Sister Lucy is a 63-year-old woman who is passionately in love with Jesus, who knows herself to be loved deeply by Him, and who is gratefully, happily committed to sharing His "Good News" in serving His people. Being an Ursuline of Brown County is the way she lives out her relationship with God. Being a Religious Studies teacher at Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati is the way she shares God's relationship with God's people. She looks at her past to understand her present and looks at her future to better live today.

 

On a Tuesday in December of 1956 Lucy was born to Herman (Smitty) and Carolyn (Kopp) Schmid and Owensville, Ohio became her home. Eventually, her family consisted of seven children, with a fluctuating number and variety of pets. Her Dad managed the Schmid's Sunoco filling station in Owensville and drove a bus for Clermont Northeastern Schools, while her Mom managed the kids and drove the family station wagon!

 

Saint Louis Parish was Lucy's home-away-from-home. There she was baptized, made First Confession, First Communion, and was Confirmed. At the parish school Ursuline Sisters were her Principals and some were her teachers. She loved to help her teachers after school, walk in the Parish cemetery, sing in the choir at funerals and weddings, clean and make visits to church, work at the parish festival, and get to know the members of her small town faith community. Lucy even helped clean her Pastor’s house and wrap Christmas presents for him! She surely was a daughter of the parish.

 

In 1975, Lucy graduated from McNicholas High School and began the search for greater meaning in life. She entered the Ursulines of Brown County in 1980.

 

The 39+ years as an Ursuline have been quite an adventure for Lucy. The Ursulines

companioned her in maturing to adulthood. The Sisters gave her the freedom, encouragement, and responsibility to focus on the deepening of her interior life with Jesus so to more authentically and generously minister to and with God’s people. Many people, many events, many opportunities to give and grow, all thanks to her God and Ursuline Sisters!

 

In the daily, ordinary living of life she finds pleasure. Although she doesn't have hobbies, Lucy is interested in cemetery art, backyard stargazing, reading, spending time with family, and strolling in a park contemplating the Lord in His creation.

 

Lucy has taught at Ursuline Academy (UA) in Cincinnati since 1991. The students at UA are the heart of her ministry. These younger "sisters" of Lucy, those of the past, the present, and those yet to come are forever prayerfully held in her heart. The seniors and juniors in her Prayer and Spirituality class make themselves available to God, experientially learning ways of being in contemplative prayer and more consciously living as spiritual women. The sophomores in Scripture class learn the story of God interacting with people in ancient times, look more deeply at Jesus, and are challenged to live His Gospel. Sr. Lucy loves her students, and gratefully prays for them and their parents.

 

Over the years Lucy has become a hopeful woman, realistic in her view of the world, committed to a positive attitude toward and purpose in life. After all, how can one be pessimistic when one knows she is loved by God?