Editor's note: This article is reprinted with the permission of OakPark.com, which ran a three-part series last week on Sr. Teresita Weind and her work. Read the other two stories: Sr. Teresita listens long and lovingly and Becoming Sr. Teresita.
On the morning of Sept. 7, Sr. Teresita Weind took the pulpit at St. Catherine-St. Lucy Church in Oak Park, Ill. And she preached about how long it takes for the deep hurts in people to heal.
She knows.
From 1979 -- when this black nun was invited by the pastor to join the parish staff, to preach, to minister -- until 1991 -- when another pastor booted her from the parish for overstepping boundaries set by the archdiocese -- Weind had been in the pulpit at least monthly. She had also led retreats, ministered to the sick and helped create and nurture a racially integrated faith community that continued to encompass both Oak Park and Austin, just as St. Catherine's and St. Lucy's parishes had done for a hundred years.
The weekend of Sept. 5-7, as the parish launched its 125th anniversary celebration, Weind was back for a Friday reception, led a well-attended Saturday retreat and attended Sunday Mass at the church at Austin and Washington boulevards.