Joy is the Echo of God’s Life in Us

S. Kathy Burt, currently pursuing graduate studies at the Catholic University of America, says  “When I am away at school, my heart yearns to be in Yankton sharing prayer, conversation and daily challenges with my sisters.” She adds, “It is through the love, companionship and prayer of community that I hear God’s call to love and serve.”

The opening words of the Rule, “Listen...with the ear of your heart,” best describe her call to religious life. She treasures the gift of faith given by her family that opened her heart to hear God’s call.

S. Kathy is the youngest of four, the daughter of Clint and Joan Burt. Her elementary and secondary education were completed in the Sioux Falls Catholic school system. Thinking that was enough Catholic education, she determined to continue studies at a state university, but found herself enrolling at Mount Marty! “Here,” she says, “I was first exposed to Benedictine spirituality, and I found a certain peaceful presence among the sisters that I yearned to have.” Here she first recognized a call to religious life, a call she resolutely tried to deny.

After college, S. Kathy was employed at St. Mary’s Hospital, Rochester, MN. Nursing gave her the opportunity to be a part of people’s most  vulnerable and intimate times. She believes it is a great gift to be present during the processes of birth and death. She found a degree of happiness and success at St. Mary’s, but knew something was missing, and after a year there she entered Sacred Heart Monastery.

S. Kathy’s goal is to teach nursing and instruct others with the skills and values needed to serve others as a nurse. “My example of gratitude, service and joy are ways in which I spread the Gospel.” The words of the song, They will know we are Christians by our love, are what she tries to exemplify each day. She is grateful to the people with whom she lives and studies, who continually call her to grow and to be her best self.

Children are a great source of joy in S. Kathy’s life and she cherishes the times she can be with her nieces and nephews. Her mother says she seems happiest with a couple of children following her. “Celibacy calls me to a barren life that is actually a life filled with life, love and joy,” she says. “It gives me the opportunity to hear and answer God’s call to love much.”