By Catherine Walsh, Senior Writer
“The Sisters of Mercy spirituality is what the world hungers for right now,” says Christine Jurisich. “In this era of extremism and isolation, it offers a beautiful combination of love, spaciousness, community and healing that is grounded in the God of Mercy.”
A Mercy Associate in Roseville, California, Christine has led retreats at Mercy Center Auburn Retreat and Conference Center for more than a dozen years. Her Retreat, Reflect, Renew ministry offers innovative spiritual formation programs in person and online that build community among participants.
It is a dramatic shift from her former career as a hard-charging TV news reporter and anchor and then as an overextended stay-at-home mom.
“Telling stories through pictures and words was my passion,” she says of her news career. However, she eventually quit her job to be home with her children, which left her “lost and depressed.” She threw herself into being a super mom, which exhausted her.
That lack of balance, and the sense of not believing she was enough, led her to seek deeper faith and spirituality through her parish’s Ministry of Mothers Sharing (MOMS), which in turn led her to write her book, “Retreat, Reflect, Renew: A Sacred Journal for a More Peaceful You,” and give retreats at Mercy Center Auburn. The Sisters of Mercy were so “supportive and empowering,” especially Sisters Diana Metzler and Katherine Doyle, RSM.
That connection was especially meaningful when her son Peter, Jr, age 16, died from a brain aneurysm in 2018. “I don’t know how I would have survived the loss of my son without the sisters.”
Her family, including husband Peter and daughter Taylor, found solace attending Sunday Mass with the sisters and talking with them afterwards. “We were profoundly moved by how caring they were and are to us,” says Christine. Sisters Bernadette “Bernie” Hart and Maura Power, RSM, as well as the late Sister Margaret Ann Walsh, RSM, (d. 2023) were especially supportive.
Her Mercy formation has included training as a spiritual director at Mercy Center Burlingame and earning a master’s degree in theology with an emphasis on Mercy spirituality at Georgian Court University, where Sister Mary-Paula Cancienne, RSM, and Sister Judith Schubert, RSM, are professors. “They were responsible for my getting a deep understanding of Mercy.”
For Christine, Mercy is about reciprocity and being a donor is part of that.
“A retreat I give on grace and gratitude is all about identifying the grace you’ve received and the gratitude you want to extend to others in response,” she reflects. “I want to live in a place of grace and gratitude, and I want my financial donations to the Sisters of Mercy to be a part of that.”