“Only God opens the truth,” said Mother Mary Catherine, a known nun in Wisconsin who was a really close friend to Mother Teresa. She is the Mother Superior of Missionaries of the Word, who run the Catholic Youth Expedition in Bailey’s Harbor.

She came to NDA this week to teach Fr. Jordan’s students the Lectio Divina, the “sweetest prayer of all,” according to her.

Mother Mary Catherine is on her way to becoming a future Saint, according to NDA’s Father Jordan. She is very close to God now, and everything she has done in her life was devoted to Him since her childhood. 

Mother grew up in a Christian household with a Lutheran father and a Catholic mother. “Both brought me different aspects of growing to God,” she said. 

From her father she learned to read and communicate with God through Scripture.

As an asthmatic child, she had many attacks, but every time her mom would pray to God right by her, her heart felt better and healthy again.

She could feel God inside her and “ experienced the fact that they belonged to each other,” she said. 

Many other events during her childhood also grew her closer to God, like why she even became a nun. 

One day, Mother Mary Catherine was laying on her grass with her dog by her side, and she was enjoying the nature that was in front of her. She felt like “the most blessed little kid ever.”

That moment was when she felt God’s presence. She felt like He has helped her a lot in her life, and that He was with her many times, which is a reason why she became a nun.

But during her college life, Mother Mary Catherine was really busy and started forgetting about God. She also wanted a big family because she “really loved people.”

“Although I went to Mass every week, I still felt like something was missing,” she said. 

After she got that sentiment, Mother went to confession and had a very emotional conversation with God that day, revealing every bad thing she has done and asking for His forgiveness.

During that instant, she felt loved. “I felt really loved like nobody has ever loved me like that before,” she said.

This moment is what officially made her want to become a nun. She really felt the experience of meeting God and the feeling of His being inside her heart while listening to her and forgiving her.

“Once you realize you can hear Him, and He is not just a picture on the wall, it changes everything. It is so beautiful,” she said.

She also felt like God granted her everything, but in His own means. “I wanted to be a mother and have kids, and that is exactly what I have now: I am a mother to many people, and all the children I see who listen to me at Mass are my kids,” she said.

“God gave me my wants in a different way,” and “it’s way more filling to my heart this way, and He knew it from the beginning,” she stated.

After that, her whole life was committed to God. She became a nun and became friends with nuns, whoever they were. 

“One day I was visiting a nun in the Bronx, a relatively dangerous region. Even my driver was scared for me since I was the only light-skinned person in the region, but I still felt at home in the presence of my Sister,” she said.

She was also a really good friend of Mother Teresa and owns a crucifix from her which is now a second-class relic.

Mother Mary Catherine is really happy with her life choices, especially the choice of becoming a nun and everything that comes with it, like her clothes.

“I really like my habit,” she said. “It shows my personality to people, and it shows I am entirely devoted to God and that I am a Beloved Child of the Father.”

She loves the opportunities she has as well. When people come up to her and judge her, instead of being rude she prays for them and whatever it is that they are going through since it may be the reason for their attitude.

She thinks that if she was not a nun, she could not have that much love for others, but she does and she is really happy about it. “I really love the freedom to love.”