From the Associates: 

Spiritual Awakenings

Words from Karen Yee, CSJA; Margaret Lelakes, CSJA; Kathy Teahan, CSJA 

January 2026 marks the CSJ Associate Relationship’s 40th anniversary! One of the ways in which we are celebrating is by sharing our reflections on spiritual awakenings, as well as other key and essential moments we’ve shared within this community.

Mass Audubon’s Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary

Experiencing the Spirit in Nature

Karen Yee, CSJA

I have never really had a dramatic moment of spiritual awakening. Instead, I’ve had numerous smaller moments throughout the years — most occurring when I’m in a natural setting. I’m often overwhelmed with spiritual feelings when I’m deep in a woodland walk absorbing nature in all her beauty and complexity, feeling the air, quiet and sublime on a winter’s morning, watching icicles forming at the edge of a still gushing series of tiny, but perfect waterfalls along Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary’s brook. This flame of spiritual feeling has only grown through the years, each time I am out in nature or when I am among those who are passionate about the environment and its connection to our spiritual life and wellbeing.

The CSJA Relationship nurtures this flame because the Associate prayer meetings are so holistic and often draw on the natural world in many ways, through prayer, song, and discussion. It feels like the environment and the natural world are a holistic part of the associate spiritual life. The full, passionate embrace of Laudato Si’ is always in the background of the Associate Relationship. We embrace and celebrate Earth Day. We bring Land Justice ideas and native American spirituality to our attention for study, celebration, and discussion. Through the Associate Relationship, I now feel enriched and supported in the quiet, more subtle ways my spiritual life exists and grows and I’m so grateful for this.

The kitchen in Le Puy where the original Sisters of St. Joseph gathered.

An Awakening in a Kitchen

Margaret Lelakes, CSJA

As I look back over the years, there have been a few times in which I have experienced a spiritual awakening, but I will talk about a more recent event. After discovering and attending the associate gatherings I realized that I had found a group of people with whom I could really respect and relate. Associates — men and women from all walks of life — believe in and follow the charism and mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston. By deepening our relationship with God and sharing our faith, we journey alongside the sisters and agrégées carrying into our daily lives the unifying love of the dear neighbor without distinction.

While on a pilgrimage to France, following the footsteps of the early sisters, we learned how they lived in times of war, poverty, and sickness and to whom they ministered. Each night, the sisters would sit in the kitchen making lace to sell for money to feed and take care of those less fortunate. It was at this moment — standing in this very kitchen where the sisters labor each evening — that I had an unexpected and overwhelming feeling of the love of God. We were praying as a group, and the moment was so spiritual it took my breath away. I still carry that moment in my heart.

Our relationship as associates continues to grow stronger as we strive to carry on the mission in our own lives and share God’s love with everyone we meet.

The retreat center at Cohasset

An Awakening at a Retreat

Kathy Teahan, CSJA

Circa 2010, I felt a spiritual awakening on a four-day silent retreat with the Sisters of Saint Joseph at their retreat center in Cohasset. After breakfast, I gathered some reading material to bring up to my room. Dorothy Welch, CSJ, shook her head, smiled, and said, “You don’t need any of those. Just sit silently and be with God.” There hadn’t been much time in my busy life for sitting quietly, or so I thought. My feeling was that using free time to read, I would learn more about God and my faith, but I took Sister Dorothy’s advice.

I sat in the rocking chair with a prayer shawl around my shoulders and gazed at the ocean waves beyond the window of my room. During that quiet time with God, it came to me that throughout my life, the love my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles had given me was more powerful than any education, knowledge, or material possessions could provide. The divine love my family so generously showered on me gave me support, courage, and confidence that enabled me to achieve goals and live each day to the fullest.