My Sister of Saint Joseph Journey

I believe that life is a journey and that in moments of prayer we become aware of how God keeps sending people into our lives to support us on that journey.  

From an early age, I learned to value those moments of silent prayer. Although I felt drawn to the religious life, I didn’t want to answer God’s calling to “Come, follow Me.” Finally, when nearly 21, I prayed, “Lord, I’ll try it.”

In our quiet chapel at Chestnut Hill during my novitiate God won me over. There we had private hours of adoration regularly, and I felt so closely drawn to the One from whom I had been running. Our Directress and other novices supported me in this part of my journey.

For the next 25 years I served as teacher and principal. During daily periods of quiet prayer, I felt so refreshed. Living with many other women with different personalities, I understood more of what being a Sister of Saint Joseph meant. With them I lived our mission of unity as best I could.

When I found that I no longer related to the young, my regional superior invited me to spend a few days with a team of ministry counselors in a Lutheran seminary. Then, our God of surprises led me to respond to a request from one of our Sisters to minister with her in prison for a part of the summer.

 This was not what I had planned! Within minutes of being with my assigned group of prisoners though, I KNEW that I belonged in prison ministry.   Then, and for these many years since, I have had the privilege of sharing God’s love with so many prisoners.  I have experienced some of Jesus’ pain through men and women locked in cages, rejected by society, separated from their loved ones, and struggling to cope in a harsh, inhumane system.  Their prayer and their efforts to live with hope have deepened my own relationship with our loving God.  I am truly blessed and honored to have traveled most of my life’s journey with them.

Sister Dolores Chepiga SSJ

Sister Dolores ministered in education, served as jail minister, prison chaplain, and a pastoral associate who recruited volunteers for nearby correctional facilities. She was also coordinator of prison outreach for the archdiocese of Baltimore and is now a volunteer in parish and prison ministry. She is an advocate for abolition of the death penalty and author of unpublished mini-book on Restorative Justice.