by Sr Maureen Cusick
I wanted to serve others with God “under my skin”
Who am I? This was the persistent question for me, as it is for most people growing up through teenage years. I needed to break out of this close-knit, though loving, surrounding. Questions of identity became more urgent as I began to choose direction in my studies.
Who am I? What do I want from life? Marriage, partnership, career, a life with God in some form, or a combination? I had experienced family life as a life of giving to others and generosity to people who had less than we had. Our life with God was more devotional then it was rich in spirituality. God was the centre of our lives. I knew I was in love with God, but I only expressed this to myself, as a young person searching.
The call to be the one God calls me to be: uniquely, myself, in my DNA
My first breakthrough for direction came from a religious missionary sister who had spent her time as a teacher in Africa. I knew I wanted to teach. I was able to discern, in conversation with other sisters, how I could pursue this initial call to serve. I didn’t think I wanted to serve only God – but to serve others with God “under my skin”, as I experienced my spirituality at that time.
As I look back now over many years in religious life, the developmental factor is very clear. The development of my initial search for identity as a young woman continued to deepen, with greater and greater understanding of my identity with God. I began to understand that this search within was the call to be the one God calls me to be: uniquely, myself, in my DNA. My call to be a sister of Sion gave shape to my expression of this initial call. The Sionian call was integrated into my initial call and both have welded together over many years. This, too, has been developmental.
The Sionian call was integrated into my initial call and both have welded together
As a sister of Sion living in community, with the support and companionship of others, I remain an educator in its broadest sense, deeply immersed in a rich Sionian Biblical spirituality. My deep love of the God who formed me continues to enrich and inform my professional ministry and my spirituality.