A Sister of Mercy

From the time she was a little girl, Sister Valentina Sheridan knew she had a vocation to religious life.  She says the seeds for vocation were planted by her grandfather.  “Once a week, he would come and get me and we would visit the sick.  First we would go to the church next door, light a candle, and pray for the people we were about to visit.  Before we left the church, he would show me the poor box and we would put money in for the people who didn’t have what we had.”

Visiting the sick and caring for the poor have been at the heart of Sr. Val’s ministry as a Sister of Mercy. Inspired by the Mercy Sisters who taught her, she entered the convent when she graduated high school.  The Mercy Sisters motivated her to join that order because the nuns were “such joyous people, kind and open.”  She has integrated the mission of mercy into each facet of her ministry, which has spanned sixty years.

Born in Macon, Georgia, Sister Val came to Atlanta to work in education, as a teacher, principal and superintendent of schools in the Atlanta Archdiocese.  She came to St. Thomas Aquinas to work as a parish administrator from 1980-1990, a role she describes as “One of the best experiences I have had as a woman religious.” After pastoral appointments at St. Thomas Aquinas and Sacred Heart Church, Sister Val went to St. Joseph’s Hospital, a hospital that was founded by four Sisters of Mercy in 1880.  For the past twenty years, Sr. Val worked at St. Joseph’s first in pastoral care and then as Director of Mission Integration.

Though she retired from the hospital this fall, she can’t seem to stay away.  “There’s a spirit here that gives me life,” Sr. Val says, “I’m happier now than I’ve ever been.”  That’s what mercy does.  It brings life and joy. 

On this third Sunday of Advent as we celebrate Guadete (Latin for “rejoice”) Sunday, let us pray for hearts of mercy that lead to life and joy.