Sister Helen Herbstritt, OSB, Transfer of Vows

Published: August 1, 2018

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily at Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. It is based on the readings for the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguouri, bishop and doctor of the Church, which include the Gospel of Matthew 13:44-46.

Bishop Taylor

During our Mass today Sister Helen will formally transfer her vows to this community, making her a full member of Holy Angels Convent of the Olivetan Benedictine Sisters— the vocation to the religious life being her “pearl of great price."

So I think it is especially appropriate that the Gospel reading that we just happen to have today — we didn’t plan this, it is just the Gospel that the Church assigns to today in the lectionary — is Jesus' parable that the kingdom of heaven is like a man searching for a fine pearl who upon finding it "goes and sells all that he has and buys it."

Well you religious sisters spend years searching for the pearl that God has chosen for you, discerning your vocation — how many years of formation before perpetual vows? And then in Sister Helen’s case, the time she spent among you prior to today’s transfer of vows. And upon finding this pearl of great price, you sisters give up everything to make it your own.

This pearl is truly "of great price" — chastity is costly, obedience is costly, conversion of life is costly, death to self is costly, which is why it is also so valuable. Thieves steal what is valuable and so Satan tries to steal our vocation, tries to talk us out of giving ourselves fully to the Lord.

Hence Jesus' warning earlier in the Gospel of Matthew: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces." This was, by the way, coincidentally, the Gospel the Church gave us last month for our jubilee celebration of those priests completing 25, 40, 50 and 60 years of faithful service.

Hence the importance of protecting this pearl from all that might put it at risk. At the priesthood jubilee celebration I pointed out that it is helpful to notice that a pearl is the product of irritation, which reminds us that faithfulness is not always easy.

You know how pearls are made: a grain of sand enters the oyster when the shell’s valves are open for feeding and becomes imbedded between the shell and the soft skin of the oyster. The oyster then secretes a substance which coats the irritant, forming a pearl.

Many of you experienced a call to the religious life that was like that: Jesus wouldn't leave you in peace — especially when your shell was open and you let down your guard! He kept tugging at your heart. Sometimes this was pretty irritating and sometimes you faced opposition.

But the Lord persisted and began to form a pearl within you. This process began before entering the convent and has continued ever since. Jesus turns every new challenge we face into an opportunity to make our pearl more beautiful. Even our stumbles, once we learn from them. Hence the importance of availing ourselves of all the spiritual help available to us: a good confessor and spiritual director, a daily Mass and holy hour, healthy friendships and avoidance of the near occasion of sin, etc.

Today we thank God for the opportunities he gives us to grow in holiness — and for the challenges he uses to form us into the kind of persons he wants us to be.

You sisters have the honor of serving the people Jesus entrusts to your care, which is why the Church asks you to die to yourself, because this is necessary for you to give yourself totally to the Lord. That was the great price Jesus paid for us.

As I reminded our priests at our jubilee celebration, when we lay prostrate before the altar during the litany of the saints, it is to be as a visible sign that through ordination — and in your case, through perpetual vows — we die to this world so that, like Jesus in whose ministry we share, we might bring life to others.

And then Jesus sends us out into the world with a mission to redirect people to the narrow path that leads to life, which will only happen if we remain on that path ourselves.

Sister Helen, we are proud of you and we pray for you as you transfer your vows to this Benedictine community. Jesus sets before you “a pearl of great price” and you desire to make that pearl your own, having discovered it here at Holy Angels Convent!