By Julie A. Miller
Catholic Herald
Superior nun lives out vocation in Nepal
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Sr. Betty Uchytil, right, a School Sister of Notre Dame and Superior native, is pictured with fellow Sisters during a visit to Japan. Uchytil sold her Superior home at age 30 and joined the Notre Dame Sisters. Last October she began a new ministry serving in Nepal. Members of her religious order in Japan operate the Nepal mission, which includes a school for over 600 students. (Photo courtesy of Sr. Betty Uchytil) |
SUPERIOR -- "How does a small town girl ever get half-way around the world, anyway?" asked Superior native Sr. Betty Uchytil about her new teaching assignment in Nepal. In a series of e-mail messages, Uchytil, a School Sister of Notre Dame, answered that question and others posed by the Catholic Herald about her current position and her vocation.
The seed of a vocation was planted in her heart by the School Sisters of Notre Dame at St. Francis Xavier School in Superior, Uchytil said. She was in junior high at the time and the seed lay dormant for many years.
After attending Cathedral High School in Superior and the University of Wisconsin-Superior, Uchytil taught in the public school system. "I owned my own home and was an active member of St. Francis Parish, being a song leader, parish council member ... and was a reader at Sunday liturgies," Uchytil said.
At the time, the School Sisters of Notre Dame were very active with the women of the parish, and often hosted retreats, Uchytil said. "Attending some of those weekends began to spark my interest in religious life again -- as the seed had been planted in junior high by the Sisters."
In 1980, at age 30, Uchytil made a big decision. "I sold my home and moved to Milwaukee where the School Sisters of Notre Dame - Milwaukee Province had its motherhouse," she said. "There I started formation training and in three years made my profession of vows."
Euchytil described the 20 years since she decided to become a nun as "rich in so many ways." Earning a master's degree in administration, serving as principal in two Catholic schools and returning to classroom teaching were all part of her experiences.
Uchytil's interest in an assignment overseas was piqued in 1993 when she attended a summer program for members of her religious community. The Global Apostolic Awareness Program took 20 Sisters to Guatemala or Honduras, where fellow Notre Dame Sisters were ministering with the poor of those countries.
"I went to Guatemala. I know that my heart was changed as I saw the courage of both the Sisters and the people as they tried to bring ease to the suffering poor. In my mind I felt as though some day I would want to do that also," Uchytil said.
After completing her final teaching job in Wisconsin, Uchytil asked for a sabbatical and traveled to three countries "discerning where my next assignment would be. Nepal was one of those countries," she said. Based on that visit in April and May 2000, she chose Nepal and moved there Oct. 11, 2000.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2001