Sister Kristin receives the FSPA medal during first vows ceremony

Joined by her family, friends and FSPA family, Sister Kristin Peters professed her first vows in Mary of the Angels Chapel on June 19, 2010. Father Brian Christensen, a long-time friend of Sister Kristin’s, presided over the ceremony.

Sister Marlene Weisenbeck welcomed guests and Sister Kristin to the celebration. To Kristin, Sister Marlene said “The Scripture readings you have chosen invite us to consider the verdant and luscious landscapes of God’s love for you and for us. In the Gospel we hear that Jesus is baptized and blessed by God and the Holy Spirit. We are told that God’s voice declared ‘you are my beloved and I am well pleased.’ You too, Kristin, are a beloved disciple of Jesus—learning how to be like him in his ministry and in his suffering. Jesus did not know where his ministry would lead, but he knew the purpose of his mission.”

Father Brian spoke of love as that which gathered those in attendance. He noted that it was Sister Kristin’s love of God that attracts so many people to her. During his homily, he said to Sister Kristin that through her communion “the love of God will be revealed in the world in a new and radiant way.” He added, “This union with your beloved through your daily prayer, the celebration of the sacraments and through the wonderful devotion of this community of the adoration of our beloved and the Blessed Sacrament will be at the heart of your vocation . . . At the heart of your consecration today is not what you will do but who will you become.”

Sister Kristin offered thanks to her family and friends and gave special thanks to the organizations that she has journeyed with including Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey, with whom she also discerned, the Neumann Association and the Special Religious Development faith community, both serving adults with developmental disabilities, everyone from her home parish, St. Gregory’s in Chicago, Ill., and the Winona Catholic Worker.

Further, Sister Kristin wrote, “I thank God for the blessing to walk with others in need, especially those whose lives have been touched by violence, alcohol and drug addiction.” A special intention was made for the women of YWCA’s Ruth House where Sister Kristin currently ministers. She hopes to continue working with people who suffer from addictions and ministering at the jail while studying at Viterbo University to earn her certificate in addictions counseling.