My Vocation - A Love Story

By Sister Grace Mary Croft, SDS, a member of the Sisters' International Leadership Team

When I think back to when I met the Salvatorians, it is quite amazing. It was 1952, and I, or rather my parents, were deciding where I would go to high school. That it would be a Catholic high school was never in question; it was only a matter of which one. Then one Sunday, Divine Savior High School, a new all girls school on the Northwest side of Milwaukee, was featured in the Milwaukee Journal. My mother read the article and was impressed. It was then that I met the Salvatorians for the first time, and came to love them. Why? Because they liked - indeed loved- us teenage girls! My high school years were very significant in the development of my religious vocation. And when I graduated I wanted only to be a teacher, like the ones I had known for four years. 

My family was a strict, but not particularly devotional, Catholic family. Both of my parents had a very deep faith and respect for life. They believed that their children were gifts to them, gifts to be returned to God. They valued education, and believed that each us should become the best she/he could. 

Now, looking back over the 50 years since I graduated from Divine Savior High School, I am amazed and deeply grateful for all of the blessings God has showered on me. Mostly I am so aware that God, Jesus our Savior, has always been with me. I could not know that my YES in 1956, could lead to so many more YES's, supported by so many people, and leading to so many places. 

In 1961, I received a BA degree from Marquette University in History and education, and in 1968, a Masters degree in American History from the University of Notre Dame. I taught high school social studies for 18 years, most of those at Divine Savior/Divine Savior High School and for four of those years, served as part of the administration. I enjoyed teaching teenage girls, and hoped that they would have good memories of their high school years. 

For a total of about 10 years, I served as the candidate and novice directress, which was a special opportunity to accompany the young women who were entering the congregation. From 1984-1996 I served in provincial leadership and since 1996, as a member of the Congregational Leadership Team. 

Presently, as a member of the Congregational Leadership Team, I have had the chance to meet and visit Salvatorians in many parts of the world, including Tanzania, East Africa, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Taiwan in Asia, Brazil, in South American and several European countries. I have had the opportunity to experience the life and mission of our sisters in non-Christian countries, in post-communist Poland and in developing countries. I have discovered that Salvatorian Sisters around the world are loving, simple and welcoming women, eager to bring Life to others. My Salvatorian sisters have taught me many a lesson about welcoming and loving all, and about trusting in Divine Providence when situations seem hopeless!

The most amazing thing for me, throughout my life, is that God's timing is always so on target. God has always put the people and the right circumstances in my life to help me, to encourage me, to love me through a struggle, and to lead me to the next YES! What I have done, and am doing, is important. At its deepest level, though, I believe that my vocation is a LOVE story…it is not about doing, but about loving and being loved! It is a story of growing each day in what it means to return with love and tenderness and joy, the gift of my life to God who has blessed me so generously.