Kevin Kelly/Key photo Prioress Sister Agnes Helgenberger crowns Sister Angela Nuokus with a garland of flowers, a symbol of the crown of life in Christ. Sister Angela professed her perpetual vows July 13 at St. Ann Parish in Excelsior Springs.

Sister Angela Nuokus, a native of Micronesia, made her profession of perpetual vows as a Benedictine sister of the Queen of the Angels Monastery before a packed Sunday Mass congregation at St. Ann Parish in Excelsior Springs.

Receiving her as a fully professed member of the monastery were her prioress, Benedictine Sister Angnes Helgenbeger; her bishop, Bishop Robert W. Finn; and her pastor, Msgr. William Caldwell.

Queen of the Angels Monastery is located between Liberty and Excelsior Springs. It was formally established in 1989, 12 years after Bishop John J. Sullivan invited its founding members, Sisters Imelda, Roselle and Mary Therese Koch and Sister Alice Lordeman to the diocese to establish a home for developmentally disabled women.

In 2000, Bishop Raymond J. Boland dedicated the sisters' monastery.

According to their mission statement, the sisters dedicated their lives to "prayer, work and hospitality, ministering to those who are devalued by society, especially the lonely, the hungry, the missions and those with special needs."

Sister Angela, 39, told The Key that she not only is prepared for that life of service, but she embraces it.

"I am very grateful," she said. "I hope in the one who chose me for this. It is not easy, but it is never easy with Jesus. Jesus faced a lot of hardships, but had hope and trust in his Father and he was able to live his life for his Father. I pray and hope for the same - to live not for myself, but for the glory of God."

The profession liturgy contained cultural touches for the diocese and for St. Ann Parish.

A native of Chuuk, a Micronesian island group formerly known as Truk, Sister Angela's profession was also witnessed by scores of members of the Kansas City area's Chuukese community, many of them members of Sister Angela's family, some of whom traveled halfway around the globe.

A choir from the community alternated with the St. Ann Parish choir in signing hymns in Chuukese. During a reception in the parish hall, the community shared its culture with dances and songs.

In his homily, Bishop Finn reminded Sister Angela that it wasn't she who chose God, but God who chose her.

"He has chosen you, and though today you say, 'Yes,' with all your heart, the lasting joy of this day comes from your conviction in faith that he has first loved you," Bishop Finn said.

"He has called you to be his beloved bride, and now he wishes to take you in a perpetual espousal for the service of his will and in communion and mission with these sisters of yours," he said.

"This is your vocation and a wonderful gift to you and to the church," the bishop said.

In answering the call to consecrated life, Sister Angela is following the example of Mary: "Be it done to me," Bishop Finn said.

In doing so, she will experience a love far beyond the capacity of human beings.

"Here there will be a union of hearts," he said. "The divine heart of Jesus subsumes our heart. In some way, the tiny love of our human heart is annihilated by the Sacred Heart burning with love. In another way, we may speak of our hearts renewed and infused with his precious blood and becoming a vessel of his inexhaustible love for us and for the world.

"Both are true," the bishop said. "God, who loved us and died for us, gives us a heart after his own to love others, a heart to be pierced for them, a heart to die for them. With the same heart, we must love both God and others. Our love cannot be divided or segmented. We must give all for God and others."

It won't be easy, Bishop Finn said.

"Do not think for a moment that it won't hurt to love as the heart of Jesus loves," he said.

"But don't be afraid," the bishop said. "Let the furnace of the heart of Jesus purify your love. Let the elixir of the heart of Jesus gladden your apostolic service. Let the simplicity of his heart unite you as one with your sisters. Let the fullness of Jesus' heart enrich your poverty. Submit to the loving heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues. Find freedom in the pierced heart of Jesus, obedient until death.

"This is your call - to be most fully who you are and at the same time to be conquered by the power of God's supernatural life and grace in you," Bishop Finn said.

Bishop Finn noted that Sister Angela's profession is appropriately celebrated at a parish Sunday Mass, "in the context of the most sublime Eucharistic mystery."

It is in the Eucharist that Sister Angela, and all believers, will find strength, the bishop said.

"You must associate yourself with this life of prayer in the Eucharistic Lord," he said. "Without this commitment, your life will be unquenched like a dry land without water. With it, you will be helped to love even as you are loved."

On behalf of the church, Bishop Finn thanked Sister Angela for hearing and answering God's call.

"The church prays for you and rejoices in the providence and mercy by which God calls you to holiness and sends you as an instrument for our sanctification," he said.

"On our own, we could do so little," Bishop Finn said. "But today, the saving Word of God echoes in our ears and resonates within our hearts: 'It is I who have chosen you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.'"

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