NORTH READING -- Eighty years ago, when she was 18, Sister of St. Joseph Rita Welch realized that God was calling her.

A native of Framingham, Sister Rita entered the workforce after graduating from high school. It was there that she felt a vocation to religious life. As a Sister of St. Joseph, she taught in Catholic schools and served as the principal of St. Bridget School and St. Tarcisius School, both in Framingham.

"It made me more aware of life and how to live my life as God intended me to live it," Sister Rita, 98, told The Pilot. "To be a presence in our community and our world."

Sister Rita was the oldest sister celebrating a jubilee anniversary at the Archdiocese of Boston's Mass of Thanksgiving for the Consecrated Life, celebrated by Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley at St. Theresa Parish in North Reading on Sept. 8. At the Mass, Sister Rita and the other jubilarians renewed their vows.

"I feel very blessed," she said. "I've had a blessed life for 80 years as a Sister of St. Joseph."

Over 200 men and women religious attended the Mass, including delegations from the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Daughters of St. Paul, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, the Religious of Jesus and Mary, the Sisters of St. Chretienne of Wrentham, the Missionaries of Charity of Dorchester, the Discalced Carmelite Friars of Brighton, the Brotherhood of Hope, and the Marist Sisters. Dominican sisters from Vietnam and Daughters of Mary from Uganda were also present.

In previous years, the archdiocese has held an annual Mass celebrating jubilarians. This year, however, Cardinal O'Malley recommended a Mass that would honor all religious. Sister Germana Santos, a Daughter of St. Paul and the Archdiocese of Boston's Delegate of Consecrated Life, acknowledged that the Sept. 8 Mass would be the last of such gatherings that the cardinal would celebrate as Archbishop of Boston.

"Eucharist means thanksgiving, and this Eucharistic celebration seems the most fitting way to express our gratitude to you, Your Eminence," she said. "For the past 21 years of dedicated ministry as the archbishop of Boston, we are most grateful for your selfless service to the people of God in this local church, and we are especially grateful for the support you have shown to all consecrated life in this archdiocese."

In his homily, Cardinal O'Malley pointed out that as a Capuchin, he is a religious himself. In 2025, he will celebrate 60 years of religious life.

"Being a Capuchin friar has been so important to me in my life, and I'm so grateful for my vocation," he said.

He said that in his childhood, men and women religious were omnipresent. He recalled the witness of the sisters who worked in the Catholic schools of his youth, inspiring many young people to discern a vocation for themselves.

"The history of the church in our country, our schools, hospitals, orphanages, social justice ministries, exists because of the religious who have come before us," he said.

Cardinal O'Malley took his vows in 1965, when the number of religious professions and ordinations in the U.S. was at its height. He said that the decline in religious vocations "is a call for all of us in consecrated life to draw closer to one another."

"We must never cease to pray for vocations, and we must relentlessly invite young people to consider a vocation," he said.

To be a man or woman religious, the cardinal said, means always looking for opportunities to serve the poorest and most marginalized in society, using the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a template. He described obedience to God as liberatory and poverty as "living the beatitudes."

"Poverty isn't just economic poverty," he said. "It's humility, it's freedom, it's detachment, it's the desire to share, and above all, it's trust in our heavenly father, who will always give us what we need, placing our hope in his loving providence."

He said that in the early history of the church, celibacy became "the new martyrdom," an enduring sign of faith.

"In the ancient world, so many people thought that the way that you survived death was to live on in your progeny," he said. "But celibacy, virginity, proclaims to the world our belief that we are going to live the life of the Resurrection, that we are going to live forever."

He said that in a society of "extreme individualism," religious life is more important than ever.

"Today, we are called to be bridge builders," he said. "As Pope Francis says, to make the church not a museum but a field hospital, where all feel wanted, forgiven, welcomed. A family that accompanies those who are weak and sinful, but always calling to conversion and to live the joy of the Gospel."