37!
That is the number of years Sr. Cordelia Ogene has been a member of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA Sisters), Nigeria Province. Yet that number could just as easily be mistaken for her age. So what’s her secret? Sr. Cordelia smiles gently. “It’s the Lord’s doing—His grace,” she says, her voice calm and reflective.
That grace has carried her through a missionary journey spanning continents and cultures. Over nearly four decades, Sr. Cordelia has ministered to the spiritual and social needs of diverse communities—beginning in her native Nigeria, then reaching the barrios of Argentina, the study halls of Italy, and most recently, the peaceful grounds of the St. John Paul II Sabbatical Center in Kenya.
After so many years of service, she felt a new calling—not to a distant mission field, but to rest and stillness. “I’ve given so much of my life, my service, my talent, my gifts,” she reflects. “I needed a place to rest and reconnect—with myself and with God.” That place turned out to be the 24th session of the St. John Paul II Sabbatical Program in Kenya, introduced to her by her provincial superior, Sr. Josephine Enenmo. Since joining the program in January, she says, “It has been a fulfilling mission. It has renewed me physically and spiritually. It has given me time to reconnect with myself and with my God.”
The session that concluded on May 9 offered the Nigerian sister what she had spent years giving to others: care, attention, and presence. “It has given me time to reconnect with myself and with my God, and I’m going home to Nigeria with a grace-filled experience,” she says.
“I’m grateful—first to God, then to our facilitators who came in different capacities to empower us.” She offers particular thanks to Bishop James Maria Wainaina of Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Murang’a, the founder of the sabbatical program. “I thank God. I thank especially the Bishop who had the vision to build this beautiful place. It has uplifted me. And I leave filled with grace.”
Reflecting on her journey, Sr. Cordelia traces her vocation to a secretarial college in Nigeria run by Irish OLA sisters. Their quiet witness left a lasting impression. “Their holiness and their service to humanity attracted me,” she recalls. “They dared to go to the remote places, to the peripheries where the poor live, just as tha late Pope Francis often urged.” Curious, she asked questions and learned about the missionary charism of their congregation—and felt drawn to a life of evangelization in faraway lands, “ready to risk all for the Lord,” just like the Apostles.
Now, 37 years later, Sr. Cordelia remains firmly convinced that she found her true home in the 149-year-old congregation founded by Fr. Augustine Planque, SMA. “I feel satisfied and fulfilled in my mission,” she says. But that mission has not been without hardship. She has faced personal losses, including the deaths of her parents and a beloved brother—whom she continues to remember in prayer. Even amid grief, she has found strength in community. “I have sisters, fathers, families. Anytime I go on mission, I find a new family, new friends.”
As she prepares to return to Nigeria, Sr. Cordelia carries with her more than just memories. She carries a renewed spirit, a sense of hope, and a heart ready to continue serving. And, ever the missionary, she has made sure the gift of sabbatical will multiply. After sharing her experience with her provincial, more sisters from the Nigerian Province are now preparing to attend the program. “As God would have it, several of my sisters will be coming in August,” she says with joy.
Meanwhile, applications for the 25th session—beginning August 4, 2025—are now open. The Program is available to priests and religious men and women worldwide who have served for at least five years.
To apply, please visit https://stjohnpaul2sabbaticalcenter.com/application/ to apply.
