Sister Janice McGrane heard the words in her heart at Lourdes, “You are anointed.”  From then on she fiercely dedicated herself to advocating for the needs of those most challenged in our world until her death, June 27, 2016.

On the one-year anniversary of her death, Barbara, Elisa, Annette and I shared our memories of Sister Janice with many of her fellow Sisters of Saint Joseph.  She touched each of us deeply as she did all who met her.

I was so humbled that a woman of such importance took time to listen to our stories and provide spiritual and literary guidance.  She was moved by our stories and then opened her heart to include her stories in our book-her experience at Lourdes and her struggle with her decision to follow a religious vocation.

She has passed an “anointing” onto us, to keep witnessing to God’s great love for us and the reality of his ever-flowing grace.  Elisa says Sister Janice is like “soup.”  She is full of all good things, warm and delicious!  What do you want when you are not feeling well?  Soup.  We had many “not-feeling well” days working on our book.  Sister Janice was our “soup”-nourishing, warm,comforting-giving us strength to carry on.  I say ‘is” rather than “was” because although she is no longer with us in her physical form, we continue to feel her presence in spirit.

With God’s Grace… passes on her anointing to others.  The anointing of God’s grace to do what we have to do in our daily lives and to be what God intended us to be.  Let him bless you with his grace and whisper to your heart that you are anointed to serve your family and friends accepting even the most menial tasks with peace and joy.