Sister Lucy Nigh

Sister Lucy Nigh at her vows ceremony

Giving and receiving in turn

“I thought I had something to give. I had hoped to receive. But the surprise was in that I always got more than I would give. I was a teacher, and the students were the ones who taught me many things. I directed youth retreats, and they inspired me. Youth inspired me because of their openness and desire to find out how God could be working inside the complexity of their lives. 

“I was a hospital chaplain, and the patients I visited strengthened me and my patience. They had to deal with the surprises and challenges of life and inspired me to do the same.”

From left, Sisters Christine Garcia, Judy Bourg and Lucy Nigh live in community in Douglas, Arizona, where they minister in the U.S.-Mexico border.

Living at the border

“I live today at the border. I am fortunate, privileged, to meet Mexicans who are deported. They inspire me with how much they have risked – their desperation that has driven them, their hope, their putting family as such an important part of their lives.

“I work with inmates and catechize them, and they teach me by their humility, their acceptance, their resiliency of starting over again. I have met with young women who are discerning religious life and their desire to serve, their openness to God keeps me challenged to do those same things in my own life.

“So I have been given so much no matter where I have been or how I have served as a sister. It’s living and praying in community that keeps me growing, being honest with myself, deepening my faith and helping me to keep on giving what I have to give, and God is the one who supplies more than my simple gift.”

- Sister Lucy Nigh