Sr. Michael Sisko takes joy in the little things of life, in family, in smiles, in surprises from Jesus, in daily Mass, and especially in the opportunity to bring Christ to souls and souls to Christ through the work of the Pauline apostolate.

Sr. Michael certainly has been working hard in the apostolate of evangelization, living in ten different cities over the last fifty years. The longest she remained in any one community of Paulines was twenty years and that was in Puerto Rico. Now she lives and works in Miami, Florida.

Sr. Michael was born in Warren, Ohio, in 1930, and entered the postulancy right out of high school, in 1948. She was first introduced to the Daughters of St. Paul when they came to her house to fill out the parish census. She wasn't home at the time, but her mother invited the sisters to return in order to meet her daughter. She recalled, "Things 'didn't click' right away," but after a few weeks of regular visits, she became accustomed to meeting with the sisters. When they opened the book center in Youngstown, they invited her up to see it. It was through this regular contact that she found the internal impetus to ask for admission into the Daughters of St. Paul. "It was the friendliness and family spirit that drew me," she said about the Daughters. The apostolate wasn't up and running when she entered, but soon after, it exploded: book centers began springing up in city after city.

Immediately after profession, which was on July 1, 1951, she was sent to Alexandria, LA. This center she calls her "first love," her first home away from the Novitiate House. Three years later, she was sent to San Antonio, and from there to Derby to prepare for her final vows, which she made in the new motherhouse in Boston. She worked in the book centers, going door-to-door evangelizing, and generally "anything else that was needed."

Sr. Michael remembered one particular instance when she saw Christ working through her in her ministry in the Book and Media Centers. In San Diego, she suggested to a woman a book about the life of St. Paul for her brother who was a fallen-away Catholic. Years later this same man came into the Center and talked with her. He had returned to the sacraments and Mass, and credited the book on St. Paul for having given him the inspiration to come back. "God inspired me to give that particular book to the woman that day," she said simply.

Now Sr. Michael looks forward to be doing what she has been doing for the past fifty years, faithfully serving the Lord. "To continue loving God as long as he wants me here. To have influence with souls, not my influence, but God's. To give what I have with love." Sr. Michael now will be handling the e-mail correspondence for the new virtual book store that is in the final planning stages in Miami, among other ways she serves the Spanish population of Miami through the Center.

This giving of self is evident in her prayers for those discerning a religious vocation. She tells them not to be afraid to give everything, because God will provide. "Listen to your heart. Do not be afraid. Don't let anyone stop you. If you are doing what God wants, then you can take that step from your house to the convent. It may be strange at first, but you fall in, and realize that this is where you are supposed to be." She has found that peace with the Daughters of St. Paul.

"If you had to live your life over again?" Without hesitation, Sr. Michael responds, "I'd do the very same thing!"
Written by Maria Kemper, 2001