,” Curtsinger shared. “Your ministry is the things you do such as teaching or being a vocation director but the mission is always the same, Uniting God and neighbor.”
Curtsinger’s ministry as the Vocation Director for The Sisters Of Saint Joseph is about helping people fulfill their calling from God.
“We all understand as Vocation Directors that we are around to help people discern their call,” Cursinger will receive emails from people who are feeling called to be a sister. It is her job to help them find out if being a sister in their community is the right fit. “I also try to put myself in situations where I can let people know that this is still a thing and we are open for business.”
Curstinger also talked about multiple committees in the congregation that involve young adults such as sponsoring four young women to go to the United Nations for the Social Development Conference and Women’s Conference each year. They also sponsor the Catholic Mobilizing Network Against the Death Penalty.
Curtsinger spoke about the community she has found in her Sisters.
“It’s just a different culture and you share so much in common that we sisters speak the same language,”
She also shared how devoting her life to God has allowed her to serve in areas that need extra help.
“So many of the challenges of today where there is injustice such as social and environmental injustices, those things are so big, so to be in it together with somebody bigger than yourself and to know yourself as part of this group that has common values is very grounding.”
Curstinger shares that she has been to the border twice to volunteer and that it is very important to her to be able to do these things.
“That’s the difference in how I can love,” she said. “What the vow of celibacy is about is a promise to love in a way that is not exclusive.”
She said that she doesn’t like to think of it as “giving up” anything, to her it is loving whoever shows up next.
Curtsinger also spoke about how she has come to love the term “Sisters” to describe nuns.
“It is a way of saying you are like family to me and that is incredibly wholesome,” she said. “The bottom line about if one is feeling called is that you take the next step. You don’t work it all out on your own but rather you start to move toward it.”
