Have I ever had a soul friend? Yes, Sr. Paul was a Benedictine sister, a companion, a friend who I grew up with. When we met again in 1999 as a religious sister and a seminarian, I felt lucky to have a friend to share what I dedicated my life for. I might dream of being like St. Francis and St. Clare. We corresponded with many cards and letters that showed the joy and happiness of the consecrated life and studying to the priesthood. She took her perpetual vow in 2005. When I was ready for my ordination in 2007, she was diagnosed colon cancer in the last stage. I pleaded to God for her life when my nose hit the marble in the cathedral and the congregation called the Holy Spirit upon us during the ordination.
Our second journey started with cancer. She was always joyful even though the surgeries and chemotherapies slowly took her life away. We talked many nights through Skype and the thirteen-hour time difference didn’t matter. Her love for Christ was an incredible witness that I had never seen. To me, such an active and beautiful faith Sr. Paul had shown was life giving. I learned how to walk with the dying and the loved one. From time to time, her cancer seemed to be taken away, and we were able to be children again. However, the cancer was evil and threatened her life again in the winter of 2009. I had never prayed with sincerity and urgency. At her final days, I couldn’t stand by her pain and pleaded again to God. But, this time it was a different prayer, asking God for taking her life. In her community’s support and love, he died on March 15 in 2010 after watching her favorite snowfall. She said to me in her last letter, “My journey with you on earth was about to end, and yet I will continually pray for you in heaven until we meet again.”
Sr. Paul is the first Christ.