June is a month full of beautiful celebrations for us Daughters of St. Paul. Our Founder, Blessed James Alberione, told us that June should be the “Month of St. Paul.” He even wrote a book with that title! With the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29 (and for the Pauline Family, the feast of St. Paul all by himself on June 30!), the whole month is an opportunity for us to pray to St. Paul, learn from him, and commit ourselves to imitating him in his following of Jesus.

But before we get to St. Paul, June holds another big day for us! On June 15, we celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of the Daughters of St. Paul. And on June 28, we remember the arrival of the first Daughters of St. Paul in the United States.

Because of all these feasts in June, we also celebrate our first professions and anniversaries of profession in June! This year, we have one novice making first vows; one Sister making final vows; two Sisters celebrating fifty years of religious life; and three Sisters celebrating sixty years of religious life!

 These celebrations are an opportunity for us to remember our own call and to renew our commitment to Jesus as consecrated women. It’s also a time to renew our commitment to being his missionaries in the world today, and to praying for all the people God sends us to—and that includes you! As our Founder told us:

“We did not choose St. Paul; it was he who chose and called us. We must do what he would do if he were alive today. And if he were alive, what would he do? He would fulfill the two great commandments as he knew how to fulfill them: loving God with all his heart, all his strength, all his mind, and loving his neighbor unsparingly because he lived Christ. “Christ lives in me.” In himself, St. Paul had integrated holiness and apostolate. He truly loved Jesus Christ.”

Amen!