A key figure in the creation and expansion of vocations ministry in the Diocese of San Bernardino for more than two decades, Sister Sarah Shrewsbury, O.S.C., passed away January 22 in the care of her religious community in Ireland.
Sr. Sarah had endured a series of strokes in recent years that significantly impacted her health. She was 74 years old.
Born in Stockton, CA, Sr. Sarah made her first profession to the Order of St. Clare religious community on September 5, 1971. Known for her infectious smile and affirming, optimistic personality, she first came to the Diocese of San Bernardino in 1988 to serve as a Pastoral Associate at the recently erected parish of St. Paul the Apostle in Chino Hills. She was instrumental in helping St. Paul the Apostle establish itself, holding gatherings in Chino Hills neighborhoods to connect the parish with the local community. Even after officially departing the parish in 1991, she continued to coordinate children’s Masses and religious education events there on weekends.
A fun-loving presence at diocesan gatherings through the years, she enjoyed country line dancing and pheasant hunting as hobbies. She spoke Spanish fluently, having ministered with her order in El Salvador, and brought her bicultural experience to involvements in the Diocesan Justice of Immigrants Committee and V Encuentro Committee. She also volunteered for many years in the annual Get on the Bus program that connected incarcerated mothers and fathers with their children on special days. She worked in Catholic education during her earlier years of ministry, serving as principal of St. Angela Merici School in Brea.
But her primary legacy will be in the ministry of vocations. Sr. Sarah was named Vocations Director for the diocese by Bishop Gerald Barnes in 1998, a time when the local Church was moving more intentionally to develop vocations to the priesthood.
As St. Junipero Serra House of Formation received larger and larger groups of new seminarians, she welcomed the increase but was always quick to point out that even more seminarians will be needed to meet the needs of the faithful.
“It’s a drop in the bucket, but every drop counts,” she said, the year the Diocese welcomed the highest number (nine) of new seminarians in its history.
Her focus was always on encouraging the parishes of the diocese to actively promote vocations, something they may not have done in past decades. She helped parishes form vocations committees and incorporate prayers for vocations in liturgies, visited local Catholic schools and collaborated with parish youth ministers to encourage young men to consider a calling to the priesthood. She was always quick to credit the parishes that were working hard to promote vocations when large new seminarian classes appeared.
“One of my favorite days in ministry is calling these guys to say that they’re accepted,” she said in 2016.
Under Sr. Sarah’s leadership, Serra House also hosted frequent discernment evenings for men and women considering a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. She also worked collaboratively with priests in the Diocese in her ministry, first with Father Javier Gonzalez as Associate Director and most recently with Fr. Hau Vu as Associate Director. In 2018, her office began to utilize priests as Vocations Coordinators for each vicariate of the Diocese.
She suffered a stroke in 2021 and following attempts at rehabilitation ultimately decided to retire to a convent of her order in Ireland, where she lived out her remaining years. A Mass of Resurrection was celebrated for Sr. Sarah at St. Clare’s Convent Chapel in Newry, Ireland on January 25.