As I begin this reflection, I want you to know that I live in Clare Court at Sacred Heart on the first floor where Sister Bea Dorsey lived. I want you to know that both the staff who knew her well and the sisters who live on that floor are still in shock over Bea’s sudden death, as are many of our sisters and associates in other places. Although she needed to go to the hospital the evening before, we always thought Bea would return within a short time, as did she. The sister who accompanied her to the hospital told me that she and Bea had lively conversations until early morning. She died a short time afterward.

In April of this year, we School Sisters of St. Francis began our celebration of our 150th anniversary, which means that we were already 85 years old when Bea joined us in 1959. She herself was 20 years old. Norma, her sister-in-law for whom Bea was a bridesmaid, told me that Bea was the youngest of six children, three boys and three girls born in Minnesota to her loving parents Edward J. Dorsey and Marie Antoinette Pluf. Her siblings are also deceased. In remembering Bea, Norma quickly recalled her great sense of humor and her enjoyment of people and life. Norma provided a home base for Bea, since her parents were deceased. She commented that Bea would sometimes bring home other sisters and priests with whom she had worked. Her dear friend Kate, with whom she lived for many years, often accompanied her. Shortly before her death, Bea commemorated the first anniversary of Kate’s death.

While her immediate family members were deceased, Bea has enjoyed a loving relationship with her family of nieces, nephews, and other relatives who have continued the loving relationship of the whole family, and some of whom are with us today. We welcome you. While sharing the experience of missing Bea with you, we join you in celebrating her life among us.

Bea chose to complete her college education before she joined us. After her orientation to religious life, she was ready to begin her many years of ministry, beginning with teaching in elementary and high school. She quickly moved into parish work as well as teaching in seminaries and giving many workshops.  Her heart was drawn to her love of scripture and once she completed her graduate degree in scripture studies, she found “her treasure in the field” in facilitating scripture classes and workshops in many places throughout the archdiocese.

Bea had a way of inviting and guiding participants into experiencing the reality of God’s loving presence in both the Old and New Testaments that was also applicable in their lives. She had a way of opening up the scriptures and inviting people to see their life experiences reflected in everyday happenings and their need for a spirituality based on love of one’s neighbor and all of creation in their daily lives.

In many ways, Bea evolved into being what we might think of as a prophet. She grew in the knowledge and understanding of the role of the prophet as one who pursued the truth of God’s loving presence in our time, as well as recorded in both the Old and New Testaments. She saw prophets not as predictors of the future; to her, they were persons called by God to alert people to what might happen if they continued to turn away from God and God’s people.

Some prophets, like Jeremiah, at first were reluctant to take on those tasks. Some people pretended to be prophets when they weren’t. And while many scholars will say we do not have prophets today, some will whisper that the prophets of today are those who call us to God’s intent that we act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly with our God. As School Sisters of St. Francis, we commit ourselves to assessing the needs of our time and then responding to those signs wherever the Spirit leads us.

Although she was no longer able to work in parishes in her time in Sacred Heart, Bea remained active in assisting our sisters with workshops and discussions when possible. She made special efforts to respond to the needs of the staff, nurses, dining room servers, and all those who provided for her in any way. In spite of her own pain and frustration, she made a point of listening to them in their difficulties. She kept her door open, signaling her openness to visitors. As some of them said:

“Sister Bea was so smart and shared so much of her knowledge with us.”

“She was humble, and she listened to us”

“She was witty, quick, and had a great contagious belly laugh.”

“She took time with us.”

One of the nurses said to me, “She was loved by many people, and special to each one of them.”    

One of our sisters said after her death, “Bea was an ordinary person who was extraordinary in her awareness of reality in life and how that reality is related to the sacred in our midst.”

May she rest in peace!