Sister Cynthia Bundi, CSJP, professed her First Vows on November 1, 2026 (All Saints’ Day), during the 11:00 a.m. Eucharist at St. Mary-on-the-Lake Chapel in Bellevue, Washington.
Sister Cynthia, 29, entered the Congregation’s initial formation as a Candidate in September 2023 in Jersey City, New Jersey. On September 14, 2024, she was formally received into the Novitiate during a Ritual of Reception at St. Mary-on-the-Lake Chapel in Bellevue, Washington. During the ceremony, Congregation Leader Andrea Nenzel, CSJP, presented Sister Cynthia with the Peace Cross and the Congregation’s Constitutions.
The two-year Novitiate program provided a dedicated period of prayer, reflection, study, community life, and ministry, deepening the Novice’s connection to God and the Congregation’s charism of pursuing peace through justice.
"I am making my vows at a moment when our world feels unsettled on every side—politically divided, in ways that are not abstract to me as an immigrant. Around us, the earth itself is fragile, and technology is reshaping human life faster than we can ask what it is doing to us, said Sister Cynthia. “I don't believe God is calling me to fix all of that. I believe I'm being called to be faithful in a small corner of it, to give my life to the concrete, daily work of cooperating with God in that unfolding, trusting that work offered in love, however small, is never wasted.”
During her formation, Sister Cynthia resided at the Congregation Novitiate near St. Theresa’s Parish in Seattle, Washington, accompanied by Novice Director Margie Fort, CSJP, and supported by a community of finally professed Sisters. During her second year of Novitiate, while residing at the CSJP Grand Street residence in New Jersey, she served with the Catholic Worker community in New York City at St. Joseph’s House and Mary House. Her ministry was highlighted in the Catholic Worker newsletter, which praised her "eagerness to help," "joyous disposition," and the "delight" she brought to her service.
Born and raised in Kenya, Sister Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Quantitative Social Science from Dartmouth College. Before discerning her religious life with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, she worked as a quantitative research associate at Harvard Business School in Boston, researching ethics in artificial intelligence and social movements for racial justice, and was a member of the racial justice committee at her parish in Boston.
Friends, family, sisters, and associates across all CSJP regions gathered both in person and online via livestream to witness this milestone step in her discernment journey.
View the liturgy here: Sr. Cheruto’s First Vows
