Religious cites Catholic Center for helping reveal vocation

NEW BRUNSWICK — The eight simple words, uttered Sept. 8 at St. Peter the Apostle University and Community Church, changed the course of the young woman’s life.

“Lord, you have called me. Here I am,” said Sister of Jesus Our Hope Anna Palka, speaking her First Profession of Vows before friends, family, fellow religious and an unseen livestream audience due to the pandemic. Bishop James F. Checchio presided over the rite that welcomed the 2015 graduate from nearby Rutgers University to life in the order, which was celebrating the 22nd anniversary of its founding that day.

“I ask for God’s merciful love and to share in the life of the Sisters of Jesus our Hope,” she added with a beaming smile, quite evident beneath her mask.

Oratorian Father Peter R. Cebulka, head of school at St. Ann Parish, Raritan Borough, had first met and counselled Sister Anna while working years before at the Catholic Center at Rutgers. During his homily, he noted the day also marked the Feast of the birth of Mary.

“Her ‘yes’ was total, without reservation,” the priest noted. “What a great day for you to declare your ‘yes’ to the Father.”

Sister Anna’s vocation was evident during her increased involvement in the university’s Catholic Student Association, Father Cebulka said.

“We know all things work for God, and you were destined to be conformed to the image of his Son,” he continued. “You had heard his call, you have times of uncertainty, but continue to say ‘yes’ each step of the way… Today, you lay down your life for your spouse, Jesus, and give your complete and total ‘yes’ to him.”

In preparation for her First Profession of Vows, Sister Anna spent a year as a postulant, during which time she was gradually transitioned into the religious life of the Sisters of Jesus Our Hope, and two-years as a novice, when she was formed in the nature and spirit of the community and prepared for its apostolic work. Vows are renewed annually for four years before a religious sister can make her perpetual profession.

Father Cebulka said, “What you do today matters profoundly, not just for you and your community but for the Church. You have the audacity to say to the world that you can give yourself to something and make a commitment… Your congregation has been given the gift of you. Take on the precious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Thank you for your ‘yes.’”

Bishop Checchio questioned Sister Anna, who asserted she was ready to assume the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The bishop prayed, “May almighty God grant you his grace to fulfill what you have resolved.”

In an interview following her profession, Sister Anna noted she had been an active member of St. John Neumann Parish in her hometown of Mount Laurel, participating in its music ministry, youth group and as a teacher in its religious education program. She rediscovered her faith while an undergraduate at Rutgers, claiming “from that time on, my relationship with Jesus deepened and I saw life through a clearer lens of faith.”

“It was not simply a club, but a family,” she said of the university’s Catholic Student Association. “The friendships I made in CSA were rooted in Christ and deeper than I could have previously imagined because Christ was at the center… Through different talks given at the Catholic Center, I realized that God had a unique and dynamic plan for my life, and maybe marriage did not have to be my default path.”

Sister Anna graduated from Rutgers with a degree in marketing, then served a year with St. Paul’s Outreach as a missionary in Orlando, Fla. She recalled, “I was so impacted by my time in CSA that I wanted to help other college students meet the Lord and walk in the way of the Gospel. By this point, my discernment was becoming clearer and my desire was to be all his.”

An examination of various orders ended when she encountered the Sisters of Jesus Our Hope, she said.

“I truly felt at home,” she declared, “and knew, through much prayer, that Jesus was calling me to be his, here. Throughout my discernment, I realized the depth of God’s love for me, the hope he had given me, and I wanted to respond fully to whatever he called me to. It is out of great love, joyful hope, and gratitude for God’s mercy and call in my life that I entered SJH and made my vows to Him.”

The Sisters of Jesus Our Hope were formed in 1992 by the late Bishop Edward T. Hughes. They are stationed on seven acres in Bloomsbury and maintain a convent in New Brunswick.

The order serves Saints Philip  & James School and Life Choices Resource Center, both in Phillipsburg; St. Peter the Apostle Parish’s religious education program, New Brunswick, and the Catholic Center at Rutgers.