Jubilarians
Celebrating in 2026
Jubilees are cause for special celebration… Jubilee calls us to express our gratitude to God and to our jubilarian sisters for their faithful love which encourages us to greater fidelity.
You Are Sent GD 123b
Celebrating 25 years of faithful service as a School Sister of Notre Dame – a life rooted in faith.
Sister Mary Odundo was born on September 20, 1971, into a strong Catholic family in Kenya as the sixth of eleven children. Her family has been richly blessed with religious vocations, including her late brother, Father Joseph Jalang’o Odundo, and her sister, Sister Benter Odundo of the Camillian sisters. Their witness, together with the deep christian values instilled by her parents, nurtured her early desire to serve God. At the age of twelve, during her brother’s priestly ordination, she felt a profound stirring—a call to dedicate her life to God and to the service of the most vulnerable. This moment became the spark that set her on her lifelong journey with the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Ministry of hope and transformation for twenty-five years.
Sister Mary Bernard Odundo has lived the SSND charism with dedication and joy. Her ministry has taken her into spaces where compassion and presence are most needed. Sister spent nine years in pastoral counselling and comprehensive care accompanying children and adults living with HIV/AIDS, offering spiritual support, emotional healing, and a message of hope. Sister Mary has served as an early childhood teacher shaping young minds and hearts, helping children discover their dignity, values, and the love of God at the earliest stages of life. Her ministry continues to uplift those who are gifted differently, those on the margins, and all who seek encouragement and dignity.
Heart formed by prayer.
Retreat moments remain among her most treasured experiences. In silence and reflection, she finds space to compose songs, write poems, and deepen her relationship with God. These creative expressions nourish her spirit and strengthen her mission.
Jubilee of gratitude.
As she celebrates twenty-five years of religious life, Sister Mary Bernard is grateful to God for his faithfulness. She expresses heartfelt gratitude to her congregation, her family, and all who have supported her journey. Her life continues to echo the SSND mission: “To transform the world through education, unity, and the love of Christ.” Her jubilee message is “Being an SSND is a journey of transformation. When we allow God to change us from within, we become instruments of transformation for others. My prayer is that all may be one, and that each person may know they are loved by God—broken yet chosen to give their best.”
Twenty-five years ago, Sister Mary Jacinta Ondeng’ said “yes” to a journey she could not fully comprehend. She had no idea the roads she would walk, the people she would encounter, or how God’s abundant grace and mercy would shape her life. As she stood on holy ground and professed her vows, she knew she was saying “yes” to a faithful God who would never disappoint her.
Today, Sister Mary Jacinta looks back with profound gratitude to God, who called her to the international congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Throughout these years, she has received immense love, support, and inspiration from her sisters across the congregation. She has experienced joy sharing life in community, communal prayer, and living mission with sisters has enriched her spiritual journey and given her a deep sense of belonging—a place she proudly calls home.
She is equally grateful to Almighty God for the many people He has placed along her journey: her formators, spiritual directors, biological and extended family, collaborators in ministry, friends, and well-wishers. Sister Mary Jacinta also remembers with love those whom God has called home and prays that they continue to rest in peace.
Religious life has truly been a pilgrimage rather than a straight path. Sister Mary Jacinta has experienced moments of sadness, sorrow, uncertainty, trials, and questioning. Yet, through every season, God’s loving presence has sustained her and given her the courage to say “yes” again and again, even when the road seemed impossible.
Faithful to the SSND charism, she has spent the past twenty-five years serving primarily as an educator at the tertiary level. Sister Mary Jacinta has been privileged to form teachers, social ministers, seminarians, professional psychologists, and counselors. Beyond the classroom, she has dedicated herself to empowering clergy, religious, formators, and other pastoral agents, particularly in the safeguarding of minors and vulnerable adults.
As a professional psychologist and counselor, she has listened with compassion to those who are wounded and accompanied them on their healing journey. Every aspect of her ministry has enriched her own life. Each encounter has reminded Sister Mary Jacinta that serving God and His people is not about personal achievements but about making Christ’s love visible, especially to the weary, the downtrodden, and the less privileged. Living the spirit of teaching minds, touching hearts, and transforming lives, she has been richly blessed by every student she has encountered.
SSND has been a tremendous blessing in Sister Mary Jacinta’s life. Among the many opportunities the congregation has offered her, one of the most profound was serving as a delegate to the 24th General Chapter in 2017. She was deeply honored to represent the Province of Africa and experience the richness of SSND’s internationality—its shared life and mission. Meeting sisters from provinces around the world and witnessing the spirit of Blessed Mother Theresa Gerhardinger lived across cultures and nations remains a treasured memory engraved on her heart.
As Sister Mary Jacinta celebrates twenty-five years of religious profession, she recognizes that this Jubilee is not the end of the journey but an important milestone along the way. Looking to the future, she prays that her heart and spirit will remain open, joyful, and faithful in God’s service. She desires to continue saying “yes” to proclaiming God’s compassion, justice, and hope to a wounded world.
Her grace-filled life in SSND gives Sister Mary Jacinta the confidence and courage to invite young women who feel called to religious life to join the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Women Who Love. Women Who Serve. Women Compelled to Continue Christ’s Mission!