Called to a Life of Impact

Celebrating Sister of the Sacred Heart Mary Bernstein’s Service to Josephinum Academy

In 2013, Sister Mary Bernstein was in the middle of a cross-country road trip, moving from California back to Chicago, when she received a phone call from Josephinum Academy. “They asked me when I could start,” she remembers. “And I told them I hadn’t even made it back to Chicago yet!” 

But Josephinum’s mission spoke to Sister Mary, and by the next week, she was at the school—helping the Admissions Department with data entry before stepping into the role of Registrar. 

“It’s so much more than a job—to be at the school, it’s a ministry,” Sister Mary explained. “To be at a school that serves people in the city who want more than they can really afford, but who have the same desires for good education, a good setting for their daughters … the same thing any parent wants.”

As a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, Sister Mary has a unique perspective on Josephinum Academy’s purpose and work. 

The Sacred Heart, she explained, “is not a missionary order. We went to places I am so proud of—Congo, Kenya—not to be missionaries, but to set up schools and teach teachers how to run their own schools. In Indonesia and Vietnam—in all the countries we work—our mission is to involve people from that society. We’ve never been huge in numbers, but we’ve always been where we needed to be.” 

In Chicago, that looks like serving girls who face enormous challenges in their daily lives. 

“I remember right after the Parkland shooting, we had a prayer assembly to discuss gun violence,” Sister Mary shared. “Students were asked to stand up if any members of their family have been shot. And a few people stood up. ‘Stand up if you have known people who have been shot in your neighborhood.’ ‘Stand up if you’ve lost a friend’ … By the end of the questions, the whole student body was standing. 

“No one in my family has been shot. I don’t know anyone from my neighborhood who has been shot. I haven’t been close to anyone—so when things happen, it’s news, not personal. So I was looking at these students—13-18-year-old girls—who had answered personally, ‘I know this situation.’ And it was all the more reason why I was more dedicated to Josephinum Academy.

“This was a safe place, and we would work always to keep it safe. To get here, be here, and leave here.

“The most important thing we do is take girls who come to us from various zip codes, and from the families in the city who are yearning for more for their daughters, and provide them with an excellent education. That’s our responsibility—to help them grow into the women they can become; the women that God gave them the gifts to become.”

In alignment with her Sacred Heart values, Sister Mary’s life is in service to education and lifelong learning. 

She lives in an intentional community with Sisters from around the world—a cultural exchange that leads to interesting conversations each and every day. And she continues to be a vocal advocate for the students we serve. 

“In today’s world, as we rebuild from COVID and come to grips with the divisions in our country, it’s all the more reason we need Josephinum. It’s the lesson Madeleine Sophie Barat (founder of The Society of The Sacred Heart) taught us 200 years ago—when you educate a woman, you educate a family.” 

It’s a mission that requires all of us to be involved. 

“We would be nothing without the people who help us,” Sister Mary explained. “We couldn’t do what we do without the people who believe in us … and the people who fund the budget.”

Now, after a decade of service to Josephinum Academy, Sister Mary is expanding her mission to advance education by pursuing her next call. We are so grateful for the calming presence—and the perfect dash of humor—she brought to Josephinum Academy for so many years!

“I might be leaving The Jo,” she laughed. “But I’ll never be a stranger to this community.”