Old Lives Matter
Transforming Care at the End of Life
Sister Maria of the Trinity
FOUNDER
Gospel of Life Disciples & Dwellings
gospeloflifedisciples.org
Sister Maria of the Trinity (Maria Faulkner) was born in Oklahoma City and lived in Tulsa until the age of 4, when her family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. She is blessed to have grown up in a wonderful Catholic family, one of six children; her parents celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in February.
She attended the University of Dallas and did a semester of studies in Rome during the Papacy of St. John Paul II, which fostered a growing love for the Church and the Sacraments. After receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, she spent a year doing volunteer work in Europe and Africa. It was during this time that she responded to God's call to consecrated life and began formation in January of the Marian Year 1988.
She has been the spouse of Christ since 1990, and has grown in love of God and in service to the elderly. She became a Registered Nurse after receiving a B.S.N. from the University of San Francisco and served as Director of Nursing for several long-term care facilities. She received a diploma in Hospice and Palliative Care from the University of Paris during her many years of elder care in France.
After returning to the United States in response to a call within her call, Sister Maria went to Oklahoma City and began the Gospel of Life Dwellings (GOLD) in the fall of 2013 with the St James Dwelling in southwest Oklahoma City. The St. Adelaide Dwelling in Grand Prairie, TX opened shortly thereafter.
The ministry is assured by Gospel of Life Disciples, an emerging community of consecrated and lay disciples who live as a Gospel family in the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi. GOLD welcomes needy elders and accompanies them with life-affirming care, free of charge. The St. John Paul II Dwelling for the Dying opened in Moore, OK in October 2018 and a building project is underway in Norman, OK.
GOLD is under the responsibility of Most Reverend Paul S. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, and of a small non-profit 501(c)3 organization, the Gospel of Life Association.
Daily life is centered on the Eucharist and humbly lived out through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, striving for holiness as missionary disciples.