Sharing our Experiences

Do you know how exciting it is to be a Catholic missionary Sister? I’ve always wanted to be a missionary. So, now I want to share with you a little bit about my Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon’s plans to send two of us: Sister Barbara Rose Sohler (my school mate and religious classmate, too) and me to go to Mexico in the summer of 2010.
We are to go and investigate how women religious live convent life in Mexico. What is it like for them? In a country that is rich in Catholic traditions, how are religious women ministering to the people of Mexico? In the United States of America our religious traditions are perhaps more Protestant or liberal. That’s the conclusion of some of our immigrants. The Mexicans live their Catholic life operating more from the heart rather than from the head. The Mexican people might not know how to quote scripture or use apologetics so much, but they know God and His Blessed Mother, “la Morenita”, the dark one.
I will ask Sister Barbara Rose to share about herself. I will share who I am. My name is Sister Juanita (baptized Teresa Villarreal) and the sixth child (the middle child of eleven children) of José and Juanita Villarreal. I was born on July 23, 1944 in the little town of Asherton, Texas.
To my parents’ knowledge, there had never been any members of religious orders in either family. My parents were very religious and raised all my siblings to be involved in the Church, so you can imagine how they reacted when I told them I wanted to go to the convent.
We lived half the year in Texas and half the year in Oregon and worked as migrant workers from the time I was a very young child. My family lived summers in Oregon, but had also worked in Minnesota, Illinois, and Washington. My father always considered school a must and so we always had to adjusted our courses to fit the different school systems.
During my junior year in high school I decided to finally give in to “the call” from God. I decided to join the Benedictine Sisters of Crookston, Minnesota who had been missionaries in Asherton, TX. I was also taught by Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in St. Paul, OR. So, I didn’t know which community to choose. My father decided for me! He refused to give me permission to join any convent. Being a very determined person I decided I would simply wait for the right moment. During the summer I had a chance to visit the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon in Beaverton with some friends who had two of their sisters in that convent. I fell in love with the Sisters and wanted “to enroll” immediately. I knew little about discernment process! My parents eventually gave in to my stubborn insistence. They gave me their blessing and told me to go.
September 8, 1962, after a year of boarding school experience as I had to complete my high school education first, I entered the convent. I was officially a “postulant”. I went to Marylhurst College. As a “novice” I studied the community’s rules and took classes in theology. As a “junior professed” Sister, I continued my academic studies to become a teacher. On August 15, 1967 I made my perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. And, after earning a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Marylhurst College I continued classes at Portland State University and eventually obtained a Master's degree in Education. In the summers I was very fortunate to also take classes in different colleges. One summer I attended the Universidad Ibero Americana in Mexico City. Years later, during my sabbatical in 2000, I attended Universidad de Avila in Avila SPAIN. My teaching career has included being school principal and teaching in elementary, junior and senior high. I taught a course at Mt. Angel Seminary for a year while I was working as parish administrator of San Martin de Porres in Dayton, OR.
My "migrant" blood has given me a great desire for travel and a great love for other peoples of other cultures. I have visited Mexico, the Holy Land, Costa Rica, and some European countries. I lived in Spain for half a year and in Santa Fe, New Mexico for three months.
I am praying that my love for family, my religious community, my love of teaching and my pastoral experiences will all help make my stay in Mexico very worthwhile and that both Sister Barbara Rose and I come back gifted and graced by God for His greater glory and honor.