Fifty years of service is quite the accomplishment, and two Newman alumnae recently achieved the milestone marker as Adorers of the Blood of Christ sisters.
Sister Barbara Smith, ASC, and Sister Diana Rawlings, ASC, celebrated their 50th jubilees as vowed sisters both at the Benedictine Living Community in Belleville, Illinois, on July 1, 2024, and at the Wichita ASC Center on July 14, 2024.
As part of an international congregation, ASC sisters are called to serve the universal church, just as diocesean priests and sisters are called to serve the local church. Read on to discover how these two ASCs have contributed in significant ways to the Catholic Church through their lives of service.
Get to know the ASC sisters
Sister Barbara Smith
In August 1974, Smith professed her first vows as an ASC. Six years later, her vocational call was solidified and she professed her final vows.
“The most rewarding aspect of being an ASC is that our mission takes us to the world,” said Smith. “Sometimes our world lies within the boundaries of the U.S. and other times I have been stretched to go to places unknown and beyond my level of comfort.”
The Nebraska native earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Newman University, at the time known as Sacred Heart College. She completed post-graduate work at the University of Colorado in Greeley. She earned her certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreat Ministry in 2024 from Creighton University in Omaha.
During Smith’s service at Newman from 1977-82, she supported Campus Ministry and was the director of Resident and Student Activities. For several years, she was a core member of the ASC Spiritualty Center at the community’s residence in Wichita.
For almost 25 years, Smith’s ministry was based in Crownpoint, New Mexico, where she lived and worked on the Navajo Reservation, meeting other Pueblo tribes and nationalities. Smith served as the U.S. region’s candidate director while living in the southwest. She also served as co-administrator at St. Paul’s Catholic Church Mission.
To this day, she still considers her time in New Mexico as her most transformative experience as an ASC.
“I loved the differences of cultures, and gained a deep appreciation for each person as well as their Native American spirituality,” Smith said. “My life, my prayer and my spirit were all enriched by these experiences of the Native peoples and their deep love of the church.”
Smith served on the Native American Deaconate Lay Ministry Board in the Gallup, New Mexico, diocese for more than 20 years. She was a member of the Crownpoint Volunteer Fire Department for most of her years in the area.
I am at home in whatever place or situation I find myself. This is the gift of being in an international community whose charism welcomes all people and celebrates their diversity.
Sister Barbara Smith, ASC
In 2006 Smith was elected to the U.S. Regional Leadership Team based in St. Louis. She was then elected to the general administration in Rome where she served as a councilor from 2011-2017.
After a few years as a member of the former Ruma Center community life team, Smith was asked to be the assistant director of novices at the International ASC Novitiate in Rome. She continues in that position today.
Sister Diana Rawlings
Celebrating 50 years as a vowed member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ made Rawlings reflect on her first profession on Jan. 26, 1974, and her final vows on April 20, 1981.
“Who I am after 50 years in this religious community comes from the daily graces I’ve experienced through my relationship with God and my sisters,” Rawlings said. “I am grateful each day for knowing I am loved by God and desire to share that with everyone I meet.”
Like Smith, Rawlings was born in Nebraska and eventually found herself at Newman University, then Sacred Heart College. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English, then received her master’s in telecommunications from Barry University in Miami in 1986. In addition, she is a certified retirement planning specialist for religious life.
Rawlings taught English and journalism at McGuiness Catholic High School in Oklahoma City and Bishop Carroll Catholic High School in Wichita. In the Archdiocese of Omaha, she served as a producer of programming and worked with the local site of the Catholic Telecommunication Network of America Utilization, as well as between the Archdiocese of Omaha and the Washington, D.C. site. She also served as diocesan assistant communications director. Rawlings was the development director for eight years for The Women’s Network in Wichita.
She served as the assistant director of communications for the Wichita ASC Center, then served a term on the provincial team for the former Wichita province. Finally, Rawlings took the position of ASC vocation director for 10 years.
One of her most memorable experiences as an ASC sister took place in a tavern in her hometown, Nebraska City.
“I was visiting with folks and one friend of my parents talked to me about how she felt so unworthy of God’s love and afraid that she wouldn’t go to heaven because of her sins,” Rawlings explained.
Rawlings responded by sharing Jesus’ parable from Matthew: “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him.”
She then asked the woman if anything could make her stop loving her children, to which the woman responded “no.”
“I simply repeated the last line, encouraging her belief that she is unconditionally loved by God,” Rawlings recalled. “I hope this was a transformative moment for her. I certainly felt it was the key message of a loving God.”
Through every assignment, role and interaction, Rawlings is committed to being a witness of God’s unconditional love for every person.
Today, Rawlings resides at the Wichita ASC Center where she serves as an ASC community volunteer. Her most recent work involved serving as co-director of community life and mission for the sisters at the Wichita center.
“Our LifeCharter speaks to being the ‘tender face of God’s love,'” she said. “As I have grown in my spiritual life, I am mindful of being this presence to all I encounter. I also realize I am not alone in giving this witness but each member of the international congregation is doing this throughout the world. I am truly connected.”
Additional celebrations for the ASC community
- Sister Sarah Harbaugh, ASC, a Newman graduate of 2023, renewed her vows and commitment to the ASC on June 14.
- Sister Leona (Mary Ambrose) Luechtefeld, ASC, celebrated 82 years as an ASC on July 1.
- Sister Dolores Ann Rapp, ASC, celebrated 81 years as an ASC on July 1.
- Sister Rachel Lawler, ASC, celebrated 75 years as an ASC on July 1.
- Sister Elizabeth (Mary Arthur) Kolmer, ASC, celebrated 75 years as an ASC on July 1.
- Sister Martha (Mary Raymond) Wachtel, ASC, celebrated 70 years as an ASC on July 1.
- Sister Rose Anthony Mathews, ASC, celebrated 70 years as an ASC on July 1.
- Sister Genarose Buechler, ASC, celebrated 70 years as an ASC on July 1.
- Sister Bernadine (Joseph Mary) Wessel, ASC, celebrated 65 years as an ASC on May 12.
- Sister Mary Kevin Rooney, ASC, celebrated 75 years as an ASC on May 12.
- Sister JoAnn (Ann Joseph) Mark, ASC, celebrated 65 years as an ASC on May 12.
- Sister Laurentia Koehler, ASC, celebrated 70 years as an ASC on May 12.
- Sister Nancy (Rita Mary) Hanes, ASC, celebrated 65 years as an ASC on May 12.
- Sister Teresa Bahr, ASC, celebrated 65 years as an ASC on May 12.
- Sister Jeannine Bahr, ASC, celebrated 70 years as an ASC on May 12.
- Sister Francella Bahr, ASC, celebrated 80 years as an ASC on May 12.
Newman University and the ASC connection
The history of Newman University is inextricably intertwined with the history of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, the religious community which founded and sponsors the university.
