Born to Eternal Life We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved Funeral: Thursday, February 24, 2005 at 3:30 p.m.
CLICK HERE to read obituary in Pittsburgh Post Gazette. “This is my Beloved Child in whom I am well pleased; In the early morning of the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus, the spirit of Sister Mary Michael Glenn ascended the mountain of faith, as did Peter, James, and John, to see the vision she had hoped for all her days: Jesus, “with His face shining like the sun and with clothes dazzling white.” Mary, born Betty Ann Glenn, promised to God by her mother before her birth, destined to be a woman whose vision helped transform both the teaching of religion and the future of religious life, most fittingly went home to God on the day we celebrate the transformed vision of Jesus. After suffering for several weeks from pneumonia, Mary slipped peacefully into heaven with the same unassuming manner that characterized her life. Mary possessed a rare combination of gifts. She had a brilliant mind, a deep love of the Scriptures, a passion for justice, and an intense concern for the less fortunate. She saw what others did not and worked tenaciously to change what she viewed as unhelpful, restrictive, or unjust. When her high school students told her they were uninterested in religion because she was answering questions they were not asking, Mary responded by writing a new series of religion textbooks which were later used in many dioceses. When Vatican II encouraged religious communities to return to the spirit of their founders, Mary worked for months writing drafts of our new Directives. When lay people questioned their exclusion from the spiritual life of the Congregation, Mary suggested the initiation of a Co-Membership Program. She worked tirelessly for renewal, for vocations, for ministry to those who were neglected. She shared her intense love of the Scriptures with her high school students at St. Basil's, Canevin, and Divine Providence Academy , with college students at La Roche, Duquesne, and Carlow, and with adults throughout the diocese. Beneath Mary's spiritual gifts and intellectual accomplishments beat a heart that was most at home when at home. Mary came from a loving Irish family. Her stories of the antics of the “Peppers,” her sisters' children and grandchildren, are legend. The hospitality she shared with any and all, whether she lived on the Provincial House grounds or in Rome , was born of the closeness she felt as a child to her immediate family and to the neighbors in Ford City . Mary loved to do the homey tasks that made others welcome; the smell of soup on the stove and bread pudding in the oven were hallmarks of her welcoming manner. Throughout her life, Mary continued to delight in simple pleasures. She could be as enthusiastic about eating an ordinary ice cream cone or describing which window at the Generalate gave one the best view of the Pope's bedroom, as she was about learning the differing viewpoints on some theological issue. Surely this incredible combination of wisdom and simplicity grew out of Mary's lifetime of studying the Scriptures and striving to become intimate with Jesus whose life they portray. It is not difficult to imagine that such a woman's entrance into the home of the blessed was acknowledged with words similar to those said of Jesus: “This is my Beloved Child in whom I am well pleased; to this one you shall listen.” We pray that Mary, whose prophetic vision so influenced our community, will intercede for us now until we too see the vision of Jesus “with His face shining like the sun.” Baptism: January 21 |
