Sister of St. Joseph Mary Kay Kelly, the parish catechetical leader in St. Isaac Jogues Parish, Marlton, eagerly anticipates the upcoming school year during which she will lead 75 catechists and volunteers in enriching the faith of the roughly 400 students.
“After time spent away from parish work, it is good to be a member of the community,” she said. “I look forward to meeting and praying with the members of St. Isaac’s.”
Sister Mary Kay earned a bachelor of arts degree in religious studies and a master’s degree in liturgical studies, both from LaSalle University, Philadelphia. She comes to the Diocese of Trenton after serving as a teacher in elementary schools in Virginia, Delaware and Philadelphia for 13 years.
In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Sister Mary Kay was coordinator of Word and Worship in the Office for Youth and Young Adults for 14 years, campus minister and music teacher in St. Athanasius School, Philadelphia, for 11 years, and theology teacher in Archbishop John Carroll High School, Philadelphia, for four years.
Since 2002, Sister Mary Kay has served as co-founder and co-director of Heartful Ministries, “a small nonprofit that gives me the opportunity to give sacramental prep workshops for parishes and schools, prayer and liturgical planning for religious communities, and write and be published through Liturgical Training Publications,” she explained.
Sister Mary Kay shared her plans for the upcoming school religious education year.
“I look forward to coming to know the catechists and volunteers who so generously give of their time and talent guiding our young people into a relationship with Jesus and the Gospel of Life,” the religious said. “I want to get to know the young people who come each week, and reach out to their families to find ways that I can assist them in nourishing their spirituality and the spiritual lives of their children.”
~ By Christina Leslie, correspondent