Then and Now

Sister Rosalind Naebers and her seven siblings grew up in Detroit. She only had to walk one block to her school, St. Catherine, where the IHM Sisters taught her.

In the third grade, she started thinking about becoming a sister herself. As she got older she “felt that was where God wanted me.” Sister Rosalind joined the IHM congregation right after her high school graduation, even though her father wanted her to go to college first. She felt right at home with the IHM Sisters.

She was sent to teach first grade at Annunciation School in Detroit for her first mission. After two years she went to St. Joseph, Dexter, Mich., to teach first and second grades. She enjoyed Dexter, because she says she “liked being in the middle of nowhere.” She then went to St. Thomas Aquinas in Detroit for five years, where she taught second and fourth grades before going to Gesu, in Detroit, to teach third and fourth grades.

Sister Rosalind went on to serve at Visitation House of Prayer in Monroe for a year before beginning 13 years in parish ministries. She worked at three parishes in New Mexico: St. Peter, in Roswell, Our Lady of Grace in Artesia and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Hobbs, where she worked on outreach programs and visited the sick parishioners. She enjoyed RCIA, Eucharistic minister training and lecture training. Her New Mexico parishes were part of a newly formed Las Cruses Diocese, which generated a great deal of passion and enthusiasm.

She took a year of renewal at Wellsprings, N.Y. During this time, Sister Rosalind learned that she is a leader. “Even though I feel like I’m low-key, I found that several of the sisters there were coming to me and asking my opinion,” she reflects. This understanding, as well as the skills and creativity she learned from teaching, came in handy during her ministries.

Her year of renewal was followed by ministering as pastoral associate at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Toledo, Ohio. After two years she returned to Visitation, serving as caretaker for 12 years. She volunteered in various departments at the Motherhouse before becoming the Motherhouse Service Office coordinator.

Sister Rosalind’s greatest joys have been to live with creative people and having wonderful opportunities to learn, to grow and to enjoy the community. She extends her gratitude to the IHM community for her many opportunities and she is grateful for the friends she has made both within the community and from her ministries.