As I sit here looking at the blinking cursor, I once more hesitate to explain what is in my heart since I’ve been given a new assignment in ministry. The two years that I have spent at Assumption College for Sisters have been grace-filled. The student Sisters here are absolutely amazing. I have said it before. They are filled with courage! They have left their communities, families, country of origin to study in a foreign country in a foreign language for five years – three with Assumption College and two more at another Catholic university. I could NEVER have done this! Everything they experience is culturally different: in food, in perspective and even in the way they worship God. What an amazing learning experience not only for the Sister students but also for me. I am completely in awe of them.
I think of this as I continue my series on peace given in the homilies and afternoon reflections that Pope Leo XIV has delivered during the first year of his pontificate. On May 9, 2025, he proclaimed, “… Recognize the marvels that the Lord has done, the blessings that the Lord continues to pour on all of us … Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God: the one Savior, who alone reveals the face of the Father. In him, God, in order to make himself close and accessible to men and women, revealed himself to us in the trusting eyes of a child, in the lively mind of a young person, and in the mature features of a man, finally appearing to his disciples after the resurrection with his glorious body. He thus showed us a model of human holiness that we can all imitate, together with the promise of an eternal destiny that transcends all our limits and abilities…. the gift of God and the path to follow in order to allow himself to be changed by that gift. “1
As I leave the college to journey back to the Diocese Harrisburg, these women, in my mind, are the epitome of what Pope Leo XIV explains in the words above. I am sure that all of you, reading this article, know someone who embodies these characteristics. See that person as your mentor in becoming a living marvel of what the Lord has done! Or, better yet, the living example of what the resurrection points to. Let us all strive to do this!
1Leo. Peace Be with You! My words to the Church and to the World. HarperOne, an Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, 2026. Pg. 9-10
By Sister Geralyn Schmidt, SCC, The Catholic Witness
