The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
ROGERS — Even at the young age of 12, Lisa Atkins heard the small whispers in her heart. The whispers grew into nudges and, eventually, into a gentle calling that she answered by entering the religious life with the Sisters of Mercy at the age of 22.
Now 44, Sister Lisa, a nurse practitioner by trade, is one of the youngest in her community of the Sisters of Mercy in the south central region of the United States.
“I have a sacred call to be a Sister of Mercy. That’s what gets me up in the morning and that is what gives me the greatest joy,” Sister Lisa said.
Growing up in New Jersey, Sister Lisa was influenced by the Franciscan nuns who taught her for eight years at Our Lady Queen of Peace School.
“I had an overwhelming sense that God was inviting me to become a sister and felt he wanted me to dedicate my life to him completely,” Sister Lisa said of those early years.
She went on to attend Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina where she lived the life of a college student: playing sports, studying and dating. The Sisters of Mercy had a strong presence on campus and it was there she learned about the order’s founder, Sister Catherine McAuley.
“Her passion for the poor, especially women and children, really struck a chord with me,” Sister Lisa said.
Each summer she helped with mission work with the order and felt working side-by-side with the sisters gave her a “sense of home.”
“It resonated with me to want to be that glimpse of God’s mercy in the world,” Sister Lisa said.
In 1991, one year after graduating with a psychology degree, she entered the Sisters of Mercy and started the House of Mercy, a homeless facility for individuals with HIV, on the grounds of the motherhouse in Charlotte, N.C. As she worked with a sister who was trained as a nurse, she realized her calling was not yet complete. She returned to the Mercy School of Nursing in Charlotte to get her nursing degree and went on to receive her nurse practitioner degree.
The absence of a traditional habit didn’t keep Sister Lisa from “feeling” like a sister. On the contrary, she appreciated the beauty of the symbols her order had chosen to represent their vows. Upon entering, novitiates are given a Mercy cross necklace. This symbol of a “cross within a cross” is a sign for those in the order that they are on the cross with Jesus every day. At final vows, a silver ring is given to represent a life now dedicated to Jesus. Sister Lisa said she feels in her occupation that her less formal attire puts patients at ease.
She came to northwest Arkansas in 2004. For six of the past nine years she has worked in the Mercy clinic in Bentonville and found her profession to be an important part of her vocation.
“Sister Lisa is a woman of integrity and is open to God’s activity in her life,” said Sister Anita DeSalvo, the Sister of Mercy for administration and is the only other Sister of Mercy in the Rogers area. “She is willing to share her story of joy, struggles and commitment with women who are interested in dedicating their lives to God and to the care of God’s people, especially those who are oppressed.”
Sister Anita believes women feeling called to consider a religious vocation are seeking sisters who are “real” and willing to share the truth of their own journey.
Sister Lisa Atkins and Sister Anita DeSalvo are members of the South Central Sisters of Mercy community that includes Barling, Fort Smith, Rogers and Springfield, Mo. There are currently 3,500 Sisters of Mercy serving in the United States and internationally with about 28 women discerning a vocation or in the formation process. The Sisters of Mercy are one of the largest communities of religious women in the world. For more information about the Sisters of Mercy or to contact Sister Lisa, e-mail her at .
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