Top photo caption: Sister Regina Callahan stands with members of the Red Bank Catholic Caseys4Life, which she founded, at their annual barbecue May 2. Red Bank Catholic courtesy photo
By EmmaLee Italia, Contributing Editor
‘Life of Prayer and Service’: Sister Regina has spent decades inspiring students to make a difference
The L.I.F.E. Club (Living In Faith Effectively) at Red Bank Catholic High School, Red Bank, has served hundreds of families across its 42 years with donations of students’ time and treasure. And it all began with Mercy Sister Regina Callahan, an idea and a few students willing to put in the work.
Celebrating 50 years of religious life this year, RBC guidance counselor Sister Regina used the L.I.F.E. Club to help infuse the Mercy Core Values – spirituality, community, service and social justice – into the life of the school.
“The Sisters did a good job on my family,” said Sister Regina. “My eight siblings and I, as well as my parents, Katherine and Charles, all went to Holy Spirit Grade School and High School at Holy Spirit Parish in Atlantic City and were taught by Sisters of Mercy … it seemed to be the route to go for me. I felt very supported in my desire to be one of them.”
Drawn to Mercy
By the time Sister Regina reached high school, she felt that, “God was calling me to a life of prayer and service in a religious community, which was modeled for me by the Sisters.” She recalled, “I volunteered with them and saw their prayerfulness.”
She earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in student personnel services (guidance) from Georgian Court College (now University), Lakewood; and a master’s degree in theology from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood, Pa.
As she taught among the Sisters in Holy Spirit Grammar School, and in St. Nicholas Grammar School, Atlantic City, “The Sisters strongly encouraged me to apply to [their order] … it seemed natural to live, pray and minister with them,” she said.
She entered the Sisters of Mercy Aug. 22, 1976, took her first vows July 22, 1979, and her perpetual vows Aug. 22, 1982. And she hasn’t looked back since.
Living In Faith Effectively (L.I.F.E.)
Quickly finding that her charism aligned more with older students, Sister Regina taught middle school religion from 1976-78 in St. Mary School, Perth Amboy; from 1979-81 in St. Ann School, Keansburg, and from 1981-83 in St. James School, Red Bank.
In 1983 she began teaching religion in RBC, switching from the classroom to guidance counselor as needed. Eager to find a way for students to see their importance in the world, Sister Regina had an idea for a club that would have a positive effect.
“I wanted to remind them that they are God’s gift to the world … and have a responsibility to share their gifts with others,” she said.
Four students volunteered for the L.I.F.E. Club in 1984; that humble start grew to more than 450 members throughout her leadership.
“We were breaking the fire code with meetings in the auditorium,” Sister Regina said, necessitating limiting attendance to new underclassmen, and subgroups that specialized in different service aspects.
Initially focusing on supporting families for Thanksgiving and Christmas, the club has expanded to include pro-life efforts, playing bingo with residents in halfway houses and nursing homes, and shopping for, sorting, packing and transporting donations.
“One thing that kept me going was the kids’ enthusiasm,” she noted. “The experience inspired some graduates to become social workers; one became an attorney for an agency to defend people who can’t afford a lawyer.”
Learning Experience
Her impact on the RBC community was recently recognized with the creation of the Sister Regina Callahan Sisters of Mercy Scholarship, launching in the fall. The scholarship will benefit two incoming RBC freshmen with $7,500 per year for four years, and will consider academic achievement, community service and financial need.
It hasn’t often been easy, Sister Regina admitted, keeping up with the students’ creativity and energy, and “It’s been a challenge getting the kids to see their gifts,” she said. Parents Tony and Debbie Pflego have taken over leadership of the L.I.F.E. Club to help ease the load, and Sister Regina now sticks with her guidance role.
She advises those considering religious life to pray, and to research religious communities online. Retreat experiences, she said, “would be an eye-opener, with quiet time and contemplation, to see if a life of prayer is what you’re called to.”
If she had to start over, Sister Regina said, “I think I would pray more … and I think about some of the projects we could have done earlier.” But that aside, she is “very happy with the way things turned out.”
