Sister Mary Agnes Kehoe, I love you. Thank You

Sister Mary Agnes Kehoe

I first met Sister Mary Agnes Kehoe when she started “hanging around” our parish, St. Francis de Sales.   Eventually she became the pastoral associate at St. Francis de Sales and stayed on in this capacity when Our Lady of Mercy and St. Francis de Sales merged to become one community,  Christ Our Light Catholic Community.    I could say so many wonderful things about this very special lady but I am sure that she had such a marvelous influence on so many people that these things were felt and will be shared by many others. 

Words don’t really describe my feelings about this beautiful person, but they are all I have to use so they will have to do – I’m certain Sister Mary Agnes would say, “Don’t worry, Mary Beth, it’s OK, God is kind and loving and He understands what is in our hearts even when are words are imperfect.”  

 For me personally, Sister Mary Agnes exuded the love of Christ by simply being who she was.   

No lectures were ever needed. 

She lived and I learned.  

She spoke and I absorbed.

She smiled and I felt a joyous God.    

She hugged me and I felt the presence of our Lord and Savior.

So in the end, what I must say about Sr. Mary Agnes is that shortly after meeting her, I quickly came to love her.   She was not just some “pious nun” but a strong and vibrant liberated spirit.  She was a real human being and she was a beautiful model of womanhood.   I knew she had made the decision to stop ineffective medical treatments in some futile attempt to ward off death.  Instead, after making this decision, she seemed to begin living in an even more vibrant, magnificent way.  I feel honored and privileged to have known her, and I thank God for allowing me to cross paths with this splendid, glorious woman of God.   
Today, I remember the words Sr. Mary Agnes shared with a group at the RPI Chapel this past Lenten season.   She summarized the group's discussion with these words,   "in the end, Love is the only thing that matters." Bishop Howard Hubbard, RPI's guest presenter that evening answered, "Amen".    These will be the words that I will carry in my heart from Sr. Mary Agnes.