This year, BSVM is highlighting different alumni who share the ways in which they are living into the charism and mission of the Sisters of Bon Secours years after their time with BSVM. Over our 25 years of ministry, every alum has been marked by stories of compassion, healing, and liberation from their community and ministry placements, and their lives now reflect aspects of their growth and transformation, from informing how and where they work to decisions related to neighborhood placement, community life, and more. We are grateful for their continued faithfulness in being Good Help wherever they find themselves.
Living the Mission
By Rebecca Judge (BSVM 2018-2019)
A graduate of St. Joseph’s University
During my year in Richmond, I dedicated my time and spirit to our church’s choir community. At that time, receiving and offering healing took the shape of opening myself to the glimpses of God in the unfamiliar. My experience singing in the choir healed wounds I didn’t even know I had – my need for control, my reservation in the presence of the Lord, my judgmental heart, and most of all, my silent stubbornness. Since my year of service, my concept of healing has taken on a new shape. I have been surprised by the ways that I have been able to offer healing through sharing the gift of music with others in their moments of grief.
Shortly after my year of service, Covid-19 hit, and my opportunities to sing were limited. This ushered in a long break from music, and it was not until a year into my current job at Nativity Catholic Church that I started singing regularly in the context of my faith again. One of my volunteers at the parish lost her mother. In the wake of her family’s loss, I felt a call to offer healing through cantoring at the funeral. The pastoral minister who organized the funerals did not know I sang, and neither did the music directors. I told them that I would like to sing as a way to honor my volunteer and her family’s loss, and without asking any questions, they sent me the music and put me on the schedule. I felt God’s hand guiding me through this experience, giving me the resolve to return to singing. It was difficult to remain composed and ready to sing when everyone else around me was shedding tears. Yet, at the same time, I felt a revival in my heart. In the moments after the funeral, I realized that not only was I able to offer healing to those in the pews through singing, but that I had also received God’s healing. Singing once again felt as if the forgotten pieces of my heart were slowly starting to come back into shape. Doing what I loved – singing for the glory of God and bringing others relief – reminded me of who I truly am.
After the funeral, I began to fall into a rhythm of singing at Mass again. Not only do I now cantor at Mass weekly, but I have also continued cantoring at funeral Masses. During my year of service, I grew so much by offering healing through listening to others in pain and offering a ministry of presence. Now, through singing at funerals, I have discovered a new aspect of my vocation – consoling grieving hearts through sacred music. As Catholics, we often talk about using our voices to advocate for the vulnerable, to proclaim the Good News, and to shout for God’s justice and mercy. I was aware of how I had used my voice in these ways in the past, especially during my year of service – speaking out against gun violence, listening to the life stories of a mother and her children in the ER, and singing songs of praise with the gospel choir at our church. In this way, I knew I could use my voice to offer healing, but I had never considered that it was a personal call related to my vocation. Through the distinctive cadences and timbre of my voice, God has uniquely bestowed on me a way to offer healing that can comfort and renew hearts that grieve.
When singing at funerals for those who have passed in my parish, I feel most like myself and most like the person God is calling me to be. It is also a time when I feel the charism of Bon Secours most alive in my heart. In the presence of Christ, the parish community, and the deceased’s loved ones, this fusion of the sorrowful with the sacred during a funeral Mass reflects to me a powerful image of the Body of Christ. When I sing to console others, I enter back into a mentality of service, sacrifice, and witness. The sights of a funeral – silent tears caressing the cheeks of a widow, warm embraces between distant relatives, and toddlers clutching onto rosaries for comfort – are moments of great love that I am privileged to witness. These tender sights are a reminder of how precious life is. It instills in me a greater desire to remain close to my family and my community, and ultimately, to remain close to Christ. This ministry helps me connect to a place of hope that only comes from the organic collision of tragedy and faith – a mirroring of Jesus on the cross in which he filled the tragic experience of death with his very life. In a small way, I can help fill the despair of others with sounds and lyrics that communicate the hope of eternal life with Christ.
Rebecca with some music ministry friends at Nativity Catholic Church
Rebecca singing with the Holy Rosary Choir during her BSVM year
Rebecca with her BSVM 2018-2019 community and Sr. Fran