Sister Delores Dolezal Celebrates 50 Years of Religious Life

A fifty-year commitment starts with a basic decision. "At various times I wanted to be a nurse, a teacher, a nun, a doctor, a farmer's wife with a dozen children, and I even considered what were then 'the women's branches' of military service," admits Sister Delores Dolezal. She finally picked one and, on July 11, she celebrated her golden jubilee as a Benedictine sister at Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas.

Her life began in Omaha, Nebraska, but her path began to come clearer when her pastor brought some of the parish youth to visit the monastery in Atchison. "I was so impressed when I heard the sisters singing in the chapel that I began to consider what it might be like to live with women dedicated to seeking God."

Not only did she find out, but she also found that some of those other early interests were part of her life as well. She did become an elementary teacher, which sometimes also means medical care, attending to even more than a dozen children at a time, and perhaps occasionally, some of the more peaceful monastic version of "military-style" organization and discipline. For more than twenty years, she has been the first grade teacher at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Seneca, Kansas – long enough to begin to teach the children of former students.

She has taught all grades, but especially loves first grade. "It's very hard," she recognizes, "because they have to get the basics of reading, writing, math, their faith, computer use, spelling and everything about school. At the same time, there's an excitement to it. It's all new and they are so uninhibited. They teach me, too." She never tires of the challenge and, like the pupils, she sees each year's class and each child as a new and different experience to be viewed with fresh eyes.

She sees her years in religious life in the same way. As Sister Anne Shepard, prioress, noted in her remarks at the jubilee celebration, "From manual typewriters and chalk to computers and smartboards, from Latin Mass to English, from 'Dick and Jane' to much more interesting and inclusive primers, life has changed. But what has not changed, except to deepen, is your love for God, prayer and community."

Sister Delores feels that her life has been richly blessed and is still a work in progress. "St. Benedict's way recognizes human fragility while also providing the wisdom needed to help one live a good life. For me, it says, 'Delores, be faithful to the struggle.' " With a strong combination of determination and enthusiasm, she is a model of how a good life can be sustained through five decades of commitment.

Reflection given at the Jubilee Mass by S. Anne Shepard.