Back in the habit: Benedictines return to Wynne parish

Two nuns commit to teaching religious education classes at St. Peter Church each Sunday

Published: October 1, 2011

By Sarah Morris
Stuttgart Correspondent

Sarah Morris

Sister Josita Lopez, OSB, talks to her third and fourth graders at the start of religious education class in Wynne. It is Sister Josita's first year to teach the class at St. Peter Church, and the first classes taught by sisters since 1974.

Sarah Morris

WYNNE -- Olivetan Benedictine sisters are back teaching in Wynne after a 37-year absence.

"It's going very well," Sister Maria Christi Cavanagh, OSB, said. "I find that the students are very responsive and open. They have a good understanding of the faith and the teachings of the Church so far with prayer and Church history."

In the parish's religious education program on Sunday mornings, Sister Maria Cristi is teaching 10th- through 12th-grade students at St. Peter Church while Sister Josita Lopez, OSB, teaches third- and fourth-grade students. The two classes are the first ones taught by members of the Holy Angels Convent since the church's school closed in 1974.

Louise Hess, the church's administrative assistant, said it's a presence that this generation hasn't had or seen.

"Just the presence of the sisters is something that our generation really hasn't had in this parish," Hess said. "Just their presence is going to be quite awesome really."

Sister Josita said their reception has been very welcoming since they started in mid-September and the students have been a joy to work with so far.

"My favorite thing is the children and their reaction to learning some of the things they don't know about God and Jesus and the Church," she said. "They have some interesting comments."

The New Iberia, La., native joined Holy Angels in 1988 and has previously taught religion in Paragould and worked in Hispanic ministry in Danville and El Dorado. However, she hasn't taught in the past six years, which she said makes Wynne "almost like a new start."

"I like children," said the former nurse, who is now in charge of shopping at Holy Angels Convent and driving sisters to appointments. "My favorite place to work in nursing was pediatrics so I enjoy watching children and I enjoy learning from them and I enjoy trying to help them learn about our Lord."

The hardest challenge she faces is trying to get her students to sit still in their seats. It's a different problem than what Sister Maria Christi faces. She said her challenge is to make the lessons interesting as she teaches her students how to apply moral theology in their own lives.

"It's not real fun and games right now," she said. "It's some of the teachings of Jesus you need to know to gain heaven and be good Catholics."

Despite the challenge, she said the class is going well.

"I've been very pleased with their knowledge base," she said. "You can tell that they've had good catechism so far. They seem to be pretty open to learn even at their stage of life right now as teens and very young adults."

Sister Maria Christi entered Holy Angels on Jan. 23, 2006, and will take her final vows in August 2012. The class is her first one to teach although she has substituted at the parish in Weiner.

"I've done a lot of teaching in my former professional career as a health care administrator but not to high school students," she said, "so this is new to me too. All my life, I've dealt with the geriatric population and, you know, I enjoy teaching and sharing and I felt, at this time, I needed to share and expand my horizon and work with some of the youth in that age group."

It was an opportunity that Sister Maria Christi said allowed her to be a part of molding and fashioning of the younger generation.

"I think what attracted me to Wynne is that it is very similar to where I grew up in Ohio," she said, "small parish in a rural area so I feel like I can identify with the folks in Wynne."

She said engaging with the students and helping them as they prepare to graduate and continue on as young adults is the best part about the class.

The community has also been welcoming. She said, "There were sisters here historically so our community is not strange to them."

"I also find that they are curious about me as a sister and so we are getting to know each other on a special level, I guess you could say, a different level."

The two sisters continue to live at Holy Angels Convent and commute about 60 miles each Sunday for the classes.