Detroit Mercys welcome newest vowed member

The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Regional Community of Detroit, celebrated with great joy as Jacquelyn Laster, RSM professed perpetual vows on August 5, 2006.

Sister Jackie entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1997 and was received into the community as a novice in 1999. She completed her novitiate year in St. Louis in 2000 and professed first vows in 2001. Sister Jackie has a degree in speech pathology/audiology and early elementary education. She worked as a speech pathologist for 10 years and as an assistant director of medical billing while raising her family of three as a single mother following her divorce. She has four grandchildren. Sister Jackie has served as a chaplain at Mercy Hospital in Detroit, a campus minister in the College of Education and Human Services at the University of Detroit Mercy, and was a pastoral associate at St. Jude Parish on the east side of Detroit.

In 1997, Sister Jackie completed a two-year internship at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills with a concentration in spiritual direction. She is currently providing spiritual direction on a volunteer basis at Positive Images II, a residential treatment facility in Detroit for women who are seeking to recover from substance addictions.

Sister Jackie is a member of Spiritual Directors International, Sister Moms and The Alliance of Sisters of Mercy of Color in the United States. She has been active in the Anti-Racism and Multiculturalism Work Group within the Detroit regional community of Mercy as well as a Healing from Racism Through Contemplative Dialogue workshop for the Diocese of Kansas City, Missouri. “I believe that the only hope for our world is the conversion of our hearts to one another in peace and love,” says Sister Jackie. “I am so thankful for being called to the Sisters of Mercy and hope to further the cause of all people who wish to live with dignity.”

Messages to Sharon Graganta