By Sister Margaret Liethen
On January 27, 2022, we celebrated Sister Katharine Reiter’s 100th Birthday at Notre Dame Convent. First, all those present in the dining room when she came to breakfast sang Happy Birthday. At 10:45am, we came together to celebrate a Thanksgiving mass for Sister Katharine, which was made very personal by Father’s sermon giving thanks to God for the many gifts God has bestowed on Sister, which she, in turn, has gifted the community. In the afternoon we met together to have a community celebration, and it was truly a community. Not only our house participated, but also our Sisters from outside NDC in Canada, England and Rome joined us over Zoom. (The one good thing we have learned through COVID.)
Sister Maureen Liethen first gave the formal congratulation to Sister mentioning her great gifts in Art and her “Green Fingers” that for many years gave such great joy to all the Sisters here when she took care of our Jubilee Garden. The flowers there were planted in an artistic way and were cared for by her and a companion Sister in untiring service. Not forgotten was a thank you for her care of the birds and squirrels, too, by feeding them early each morning. We all enjoyed watching them feasting on the seeds.
Then the official congratulations were presented, first from our General Superior Sister Roxanne Schares, then from the Provincial Council, followed by two papal blessings, and greetings from the Bishop of Hamilton, the Prime Minister, the Premier of Ontario Douglas Ford and from our parliamentary representative. Unfortunately, the Queen’s message and the one from the Governor General did not arrive in time.
After a short, fun time with Jib Jab, the Zoom finished, and two baskets of written congratulations were presented to Sister before we had a lovely “tea” rich with food and drinks and crowned by a birthday cake that bore the image of Sister Katharine.
