Sister Mary Gomolka

Faith-filled parents and a solid Catholic education may have lit the spark of religious life for Mary Gomolka, but it was sage advice from a priest which set in motion her lifelong love of music and decades of service as a Sister of Mercy.

Influenced by the good example of her teachers at Sacred Heart School and St. Mary High School, both in South Amboy, Sister Mary decided to become a sister when she was in the sixth grade but then “forgot about it,” until five years later.

“When I was on a retreat as a senior in high school,” Sister Mary recalled, “the priest said, ‘Pretend you are on your deathbed and your candle was burning out. What would you wish you had done? Do it now.’”

The young woman has indeed been fulfilling that wish since she entered the Sisters of Mercy Sept. 8, 1951, and was accepted by the community as a novice six months later. Reflecting on becoming a Mercy Sister, she said, “I remember thinking, ‘I came for God and I’ll stay for God.’”

Sister Mary’s first two assignments were as a teacher at Sacred Heart School, South Plainfield, then at St. Mary Academy, Lakewood.

Sister Mary continued her own education by earning a bachelor’s degree in English at Georgian Court College (now University), Lakewood, in 1967, then a master’s degree in music at Trenton State College, Trenton, in 1973.

Sister Mary served as principal of St. James School, Woodbridge, from 1970 to 1972, before once again serving at Georgian Court from 1972 to 1975 as a music teacher.

Her arrival at Mount Saint Mary Academy, Watchung, in 1975 began a 36-year career as the school’s head of the music department before her retirement in June 2011.

Over the years, Sister Mary was recognized for her music and her ministry. She was included in “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” and selected as “Outstanding Educator” in the Diocese of Metuchen. The year she retired, Sister Lisa Gambacorto, directress, Mount Saint Mary Academy, had a plaque hung outside the music offices in the Mount Building which designated that hallway the “Sister Mary Gomolka Music Corridor.”

The word “retirement” means different things to different people. In a 2014 interview with the “National Catholic Reporter,” Sister Mary recalled, “I requested … to spend three months at Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem, participating in a renewal/study/Scripture program and to remain there as a volunteer in whatever ministry I could be helpful. Bishop William Shomali in Jerusalem directed me to work with the mentally and physically disabled children cared for by the Missionary Sisters.”

Discovering Sister Mary’s music background, the rector of the nearby seminary requested she teach the seminarians piano and voice. The religious completed her dual responsibilities until the following May when she returned to New Jersey; her skill and willingness to aid the future priests resulted in two more terms in Jerusalem.

Sister Mary officially retired to Mount Saint Mary Academy, once again, in 2013. The one-time student of Madame Luisa Stojowski of the Julliard School, New York, still receives calls from surrounding parishes to play and sing at funerals.

She recently reminisced about her seven decades of service and revealed advice she might share with a young woman considering life as a religious.

“Any follower of the Lord has to follow him all the way: in service to others, in love and in faithfulness to the Father,” she said. “Follow him to the cross and resurrection.”

Christina Leslie