Whether at the Catholic Center at the University of Vermont or in parish life, Sister Mary Kolbe Heffern, FSE brings a gentle, calming presence to all she serves.

Originally from Houston, Texas, she did not grow up Catholic, but after her family experienced a return to the faith, she made her First Communion in eighth grade. During high school, she remained active in her parish and open to the possibility of religious life. Although she had family members in a religious order, she never imagined that path for herself until she began fully engaging her faith in college.

Sister Mary Kolbe first encountered the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist while attending the University of St. Thomas in Houston. The sisters had a strong presence on campus having both lived and worked there. They were a staple at daily Mass and supported students as they adjusted to life at college. Over time the sisters became an important presence in her life and challenged her to grow in her faith, which ultimately led to the next discernment step. “It was very much an attraction to a particular community more than knowing if God was calling me to this,” she said.

After attending a discernment weekend, she came back and prayed evening prayer with the sisters and made daily Mass an important part of her time in college. At the end of sophomore year, there was an opportunity to study abroad in Rome and Assisi with one of the sisters and she took it.

While praying in Assisi, she felt a tug on her heart. “I had this moment of realizing being in front of that cross that spoke to St. Francis like ‘okay God, tell me your will,’ and just this sense of inner peace ‘pay attention to people I’ve already put in your life.’” An image of the sisters came to mind. “It wasn’t this lightbulb lightning strike but just these people in your life, these sisters I’ve already given you, continue growing in that relationship,” she added. A year later she asked to begin the process of formally discerning, and in the summer of 2020 she made her final vows in a small and intimate ceremony.

Before coming to Vermont, Sister Mary Kolbe served in Portland, Oregon at a Montessori school as a Montessori elementary guide and the assistant chaplain for Young Catholic Professionals for the Archdiocese of Portland.

She is happily living at the Catholic Center at UVM. “The Catholic Center is a beautiful place for a community to be with students. As these young people live on their own, we sort of provide a place where there is still a rhythm of prayer and meals, and just being together and not being isolated, which is so important in this age.”

Outside of spending time with the college students, she works as a parish catechetical leader at St. Mark in Burlington, and Holy Cross and Our Lady of Grace in Colchester. The combined parish had been trying to find a form of catechesis that fit the unique needs of their community, and since she is fully trained in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, she was asked to try to establish it. When she was hired in September 2025 the program started with less than 20 kids, and it has now grown to 24.

“The families that are part of the program, it’s incredible to see. There are families who have always been very involved in their faith, but also families who maybe weren’t as involved or connected to other families, beginning to form deeper relationships in the way we are having this catechesis.”

On Sundays, they gather for Mass, then catechesis followed by lunch. “The families are really connecting more and just the conversations they’ve shared about their prayer life as a family has been beautiful to hear.” Her goal is to find ways to connect and invite families that are not part of the religious education program or are attending Catholic schools.

Being a religious sister and having an active presence in the community is important to her because it helps families understand religious life better and offers some insight for those discerning a religious vocation. “When families can see religious as humans, I think it helps.”

For those discerning, she recommends first forming a relationship with Christ. “Go to Mass as often as possible and get to know Christ more in the Eucharist, because if you’re saying yes to giving your life to Christ, you just want to have a relationship with him.” She also encourages women to become familiar with religious life more broadly. “Get to know sisters, not with the mindset of finding the perfect order, because God could reveal that later” she said.

Reflecting on her own community, she emphasized its focus on the dignity of each person’s gifts and struggles. “For me, in our community we have such a huge emphasis on the unique gift that each person is. It’s so easy to say, ‘oh a vocation, that’s not for me, I have all of these weaknesses or struggles,’ but I think our community and a lot of communities do this, to really live with a person in the process of recognizing how those weaknesses can be turned into a gift,” she said.

Ultimately, she added, “Whatever you think is holding you back might actually be the key to how beautiful your yes could be.”