April 25, 2004

Photo by Dan McWilliams
NEW ASSOCIATES Standing in front of their sponsors in the chapel at St. Mary’s Medical Center are Tom McNicholas (left) with Sister Margaret Turk, Linda S. Brown (center) with Sister Martha Naber, and Judy Caswell with Ruth McNicholas.

Three laypeople become associates of the Sisters of Mercy in a ceremony at St. Mary’s Medical Center.

The Sisters of Mercy recently welcomed three new associates to share the order’s commitment to personal prayer and community.

Linda Brown of All Saints Parish in Knoxville, Judy Caswell of Good Shepherd Parish in Newport, and Tom McNicholas of Jefferson City signed two-year covenants as part of a ceremony during the Sunday-morning Mass on March 14 at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Knoxville.

Each associate worked for nearly a year with a contact person to help prepare for the role. Ruth McNicholas, who became a Mercy associate in 2001, had a dual connection to the class of ’04 as the wife of one member and the contact person for Mrs. Caswell.

“My wife encouraged me to do it, and eventually I did it,” said Mr. McNicholas of his decision. “I want to continue to grow my spirituality, and I think this is a good program to do it in. When I had been with the Sisters of Mercy at various times with my wife, I always enjoyed their company and the atmosphere.”

Each associate read his or her personal covenant during the ceremony at the hospital. The covenants described the specific ways the associates vowed to go about their devotion to daily prayer and works of mercy in their parish and community. For their daily prayer, the associates will use the same prayer book the Sisters of Mercy have. They will also meet monthly with the sisters for Mass and lunch.

Sisters of Mercy, other associates, and representatives of the Cincinnati-based order attended the Mass, celebrated by St. Mary chaplain Father Bert Demers. Witnessing the covenants were Sister Carren Herring and Sandra Schneider, co-directors of the associates program for the Sisters of Mercy of Cincinnati. Father Demers blessed the pins presented to each new associate.

Mr. McNicholas said he committed to continuing his work with the Effective Fathers program that he helped bring to the diocese last year.

“I’ll continue to do work with the Knights of Columbus, and I’ve made a commitment to try to help the sisters in any way that I can,” he said.

Mrs. Caswell learned of the associates program from Mrs. McNicholas and said she “gratefully accepted” the latter’s invitation to join the community.

“I was interested in becoming some type of associate, whether the Third Order of St. Francis or the Sisters of Mercy,” said Mrs. Caswell. “The Third Order of St. Francis meets once a month in Chattanooga, which is a little far for me. I thought this would be a nice opportunity for me because it’s closer, and I was attracted to their values.”

Mrs. Caswell, who lives in Newport with her husband, Jack, has facilitated a program for the Ministry of Mothers Sharing and serves in the Council of Catholic Women.

“I’m really excited and am looking forward to getting to know the sisters even better,” she said. “They’re a great bunch of ladies, and I think they’ll be a great help to us in keeping us going in the right direction.”

Ms. Brown has served as a pastoral associate at St. Mary’s since 1999 and knew the late Sister Mary Assisium Beiser, whose special ministry on a certain floor of the hospital gave her the sobriquet “Sister Mary Maternity.”

“She was a fabulous woman,” Ms. Brown said.

As a hospital volunteer, Ms. Brown makes visits to patients, helps the chaplains, and takes Communion to Catholic patients. Her path to the associates program may have been only a formality, with such constant contact with the sisters over the years.

“I decided that God wanted me to do something a little more and to make a commitment,” she said. “I talked to one of the sisters about the associates program, started a discernment period, and learned about the Sisters of Mercy, their foundress, what they do—everything about them.”

Sister Martha Naber served as Ms. Brown’s contact person.

“The sisters are just wonderful, and there are so many ways I can show mercy there at the hospital, with patient visits and the other things I get to do.”

The covenant ceremony capped a busy time for Ms. Brown and her daughter Pandora Metcalf, she said.

“My older daughter was confirmed earlier that week at All Saints. It was a nice week for us—busy, but nice.”