Sister Mary Jo Curtsinger, CSJ

Please introduce yourself and your role with

the NRVC.

I’m Sister Mary Jo Curtsinger, CSJ, a vowed member of the Congregation of St. Joseph. I live in Chicago and am in my second year as a Member Area Coordinator of the Midwest Region.

How did you come to vocation ministry?

During our April 2018 Chapter, we were having a full group conversation about our future. There I sat, minding my own business, and the One I later identified as the Holy Spirit whispered a call to my consciousness that She had work for me in vocation ministry. I kept praying about it for a couple of weeks, then asked for a meeting with Sister Sallie on our leadership team to tell her that I felt called to this. Sallie leapt from her chair exclaiming, "Alleluia!" I attended NRVC's Convocation in Buffalo that Fall to “get a feel,” and my call was confirmed over and over by the warmth and enthusiasm of other sisters and brothers!

Please share one blessing and one challenge you encounter in your work.

Over and over, I am blessed in this ministry by the stories of women and men who have felt God’s tender and personal call to give their lives for the sake of the Gospel. It is so heartening, and a privilege to be privy to such vibrant witness to the life and action of the Risen Christ!   

One of the biggest challenges for me is to find ways of spending quality time with inquirers who do not live in my geographic neck o’ the woods and having them engage with our community that is also stretched out from Wichita to Wheeling, from Kalamazoo to New Orleans. Of course there’s Zoom, but the in-person relationship-building is what rocks.

How has being a member of the NRVC helped you?

I cannot imagine doing this ministry without the relationships of other vocation ministers! We’re an amazing bunch of disciples of Jesus. We appreciate that diversity in the Body of Christ tends toward the one faith, one baptism, one God who is over all and in all (Eph 4). Therefore, we honor one another’s charisms and ministries and support one another, far from any semblance of competition, far less “sheep rustling.” NRVC gives a context to come together for professional development and the support of friends.

What do you enjoy doing on your time off?

In my time off, I love to walk and sit among trees and water and critters. I’m a huge fan of PBS programming and could be happy with that, but I also have access to other film channels. I tend to choose dramas, loving creative screenplays and good acting. I am happy keeping my own company, but life wouldn’t be worth a dime (as my Dad would say) without the joys of relaxing with friends and family and community.