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News
School Sisters recognized for 70 years of service at
Our Lady of Lourdes in Omaha
The following remarks were made by Barbara Wolf Shousha on the occasion of the recognition given to the School Sisters of St. Francis by Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Omaha, NE for their 70 years of service to the parish and school. Barbara is a graduate of both Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School and Ryan High School.
Good Morning, I’m Barbara Wolf Shousha and I’m happy to celebrate the School Sisters of St. Francis. And I’m happy to see so many here to appreciate them.
I grew up across Frances Street and my family has been in the parish for a long time. My father and his siblings were young students at the school when the sisters first arrived 70 years ago. I went to Lourdes and then continued with the sisters at Ryan High School. So you can understand how important the sisters have been to my family and our parish.
In thinking about what to say this morning, it was very difficult to choose. There are so many memories and so many sisters. I’m certain everyone here this morning has fixed in their minds the memories of “their sisters” the ones who taught when they were at school. For me, I think of Sister Idalia teaching us to read, Sister Dignata teaching us the Dewey Decimal System and Sister Betty, the groovy, modern nun we all admired so much at school in the early seventies. Of course, watching over us all was our beloved Sister Alexis.
I feel fortunate that I was able to re-connect with the sisters as an adult. A few years ago, I wrote my master’s thesis on the educational philosophy of the School Sisters of St. Francis. I know from my work, that every school would say they have a philosophy of education. Too often it is nothing more than a placard on a wall. Not so with the sisters and this is what I want to impress upon you this morning. Their educational philosophy is not separate from their work; it is not different from their lives. It is nothing less than their very vocation in action every day. How blessed we have been at Lourdes to have that!
In closing, I’ll leave you with a quote from the sisters themselves. This comes from an educational philosophy document written by the sisters in 1975 called Education: to Life.
We accept as our primary responsibility to infuse our educational environments with Christian values so that the invitations which we extend will be invitations to freedom, life and growth.
Sisters, we at Lourdes accepted your invitation and we certainly have grown. We love you and we thank you. May God continue to bless your work.