Sister: Is being called a mystery, or fact of life?

"Being called." I'm often asked, how I knew I was "called." This makes being called seem like a great mystery. Is it a mystery or a fact of life?

My parents told my 11 siblings and me that we were special, we were called. God had a plan to use our unique gifts.

I know my mother was called to raise 12 children and my father was called to be a judge and a parent. Growing up, as I watched them touch the lives of those around them, I knew that I too was being called to share my gifts. But how was I being called? The answer for this question took different forms for each of the 12 of us.

The answer led to career choices such us medicine, nursing, law, social work, banking, real estate, business, and teaching. It led me to religious life and my siblings to married life. Yet for all us the answer has been the same: we are allowing God to work through us and to touch those we encounter.

In high school, each Sunday I accompanied the sisters to visit the sick and mentally ill in Chicago's inner city. I had the privilege of getting to know men and women who had been abandoned by their families and by society. I knew my Sunday morning visits made a difference. To see them smile or laugh was a thrill. Little did I know that as I reached out to them, they were teaching me. They taught me to look beyond the rags, the scars, and the loneliness to see a person loved by God. I learned how God uses a touch or a smile to communicate His love. I learned that God was calling me to use my gifts to heal, to love.

Upon graduation I asked myself, "What do I really want to do? How is God calling me?" There answers were many. As I continued to ask and listen, I realized that I was being called to give myself totally to God, to serve Him in the poor. Thus, I joined the Daughters of Charity.

Over the past 22 years as a Daughter of Charity I have reached out and served the poor in may ways. Although my roles of serving has varied from being a nursing assistant, to a staff nurse, to a nurse manager, to a community outreach manager, and now to being a member of the administrative team at Providence Hospital, the basic work is similar to my high school days when I reached across the barriers of poverty and found Christ in those I encountered. Then, I used a smile and a touch. Now, I add in a bit of medicine, networking, fundraising, and advocacy.

Then, the outcome was a smile. This year the outcome was that Providence Hospital partnered with Advantage Health to open a health center in the Brightmoor area of Detroit. Now uninsured, and underinsured residents finally have access to quality primary care.

People may argue that there is a big difference between making a patient smile and building a new health center, a center that has provided more than 2,400 visits since July 2003.

Look deeper. The true outcomes are the same. Some barriers of poverty have been overcome. People who were abandoned have realized that we are there for them. God is there for them. Furthermore, the passion of the Brightmoor residents called forth my gifts and helped me to look beyond the barriers. We worked hand-in-hand to make their community health center a reality.

When the center opened, people said, "It must be fulfilling to be instrumental in this project." Yes, it is fulfilling to see the smile on a patient's face when they can finally get the care they desperately need. But being fulfilled as a Daughter of Charity goes far beyond this. It comes from being "Given to God, in community, for the service of the poor."

My ability serve comes from my relationship with God that is strengthened each day through meditation, Eucharist, and common prayer. It is strengthened and supported by being a member of the Daughters of Charity, a community of sisters who share this journey with me each day.

The days I feel the most fulfilled is the when my prayer, community, and service are united in a way that I hear that ongoing call. It is on those days I can call my parents and say," I'm doing what you told me. I'm allowing God to use the gifts he has given me to touch those around me, to further His Kingdom."

Divine Charity Sr. Theresa Sullivan is director of Community Health and Mission Integration at Providence Hospital.