Kathryn Press is an Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from Georgia. She professed her final vows in 2018. With a Master of Divinity and a background in religious studies, she has taught every grade from pre-K through high school. After opening a convent in Ireland, she taught in New York City for three years before returning to Ireland in September 2020 to work in evangelization and parish ministry.
Horizons - Science and faith always have something new to teach us. God delights in us as we make such discoveries. Wonder waits around every corner. At the start of a new year, I ask: What are you wondering about?
Horizons - This piece is my gesture of gratitude in thanksgiving to God for all the gifts and graces that have come into my life because of Camp Arcadia. Many lessons and skills from there came in handy in the convent.
Horizons - At the invitation of our bishop, I had the opportunity to serve on the planning team that organized our first diocesan youth and young adult pilgrimage to Medjugorje. It was an entirely new experience!
Life isn't a Google Map. We can't always pick the fastest route or avoid highways and tolls. My spiritual journey can't be plotted out. Detours and diversions, construction and congestion are part of the deal.
Living as an American in Ireland has, I pray, made me a better Christian. At the very least, the experience has given me the space and the reason to evaluate my default positions and grow in self-knowledge, empathy, and cultural awareness.
Horizons - Throughout November the church acknowledges the men and women who lived in imitation of Jesus. Hopefully there is someone with whom you feel a kindred connection. I look at the world through the eyes of Blessed Clelia Merloni.
Having spoken with Catholics in Ireland, we knew there was a need for witness to the faith and for evangelization. We would open a convent there. It was a small way to say "thank you" to the church that had given us so much.
