Sister Cecilia Joseph Olinger - Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph

formation as a team,” Sister C.J. said. “It was a beautiful fit for me, it gave me thecourage to do other things. I enjoy parish ministry on a collaborative level.”Sister C.J. prepares a take-out order of fish, river chips andhush puppies on May 3 during the St. Catherine Parish fishfry in Piedmont, Mo. In the center is Diane Lewis and at left,Gina Young. St. Catherine is one of three churches in whichSister C.J. ministers.After five years in Clinton, theFranciscan priest she’d worked withpreviously in New Mexico, FatherDale Jamison, urged her to return tominister as pastoral associate in theFranciscan ministry at Tewa (“Taywuh”)Missions in Espanola.“I came to do music and RCIA, butthat wasn’t a full-time job,” shesaid. “I visited the homebound andtaught kindergarten religion.”Native Americans who live in townsare said to live in “pueblos,” asopposed to “plains,” where they aremore scattered. Three puebloscomprised one parish, although they each had their own church. She played music atMass for each of the churches.Father Jamison left in 2006, and there were no Franciscans to take his place, so SisterC.J. became parish life coordinator that October and ran the parish her final three yearsthere. By 2008, Sister C.J. felt a desire to leave New Mexico.“I didn’t think I was having the impact I wanted in developing the people as practicingCatholics,” she said. In late 2008 one of her sisters died and in April 2009, another sisterdied. She has three brothers and two sisters living. Being so far from her family wasdifficult for her, so she prepared to leave New Mexico in the summer of 2009.She called Sister Mary Sheila Higdon, who was ministering in Van Buren, and asked her ifthere were any openings in the area. Sister Mary Sheila told her she would likely beretiring in the coming year or so, and she could replace her.Sister C.J. instead came to Benton, Ky., which has no Catholic church, to serve as aCatholic presence. She visited the sick at nursing homes and helped with a clothingministry. “It was delightful, but I thought I had more I could still give,” she said. “I wasn’tcontributing financially to the (Ursuline) community.”When Sister Mary Sheila returned to the Motherhouse in 2011, Sister C.J. replaced herin Van Buren. Now in her 54 th year as a sister, she is looking forward to ministering inthe area for several more years.