Sr. Barbara Austin and Fr. Steve Austin are siblings.
Sr. Barbara and Fr. Steve grew up in Guthrie, Oklahoma, educated by the Benedictine sisters. Sr. Barbara entered the Benedictine Sisters at St. Joseph’s Monastery in Tulsa in 1965 and made final vows in 1971. She received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Tulsa and a Masters in Religious Studies from St. Meinrad School of Theology. Sr. Barbara taught at Madelene school and Monte Cassino school, worked as the religious education director at Monte Cassino High School, and is a former Prioress at St. Joseph’s Monastery. She is currently the Lectio Retreat director, a spiritual director, and the formation director all at St. Joseph’s Monastery.
Fr. Steve Austin is a priest for the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma and was ordained in 1984. He attended Oklahoma State University, North Carolina State, and conception seminary before receiving his Master of Divinity from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. He has pastored several churches in the diocese and is currently the pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church in Idabel, Oklahoma. He studied furniture manufacturing and even made the bedroom suite that he uses today. Fr. Steve is also a photographer and has two nationally published pictures.
