Local News
Sister Mary Sue Thomas Celebrates 50th Jubilee
Published: September 4, 2003
ATLANTA—As the congregation sang “Here I am, Lord,” they knew the special meaning the words had for Sister Mary Sue Thomas and her sisters of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart.
As the hymn portrays, she heard the Lord more than 50 years ago calling her and she responded wholeheartedly.
“Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.”
On Aug. 16--surrounded by family, friends, classmates and colleagues--Sister Thomas celebrated 50 years as a Grey Nun at a golden jubilee Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King.
The Grey Nuns are familiar to many for their dedication to Catholic education. For years they ran Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Atlanta as teachers and administrators and now serve in various ministries to those in need.
In 1937 Mary Sue Thomas came to know the nuns as her teachers at Christ the King School. Many of them, like Sister Mary Josephine or Sister Thomas, were such a powerful influence that by the time she graduated in 1945, she too felt a calling to the religious life as a Grey Nun.
After graduating from Christ the King High School, she attended Maryville College in St. Louis, where she obtained a degree in English. She entered the convent in Philadelphia in 1949 and made her final profession on Aug. 24, 1956. Her first assignments were in teaching, first at Little Flower High School in Philadelphia and then at St. Pius X High School in Atlanta.
Over the years she has willingly gone where called, but Sister Thomas has found that ministries such as guidance counseling at Melrose Academy in Philadelphia and religious education for high school students at Holy Cross Church in Atlanta “were a better use of (her) talents.”
Sister Thomas finds “the way (she has) been able to meet and serve people in so many ways,” the most rewarding aspect of religious life as a Grey Nun.
“I have had such a marvelous life,” exclaims Sister Thomas.
Her enthusiasm for being a Grey Nun has been an example to those she encounters whether it is in pastoral care, her neighborhood, or within her own family.
Her brother, Dick, and his wife, Jeanne, from Charlotte, N.C., and Sister Pierrette Remillard, GNSH, took part in the Mass procession.
Among a number of cousins that came were Christian Brother Luke Roney from Sante Fe, N.M., Ursuline Sister Dolorita Robinson from Owensboro, Ky., Sister Jane Clark, a Sister of Loretto, from El Paso, Texas, and Franciscan Sister Sue Bradshaw from Indianapolis, along with Jack Bradshaw and his wife, Pat, from Indianapolis, and Lucy Clark Salot, from Louisville, Ky.
A native of Atlanta, born at the old Saint Joseph’s Hospital downtown, Sister Thomas is the daughter of the late Charles L. and Elsie Hogans Thomas.
Alexian Brother Andrew Thome recalled how Sister Thomas and another friend, Sister Betty Donohue, helped him realize his own call to the religious life and were instrumental in his decision to become a brother.
Friends like Sister Frances Whitman, also a Grey Nun and classmate from Christ the King, smile and say, “She never meets a stranger ... She has a real concern for other people ... She will be with them through everything.”
Today Sister Thomas works in the pastoral care department at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta and with an organization called “Care Share” that organizes volunteer services for senior citizens.
Sister Valentina Sheridan, RSM, director of pastoral care at Saint Joseph’s Hospital, describes Sister Thomas as a “very hospitable spirit ... compassionate and caring, who reaches out to those who come in the office or call.”
Father Steven Yander, a colleague in the pastoral care department and celebrant of the Mass, reflected on Sister Thomas’ call by God to be a “good steward ... to share the gifts of God with others” as the foundress of the Grey Nuns, St. Marguerite d’Youville, had done.
St. Marguerite was a woman who lived a difficult life, having four of her six children die, being left widowed with a large debt, and not always having the support of the church’s leadership. From these tragic circumstances she found a way to “acknowledge the giftedness of God’s love and share it,” according to Father Yander.
She carried on a small trade to make up for her debt and eventually took over the running of a hospital that also served as a nursing home, mental asylum and orphanage. She founded the Grey Nuns in 1737 to care for those in need no matter their race, financial state, faith or ethnicity.
Being open to God’s spirit and call, like St. Marguerite, Sister Thomas has found her ministries varied and rewarding. Many of the Grey Nuns, like Sister Thomas, noted that there has been a return to the charism of their foundress, of “ministering to a variety of people in need,” and they have risen to this refocused vision.
With only six Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart remaining in Atlanta, their ministry is small but meaningful. As the Grey Nuns and many other Religious gathered to help Sister Thomas celebrate her golden jubilee, the second reading’s message was poignant.
“Because you are God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another ... Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. Over all these virtues put on love, which binds the rest together and makes them perfect ... Let the word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell with you” (Col 3:12-16).
Father Yander concluded the Mass by inviting all the Grey Nuns to gather before the altar to renew their vows. He encouraged the sisters to be diligent in their service and the congregation, whether lay or Religious, to “be open to God’s Spirit and bear witness to that by the way we care for one another.”
As the Mass ended everyone gathered at a reception hosted by the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart Associates (a group of lay people who are inspired by St. Marguerite’s life and the work of the Grey Nuns) and coordinated by Marguerite Oberg to express to Sister Thomas how much she has meant to them and to celebrate her dedication and commitment to Christ.
In 1959 Pope John XXIII beatified Marguerite d’Youville, calling her the Mother of Universal Charity. She was canonized in 1990 by Pope John Paul II. Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart like Sister Thomas strive to live out her mission of unbiased charity and love throughout many communities today.
