‘I've experienced it’

By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic

MIAMI | Sister Mary Louise Marck joined her religious order during the Jubilee of the Year 2000. She remembered the year’s motto: “Jesus, the Same Yesterday, Today and Forever."

“Now it has more meaning,” said Sister Mary Louise, of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. “At the age of 18, I believed it. Now, at 43, I've experienced it.”

She was among six honorees Feb. 2, 2025 at St. Mary Cathedral in Miami, where they were being recognized for their lives of service – more than a half-century for some.

Some 300 Marists, Dominicans, Franciscans and members of other religious orders attended the Mass, as well as friends and family. The date fell on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, marking Mary’s visit to the Temple in Jerusalem with the Christ Child.

Pope St. John Paul II set the feast as the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami likewise used it as a chance to gather and thank religious brothers and sisters in South Florida.

“Religious life is not about the seeking of self but rather the seeking of Christ,” he said in his homily. “Consecrated men and women through their vows offer a powerful witness to what loving God with one’s whole heart, mind and soul means.”

He concluded: “May your perseverance in seeking first the Kingdom of God above all else inspire the rest of us to seek to live holy lives.”

The six anniversarians totaled 270 years in religious life, the honorees were:

• Sister Joan Leo Kehn, Adrian Dominicans, 70 years
• Sister Eva Perez-Puelles, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, 50 years.
• Brother George Di Carluccio, Marist Brothers, 50 years.
• Brother John Healy, Marist Brothers, 50 years.
• Sister Mary Louise, Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, 25 years.
• Sister Ana Pia Cordua, Servant of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, 25 years.

Each of the anniversarians was called to the sanctuary, where Archbishop Wenski embraced them and presented them with a certificate of appreciation. The certificate gives each honoree a “grateful tribute” and asks God to “bestow abundant blessings and an ever deeper joy in living with Christ your religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.”

Sister Ana Margarita Lanzas, archdiocesan director for religious, said that her order, the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Mary and Jesus, offered a special prayer for him.

“It is a gift to die while serving,” she added. “We never retire.”

Archbishop Wenski smiled gratefully, then replied with a typical quip: “I can always get enough cigars, but I can never get enough prayers.”

After Mass, the religious clustered and chatted with their families, then posed for selfies with Archbishop Wenski. Then they headed to St. Mary’s parish hall for dinner, where they were seated according to their communities.

There, the archbishop led everyone in prayer before dinner, sung to the tune of “Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore.” Various groups – Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese, Nigerian Igbo – sang the lead as the song was repeated in their languages.

Dinner was chicken and salmon with wild rice. Serving the guests were some students from the schools where the nuns and brothers minister. “I love just being here, serving,” remarked Lucia Grané, 12, serving beverages along with her brother Fernando.

Fernando, 13, said he admired how traditions continue through generations. “It’s like a stream of beauty,” he said.

Father Steven O'Hala, rector of St. Mary Cathedral, found the evening’s events inspiring. “You think of the different kinds of service they’ve given, and the witness by their religious life, and their whole-hearted dedication,” he said.

For their part, some honorees felt surprised, accustomed as they were to directing attention toward others.

“This is nice, but sort of unusual,” said Brother John Healy, a teacher at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. “It’s just about being faithful to God, to what you believe in. Time goes by so quickly. I enjoy what I'm doing.”

Fellow Marist Brother George Di Carluccio, also at Columbus High, thought back on his early days at Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx, New York. He looked up to the 60 brothers there and admired their wisdom.

“When you're in a community of wiser guys, it rubs off on you,” he said with a smile. “Hopefully, you carry good baggage with you.”

He quoted prize fighter Muhammad Ali: “Don’t count the days – make the days count.” He said he often recites the quote to students at Columbus High.

Sister Eva Perez-Puelles witnessed the commitment of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul as a young girl in Cuba. That was more than five decades ago.

“I said, if they can do it, I can do it, too,” said Sister Eva, who serves at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami. “I'm happy to serve the Lord.”

Sister Ana Pia Cordua, who serves at St. Agnes Academy in Key Biscayne, called it a “grace” to say yes to Christ’s call.

“When you answer the call of God, everything is a grace – good or bad, rich or poor,” she said. “When your spouse is the Lord, you are truly never alone.”

Following are brief biographies of the jubilarians:

DOUBLE DIAMOND JUBILEE – 70 YEARS

Sister Joan Leo Kehn, Adrian Dominicans

Sister Joan was born in Toledo, Ohio, on February 21, 1937. She graduated from Notre Dame Academy High School and entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation in June 1955. She served in Florida for 50 years, teaching at St. Helen School in Vero Beach in 1957 and at St. Ann School in West Palm Beach for 17 years. She served at St. Gregory School in Plantation for 32 years. Her responsibilities included primary education, teaching remedial reading and math, directing the religious education program, and assisting the DRE.

Sister Joan received the Lifetime Catechetical Leadership Award from the Archdiocese of Miami in 2015 and the Spirit of St. Gregory Award in 2020.  She now resides at her motherhouse in Adrian, Michigan.

 

GOLDEN JUBILEE – 50 YEARS

Sister Eva Perez-Puelles, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul

Sister Eva was born in Sagua La Grande, Las Villas, Cuba. As a teenager she met the Daughters of Charity in her hometown. In 1967 she left Cuba to exile in Miami and then Puerto Rico. After her freshman year in college, she felt the call of the Lord. She was admitted to the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul on June 24, 1975 and she made her first vows Sept. 14, 1980. After her time of formation in the seminary, she was sent on mission to Miami. She has worked in pastoral and evangelization ministries at different parishes in Miami, including Gesu Church, St. Vincent de Paul, Little Flower in Coral Gables, and currently she serves at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity.

 

Brother George di Carluccio, Marist Brothers

Brother George was born in New York City and attended Mount St. Michael Academy in the Bronx, N.Y. He professed his first vows in 1975 and his perpetual vows in 1982. He earned a bachelor’s degree in American history and a master's in religious studies.

He has taught in Lawrence, MA; Trumbull, CT; Brownsville, TX; and Opa Locka, FL. Brother George has coached baseball and often assisted in the campus ministry programs in Marist schools where the Marist Brothers "make Jesus known and loved."

Brother George also traveled to Kobe, Japan, and Manziana, Italy, for summer studies and renewal programs. He is currently serving as an administrative assistant at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami.

 

Brother John Healy, Marist Brothers

Brother John was born in New York City in 1951. After attending a Marist school, he entered the Marist postulancy in New York and later the novitiate in Cold Spring, New York, and his second novitiate and third age renewal in Manziana, Italy.

Brother John has served in many high schools, including Union Catholic High School, Marist High School, Roselle Catholic High School, and St. Joseph Regional in New Jersey. He has also taught at St. Mary High School on Long Island and St. Joseph Academy in Texas and has served at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami for the past 17 years. He has a bachelor’s in English, a master’s in religious education from Seton Hall University in New Jersey, and a master in Pastoral Counseling and Ministry from the University of Dayton, Ohio. Brother John has been a teacher, campus minister, and counselor.

 

SILVER JUBILEE – 25 YEARS

Sister Mary Louise (Marck), Carmelite Sister of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles

Sister Mary grew up in Ohio and Illinois, one of eight children. She was blessed to be raised in a fervent and loving family, a foundation that prepared her well for God's calling on her life. After graduating from high school, she entered the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles in 2000. Within the order, she has served in health care and retreat ministries. She received her degree in Education from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Sister Mary Louise currently serves as the 11th-grade theology teacher at Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School in Miami.

 

Sister Ana Pia Cordua, Servant of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary

Sister Ana Pia was born in Managua, Nicaragua, and was educated by the Teresian Sisters of St. Henry de Osso. She entered formation with the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1998 and professed her first vows on Oct. 5, 2000.

She has served as pre-postulant and postulant formator, elementary religion teacher, director of Catholic Charities Respect Life, Hispanic Ministry, and Evangelization and Faith Formation in the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, and in recent years, she has served as assistant to the pastor and religion teacher at St. Agnes Academy in Key Biscayne.