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Meet Sister Lucy Straus,
A Sister of St. Joseph of Hamilton

I am Lucy Straus, a Sister of St. Joseph of Hamilton. If you were to drop in at our newly renovated Motherhouse, you might just find me at a computer in our Finance Department. As well I am presently a marker for the Hamilton Diocesan catechetical Correspondence Program, a prayer partner to a class of Grade 5 students, a volunteer at an elementary school and sacristan in our Chapel.

I was born in September 4th, 1934 and initiated into the Christian life through Baptism just five days later. My parents and ten siblings knew me as an active, fun loving “little tomboy” who enjoyed climbing trees, listening to the sounds of trickling water and croaking frogs, and flying though the air on a swing, free as a bird.

During my childhood years Sunday Mass and daily family prayer were as much a part of my life as were schooling, hard work and fun. I attended a one-roomed rural elementary school and a Girls’ Catholic High school. Then, after Normal School I began a forty-year career as an educator.

Although I was principal for a few years, my giftedness lay in teaching God’s “little ones” I taught in schools in and around the Hamilton area. Other ministries involved working with hearing impaired and mentally and physically challenged youngsters. For five years my ministry took me to Cape Croker where I worked in catechetics. These Native people taught me something about simplicity of life and how to talk and walk humbly with the Creator.

The desire to be a Sister was with me from an early age. I really don’t know why I wanted this, but somehow I felt deep within me that I was being called. As a child I often prayed to know what God wanted me to be, and as time passed I heard God’s invitation again and again.

It was after my first year of teaching that I entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton. By this time four of my siblings were married and four were members of Religious Congregations.

Fifty Years a Nun and Still Having Fun

Throughout my fifty years as a Sister, I have had so many wonderful opportunities to grow in prayer, and deepen relationships, and to be renewed in body mind and spirit. These experiences included a thirty-day retreat, a year’s sabbatical, a scriptural renewal in Israel, trips to both the east and West coasts of Canada and even a pilgrimage to our CSJ roots in France.

In October 2005 I celebrated my 50th Jubilee with my Religious Sisters and my family. My childhood dream of becoming a teacher and a Sister has certainly been realized. As I recall my past I experienced great pride in my ancestral heritage and a deep appreciation for my Sisters in Community. I am filled with joy and gratitude for all those whose lives have touched mine and above all I am grateful to God for my vocation and the gift of the vows.

I trust in God’s continued presence in my life, and in the life of all God’s children. I pray that the young people of today may have the courage to heed God’s call to service, be this in the single, married or consecrated state of life.

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