My journey with the Sisters of St. Joseph began in September of 2003 with a desire to live in community with others and be mentored in my chosen vocation as a teacher. This community was called Emmaus House. At the time, I believed that this was just a living arrangement. Living with sisters was the structure that I lived in. What I did not understand at the time was that God desired something different from me. Living and participating in Emmaus House provided me with the opportunity to experience the lives of the Sisters with which I lived. Coincidently, during this time, I went to an event in our diocese called Theology on Tap. It was a program geared toward young adults and their relationship with God. At this event, I met a Sister of Mercy. She was the Vocation Director for her community and at the time I did not know what that meant. I asked her a question which eventually led to me meeting with her on a bi-weekly basis to discuss different areas of vocations. Through my conversations with her, I learned about single lay ministry, church ministry, married life, cloistered consecrated life and apostolic consecrated life. Before I knew or understood what was happening, I was in discernment for religious life. This led to the wonderful journey of living with Sisters of St. Joseph but discerning to be a Sister of Mercy. After a few months, I decided to discern with Sisters of St. Joseph as well. The time came to make a decision to discern only one path. Eventually, I learned how to listen to God’s voice in my own life and discovered through a dream that God was calling me to not just live with Sisters of St. Joseph but to become a Sister of St. Joseph.
During the past 5 years of formation, I have learned many things about myself and how I fit into the world of God. I learned that the world is bigger than just myself and where I am standing at the time. I have begun to learn how to see God in all things. I discovered that I was seeking a deeper meaning in my life and the Sisters of St. Joseph fit the way I wanted to live life more fully.
I am a 37 year old woman from Rochester, New York. I grew up in a middle class family of four. My only sibling, a brother, died at the age of 27. I attended public schools and was not a regular church goer. In 2000-2001, I went through the RCIA program and became actively involved in the life of the parish I attended. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Special Education. I have taught Pre-Kindergarten for the past 10 years. I love to spend time reading, writing poetry, doing crafts, dabbling in water color paints, and sitting by the lake. My name is Sr. Melissa Rose Gernon and I am proud and honored to be a Sister of St. Joseph participating in the Federation Novitiate Program in Orange, California.
