In January of this year, St. John the Baptist Parish happily welcomed four Norbertine sisters: Sr. Adriana Gacikova, S.Praem.; Sr. Gemma Hugoboom, S.Praem.; and two novices, Sr. Desiree Falcon and Sr. Phoebe Hoang. This past summer, they were joined by two postulants, Sr. Rachel Beck and Sr. Nikki Dinh.
The sisters have turned the parish convent into their home and are joyfully engaged in the life of the SJB community. They help in the parish school and participate in various events. They sing Morning Prayer in church with the parish’s Norbertine priests, attend 6:30 a.m. Mass, and return for afternoon Holy Hour, which is followed by Vespers. They are also establishing new ministries, such as a prayer group for the school’s 4th to 7th grade students, called Parate Viam, which meets once a week and has grown to include some 40 students. Most recently they began a monthly Bible sharing group for young women ages 18 to 30
On a recent Saturday, as a way of expressing their gratitude to parish maintenance director Desy Noriega, for his hard work preparing the convent for them, and for all the extra tasks he does for them, the sisters washed and “detailed” his electric cart. Then they customized it with a hand painted sign bearing the Norbertine motto: Prepared for Every Good Work.
The St. John the Baptist Parish community feels blessed to have the Norbertine sisters working and praying with them. A parishioner coming out of daily mass recently remarked, “Having the sisters here kind of completes the picture.”
For more information about St. John the Baptist Parish and School, visit www.sjboc.org