When I first considered
coming to Idaho after living on the East coast my entire life, I began polling
everyone I knew by asking them, “What’s in Idaho?” All I knew was that there
was a Benedictine monastery named the Monastery of St. Gertrude, and one of the
sisters there was a Sr. Teresa. She quickly became Sr. Teresa of Idaho, in
order for me to distinguish her from a Sr. Theresa that I worked with, and thus
became the first of many of the St. Gertrude community to receive a nickname
from me. While the process of a ten-month monastic immersion has certainly been
a learning experience for both of us, it became important to me to understand
what Teresa does other than answering my incessant, random questions.
Upon her entrance to the
Monastery, Teresa began working with the retreat ministry, later becoming
involved with the oblate community. Over time, she has also become the director
for vocations as well as for live-in volunteers, eventually becoming known as
the membership director. The title of membership director seems less specific,
which is precisely for this reason that Teresa favors it. Membership, according
to Teresa, can be a vocations interest as a vowed religious sister, but it also
includes the oblates, volunteers, and monastic immersioners. This allows for
her to listen more deeply to where each individual might feel the most at home
in regards to all the different possibilities. Of course, her experience as a
spiritual director also plays a big part in this process. This can be the best
and most challenging aspect of her job. Teresa’s favorite part of all that she
does is getting to know people on their spiritual journeys, listening and
sharing knowledge at a depth that is rare in most other situations. This same
aspect however, can provide a great challenge for Teresa. If, in the listening,
it seems for any number of reasons that it will not be a good fit for someone
to come to the Monastery, she is then challenged to articulate this
understanding to the person, a task often easier said than done. Nevertheless,
Teresa continues her work to attract solid, healthy and committed members of
all kinds, for her belief is that these members will be the future. Religious
life of all kinds is dwindling, as is most clearly evident with the numerous
shortages of priests as of late. Vocations are not what they used to be, and the
growth of any community will require an acceptance of nontraditional members.
In this time of transition, Teresa is hopeful for what will come in the future,
but it will take creativity and transformation for a bright future to occur.
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| Enjoying a well deserved milkshake break with some volunteers (Sr. Teresa is on the left side, center) |
Teresa is most certainly
undergoing her own transformation as a part of the community at the Monastery
of St. Gertrude. By giving up her autonomy, she has become transformed from an
“I” to a “we;” from being “alone” to being “all of us.” The community, as she
describes it, allows her to do more and become more than she ever could on her
own. A naturally quiet and solitary person, the challenges of living with so
many people do arise often, and it is through reflection that the
transformation occurs for Sr. Teresa to be in her own words, “remade in the
image of Christ.”
