July 2007 - Sister Kate Regan, CSJ

What with the financial woes, scattered parishioners, and the rural isolation all around her in Ripley, Mississippi, Sister Kate Regan, CSJ, doesn't wonder why her auburn hair is turning to gray - but there's a twinkle in her clear blue eyes when she talks about the wonderful (albeit "financially challenged") families she serves.

The Irish sister, the youngest of six siblings born to a very devout Catholic family in Kansas, loves what she does, but sometimes muses why her toughest assignment came in her autumn years.

"We've been sojourner Catholics," reflects the Catholic Extension-funded Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet of the St. Louis Province. Fifteen Catholics gathered in Ripley at the Dixie Theater in 1968 to celebrate the founding Mass of the only Catholic parish in Tippah County, a 458-square-mile area.

There's a sadness that sweeps over Sister Kate as she recounts a story about a widow in her 90's, who cries when she speaks about all the years she lived without the opportunity to worship in a Catholic Church. "The only time she could go to Mass was on Christmas Eve, when family members would make the long drive to another county," Sister said.

Since the late 60's, the mission has moved nine times to various rented spaces, celebrating Mass at a cosmetics studio, printing company, doctor's office, a VFW Hall, a Presbyterian Church, a motel - even a Pizza Hut.

I t wasn't until 1997 that St. Matthew Mission was able to hire its first pastoral coordinator and priests began to visit Ripley. The church is now a storefront drugstore, and Sister Kate says that "For events like First Communions, we're bursting at the seams. People are standing wall to wall, and in the kitchen."

She remains undaunted. Until a new church can be built, she'll continue to, "Pull back the curtains, pull up the blinds, and encourage the overflow crowd to watch through the windows."

What inspired Sister Regan to be a missionary? While working on her Masters in religious studies, she felt compelled to serve in North Georgia's small rural areas, where Catholics were few and far between. "I felt so at home," she says. "I found that I actually enjoy going into areas with little or no resources and doing my very best with the challenges - that's probably why God saw fit for me to come to Ripley in 2000."

She may be autonomous, but loneliness is a real factor in the life of a missionary. Sister Kate handles it by being outgoing and "present" to all who ask for help. "It's exciting to me to see people here so involved in establishing a church. They want it to happen so much."

Daily, she prays the Abandonment Prayer of 19th century hermit Brother Charles de Foucauld: "Father, I abandon myself into your hands …. I am ready for all, I accept all."

Sister Kate and many other dedicated missionaries work hard to bring God's comfort to America's poor and struggling Catholics. Will you consider helping them with a gift today? Please donate now securely. Thank you.