“Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor, honor them, my children, as you would honor Christ Himself.”
St. Louise de Marillac
Catholic Schools Week: Formed in Faith and Learning
By Sebastian Isaacs, Communications intern
S. Mary Ann Mahoney’s influence led Carie Weisenbach-Folz to participate in choir and theatre during her years at Immaculate Conception High School, where she also acted in a production of “Sister Act.”
At her parish, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon, Carie Weisenbach-Folz begins each Confirmation class by reading a centering prayer. She inherited this practice from her own Catholic education, where her religion teacher at Immaculate Conception High School in Oldenburg, Indiana, began each class the same way. It was there that Carie encountered the Sisters of St. Francis in Oldenburg, after first receiving her primary education from the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati.
From grades one through eight, Carie attended St. John the Baptist School in Harrison, Ohio. The Sisters of Charity who taught her during those years instilled strong Catholic values and had, as Carie recalls, a “big influence on our faith life.”
She speaks with particular fondness of S. Mary Ann Mahoney, who taught music at St. John the Baptist and impressed students with her ability to play numerous instruments. Carie treasures memories of the plays and musicals she and her classmates performed under S. Mary Ann’s guidance.
“They were so kind, encouraging, and had a lot of enthusiasm,” Carie says of the Sister-teachers who shaped her early education, including S. Marie Vianney Geil. She also remembers S. Mary Paul Medland, whose geography lessons left a lasting impression.
As the oldest of four children – and now a mother herself – Carie has always lived a life centered on teaching. While she has not taught in a traditional classroom, her deep faith, nurtured by the Sisters of Charity, has led her to take an active role in Catholic education at her parish.
After volunteering to assist with children’s Masses when her own children were young, and accompanying them through their First Communions, Carie felt called to extend her ministry to other families. For the past five years, she has served as a religious educator for students preparing for Confirmation at Holy Redeemer.
The environment she teaches in today differs greatly from the one she experienced as a student. Many of her Confirmation students have limited familiarity with Catholic catechesis, requiring Carie to adapt her approach and meet each student where they are. Teaching both years of Confirmation preparation, she has structured the program intentionally: the first year focuses on deepening students’ relationship with God – beginning with centering prayer – while the second year emphasizes learning about the sacraments.
Carie draws on the lessons modeled by her Sister-teachers, especially their empathy and encouragement. She shares personal stories from her own Catholic education and offers blessings to her students, hoping, as she says, “to be as encouraging to them as the Sisters of Charity were to me.”
Carie’s commitment to faith formation has been especially rewarding as she continues to build lasting relationships with her students through her work in the parish office next door to the school. There, she greets them with “smiles and encouragement,” the very qualities she most remembers and cherishes from the Sisters who first inspired her.
mary paul medland
S. Mary Paul Medland served as a geography teacher at St. John the Baptist School, and created impactful memories for her students.
marie vianney geil
S. Marie Vianney Geil was one Sister-teacher who had a steady influence on Carie Weisenbach-Folz as a student at St. John the Baptist School in Harrison, Ohio.
mary ann mahoney
S. Mary Ann Mahoney created many influential musical memories for her students at St. John the Baptist School.
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