Two Sydney women have become Good Samaritan Oblates following a search for spiritual nourishment and accompaniment, which unfolded over several years and led them towards the Benedictine-Good Samaritan way of life.
By Debra Vermeer
Karla Heggie and Josephine Celati, who belong to the Glebe Oblate Group in Sydney, made their Oblate promises during a liturgy at St Scholastica’s Chapel in Glebe last month.
Congregational Leader Sister Catherine McCahill SGS received their Oblate promises, while other Sisters, Oblates, family and friends looked on, in an occasion described by both women as “beautiful”.
Growing up in the Lutheran Church in the US, Karla moved to Australia with her family at the age of 19. Unable to find a local Lutheran community to join on Sydney’s northern beaches, she felt herself drawn to become Catholic, partly due to the similarities in liturgical life.
Her first contact with the Sisters of the Good Samaritan came through Sister Anna Warlow SGS.
“I became a meditator with the John Maine Christian Meditation Group back in 1988 when I became a Catholic,” she said.
“Our meditation group at Sacred Heart Parish, Mona Vale met for many years, and we wanted to share our gifts of faith and love in some kind of a mission outreach. One of the other parishioners came and spoke to us about the work that Sister Anna was doing over in Western Australia with the Aboriginal communities around the Three Springs area, and so we decided that that would be our outreach.
“And so, from about 2012, we commenced running coffee mornings and leaving out a giving bowl for any contributions people wanted to make, with the funds going to those communities in WA.
“And that’s how I came into contact with Sister Anna. She would come occasionally and talk to us and to the congregation, and she would have retreats at Jamberoo Abbey.”
When Anna returned to Sydney from her ministry in Western Australia, she started small reading groups in her home.
“I was invited to take part in that and it just sort of fell into place from there,” Karla said.
With Anna’s encouragement, Karla began attending the Good Samaritan Oblate group in Glebe and felt comfortable straight away. “They were very welcoming right from day one,” she said.
“I particularly like the lectio divina because, with my Lutheran background, the Scriptures are very important to me. Lectio divina makes the Word of God alive and real always. So, I’ve particularly found spiritual nourishment there.”
Karla said she enjoyed the vast array of reading, retreats and reflection that are part of the Good Samaritan Oblate experience and has also valued the Oblate formation journey, during which she was accompanied by Oblate Margaret Gianni.
“Marg has become a good friend. She’s also part of the little group that Sister Anna runs, so that’s lovely,” she said.
“And I enjoyed working through the 10 (formation) leaflets, which gave a lot of information about the foundations of Benedictine and Good Samaritan spirituality.”
Karla said the day she and Josephine made their Oblations was a beautiful occasion.
“My husband and two of my daughters and grandchildren and my daughter’s husband, and some of the people from Sister Anna’s little reading group, which is so important to me, all came, which was so wonderful to me, to have them there,” she said. “It was a lovely day, a really lovely day.”
Meanwhile, Josephine was on a spiritual quest of her own when she came across the Good Samaritan Oblates online.
“I was looking for a spirituality group that I would like to join. So, I looked online, and Oblates came up, and I thought, ‘What’s an Oblate?’ I started reading and researching about it, and it brought me to St Benedict,” she said.
Josephine initially spoke to Oblate Kristen Guy who told her more about the Glebe Oblate Group.
“She said to me, ‘There’s no pressure, Josephine. Just come and see. So, I went and saw. And that’s how it began.”
Josephine’s first contact with the Sisters of the Good Samaritan had been years earlier when she completed Years 11 and 12 at St Scholastica’s College at Glebe, but she said her social and busy teenage self had not explored Good Samaritan-Benedictine spirituality too closely.
“So, it’s funny. I’ve done the full circle in a way because I’m back there at Glebe again. Perhaps it was St Benedict or St Scholastica guiding me,” she said.
Josephine said that while she was brought up Catholic, her faith grew deeper during her late 20s and then deeper still when, in 2003, she was diagnosed with cancer.
“And though my faith was strong then, it became stronger, because I was searching for hope after I had been diagnosed with cancer,” she said. “You know, in that situation, either your faith develops or it dies. And for me, it developed.”
During that period, Josephine sought the accompaniment of spiritual directors who she found immensely helpful. However, her first spiritual director moved away from the area after some years, and her second spiritual director eventually moved into residential aged care.
“So, that’s when I started searching online, and the Oblates came up, and I decided to go with them,” she said.
Not long after first connecting with the Glebe Oblate Group, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, putting an end to face-to-face meetings, but Josephine kept in touch and reconnected with the group as the lockdowns eased.
Josephine said she enjoyed all aspects of the Oblate formation journey and especially appreciated her Companion, Sister Veronica McCluskie SGS, who she had first met some years before.
“It was great to reconnect with her. She’s been such a wonderful companion,” she said.
“We spoke a lot about ordinary moments in life. We spoke about St Benedict. She gave me several texts to read, if I wanted to. There was no pressure at all. It was very easy-going. The conversations were quite deep, meaningful, and I’m so very grateful for her guidance and gentleness and companionship.
“I loved the material they provided in the formation program. It was very simple, not complicated at all. But I loved that you could take it all home and do it in your own time. It wasn’t hurried.”
Josephine said that being part of the Oblate Group has been a big help in her spiritual journey.
“I’ve learnt a lot from the group. I love the lectio divina prayer style, and sharing our experiences and supporting each other, and I find it very inclusive, very caring,” she said.
The Oblation Ceremony itself was a special experience for Josephine. “I had my son and husband there, and I’m so grateful for them. But it was a very emotional time when we had to sign at the altar. I think everything just washed over me at that moment, and I got very emotional inside. But it was beautiful.”
Josephine delivered some words of thanks on behalf of herself and Karla to all those who had accompanied them on their journeys towards becoming Oblates.
Looking back over her own path, Josephine said she felt she had been guided towards becoming a Good Samaritan Oblate.
“I think the Holy Spirit had something to do with it,” she said. “Because I was just discerning which way to go. And through a lot of prayer and connection and silence and thoughtfulness, the Holy Spirit steered me gently towards this journey. It wasn’t forced. It just simply happened, calmly, beautifully, and peacefully.”
If you would like to know more about Good Samaritan Oblates or find out more about connecting, send an email to gsoblatecoordinator@goodsams.org.au.
