Above: Mary Theresa O’Reilly, CSJ, setting up for Taizé Prayer

Putting Flesh on God’s Abundant Love

Mary Theresa O’Reilly, CSJ

Making connections has been a lifelong value for me — showing up to be more rather than to do more. That instinct took root early. As the third oldest of ten children, I naturally looked out for my younger siblings. It never felt like a burden; it felt like a gift. Helping my parents, paying attention, and being present became early lessons in love lived through relationship. 

Long before I could name it, relationship had already claimed me. Years later, I would recognize this as the heart of the Sisters of St. Joseph mission: to bring about union — deep connection with God, with one another, and with the world. In many ways, the mission found me before I consciously chose it. 

Over time, that call took shape through many forms of ministry — elementary education as teacher and principal, work in a women’s shelter, ministry at our retreat center, service as vocation director, and later, support roles at St. Joseph’s Preparatory High School and with our Taizé Prayer team. Even when it was time to “retire,” it was not time to stop connecting. 

As I stepped away from years of formal ministry — roles, expectations, and assumptions about how life should look — I found myself at a threshold, asking familiar but newly urgent questions: What gets me up in the morning? How do I live our mission of unifying love at this stage of life — not only for myself, but for the sake of the world? 

Today, my commitment to putting flesh on God’s abundant Love calls me to both letting go and embracing what continues to unfold. This has taken concrete form in ways large and small: working with volunteers who prepare Bags of Love for survivors of human trafficking; standing in solidarity with neighbors detained by ICE at the Allston/Brighton Car Wash; gathering in gratitude at our Living the Dream dinner; and quietly supporting a closed high school through administrative work with another sister. 

Above: Mary Theresa O’Reilly, CSJ, ringing a bell to conclude the outdoor vigil portion of the One Church, One Family event.

This commitment has also drawn me into prayer and presence beyond formal roles — joining the locally organized One Church, One Family prayer vigil, standing in solidarity with others across the country, and gathering on Earth Day to reflect on the spirituality of composting as we blessed our gardens for the season. 

And still, there is more. There is always more — more life, more becoming, more love waiting to take shape. 

Our mission of unifying love is shaped by the choices we make each day and sustained by our willingness to support one another — and to be supported in turn. Those early lessons of paying attention and being present still guide me. As I meet each day, I discover that God’s abundant Love is not finished with me yet. It continues to take flesh — in me and in us — calling us into deeper connection and inviting us, again and again, to be fully alive, right where we are.