Sister Jenny Miller: Benedictine Jubilarian Believes We Are All 'companions On The Journey'
There are a couple of things that you need to know about Jenny Miller. She’s a Benedictine sister who is celebrating her Golden Jubilee. She’s a triplet along with sisters Jan and Joy. And her smile can light up a room.
She is one of the seven children born to Veronica “Fronie” and John “Butch” Miller.
Her dad took on the exterior responsibilities of the large family — taking pride in his work as a meat cutter — and her mom took on the interior ones, leading by example. “She went to church every morning,” Sister Jenny says. “She was the most incredible woman. She had the capacity to love you without hovering, without enabling. From the time I was very little, when I came near her she would connect with me with her eyes, with her smile, with her touch.”
The Miller children attended Sacred Heart School on Evansville’s westside, and then Mater Dei High School. She graduated in 1964, and then headed to Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand to begin life as a Benedictine sister.
She taught school, worked as a campus minister and served as the diocesan director of Youth Ministry before becoming the pastoral associate at St. Theresa, and then at Resurrection and St. Joseph parishes, all in Evansville.
She says her years at St. Theresa working with Father Ted Tempel and Lynn Uebelhor offered her “the opportunity to experience a ministry of grace and servant leadership with both the living and the dying."
In 2004, she began ministry as a hospice chaplain. “I was called to hospice,” she said. “It seemed like another God call with God saying, ‘Jen, I want you here.’”
In her work with the dying and their families, she says she meets them “as a chaplain, as someone who is spiritually concerned about them.” Sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes there is estrangement from the Church, there are “deep dark secrets,” even antagonism and fear of religious sisters.
Her patients ask the deepest questions of her about their lives which they feel slipping away. They want to know: “Did I get this right?” “Did I make a difference?”
She tells them that the present moment is the “only moment when we have access to God,” and she invites them to “come to God in this moment.”
Sometimes she is able to spend weeks with her patients, and sometimes “it’s minutes. Sometimes I meet them after death” through the memories of their family members.
When she was working at St. Theresa Parish, she made visits to Haiti. During one visit, she asked a pastor, “What gives you meaning?” He answered, “My time with the dying. The dying are so close to God.”
Now she understands what he was saying. “That’s how I feel. It’s a blessing. It’s humbling.”
She has learned through her work in hospice that “some pray to die” and “some pray to live.” She assures each one of her patients that God calls them at the right time.
Sister Jenny has learned through her work as a teacher and parish leader and in hospice that “we are interconnected, that we influence the people around us.” She is convinced that we are all “companions on the journey.”
It’s a “journey of faith,” and often it’s a leap of faith. She finds herself offering this prayer, “Lord, I don’t know. I’m trying to be faithful,” and asking this question, “Lord, what is it you want me to do today?”
She remembers opening her arms wide when she said her final profession of vows and later during vow renewals, and saying “Come, Lord Jesus.” She continues to pray “help me” and “strengthen me” “Be with me in this moment.”
She has served under a number of prioresses during her years as a Benedictine sister at Monastery Immaculate Conception. Benedictine Sister Carlita Koch is the one she mentions. “She empowered us to make decisions, to read, to make wise decisions. She listened. She continues to be my inspiration. She embodied what God called me to be as a sister.”
Sister Jenny will celebrate her golden jubilee along with Benedictine Sisters Joyce Marie Newton and Marilyn Schroering at a Eucharistic Liturgy of Thanksgiving at 1 p.m. ET on June 18 at Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand. A reception will follow in St. Gertrude Hall.
An Evansville reception will be held for her from 1-3 p.m. CT on June 19 in the cafeteria at St. Theresa Parish, 600 Herndon Drive, Evansville, IN 47711.
Cards may be sent to 2529 E. Walnut; Evansville IN 47714.
RELATED STORY:
Other Benedictine Golden Jubilarians have ties to diocese
By The Message staff
Two other Benedictine Sisters of Ferdinand with ties to the Diocese of Evansville celebrate their Golden Jubilees this year. They and Sister Jenny Miller will celebrate with a June 18 Mass and reception at Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand.
Sister Joyce Marie Newton
Sister Joyce Marie Newton is a native of from Bardstown, Ky., and served as an elementary teacher at Holy Redeemer School, Holy Rosary School and St. Joseph School, all in Evansville; Sts. Peter and Paul School and St. James School, both in Haubstadt; and St. Joseph Catholic School in Corydon, Ind. She also served as principal at St. John School in Elberfeld and at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Haubstadt. Sister Joyce Marie currently works in supportive services at the monastery.
Sister Marilyn Schroering
Sister Marilyn is a Jasper native. She served as an elementary teacher at St. Philip School in Posey County, Sts. Peter and Paul School in Haubstadt, and Holy Spirit School and Holy Redeemer School, both in Evansville. She also worked as a proctor at Marian Heights Academy in Ferdinand. She served as principal at Holy Family School in Jasper, Holy Spirit School and St. Joseph School in Vanderburgh County. She also has served the Benedictines as a sales associate in the monastery’s gift shop, director of facilities at Kordes Retreat Center, and worked in the monastery kitchen. Currently, Sister Marilyn works in supportive services at the monastery.
