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 PROFILE: Sister Ramona Williams |
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Ramona's story Now Director of Spiritual Care at Mount St. Vincent Nursing Home in Holyoke, Ramona's journey from her hometown in Unionville, Connecticut, to the SPs has been an interesting one. However, she stressed she was only telling her story to inspire others to a religious vocation. She said she didn't want the story to be about her, but about finding contentment in religious life. Her vocation began with a desire to serve and do more. Baptized a Catholic, she was raised Episcopalian, graduated from Farmington High School in 1970, took classes at Tunxis Community College in Farmington and worked. |
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In 1978 she earned a degree as a medical records librarian and worked in several Connecticut hospitals. While working she also volunteered in "Living Room," a program through the regional mental health center where she spent time preparing people with mental health problems to return to the community. She also did volunteer work with children with multiple handicaps. Looking for more She went back to school and became a Frances Perkins Scholar at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. "I focused on the psychosocial aspects of women's lives and the relationship of women and children," she said. As part of her research she interned at Broderick House, a homeless shelter run by the SPs. "When I went for my interview, Sister Mary Peter told me that I would learn a lot about myself there. She was right," said Ramona. While in college, Ramona also went through the Church's Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program and became a Catholic. She said that thoughts about a religious vocation also grew at the time. "As early as 1988, I thought about joining Mother Teresa's order," she said. "The idea of a vocation surfaced again at Mount Holyoke and was affirmed at Broderick House." Ramona said she was influenced greatly by the wonderful examples given by the SPs. "I worked with Sister Maria Consuela. In her I could see visible compassion. I picked up a lot from the Sisters; their work confirmed for me that I wanted to be a Sister." After graduating, she worked in the lay ministry program run by the SPs. "I lived at the shelter and did all kinds of work -- filling in at the soup kitchen or going wherever needed," she said. Then she worked at Brightside for Families and Children in medical records and the adoption resource center and volunteered at Western Mass. Hospital in the pastoral care department with Sister Dorothy Walsh. All along she was talking with the SP Vocation Director and attending programs at the SP-sponsored Genesis Spiritual Life Center in Westfield. |
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Seeking a connection On September 15, 1998 she entered the SP Community in a quiet ceremony and became a postulant. "I looked into other communities,"she said, "but the more I worked with the Sisters, the more I sensed their deep compassion. Their living the Gospel out was so strong, they were prepared to love. This matched what I had learned as a child -- that we are to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves." She also liked the idea that the SPs were a holistic order with concerns about the environment. "This matched many of my interests," she said. |
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Sister Ramona spends much of her time making pastoral visits to residents at Mount St. Vincent Nursing Home. |
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Receiving
encouragement Yet others have questioned her entering religious life. They ask why she couldn't live a good and fulfilled life as a single person. Williams explained that living in community and a good prayer life were key factors to her decision. "By living in community you have a spirit of simplicity that allows you fully to live out the Gospel," she said. "And what also is really important is the prayer life. Joining with these faith-filled women is wonderful." The Observer asked Ramona if she was nervous about joining an order whose numbers are dwindling or if she was worried about the future of religious life in the Church. She said, "I believe you live in the present. I know there are so many changes and that I can do so much good without being a Sister, but I wanted to be a part of the Sisters of Providence and their forward-thinking ministry," she said.
This article, written by Peggy Webber for The Catholic Observer of the Springfield Diocese in Massachusetts, is reprinted here with minor updating edits and with permission. Since this article was written, Sister Ramona entered the SP Novitiate on August 15, 1999 and professed her first vows on August 18, 2001. Interested in other personal stories?
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