2016 Religious Jubilarians

50 Years

Sister Louise Alff, OSF, was born and raised in Buffalo, where her home parish was St. Rose of Lima. She entered religious life in 1966, taking her final vows as a Franciscan sister in 1973.

Sister Louise holds a B.A. in Sociology from Daeman College in Buffalo, an M.A. in Theology from Christ the King Seminary in Buffalo, and a post-graduate certificate in Small Christian Communities from St. Mary University in San Antonio, Texas.

Her years of ministry include service in parish ministry, as co-coordinator of RENEW for the Diocese of Buffalo and a presenter for RENEW International, as coordinator of parish evangelization for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and with VIVE, Inc., in Buffalo, the largest refugee center in the U.S. Currently, Sister Louise serves on the leadership team of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.

Of her call to religious life, Sister Louise said, “I was invited by God. I felt that call as early as second grade. I knew that to love one person would never be enough for me, the love that God placed in my heart was meant to be for thousands of people.”

She said she joined the Franciscans “because of Francis’ love of poverty. The less I have materially the more I am dependent on God. I also joined an order that allowed me to do social work. As you know our orders have all formed a new union [the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities]. But when I entered in 1966 the order I joined had as its mission door-to-door visitation, catechetical work, and parish ministry. These ministries allowed me to meet with people on their own turf, in their own homes, at their kitchen tables. It enabled me to share the faith with the children, prepare them for the sacraments, strengthening the faith of the adults, walk with those seeking entrance into the Church, hold the hand of the frail elderly, and comfort the sorrowing.”

To a young discerner, Sister Louise advises, “Listen to your heart. Don’t give up the dream! Research it, talk with Sisters, visit a convent, be open to it, and pray about it. The invitation you hear may be placed there by God. Even if you find it is not for you, you will be a better person for having opened your heart to the possibility.”

At her jubilee, Sister Louise reflects, “Where did the 50 years go? It has been an amazing journey. In my wildest dreams I never would have imagined what God had in store for me. Every day is a new adventure, a new opportunity to love. I have no idea how many years God will give me but I know that, if I am willing to be the clay in the Potter’s hands, God will continue to melt me, mold me, fill me, and use me.”

Sister Marcia Barry, OSF, is a native of Mattydale and St. Margaret’s Parish there. She attended the parish school through ninth grade, later graduating from St. John the Baptist.

Sister Marcia entered the novitiate in 1965. She holds a B.S. in Education from D’Youville College, an M.S. in Religious Studies from Aquinas College, an M.S. in Education from Boston College, and an M.S.W. from Marywood University.

Sister Marcia has taught in schools in Syracuse and New Jersey, was director of religious education at Immaculate Conception Church in Fayetteville, and co-directed and ministered at the Franciscan Place at Destiny USA. For the past 15 years she has served as a guidance counselor and social worker at Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School.

Sister Marcia said she was drawn to the Sisters of St. Francis through the examples of the sisters who taught her. “I think it was the community of faith and their reaching out to people,” she said. “It went way beyond school. They were there for the families.” Sister Marcia also credits the sisters with teaching her organizational skills, particularly the sister who taught the kindergarten classes of 68 students: “I learned more from her than I learned in any college courses,” she laughed.

To a young woman discerning a call to the religious life, “I would tell them to pray over it and really to try it, to expect the unexpected,” Sister Marcia advises. “And no matter what the changes are in the Church, that there will always be a ministry when we change with the needs of the time.”

Sister Marcia will celebrate her jubilee with her fellow sisters and with a Mass and reception at St. Margaret’s May 28.

Sister Geraldine DeLuca, OSF, grew up in Syracuse, where her home parish was Blessed Sacrament. She attended the parish school and graduated from St. John the Evangelist High School. She later studied at St. Joseph’s School of Nursing; St. Joseph’s College in Emmitsburg, Md.; and the Catholic University of America, where she earned her master’s degree in nursing.

Sister Geraldine entered the novitiate in 1965. She ministered in the Rochester Diocese at Mercy Hospital in Auburn, and for many years at St. Joseph’s School of Nursing, where she served as an instructor and for 10 years as director. For the past 23 years, she has served as a staff educator for St. Joseph’s Home Care, working with staff one on one and in the classroom.

Sister Geraldine said she entered religious life “to give myself to God,” and though she didn’t know much about the Franciscan charism initially, today she says Franciscan spirituality “just fits” because of “the realization, number one, that we’re all made in the image and likeness of God, and we encounter God in all people if we just look, look for that image. And if you look for it, you find it.” She points to St. Joseph’s mission statement — “We are passionate healers dedicated to honoring the Sacred in our sisters and brothers” — noting, “That, to me, sums up who we are all called to be.”

 “Religious life to me right now is very much alive because I feel supported by the community in which I live, I feel supported by my Franciscan community of like-minded people, and with so many opportunities in this diocese to strengthen my faith, strengthen my mission. My vocation and my work, to me, are one,” Sister Geraldine said.

To women discerning a call to the religious life, Sister Geraldine says, “If anybody has a desire to commit themselves to a vowed life and minister to the people of God… they’d find that it’s not so difficult or lonely because you’re supported by living in community and sharing with like-minded women.”

Father Vincent W. Hevern, SJ, a professor of psychology at Le Moyne College, recalls an amazing instance of healing.

He remembers a person whom he anointed with the Sacrament of the Sick in a hospital. The woman appeared to be on death’s door, he said, but 10 days later she looked as if she had “just come back from vacation.” The woman survived for another five or seven years, Father Hevern said.

 It is one of his best memories as he celebrates his 50th year as a Jesuit and his 40th year as an ordained priest. His Jesuit class entered on Aug. 14, 1966, and he was ordained a priest on June 12, 1976.

 Father Hevern described that healing of the woman in the hospital as one of the “remarkable examples of God’s grace.”

 He said his brother Gerard Hevern, an award-winning New Hampshire physician, has also seen recoveries that he cannot explain from a medical standpoint.

He has also heard other Jesuit priests talk of remarkable healings experienced by people who had addictions, and others whose lifestyles had them clearly headed to death, until they turned things around.

Father Hevern was inspired by Jesuits from an early age.

He grew up in New York City (Stuyvesant Town) and entered the Jesuits at St. Andrew-on-Hudson, Poughkeepsie, after graduation from Regis High School in 1966. Two years of novitiate along the Hudson River were followed by a year at Shrub Oak and two years at Murray-Weigel Hall, where he completed his philosophy study at Fordham College.

He taught history as a regent at Xavier High School for two years while coaching the speech and debate team. In 1973 he began theology study at Weston in Cambridge, Mass.

He was ordained by Terence Cardinal Cooke in 1976, and spent a pastoral internship year at St. Ann’s Church in Somerville, Mass.

Father Hevern finished his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Fordham’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and was licensed as a psychologist by New York State. After graduate studies, his first assignment in 1983 sent him back to Regis, where he opened a Psychologist’s Office and did some teaching and, more centrally, engaged in clinical and consulting work with students and their families.

A 6-month tertianship at Ciszek Hall in the Bronx in 1986 and an unplanned hospitalization with Guillain-Barre Syndrome in the second half of 1987 interrupted his years at Regis. He moved to Le Moyne College in 1991. For the past 25 years he has served in the Psychology Department, both as chair and, since 2007, as professor.

He serves with other Jesuits and visiting priests in presiding at the liturgy on campus and for many years he has been involved in saying Mass for Unity Kitchen, the Catholic Worker community, in Syracuse.

That sense of community extends to the priests of the Diocese of Syracuse as well. “One of the great things that sustains both me and, I think, the rest of my Jesuit community in Syracuse really has been our contact with the Diocese of Syracuse and particularly the priests of the diocese,” Father Hevern said. “I don’t know if people recognize what a remarkable group of priests they have.”

Sister Christina Marie Luczynski, CSSF,

grew up in Rome, N.Y., where her home parish was Transfiguration.

She graduated from Villa Maria Academy in Buffalo, and went on to earn an associate’s degree in Elementary Education from Villa Maria College of Buffalo; a B.S. in Elementary Education from Rosary Hill College in Buffalo; M.S. degrees in Elementary Education and Reading from SUNY Potsdam; and New York State Permanent Administration Certification from the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester.

Sister entered religious life July 11, 1966. As a novice, she was given the religious name Christina Marie — the very name her mother had originally intended to give her.

Sister Christina’s ministry has included service as a teacher and administrator at numerous schools in four dioceses: Buffalo, Rochester, Ogdensburg, and Syracuse. She is currently closing out her first year as principal of Holy Family School in Syracuse.

Sister Christina said she was drawn to the Felician sisters because they had taught her throughout elementary and high school. “I just liked the way they were always happy and joyous. They loved what they were doing,” she recalled.

Of her many years in education, Sister Christina said, “Every place I’ve been, any place I’ve taught, or any place I’ve been administrator, I’ve always fallen in love with the children and the teachers and the people. It seems like God places me just where I need to be.”

To young discerners, Sister Christina said, “I think it’s a little bit more difficult now for young people to choose religious life because of all the different lures that are out there now. But I think if they really have a strong feel for a spiritual life, I think they should pursue it…. It’s not a scary kind of life, it’s a very blessed and beautiful life that you get to share with so many people. So many people have touched my life and made me who I am. Really, it’s their inspiration for me.”

Sister Jeanne Weisbeck, OSF, hails from Buffalo, where St. Aloysius Gonzaga was her home parish.

Sister Jeanne holds a B.S. in Education from Medaille College, an M.S. in Education from the State University College at Buffalo, and a master’s in Health Administration from St. Louis University.

Sister Jeanne entered the Sisters of St. Francis in 1966. Her ministries included 14 years as a teacher and principal in the Diocese of Buffalo, 15 years as hospital CEO and nursing home administrator at St. Francis in Buffalo, and eight years as a parish business manager. She served for four years on the General Council of the Sisters of St. Francis in Buffalo, and currently serves as a member of the Leadership Team of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities.

Sister Jeanne notes she “felt called by God to religious life. It was a personal invitation from him to dedicate my life to him.” Sisters of St. Francis taught Sister Jeanne in high school. “They were a great witness of Franciscan values and life. They influenced my decision to enter this particular congregation,” she said.

To a young person discerning a call to religious life, Sister Jeanne advises, “Listen honestly to what God is asking of you. Find someone you can talk to to help you in your discernment. Take time. Be patient. Be honest with yourself. Pray with openness to follow God’s call for you.”

Reflecting on her years of religious life, Sister Jeanne says, “I entered religious life at the time of the Vatican Council. Things have changed greatly over the past 50 years. We all need to continue to be open to the challenges God sends to us and listen to the Holy Spirit so that we can let go of the past and look to the future wherever the Spirit is leading us. Pope Francis is a great model for us.”