Sisters Honored for 295 Years of Service in the Church

Sisters of St. Joseph Kathleen Babin, Anna Schellhaas, Evelyn Mee, and Dianne Fanguy have devoted a combined 295 years to serving the "dear neighbor" in the church.

The Diocese of Baton Rouge honored these sisters during a Jubilee and Consecrated Life Mass on Thursday, Jan. 22, at the Ollie Steele Burden Chapel in Baton Rouge.  The Mass is held in conjunction with World Day for Consecrated Religious, which is held in February.

Sister Kathleen CSJ who will celebrate her 100th birthday in March, and Anna Schellhaas CSJ, who celebrated her 100th birthday in August, have served 80 years. Sister Evelyn Mee CSJ has served 70 years, and Sister Dianne Fanguy CSJ has served for 65 years.

The honorees come from a diversity of backgrounds.

Sister Kathleen taught in elementary schools in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Grand Coteau from 1945 to 1963. She was local superior and a teacher at St. Joseph Academy in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, a novice director for one year, and a provincial for eight years in New Orleans. 

Sister Kathleen worked part-time with Management Design Inc. for six years. She then served as assistant general for the founding community of Medaille for five years, as pastoral assistant at St. Thomas More Church in Baton Rouge for four years, and in regional and congregational administration for four years. At the St. Joseph Spirituality Center in Baton Rouge, now closed, she was involved for ten years as associate director and later as director.  

Top right photo: Pictured with Bishop Duca, from left, are jubilarians Sister Anna Schellhaas CSJ , Sister Kathleen Babin CSJ, Sister Dianne Fanguy CSJ, and Sister Evelyn Mee CSJ. Photo by Kristy Roubique
Above photo: Mass attendees sing the opening hymn, "Gather Your People." Photo by Debbie Shelley/The Catholic CommentatorSister Anna Schellhaas spent thirty years working in food service at Terrebonne General Hospital in Houma. Sister Anna retired from food service in 1998 and spent the next 17 years visiting the sick and homebound in Houma. 

Sister Evelyn taught school from 1955 to 1990 at various schools, including St. Joseph Academy in New Roads, St. Rose of Lima and St. Frances Cabrini, both in New Orleans, Sacred Heart in Baton Rouge, Guardian Angel in Cincinnati, and St. Ignatius in Grand Coteau, where she taught from 1968-1971 and served as principal from 1971-1975. She then taught and served as assistant principal at St. George School in Baton Rouge from 1975-1978. Sister Evelyn then went on to minister in religious education at Sacred Heart School and Parish in Baton Rouge from 1990 to 2009. 

Sister Dianne Fanguy was a secondary high school educator for 16 years. While doing congregational formation ministry for five years, she pursued further studies in Christian Spirituality at Creighton University. Later, she studied Spanish and Latin American historical-cultural formation in preparation for 31 years of mission work in Guatemala, Bolivia, and in Nicaragua.   

Sister Joan Laplace CSJ welcomed attendees by saying the Mass was celebrating the contributions of all religious men and women in the diocese.

"We also celebrate this evening, the many years of commitment for all consecrated men and women, including those in this chapel who are in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, and we celebrate the faithfulness of our good God," said Sister Joan.The jubilarians hold candles while recommitting themselves to their consecrated lives. Photos by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator

In his homily, Bishop Michael Duca reminded attendees that God spoke to them in some way and gave them their vocation. He referred to the prophet Samuel, who was a boy when God awoke him four times in the middle of the night with his divine call.

There may be tugs from the world as people discern a vocation, but there's still a continuous conversation with God.

"We're going to go back to the beginning point and we listen to and obey the voice of God," said Bishop Duca.

The attendees, the bishop said, saw that they had unexpected gifts and talents that could be used to build up God's kingdom.

"But we found ourselves challenged by obedience," said Bishop Duca.

However, as they continued through those years of purification, they produced much more good work than they imagined.
Bishop Duca prays over the jubilarians."We have to grow into that vocation. We have to begin to more and more realize that at some point we have to let go and fall into it, really embrace what it means to be obedient," the Bishop said.

Ultimately, the attendees celebrate their faithfulness to let go, not counting their successes. They keep coming back to the Lord, recommitting themselves in their vocation. Their reward is having stability in their relationship with God.

"I am thankful for each of you. For all you have done, especially in this diocese. May you continue to build up the body of Christ together and seek to serve him more faithfully each day by saying, 'Yes, Lord, your servant is listening,'” said Bishop Duca.

After the homily the jubilarians held white candles as they recommitted themselves to their consecrated life, after which the bishop prayed over them.

Before the closing of Mass, attendees sang the Salve Regina.