Sister Brigid Tembo completed her transfer of vows and professed the Mercy vow of service to the poor, the sick and the uneducated during a joyous liturgy on Sunday, June 14, in Mercy Chapel in Chicago, Illinois. The ceremony incorporated elements and symbols from the culture of Brigid’s home country of Zambia.
During the entrance procession, the hymn Nkulonda Wewe was played. The title means “I love you,” and the song is sung at the beginning of a ceremony to welcome God, one’s ancestors and everyone gathered. Brigid processed to the altar carrying a calabash, a traditional African container, on her head. The calabash was painted black and white to represent Brigid’s surname, Tembo, which means “zebra.” Sisters Mary Ann Clifford, Kathleen McClelland and Carol Mucha symbolically filled the calabash with gifts of wisdom and grace, which were intermingled with the wisdom of Brigid’s family. Traditional African music also played during the Presentation of the Gifts, the meditation after Communion and the recessional.
The presider for the liturgy was Father Emmanuel Mulenga, OMI, a relative of Brigid who currently serves as the vicar provincial of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, based in Washington, D.C. In her opening remarks, Sister Mary Kay Dobrovolny, New Membership Ministry coordinator, gave a special welcome to the Sisters of the Living Word, Brigid’s originating congregation, who were present for the ceremony to offer their support and blessing.
The first reading for the liturgy, proclaimed by Sister Rita Specht, was from Exodus, recounting God’s words for the Israelites, spoken to Moses on Mount Sinai: “Therefore, if you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people.” Sister Margaret Mary Hinz proclaimed the second reading from the Original Rule and Constitutions, in which Catherine McAuley wrote: “Let those whom Jesus Christ has graciously permitted to assist Him in the labors of His suffering poor, have their hearts animated with gratitude and love, and placing all their confidence in Him, ever keep His unwearied patience and humility present in their minds.” In the Gospel of Matthew, we hear how Jesus saw the crowds, and his heart was “moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” He then called to his disciples and gave them authority to heal and proclaim the good news.
Sister Patricia (Pat) McDermott, the homilist for the liturgy, recalled conversations with sisters who had transferred from other religious congregations. Transferring to a different congregation, Pat said, “doesn’t seem to be so much about a call or vocation or even about religious life issues, but rather almost always about seeking a fit, searching for a deeper resonance with the charism of a community, or, very simply stated, looking to find and make a home.”
Institute President Sister Susan Sanders presided over the transfer of vows and presented Brigid with her ring, inscribed with her motto, “Service without Limits.” Sisters Kathleen McClelland and Carol Mucha served as witnesses to the vows. Following the Rite of Profession, Sister Joy Clough offered the Prayers of the Faithful.
Sisters Cora Marie Billing and Helen Santillan presented the gifts of bread and wine for consecration, with Brigid carrying the calabash. Following the Presentation of the Gifts, Brigid broke the calabash to symbolize her willingness to offer everything to her new Mercy community—her heritage, labor and place in the community—as her gift.
Following Communion, Brigid was joined by sisters, family and friends as she performed a dance of thanksgiving to the hymn Ekelesha Katolica. Translated, the lyrics are: “How am I going to serve Mother Church in my nothingness? I will spread the word of God from one end of the Earth and thereafter go wherever my services will be needed. I will cling always to God.”
The hymn recalled the words from Pat McDermott’s homily that God calls us “home to our oneness in God and forward in mission to serve, tend and be at home with God’s most neglected, bewildered, misdirected and forlorn. This, Brigid, is your call and the call to each of us as we journey to find home, and then, in mercy, to create home among all and with all creation.”
Please continue to hold Brigid in prayer as she makes her home in Mercy.