In Memoriam: Sister Mary Ann Scofield, RSM

I received the following notification today. Please join me in grieving the death of Mary Ann Scofield, RSM

Dear Sr. Laurel,

Sister Mary Ann Scofield, RSM, returned gently to God, Sunday, June 4, at about 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time in Burlingame, California, USA. She was surrounded by family, her beloved Mercy community, and the prayers of many. Being Sunday morning, perhaps she knew it was time for Mass and slipped away.

A beloved teacher, spiritual companion, mentor, and friend, Mary Ann was a founding member of Spiritual Directors International and served as the organization’s first executive coordinator in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her deep passion for spiritual direction nurtured SDI from its humble beginnings, in her bottom desk drawer, to a global movement. Today, the global learning community of Spiritual Directors International includes more than six thousand members in six continents.

Mary Ann’s influence was global, and her impact, deeply personal. As a spiritual director, she trusted the movement of the spirit to help people claim and share their distinctive gifts with the world. In her own words: “I do believe there is a unique image of the Divine that is placed in each of us and all the activity of the Divine in us is to bring us to that true self.”

The global learning community of SDI holds, together, this time of memory and mourning. Sandra Lommasson, former chair of the SDI Coordinating Council shares: “[Mary Ann] once told me that the hardest thing of all is to truly take in how deeply, fully, unreservedly loved we are by God because it changes everything. I trust that she now soaks in that Love as a fully alive, liberated spirit dancing with her God.”

A vigil will be held for Sister Mary Ann Scofield, RSM, on June 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Mercy Center Chapel in Burlingame. Her funeral Mass will take place on June 14 at 10:30 a.m. at the Mercy Center Chapel in Burlingame with burial and reception immediately following.

If you would like to make a contribution to the Mary Ann Scofield, RSM, International Scholarship Fund in honor of Sister Mary Ann Scofield, RSM, please follow the donation link. To share a personal story or tribute on the SDI website, visit the Tributes in Memoriam webpage. By sharing our stories, we keep Mary Ann’s legacy alive.