My visit with the Oria-Quinzaños Family

For the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe I stayed with Jorge & Gabriela Oria-Quinzaños in Mexico City from December 8th to the 15th.

The bus fare for an 8 hour ticket was 45 USD. I left Zacatecas at 11:30 p.m. and arrived in Mexico City at 7:00 a.m. I had two seats to myself but slept rather comfortably. The bus driver stopped at about 4 or 5 check points to pay a toll they also checked his blood pressure and tested his reflexes at some of the stops. No one was allowed to get off the bus.

I bought a ticket for the taxi inside the bus station in Mexico City. That way the driver has no money. However, I got a real bad guy! I had a “Map Quest” guide in case he got off the track. I kept watching the signs. The Oria-Quinzaños live in a gated community with at least two security check points before getting to their house.

Gabriela showed me to my room and I showered and rested. I had a snack and dinner was served around 9:00 p.m. Their high school son, Patrick, and I stayed home when the parents went to work. He had to study for mid-terms. I used the time of rest as a retreat. It was wonderful.

They have a huge house with a big park in their backyard. They have tons of toys for their grand children. They made a trampoline with a sunken hole underneath so that the trampoline is on the ground level and the children cannot fall off. They have bikes, little cars, an entire jungle gym thing with a slide and everything. They have a soccer field. On a second level of their park they have a full size tennis court. They had a pool but it was removed and the hole covered up. There are like three gardeners who daily rake all the leaves and water their lawns.

These folks both work hard. Jorge is an investor and realtor. Gabby is a professor of post-graduate courses on family life at University Anahuac, a Catholic university run by the Legionaries of Christ. She gave me a tour and I found their name on a huge rock outside the university chapel. Gabby also helps her daughter, Fernanda, with street girls in rehab. Fernanda has five other siblings who are all professional people—well educated. Gabriela was a boarding student at St. Mary’s along with her sister, Elena, when they were young girls.

On Friday, December 10th I left to go stay at the Sisters’ convent which is very close to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Sisters are the same community as the ones in Zacatecas. They welcomed me warmly. Ten Sisters live and work in a school about two blocks from the convent. This is winter time and no one has heaters. Oh, how I suffered. It was really 34 ° in my room. I wrapped my head in a blanket that Gabby had packed for me to take to the basilica. I had 3 heavy blankets on top and socks on my feet. I prayed and fell asleep. I don’t think I turned all night. No one here…not even the rich…have box springs to their mattresses. The beds are almost always hard.

On Saturday around 8:30 p.m. we started walking the packed streets toward the basilica. Most streets were blocked. We had tickets to enter the chapels above the main floor of the church—only one problem—how to get there past all these people and into the chapel.

After the two days of attending the services I found out that over the several days of celebrations, there had been over 5 million people who had visited the basilica! No wonder! People came from far and near in Mexico and many, many people came from other countries as well.

The Mañanitas (early dawn serenade for Our Lady) last 3 hours. There are professional musicians who come and donate their talented voices in song to Our Lady. Many of the performers dressed in their finest. Some singers were not professionals. Some were adults, some children; some sang, others recited verses. All faced the image of Our Lady and addressed Her only.

There is a midnight Mass which is celebrated with all the seminarians from Mexico who can attend. We, older Sisters, left at the beginning of Mass. There are pilgrims sleeping on the sidewalks everywhere. How the city can take the extra crowds, I’ll never understand!

The next morning we went to Mass at the parish church across the street from the convent. We ate breakfast and at 9:00 a.m. left to attend the “Mass of the Roses”. The roses are donated by the Spanish Consulate or something. The Spaniards say that there are no “rosas de Castilla” in Mexico so they must have come from Spain. Anyway, roses are given to the people who attend that Mass. There are huge baskets filled with roses in honor of Our Lady. We again had tickets for the upstairs chapel. The plaza, which is almost the size of the plaza in the Vatican, already was packed with native dancers and their drums. They were already perspiring in the hot sun. How amazing that at night it is freezing cold and as soon as the sun comes out, it is hot. Some dancers wear ornate costumes and others have very simple outfits. The guys’ head feathers cover huge areas while their bodies are barely covered.

The Mass lasted a long time but it was beautifully celebrated. Flowers are donated. These flowers come and come from all over. The sacristans have to keep putting the flowers in high piles on the sides of the altar while pilgrims file by to get a glimpse of Our Lady. The ushers keep the lines moving. It is a miracle how so many people come just to get a few seconds in the presence of such an awesome Lady!

It never fails. I learn something new about our Lady’s image every single time. I have learned so little about what this image meant to the Indians. This time I learned that our Lady’s hands are different. One hand is slim and light color…the Europeans. The other is curved, short and dark…the Indians. Our Lady did more to evangelize and unite the two cultures than we have ever been able to do ourselves. Our Lady’s knee is up a bit. The images of the European statues and paintings showed our Lady standing straight. Our Lady of Guadalupe is “dancing” as Her Indians would when they worshipped their gods. Of course, I had heard about the position of the stars on her veil but not the way the historians explained on the “Discovery Channel” on TV on the 12th of December. She is still teaching all of us to love Her and to learn to love Her Son as She loves Him.

On the following day I returned to the Oria-Quinzaños family. I was invited to a banquet dinner at the University of Anahuac. I was Gabriela’s “spouse” as Jorge was working. The dinner was a 5-star affair. We attended Mass first and we knelt and prayed our Rosary after Mass. The Legionaries of Christ (Regnum Christi) own the university.

After the almost 4 hour lunch, we went home and set up Skype in Gabriela’s computer. Patrick is constantly on his computer filling out his exam “charts” or guides that they get from their professors to help them prepare for their exams. Their last two years of high school are really like the first two years of college. Their courses are high level math and science plus they must pass a foreign language test. Patrick knows both English and Spanish. His English test was on five or six American literature authors. Very difficult!

Gabriela arranged to have a “Posada” at her house for all the grandkids. They hung a piñata on a tree outside and after our 3:00 p.m. lunch had the children hit it. Patrick finally had to break it. But before they could break the piñata I was “hired” to tell the Christmas story to the children. I had them mesmerized with all the sounds and drama of Mary and Joseph and the Little Baby. I interjected the story with some carols in English: Silent Night and Little Drummer Boy. There was a boy around 9 years old (a grandson of Gabriela) who claimed he was an atheist and asked if we could please get going with the piñata! He must be a very disturbed little fellow or he is merely very smart or very hyperactive and can’t stand himself! Sad!

I arrived back in Zacatecas around 7:00 p.m. at the bus station and had a Skype appointment with my Sisters back in the USA at 8:00 p.m. I made it! We spoke with each other and it was wonderful. After our visit I went downstairs and the Sisters here told me that they were very happy to have me back “home”. The Christmas tree is up in the atrium. The chapel is all decorated beautifully. There was a gift for me in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe: two thermal long-sleeve shirts. They will come in very handy!

I will be leaving on December 27th. I have not purchased my bus tickets but I will do so soon. I am going to miss these Sisters. I hope the Irapuato Sisters are fun to get to know and live with them.

WE HAVE ONLY JUST BEGUN

Monsignor Antonio Soto, Vicar of Religious Life for the Dioceses, called and set up an appointment with me for the day before Thanksgiving Day. I had been waiting for this opportunity for two months.
Mons. Soto listened to me attentively as I explained to him the purpose of my visit and our Community Project. To show me that he had "done his homework" he shared with me all the papers printed out that I had emailed him earlier. I went ready with a second copy of everything...including a copy of our Constitutions. He said that the priests of the Presbyteral Council would be meeting with the bishop the next day and that he would bring our SSMO Project up for discussion and opinions.
He was pleased with our efforts so far. His idea, once the bishop gives his consent, would be to have two of us Sisters come...and bring three or four Associates...to live and work together in the area of addressing the spiritual needs of women and children who have been left behind by the husbands and fathers who have immigrated to the USA. He felt that our Charism would be wonderful and bring new life to the small "colonias" (neighborhoods) where there are great numbers of abandoned families.
I shared with him a little bit of our community history and he told me that he had visited our web site and read our Constitutions. He said, "I see that you are willing to depend totally on God and that no work is too difficult for your community."
He realized that thus far in Mexico I had had experience in a private school. Next I would to be with the Sisters of Mary Immaculate in Irapuato, Guanajuato whose ministry is mainly in the field of geriatrics. He asked where I would be for the third ministry. I told him that I was not sure. He suggested I return to the south of Zacatecas where I might help with pastoral work in the "colonias" so that I would have a better or more complete picture to share with our Sisters in Oregon. He would try to find "hospedaje" (hospitality) for me with other religious.
Mons. Soto suggested he and I visit the priest in charge of the Diocesan Immigration Office and talk to him about our Project. He would like for us, Sisters, to write the purpose, the objective, the method and the evaluation tools for this Project in a very clear manner. He said he would like to see our Sisters work not in any particular parish but in a larger diocesan-wide area. He sounded very positive and said that he would be in communication with me. His office is within walking distance from our house, but I have only one month left in this dioceses.
We have only just begun. Everything moves so very slowly!

Convent Life

I’ve settled into a routine of rising at 5:00 a.m. Monday through Friday. On Saturdays we all rise for Lauds at 8:00 a.m. and on Sundays it is “free”. During the week, in the convent chapel, we celebrate a combination of Lauds and Mass together. On weekends we attend Mass at our local parish. Our Cathedral of the Assumption and our parish church, Santo Domingo, are both within walking distance. Because Mass is offered on Sundays—some churches offer Mass every hour on the hour—we often hear bells ringing from 6:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. I like the bells.
Our convent kitchen is the heart of the house. Sisters Lupita and Conchita are two of our cooks. They have 3 lay people who help with the washing of pots and pans, etc. These ladies sometimes call me “Sister Juanie”. I think they think they are calling me an English name. Our meals are good but I have not adjusted to eating meat, vegetables and beans in the morning at 6:45 a.m. The noon meal is served from 2:45 to 3:45 as the Sisters arrive at different times from their different work sites. It is a nice meal: rice, beans, meat, salad and always fresh squeezed juice to drink. They don’t always serve desserts. Fruit is always available. The last meal is after Vespers around 7:45 p.m. That meal is not a meal really. We have a piece of Mexican bread, a piece of fruit and a cup of tea made from lemon grass or cinnamon or pieces of fruits.
Sometimes many Sisters come from some of the 40-plus mission houses where the Sisters work and they stay at the Casa Central or Motherhouse. There are enough bedrooms—some have 5 or 6 beds in them. Each bedroom has a shower and bathroom. I sleep in a private room with a bathroom and sitting area. There are NO heaters in the entire house! I think I can see my breath when I get up. It makes me think of my Dad when we were young and lived in Texas. The winters were bad. Dad would get up around 4 or 5 to light the butane gas heaters so that the un-insulated house would warm up before we would get up. I now get up and start the shower so that the steam from the warm water will heat up my room. I say to myself, “I’ll do this for you, Jesus, and only for You.”
The house is full of winding staircases—like the inside of a spiral sea shell. I don’t run down the stairs. I walk gingerly because the tile is slick and dangerous. The reception room is opened very early in the morning by a ninety some year old Sister Teresa. She and Sister Mayra, a young junior Sister, take care of the door and phones all day long. The house is wired for answering the door. They view the person outside the door via a small camera and they push a button to open the door. They have phones on every wing of the house but sometimes no one answers to go summon a Sister. It can be very frustrating.
We walk everywhere—to church, to the store, to go get a haircut—everywhere! Every day seven of us ride in a white van to get to school, however. The Sisters own about 4 cars for different purposes. We were just told not to use the private cars if possible. There is great danger of drug lords stopping big vans, trucks, etc. and asking the people to vacate the vehicle and they steal it and everything in it. They sell it or use it for the drug trade. Many times bad things can happen to people who might be involved or at the wrong time of the night or driving alone, etc. I don’t go anywhere by myself or at night. I feel very safe.
I ended up teaching English to two Sisters only. I started with about 6 Sisters but they get very discouraged and frustrated. They want to learn English in a few days. Sister Teresita needs to learn as she will be assigned to work in Fresno, CA. The other, Sister Mayra, is young and she was told she had to learn English for later use.

The School Children of Zacatecas

The children who arrive early at school have discovered the games on my ipod and gather around me to ask me if they can play the games. I’ve noticed that they praise each other readily and are willing to take turns. I think our U.S. children sometimes have and want more. These students do not come from poor families. Their parents are mostly professionals.
Sister Karla, a young religious, works as Campus Minister and arranges one-day retreats twice a year for each class of both primary and secondary schools. The primary students, in 6-A, 6-B and 6-C each have their own day. She offers a full-day retreat for secondary students. Theirs is on a Saturday.
I mention this because the students seem very capable of integrating their faith, morals and values into their daily life. During the retreat the students open a letter from their parents. Each couple is required to send a letter on their child’s retreat day. Some parents relate their story from the time of their engagement, to their marriage, to the conception of the child. The one letter I heard was very beautiful. It had to have impressed their own child. Love poured out from every line. Each student reads his or her letter in private. Then they read it in their small group and then the students choose the letter that says what each feels their parents would have said to them, too.
There are always the “poor”, undisciplined and not-so-well behaved students, and they seem to have been placed in the same classroom, but mostly the students are very courteous and nice. They would never pass by an adult without the proper greeting…morning, noon or after school. I love that!
The school sure celebrates each patriotic feast. Presently the students are preparing a huge “desfile”…marches, songs, speeches, etc. for the anniversary of the Revolution in Mexico. (I am hoping to attach photos here) They are very--extremely—patriotic, even as the country suffers the dangers of terrorism and terror from the drug lords taking over their cities. The rituals of the colors of the flag are carried out every Monday morning and these rituals are very dramatic and solemn.
The students who carry the flag wear white gloves and march like soldiers—goose step and all. They gather in a huge (it can take 300-400 students) court yard and stand in silent attention with each teacher at the head of their class. The students sing their national anthem and salute the flag with their hand placed on their chest – their hand is palm down parallel to the ground, with elbow lifted in a perfect line. They also recite a promise to be faithful to their country and to the Church under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The principal greets them saying, “Praised be Jesus Christ” and the students respond in unison, “Now and forever. Amen.”

Different but beautiful

Sunday, November 07, 2010
It is 4:45 am and I am awake. Today I could sleep in until 8:00 but my body is so accustomed to getting up at 5:00 that I am wide awake. Oh, well. I am listening to the radio and it is featuring music that my Dad would listen to: marches and patriotic songs. He would keep rhythm with his fingers on the arm of the couch. I miss my Dad! Glad many of my nephews and nieces tend to be musicians.
Yesterday I accompanied Sister Patty to a nearby town to get her haircut. We walked a long distance to get to bus #14 that took us to Guadalupe—the Sisters did their novitiate there and they tend to go back to the familiar. As I walked I realized how very different Mexico is from the USA. The sidewalks are mostly broken, the fumes of the hundreds of buses and taxis is tremendous. The noise level is deafening. The women are carrying wrapped babies and packages and poor people are sitting by the entrances of stores staring into space just waiting. And, everyone else is walking—walking fast to get somewhere! There are many people selling whatever they can sell: plastic flowers, fruit juices, balloons, cotton candy in plastic bags all stuck on a tall stick, ice cream on a cart where a container sits wrapped in a gunny sack with dry ice or something. And, I walk fast and I belong to this menagerie of human beings.
I commented to Sister Patty that I didn’t know if I would be ready to live here permanently and she laughed. She said that she had lived in Denver and in Phoenix and she would not be happy there either. She said that to her it felt cold, uncaring and very isolated. She took me by the arm and led me into the beauty shop…a tiny space cramped full of dusty bottles, old chairs, a worn out sink and cut hair scattered on the floor from former clients probably from the day before. But the way the lady greeted and welcomed us, the room filled with laughter and joy. She did an excellent job of cutting her hair and did it in a few minutes. I quickly forgot the poverty and unclean area. The charge: 20 pesos = $2 USD.
Today is “Recollection Sunday”—a day of retreat. Once a month the Sisters have the opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and recollection to reflect on the month’s work and growth in spirituality. They do it at the beginning of the month, we, at St. Mary’s, do it at the end of the month. There will be a speaker to deliver a talk on the theme of the day. We can go to Mass in the nearby parishes and our meals will be in silence.
The weather has been rather chilly. During the night it gets down into the 20’s but during the day it goes up into the 60’s. I hung my laundry on lines located on the roof top—they have washers but no dryers. It is rare that anyone has a dryer. They also turn their water heaters off during the day and only turn them on at night for our morning showers. That seems to be a common practice. The fuel is gas so gas would be wasted if the water heater was on all day. Therefore, dishes are washed by hand in cold water, using laundry soap. Each Sister washes, dries and returns her own dishes to her place at table ready for the next meal. There is no hot water for laundering clothes either. When we wash a small amount of clothes we use the “wash boards”—slabs of concrete which have playing marbles imbedded into the cement which helps scrub the clothes. Pretty nice actually!
The town’s plaza has music and fireworks almost nightly and even during the day sometimes. Music is in the air they breathe. There is no city ordinance for noise level. The church bells toll starting at 6:00 am and they toll it this way: first bell is to let you know there is Mass, second bell is to let you know that you need to get going…walking, of course, since there is a church at every corner; the third bell is to let you know that Mass is starting. You can tell which bell it is as they ring a single chime, a double or a triple after each long tolling. Ah, then there is the public announcer who just has to get a message out to the public but didn’t get it in the newspaper. A person in a car with a huge bull horn delivers his message over and over as he or she drives through town.
Restaurants dot the streets. They are mostly the size of the beauty shop I just mentioned. They are very small and sometimes have no way of getting water into the business so they use disposable wear. How they wash their pots and pans is another mystery. I often realize that Zacatecas is saturated with businesses and people and that there could not possibly be enough room to build another building. The residents claim that that is true. The stone streets are narrow and cramped full of parked cars, and yet buses and people must get through. There are police personnel on the streets but often they can do nothing but wave their arms trying to move traffic, to no avail. Everyone starts to use their horns but again, to no avail. Zacatecas is mostly rock—mountains of rock! The buildings are made of masonry, bricks or stones covered with stucco sitting on top of rock ground on a steep hill. This town remains me of Astoria. One is either climbing up the hill or going down the hill.
I love Zacatecas. I really could live here—for a year easily!

Let us continue to pray for each other

From beautiful Zacatecas:
My favorite kitchen lady left today for Guadalajara. She is going to work for the same Sisters there. She said she would be making twice as much money. She is going to be missed. She was the heart of the kitchen. Her name is Yesenia. Who knows who will be hired. It is long hours and very little pay. They get to live in the convent ... they get a great room with a view and a balcony. They get up at 3:30 am and make fresh squeezed orange juice, cut papaya and a full meal with meat, vegetables, beans, etc. That meal is to make do until 2:30 or 3:00 pm This gal also washed, mended, ironed and distributed all the laundry for the big head superiors.

Today I accompanied Sister Vicky to go do the community shopping at SAMS (like Costco). It took both of us to push the cart. We bought 5 containers of detergent and softener for the laundry room, plus all the big stuff for the house. The vegetables come from a little farmer who delivers. He brings crates full of carrots, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, onions, etc. The stuff like milk, cheese and the like come from another source. Twenty-five women can eat a lot.

Around 6 pm I walked to the Cathedral of the Assumption and they had Rosary and Holy Hour. It was nice to change the view from our convent chapel. I still have not had my appointment with Monsignor Antonio Soto, Vicar of Consecrated Life. He keeps postponing our meeting. He emailed me and said we would try for this coming week.

My laptop computer "froze" last night. The touch pad (no mouse) would not let me go anywhere. So, I turned it off. After a few minutes I turned it back on and ... oh, no! I had a blank screen. No documents, photos, NOTHING. I commented to Sister Vicky who called her computer teacher from school. Enrique, a super nice guy, came and in a short while had the thing all restored. I asked him how much he would charge me and he said, "a lollipop". I gave him 50 pesos...$5. He is going to bring me a "cable to hook up to internet" (so that I am not wireless anymore) and a small mouse just in case my touch pad freezes again.

Fr Coleman wrote from Rome. Wow! Sounds like he and Mons. Hunegar are having a great time. They are attending some good classes. God bless them. I hope they can share some of their learning when they return to the USA.

Tomorrow, Sunday, October 24th is Sunday of World Missions. All prayers are for our missionaries and the world missions. May God give them courage to do His will and evangelize all the nations.

It has been a long process

Today is my mother's 15th anniversary of her going to heaven. I can hardly believe it. I think of her often. She was such a valiant woman. It is she who gives me the strength to do what I do when I find myself in very unique circumstances ... as I find myself now. My mother was a pioneer is the truest sense of the word.

As I say, this has been a long process. I have wanted to be a missionary since I was in high school. My heart is always looking to the horizon. Who else needs help? Who needs evangelization? I will go. Send me!

I have wanted to work tirelessly in the field of evangelization since forever. When our Sisters went to Peru I asked if I could be named as one of those going. In hind sight I am glad the superiors saw that I was very young and inexperienced at the time. Each and every assignment since then has been a stepping stone, a preparation for this journey.

So I settled into a teaching career that took me from teaching first to eighth graders and beyond.
I was also assigned to be principal of several schools. I ended up teaching at La Salle High School in Milwaukie, OR. I love teaching. I went to St. Mary, Star of the Sea in Astoria all by myself. It was a new experience to go “so far” without a community of Sisters. For four years I taught in the middle school until the pastor asked me if I wanted to help him in the area of Hispanic ministries in the parish. Thus I left teaching in the classroom and started pastoral ministries. I loved doing that kind of work. Teaching parents of children who were preparing to receive the sacraments is very rewarding.

I have served in parish ministries since the early 90’s. Once I was named as “administrator” of San Martin de Porres in Dayton, OR. I have learned so much about the different aspects of parish structure, organization, administration, faith formation at the different levels, accountability and the use of space, etc. However, I always find myself teaching.

After over 30 years of working, I took a year off to refresh myself. I went to live in Spain. I studied at the University of Avila, lived with a bunch of elderly Spanish priests and other renters in an old seminary where we learned to love “la Santa” (St. Teresa of Avila) and the culture of the Spanish people. I visited much of Spain and other countries as well.

I returned from my sabbatical year all refreshed and was assigned to the coast again. I helped at Our Lady of Victory in Seaside. However, St. Joseph’s in Salem was bursting at the seams with newly arrived immigrants from Mexico—even though Salem has had Hispanic people since the early 50’s. At the 2000 census the city counted 10,000 Hispanics. I was hired by Father James Coleman who had been born and raised in Salem and had just arrived from South America where he had been a missionary for many years. The two of us worked hard to evangelize the Hispanic
community.

I continued to ask my community about the “foreign missions”. I still had a great desire to be a missionary. Fr. Coleman asked to return to South America. I envied him. Our superior general and her council were still concerned that our Sisters, in general, were not convinced that this was the time to start thinking of sending Sisters out to do missionary work. My heart was almost breaking. I asked God why He had put that desire in my heart if I was never going to be able to do anything about it. Then one day, without any big fanfare, the Sisters in community asked, “Are we ever going to discuss the idea of expanding to Mexico or other countries?”

First I complained because we took forever to even discuss this topic, but now, the topic was being brought up more often. Finally, I was asked to write an objective for this endeavor. It was thought that it would be best for two of us to go. We were interviewed by the council. They decided that we could only afford to send one Sister. I wrote to many communities of religious Sisters in Mexico. There is a saying: “It is not what you know. It is who you know.” One community would connect me to another community, etc. In late May I booked a flight to Mexico to make more solid plans and to meet the Sisters who had invited me to come and see. Finally, my community gave their blessing and permission for me to spend a year of “exploration” in Mexico.

During this “investigative” first year I am to live with at least three groups of religious Sisters.

Those who invited me were Sisters from three different states: Zacatecas, Guanajuato and Jalisco. At the end of the year I will “report” to our Sisters what I saw and what I learned. My congregation will then decide if we should continue in the process of integrating ourselves with the Church in Mexico. Depending on the options opened for us we will decide if being connected via a “Sister-congregation relationship” or opening our own convent in Mexico would be to the advantage of all involved. The Vicar of the Consecrated Life from Aguascalientes, Fr. Manuel Aranda, suggested we take our time to really investigate the situation. It would give us time to look at them and for them to look at us. This process would take from four to five years. We want to grow in understanding of the culture and language of our many immigrant brothers and sisters. Living in different states in Mexico will help me to immerse myself and really “taste” the culture and learn the language better (correctly).

Most religious Sisters wear their “updated” navy blue skirt and vest habits—with any long-sleeved white or pale colored blouse. Many wear no veil though occasionally we see Sisters wearing veils. The novices still wear white veils and their junior Sisters wear veils unless working outside the “Postulado” or training house. This community of Sisters asked me not to wear my veil for teaching in their school. I dress the same as always except no veil. I “team teach” with the primary and secondary teachers of English [that is quite a task as their English is
very poor] and I help the campus ministry Sister with retreats, etc.

This is, indeed, an overwhelming new task at my young age—of 66! These are wonderful years!
I need your prayers and support and I assure you of mine. God bless us all!

Teaching in Sebastian Cabot School

What a tremendous schedule these Sisters keep! They put me to shame, but of course, they are much younger. I probably ran circles around them when I was their age. It has been a great experience. I spent last week with the Sister in charge of Campus Ministries. She has a ready smile and is very kind. She and I prepared a retreat for 6th graders. There are 3 classes of each grade (6-A, B, C)with about 30 students in each. We had their retreat on a Thursday during the day. She also had a high school retreat on Saturday--all day long. I was invited to attend a "Promoter of Vocations" workshop instead of helping Sister Karla. It was wonderful.

Today I stayed with the English teacher. She is not a religious Sister but she has been teaching English for 12 years. Her accent is very strong and she tends to pronouce some of the words as she knows best. For example, they were studying pets. She said, "dog" and they were to say the word "puppy" but instead they pronounced it "poopy"...oops! She figured that the u was long instead of short. Oh, boy! Nice lady, though. I stayed with her for all of her 5 fifty minute classes. How exhausting!

Just wanted to share with you!

Friday, September 17th Feast of St. Robert Bellarmine

Today was a good day...as far as getting more sleep. We didn't have a priest in the convent chapel and since school has not started we were allowed to sleep in until 7:00 a.m.

Got up and had time for a non-rushed shower, etc. Prayed my Lauds privately and the bell rang for breakfast. In the dining room we have our own designated place. I wrote the names of the Sisters that sit near me so that I can call them by name: Martha, Vicki, Aurora, Patti, me and the Superior General who is still out on vacation in the USA--her name is Madre Alicia. The tables are long, so then there is: Elena, Martha Fabiola, Lupita, Bernarda, Mayra, Irma. They are so nice.

For breakfast we had: fruit (always plenty of fruit available), hot oatmeal, scrambled eggs, beans, tortillas, and cafe de la olla (delicious coffee with cinnamon and hot milk). We just had lunch after our "Visit to the Blessed Sacrament" which lasts 15 min. We gather at 1:45 and pray some beautiful prayers...many directed to the Sacred Heart of Jesus because He is their patron...and then we have a brief examination of conscience and then the bell rings for lunch. For lunch: a round slice of pineapple first. Then a piece of fish (wrapped and baked in foil), beans, a potato salad and a piece of birthday cake for dessert--it was Sister Lupita's birthday.

Ordinarily we will be getting up at 5:00 a.m. Lauds and Mass at 6:00, breakfast at 6:30, leave for school at 6:45. School is 15 min away and it starts at 7:00 a.m. We will return at 3:30. We will eat lunch then. At 6:30 is Vespers (evening prayers). At 7:00 is dinner and after dinner I will try to teach E.S.L. (English as a Second Language) to those Sisters who wish to learn English. I have a list of "volunteers" already. By 10:00 pm go to sleep.

Every Thursday at 6:30 to 7:30 we will have a Holy Hour. We eat dinner and after dinner we will pray "Complines". Saturdays and Sundays we will have pretty much the same schedule except we will rise at 7:00 a.m. and pray at 8:15 a.m.

I have not gotten ill with the food because I am faithfully drinking Airborne daily. Monica Sandoval recommended I do that instead of avoiding food or being so very careful. So far so good.

I love the Sisters. They are so very nice. There is a Sister with the beginning of Alzheimers and she just follows me and asks me if I am OK and if I have any needs. She walks all over town--FAST!

--

Well, last night I saw tremendous fireworks from the Sisters' convent roof top. We were all like little "pollitos" (baby chicks) and screaming our heads off as the huge fireworks exploded over our heads..."mejicanos locos" (crazy Mexicans)!! Lucero (a very popular singer) was down below in the center plaza belting out some of her big songs. The celebration went on until 2 or 3 a.m. Dear Lord! These people celebrate. The "Viva Mexico!" cry was heard into the wee hours.

Around 7 pm we were invited by another convent to come join them to celebrate "el grito" (the cry of independence). They told the Sisters to bring some drama outfits as they were going to do a "desfile"(parade) and the works with the country's flag. Off we went in two vans. We got there and the Sisters (same order...about 12 who teach in the "colegio central" -- there are 25 here with many of them teaching about 15 minutes away in "colegio Sebastian Cabot, where I will go on Monday) were watching on TV the celebrations going on in Mexico City. Oh, my goodness! It was like watching the opening of the Olympics! We finished watching and the Sisters dressed up in their costumes...Miguel Hidalgo, Josefa, and other heroes of history. They were extremely serious in the showing of the flag colors and in the singing of their national hymn. It was nice.

That convent is so very beautiful. Ours is baroque and theirs is more modern but still palatial. We played games, had instantly formed teams to entertain us: some of us sang, some pantomime, some did comedy acts. They had a Karaoke machine and we tried singing silly songs. We laughed like crazy ladies. The majority of the Sisters is very young and only some are elderly. The infirmed Sisters live in another town. Finally...around 10 pm we finally ate dinner--we started with fresh, delicious "tunas" (the cactus fruit)...they were already peeled and very cold, full of seeds but delicious and then we had a bowl of posole with tostadas.

A young Sister drove the van. Well, on our way back, around 11 pm we got disoriented and lost due to the great number of cars all parked and double parked. The cobbled streets are narrow and then with the many cars and people walking and not wanting to move....oh, boy! We got stuck and wedged in an impossible situation. The Sister was ready to cry. A man came over and told her to relax and he would guide us. We got home around 11:40 and went directly to the roof top to watch the midnight fireworks. Awesome! Incredible.

Up at 5:00 a.m. and to Lauds and Mass at 6:00 and breakfast. I love praying Lauds in Spanish. The Sisters pray and sing loud and clear. The kitchen Sisters...I doubt that they slept. They cut up fruit and had everything ready for breakfast. We had papaya, Mexican sweet bread, papitas fritas (little fried potatoes), frijoles, scrambled eggs and tortillas, chile...always chile!

I'm going to clean my room. Due to whatever...the weather, the age of the house or whatever, I've already killed 2 cockroaches the size of my thumb! The critters are huge. They crack when I step on them. Yuck!

It's so funny to turn my clock radio on and every station has SPANISH music!

Step One: Spending a Year in Mexico -- Sept. 14, 2010 until July 14, 2011

My flight from PDX to Phoenix was smooth and no problems. My arrival from Phoenix to Mexico City was a little scary when we went through clouds which were full of thunder and lightning and lots of rain. In Mexico City (huge city) I had to go to another terminal and so I kept asking for directions. Finally I got on a bus to take me to the terminal but they charged $2 pesos so by the time I went into my purse to get the money a young adult standing by told me that he had covered the cost. I said a prayer for him! We boarded a tiny shuttle plane to Zacatecas...time was one hour. In Portland they did not weigh my suitcases. The suitcases went straight from PDX to ZAC and in ZAC they did not open my suitcases at all. They asked me the usual questions and I said that I had nothing to declare and that was that! I am so blessed!!

In Zacatecas my suitcases did not arrive in the same area...all foreigners had their luggage in another room. I saw the two Sisters,Daughters of the Sacred Heart and St. Mary of Guadalupe, waiting in the waiting area but I could not get to them. I finally went through customs and no problems...found the Sisters again. They came with a chauffeur and he loaded my suitcases and it took us 10 min to get to the house.

The Sisters prepared hot milk (I added coffee to it), sweet bread, and a hot quesadilla. I ate and went to my room and went to bed. My bedroom is on the first floor. It is their guest room. It has two twin beds. It is very beautiful. I have a TV (don't know if it works!) and a private bathroom with shower and all. The house is gorgeous! I'll send pictures later.

Next morning I got up at 6 am. I heard all 25 Sisters praying office real loud and clear. They have about 45 min of meditation together too. No Mass in chapel today as the priests were invited to celebrate Mass at the cathedral at noon with the bishop. Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows but that feast had to be set aside to preach about the bicentennial of the country. Tomorrow is Independence Day and all the streets are blocked in downtown for the fireworks, music, festivities.

At 7 pm we are leaving to join another convent as they are putting on some ornate decorations, dramas, food, etc. to celebrate Independence.

I'm very tired. My body is not ready to enter full force into their schedule. School starts on Monday. They rise at 5:00 a.m., have Lauds at 6:00 and Mass follows...just like us. They leave for school at 6:45 as it starts at 7 and they return at 3:00. Meals are served at 7 - 2 - 7. This is a bit different from our schedule there.

Must sleep now.

What I learned in Mexico during my two week visit

What I learned in my visit to Mexico…May 29 to June 15, 2010
How strange that often one makes plans…good plans…and God rearranges them so that His will can be done.
The main objective in visiting Mexico was to meet and greet the Superiors of the convents which had more or less offered me the possibility of HOSPITALITY with them in Mexico. Reneé Jaime from Willamette University in Salem offered to accompany me to Mexico as she was going to visit and bring her mother back to Salem. She said she needed vacation time, too.
I. It was important to make CONNECTIONS
A. Religious Sisters: I met and visited “Las Hijas del Sagrado Corazón y de Santa María de Guadalupe” who were founded by Father José Anastasio Díaz López –JADILOP or Jadilopistas. This community was recommended to me by Father Edgar from the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit.
The second group of Sisters that I met was: “Las Mínimas de Maria Inmaculada”. Their Motherhouse is located in Leon, Guanajuato but they have Sisters in the town where I lived with Reneé Jaime’s Mom in Encarnación de Diaz in the state of Jalisco.
B. Priests: I met and greeted the parish priests but they were too busy to sit down and talk at length. I met the Vicar of Consecrated Life from Aguascalientes…Father Manuel Arreola and his friend, Father José Gonzalez at a dinner we hosted at Reneé’s Mom’s house.
C. Lay People and Families: I met and made many connections with Reneé’s extended family…the Albas and the Jaimes. I met a shop keeper who has taught Religious Education in the town of Encarnación and immediately invited me to help her teach.
II. Taking note of THEIR LANGUAGE AND CULTURAL WAYS
A. It is very evident that faith and culture go hand in hand. These two parts of the Mexican people are understood, celebrated, spoken about and lived out together. For example, on the first Friday of July, the entire town celebrated the feast of the Sacred Heart. The town plaza featured both professional and high school bands which played into the wee hours of the night. Around noon the school children all attended Mass together at the main church … grade, middle and high school students were all at one Mass in “gala uniforms”. There was hardly any standing room for locals as there were so many children. The Sisters and lay teachers had to remain standing by their class’s pew during the Mass. The students sang and responded to the prayers of the Mass in loud and clear voices.
B. Protocol is very important. It is best if one knows the most courteous and formal way of interacting with others. It is a sign of an educated person to observe the protocol between guest and the host—at all times! Protocol is observed outside and within the home from the moment one gets up and greets the elders until one retires in the evening by formally excusing oneself and saying, “Good Night. God bless you. Sleep well.” When arriving at the homes of relatives or friends, the host initiates the handshake, kiss on the cheek, hug or whatever else. The host is the initiator, not the guest. Formalities are of extreme importance. The greeting rituals and the departing rituals are executed with great care. Much of the conversation must remain formal, not sharing too many personal details. The host must lead in the conversation. The guest must listen and answer questions without many details.
C. Founders—the founders of religious congregations or the founders of the schools are all reverenced and respected by both students and teachers…lay and religious. It is as if these people or events form the foundation on which they stand and therefore these founders must receive daily recognition and respect. Many institutions have gardens with the statue or bust of their founders. Some have quotes written and displayed on convent walls or school bulletin boards. Their founders are almost on the same level as a saint whether beatified and canonized or not. The children in the schools can practically recite the philosophy of their life based on the founder or foundress who through their own holy lives can lead the follower to God.
III. Activities of DAILY LIVING
A. Communication & Transportation: It seems that computers, cell phones, wireless/Skype…all these forms of communication are available. I had access to wireless internet by asking the owner of the Internet Shop next door to the family home if I could borrow the code and use his wireless wave. There are many types of services for phones, TV’s, internet, etc.
The most common mode of transportation is walking. Everyone walks everywhere…on narrow sidewalks (not always maintained in the best conditions). Taxis are always available in every street corner. City buses are noisy and folks ride them carrying whatever needs to be transported. The family with whom I lived would hired a “particular car” (a taxi driver who used his van) for larger groups of people and more extended trips. The price of a trip: $100 USD—paid for the use of the van plus driver for a six hour round trip to Zacatecas, for example.
B. Slow to Answer: Even though it seems that electronic communication is very important, the need to respond is not. The word “ahorita” is used a lot. To us it means, “in a few minutes”; to them it means some time in the future. Instead of learning patience I learned just how frustrated I can really get.
C. Church: A lot of people assist at daily Mass. There are several Masses offered throughout the day. In the small town of Encarnación de Díaz had 3 daily Masses: 7:00 a.m., 12 noon and 8:00 p.m. The members of the family with whom I lived attended the 8:00 p.m. daily and after that we took a walk around the plaza right in front of the church and after that we might have dinner. Mass attendees: young and old, mothers with children and office workers, students and poor beggars.
D. Meals: Seldom did we eat an entire meal at home. I thought that it was the host family’s way of eating… going to the “corner” shop for enchiladas, taquitos, cold drinks, etc., but many people walked by the family home all day long while eating or drinking something. A person’s eating habits: eat a little bit all day long. Most of the people…young and old are very slender. The time of their meals: 7:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. In the morning, upon rising, the family sat at table to drink a cup of instant coffee with a piece of “pan dulce” (a piece of Mexican sweet bread…which is not really sweet by our standards). Maybe they would have a piece of fruit or a glass of fresh squeezed juice at 10:00 a.m. At 1:30 p.m. the family might go buy some cheese and make some quesadillas and have some fruit. This was not enough for me! Around mid-afternoon we would go buy some more fresh squeezed juice or frozen fruit “paletas” or popsicles. Right before retiring we would go to a little restaurant and sit down for some cheese enchiladas. An order consisted of 3 small enchiladas with sour cream and shredded lettuce on top. I would sit and wait for my order while shooing away the flies. When I commented about all the flies, the family would reply: “What flies?
I got very ill with stomach flu-like symptoms for 4 days after I returned to the USA. I had been so careful not to eat meat or drink milk. I only drank bottled water, but we always ate the food sold by street vendors.
E. Plaza Gathering: Every evening after dinner the people congregated at the plaza to buy and eat a piece of fruit, drink a fruit drink or just talk and visit with passers-by or allow a place for the children to run and play. Often there was music or a band playing or something. Family time seemed very important to them all. A lot of greetings included the prefix “tio, primo, padrino—which means: uncle, cousin, god parent. Often this is a sure way of hearing “reports” of comportment about your son or daughter.
IV. Opportunities for SERVICE/MINISTRY
A. Teaching or “shadowing” with a Sister in their convent “colegios”
B. Teaching ESL to Sisters in the convent formation programs
C. Shadowing school lay teachers—would not be able to take a full-time position as my stay in any one place would last 3 months or so.
D. “Apostolado”—pastoral ministry will be available in Irapuato, Guanajuato. The Sisters are involved in parish ministry…catechism, etc.

Do I know and accept Jesus?

This has been a rollercoaster of a summer. Time is flying by and I prefer to spend all my time cleaning out closets at the main house (our Motherhouse) rather than prepare my heart for the inevitable…my leaving soon for year’s stay in Mexico.
God, I ask you to create in me a new heart, a heart capable of “knowing” You! These days, the daily Mass readings have beautiful messages for me…God loves me with an age-old love. He will always love me. He takes me by the hand. These words echo the beautiful words of Hosea: “It was I … who took them in my arms; I drew them with human cords, with bands of love. I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks.” (Hosea 11:3-4)
See how close God walks with me? God says, deep within her I will plant my law, writing it on her heart. I will be her God, and she shall be my girl. This way I will no longer be ignorant of God and his will in my life. I will know Him in the fullest sense; in a deep and intimate way! I will find Him in every experience…even in cleaning out closets...and be aware of His unconditional love for me and I will try to communicate that love to all my Sisters around me.
In today’s readings, however, I see that after the euphoria of knowing that their Master was the Messiah, all the dreams and hopes of the disciples are shattered by some terrible revelations. It is hard for me to imagine the impact these words must have had on the disciples. Peter, who had just covered himself in glory and been appointed leader, almost patronizingly takes Jesus aside, “God forbid that any such thing ever happen to you!” Yes, that would be my reaction, too! I would shout out, “No way!”
For him and the others this was an unthinkable scenario for the Messiah they were all waiting for. But the worst is yet to come. How shocked Peter must have been at Jesus’ reaction. “Get out of my sight, you Satan! (Get out of my face!) You are trying to make me trip and fall. You are not judging by God’s standards but by man’s.” Ouch! I would have been devastated! Just seconds before Jesus had called Peter a “Rock” and now he is accused of being Satan’s advocate! Instead of being a rock of stability, he is seen as a stumbling block in the way of Jesus. Ay! Ay!
I must ask myself to what extent I accept Jesus…all of Jesus…the rejected, suffering, dying and rising Jesus.

Trust in the Lord -- ALWAYS!

During this time of uncertainty...I moved from Salem, packed all my stuff, stored it in a garage at St. Mary's in Beaverton, I don't have a job, I don't know for sure where I am going...and so on! I feel very frightened and alone. I am sad. I am tired and stressed. I can't find God! I can't hear God. I pray and my words feel empty.

So this morning when I was meditating on the readings for today...well, God always speaks loud and clear when I am really listening, I read that during a time when wars and rumors of wars were all around the people of God, they trembled and gave in to great fear. But God warned Ahaz that a terrible fate would await Judah unless Judah would stand firm during these frightful times. “If you do not stand by me, you will not stand at all.” The message is clear to me, too: Ahaz is to put his firm trust and confidence in the protection of Yahweh, who alone has the power to save him and his people. Unfortunately, the message will not be heeded by the people (nor by me either, unfortunately!).

In the prophets, faith is not so much a theoretical belief in the existence and uniqueness of God as an attitude of confidence based on God’s choice of Israel: he has chosen Israel, he is Israel’s God, he alone has the power to save his people. This unconditional trust, a guarantee of salvation, excludes all reliance not only on human agency but still more on false gods.

I, too, cannot expect God to stand by me if I do not stand by him. This is not to be interpreted as saying that God is touchy and vindictive and that, if he feels insulted or ignored, he will abandon me or bring some terrible punishment on me. It means that only when I am fully on his side, when his way is fully assimilated into my live will I find the life he promises. If I insist on going my own way, he will not stop me but he will not be able to help me either. I will have shut myself off from his loving help.
(Summarized from a reflection by the Jesuit priests from Ireland.)

“The harvest is rich but the laborers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest.”

Matthew 9:32-38
Stories of blindness, deafness and dumbness in the Gospel always have a deeper meaning. Far more serious than physical blindness, deafness and dumbness are being spiritually blind, deaf and dumb. We are blind because we cannot see or do not want to see God at work in Jesus; we are deaf because we do not hear or do not want to understand what Jesus says. And we are also dumb because we cannot speak the words of life that Jesus gives to us to share with others.
Let us pray today to be able to see clearly, to understand what God says to us and to be able to share it with others.
Jesus is teaching in synagogues; he is proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom; and he is healing all kinds of diseases and sickness. He shows deep compassion for the needs of the people. He sees them harassed and dejected, wandering and aimless like sheep without a guiding shepherd - a familiar image in the Old Testament (cf. Ezekiel 34). Then, looking at his disciples, he says, “The harvest is rich but the laborers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest.” Jesus cannot do it all on his own. In fact, he will hardly step outside the boundaries of Palestine. He needs many helpers. He needs more young people with the COURAGE to answer his call to serve in the Church. Where are you, young men and women?
Today, the situation has not changed. The harvest is as big as ever; people are as lost and rudderless as they have ever been in spite of the great strides in knowledge we have made. Where are the laborers? They are not just the bishops, priests, religious brothers and sisters. That is a very narrow concept of laborers. Every single baptized person is called, in some way, to be a harvester, to help people find and experience the truth and love that God gives in Jesus. Every single person, in that sense and it is a very real sense, has a vocation, a call to serve and to build the Kingdom.
What and where and with whom is your vocation?

Tentative Itinerary for Initial Visit to Mexico

A TENTATIVE PLAN FOR THE TWO WEEKS IN MEXICO:

1. Arrive in the town of Encarnación de Díaz, in the state of JALISCO, in the city of GUADALAJARA and visit the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus—these Sisters have the kindergarten to sixth graders.

2. Also in the same town we will visit the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who teach in the middle school…7th to 9th grade. These Sisters are dedicated mainly to education. They have their own private schools and are independently supported by alumni and other sponsors.

3. We will visit the main church in Jalisco and the pastor has requested an appointment with him so that he is aware of who is visiting his parish. He will introduce us to the Sisters who help in the parish as pastoral ministers.

4. In the middle of the week we will drive three hours to Zacatecas. We will visit with the Superior General, Mother Alicia Zambrano Tiscareño (alisjesu@hotmail.com). The Daughters of the Sacred Heart and of Holy Virgin of Guadalupe who live in the capital city of ZACATECAS. We will stay and visit there all day.

5. At the end of the first week we will go visit another town that is called BAJIO DE SAN JOSÉ, still in the state of Jalisco. We will meet the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Sisters there have a great need for educators, especially those who can speak English. The Sisters are expecting us.

6. The beginning of the second week we will go to SAN JUAN DE LOS LAGOS in Jalisco and we will visit our Lady of San Juan. We will visit the church of Santo Toribio and other places that are of great importance to the locals because of the many miracles which have occurred there. This will take about half day.

7. Next day we will go to the state of AGUASCALIENTES to visit a priest that has already contacted us. They are willing to help us in our future plans.

This is more or less what we are doing. However, since we are depending on other people and in all forms of transportation the timing is only tentative.

You might want to visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encarnaci%C3%B3n_de_D%C3%ADaz


My “home base” for June 1st to June 13th will be with Familia Alba Gonzalez Calle Vallarta # 128 Colonia Centro Encarnación de Diaz, Jalisco C.P. 47270

The family’s telephone is: 011-52-475-95-32156. You must dial exactly how it is written here. No other numbers needed.

Leave: US Airways Portland to Phoenix 05/29/10 5:30 AM - 7:57 AM. Phoenix to Arrive in Guadalajara on 05/29/10 9:05 AM - 1:54 PM

Return: Guadalajara to Phoenix 06/14/10 5:45 PM - 6:26 PM. From: Phoenix to Arrive in Portland
06/14/10 8:10 PM - 10:48 PM on US Airways 94

The Powers of the Medicine Wheel

Among the People, a child's first Teaching is of the Four Great Powers of the Medicine Wheel.

1. To the North on the Medicine Wheel is found Wisdom. The Color of the Wisdom of the North is White, and its Medicine Animal is the Buffalo. In the north the winters are bitter cold with strong winds…and the buffalo simply puts his big, wide head down and continues perseveringly and knowingly.

2. The South is represented by the Sign of the Mouse, and its Medicine Color is Green. The South is a place of Innocence and Trust. The mouse celebrates excitedly over a simple piece of cheese. His eyesight is very short, but he feels with his whiskers. We can feel for that is the nature of the heart. We can welcome everyone into our opened hearts.

3. In the West is the Sign of the Bear. The West is the Looks-Within Place, which speaks of the Introspective nature of man. The Color of this Place is Black. The bear hibernates for half the year. We, too, need rest and quiet and introspection.

4. The East is marked by the Sign of the Eagle. It is the Place of Illumination, where we can see things clearly far and wide. Its Color is the Gold of the Morning Star. The east is where the sun rises. The eagle has very sharp vision. It can detect a field mouse from high up in the sky. By rising high above the ground we can see our daily problems in perspective…from a distance our problems are small in comparison with the rest of our life.


At birth we are given a particular “Beginning Place” within these Four Great Directions on the Medicine Wheel. This Starting Place gives us our first way of perceiving things, which will then be our easiest and more natural way throughout our lives.

But any person who perceives from only one of these Four Great Directions will remain just a partial man. For example, a man who possesses only the Gift of the North will be wise. But he will be a cold man, a man without feeling. And the man who lives only in the East will have the clear, far sighted vision of the Eagle, but he will never be close to things. This man will feel separated, high above life, and will never understand or believe that he can be touched by anything.

A man or woman who perceives only from the West will go over the same thought again and again in their mind, and will always be undecided. And if a person has only the Gift of the South, he will see everything with the eyes of a Mouse. He will be too close to the ground and too near sighted to see anything other than those touching his whiskers.

There are many people who have two or three of these Gifts, but these people still are not Whole. A man might be a Bear person from the East, or an Eagle person from the South. The first of these men would have the Gift of seeing Introspectively within Illumination, but he would lack the Gifts of Touching and Wisdom. The second would be able to see clearly and far, like the Eagle, within Trust and Innocence. But he would still not know of the things of the North, nor of the looks-Within Place.

In this same way, a person might also be a Golden Bear of the North, or a Black Eagle of the South. But none of these people would yet be Whole. After each of us has learned of our Beginning Gift, our First Place on the Medicine Wheel, we then must Grow by Seeking Understanding in each of the Four Great Ways. Only in this way can we become Full, capable of Balance and Decision in what we do. Seven Arrows speaks of this Growing and Seeking.

To Touch and Feel is to Experience. Many people live out their entire lives without ever really Touching or being Touched by anything. These people live within a world of mind and imagination that may move them sometimes to joy, tears, happiness or sorrow. But these people never really Touch. They do not live and become one with life.

The Sun Dancer believes that each person is a unique Living Medicine Wheel, powerful beyond imagination, and that he/she has been limited and placed upon this earth to Touch, Experience and Learn. The Six Grandfathers Taught me that each man, woman and child at one time was a Living Power that existed somewhere in time and space. These Powers were without time and space. These Powers were without form, but they were aware. They were alive.

According to the Teachers, there is only one thing that all people possess equally. This is their loneliness. No two people on the face of this earth are alike in any one thing except for their loneliness. This is the cause of our Growing, but it is also the cause of our wars. Love, hate, greed and generosity are all rooted within our loneliness, within our desire to be needed and loved.

The only way that we can overcome our loneliness is through Touching. It is only in this way that we can learn to be Total Beings. God is a presence of this Total. He is the Breath of Wisdom, the Total Understanding, and these two words express Wholeness.

These “Beginning Place” on the Medicine Wheel are the Beginning Gift to each of us from God. For example, there are Eagle People, Bear People, Buffalo People, Mice people…but within each are the other differences of the Four Great Directions. So, let’s take a look at mice. Mice never see things at a distance. Everything they can see is right in front of them, where they can sniff at it with their noses and Touch it with their whiskers. Their lives are spent in Touching things. A Mouse Person would be one who saw everything close up and whose vision would be limited to the immediate world around him. He/she can only understand things and ideas that they gather from close by.

But if the Mouse Person were to be born into the North, his Beginning Gift would be the Gift of the Mind. He/she might be a “White Mouse”. He/she, to become Whole, will have to find Marriage of this Gift of the South and with the other directions in order to become a Full Person and have balance of the Four Directions. The marriage for the mouse would have to take place in his heart.

I was taught three other directions on the Medicine Wheel: Up, Down and In.

1. The Up direction is the sky. The sky is up, the color is blue and it seeks to find the eternal.
2. The Down direction is the ground. The ground is called “Mother Earth” for she is full of life. One must step lightly onto the ground in order not to disturb the teeming life that exists there at all times.
3. The In direction is inside of me. That is the last and the most profound direction for in it is contained the Breath of God.

Just Think

A friend of mine gave me a card for my going away. It is written by Roy Lessin. It is called "Just Think". It says, Just think you're here not by chance, but by God's choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else--you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can't give you. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.

There is a Bible quote: He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature. II Peter 1:4

The inside says, Just Think...you are God's servant in God's place at God's perfect time.

Sent to me by Father Jose Luis Gonzalez

Inviting Young People to Commit Themselves to Christ

I continue to share the process of discernment of a vocation. I fear some of you might not know that it takes a serious and prayerful discernment to make a commitment that will affect your entire life.
This is good prayer to pray:
“Lord, let me know what it is You want me to do in life
because I will be happiest only in doing Your Holy Will.”

God calls us to participate in the mission of the Church and to love His people. You may fulfill this same mission in a variety of ways. You will best be able to serve God in the ministries of the Church by using the gifts God has given you.
How does one know to what community God is calling you? That is a big mystery! It is not a mystery to God, however. He will direct you to a particular community. I wrote letters to different communities. I visited at least three communities. But guess what? I entered a community to which God directed me. I had never visited or written to the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon. Yet, my love of Our Lady and the fact that I came to Oregon to work as a migrant worker…that was enough for God to point me in the right direction.
Women in religious communities live a simple and celibate lifestyle. They make public vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. These vows free her to serve God more fully. Prayer and work are part of the tradition of all communities. By joining a religious community you will find the support and courage to focus on the ministries of the Church. Depending on the vision of their founders, the charism of the Congregation, and the gifts and talents of their members, each community accents them differently. Thus, some communities are primarily contemplative while others are more active.
I became a “postulant” in September many years ago. A year later I became a “novice”. I remained a novice for three years. Then I became a “junior Sister” until I made my final vows. The congregation prepared and trained me for the community’s particular apostolic work…education. The works of some communities frequently address areas of education, social work, administration, communication, healthcare, etc.
Where to start? You may start by calling Fr. Kelly Vandehey at the office of vocations at our local diocesan office (503-234-5334) and he will direct you to inquire and visit different communities in the area. Personal contact is one of the best ways to gain knowledge of a community and find out about its spirituality, apostolate, and life-style. Some communities offer weekend retreats or live-in experiences. Weekends are scheduled all through the year with the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon at 4440 S.W. 148th Ave. in Beaverton 97007. Our last weekend with the Sisters is scheduled for May 21-23, 2010. Please feel free to contact Sister Charlene Herinckx, SSMO at 503-906-1131.
Seek information, ask for advice, seek the guidance of competent people, especially religious or priests, evaluate yourself and above all, pray to the Lord for wisdom and courage to discern and do His Will. A good spiritual director may be very helpful in receiving objective advice.

Are Sisters necessary today?

OP-ED COLUMNIST
A Church Mary Can Love
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: April 17, 2010
I heard a joke the other day about a pious soul who dies, goes to heaven, and gains an audience with the Virgin Mary. The visitor asks Mary why, for all her blessings, she always appears in paintings as a bit sad, a bit wistful: Is everything O.K.?

Mary reassures her visitor: “Oh, everything’s great. No problems. It’s just ... it’s just that we had always wanted a daughter.”
That story comes to mind as the Vatican wrestles with the consequences of a patriarchal pre-modern mind-set: scandal, cover-up and the clumsiest self-defense since Watergate. That’s what happens with old boys’ clubs.
It wasn’t inevitable that the Catholic Church would grow so addicted to male domination, celibacy and rigid hierarchies. Jesus himself focused on the needy rather than dogma, and went out of his way to engage women and treat them with respect.
The first-century church was inclusive and democratic, even including a proto-feminist wing and texts. The Gospel of Philip, a Gnostic text from the third century, declares of Mary Magdalene: “She is the one the Savior loved more than all the disciples.” Likewise, the Gospel of Mary (from the early second century) suggests that Jesus entrusted Mary Magdalene to instruct the disciples on his religious teachings.
St. Paul refers in Romans 16 to a first-century woman named Junia as prominent among the early apostles, and to a woman named Phoebe who served as a deacon. The Apostle Junia became a Christian before St. Paul did (chauvinist translators have sometimes rendered her name masculine, with no scholarly basis).
Yet over the ensuing centuries, the church reverted to strong patriarchal attitudes, while also becoming increasingly uncomfortable with sexuality. The shift may have come with the move from house churches, where women were naturally accepted, to more public gatherings.
The upshot is that proto-feminist texts were not included when the Bible was compiled (and were mostly lost until modern times). Tertullian, an early Christian leader, denounced women as “the gateway to the devil,” while a contemporary account reports that the great Origen of Alexandria took his piety a step further and castrated himself.
The Catholic Church still seems stuck today in that patriarchal rut. The same faith that was so pioneering that it had Junia as a female apostle way back in the first century can’t even have a woman as the lowliest parish priest. Female deacons, permitted for centuries, are banned today.
That old boys’ club in the Vatican became as self-absorbed as other old boys’ clubs, like Lehman Brothers, with similar results. And that is the reason the Vatican is floundering today.
But there’s more to the picture than that. In my travels around the world, I encounter two Catholic Churches. One is the rigid all-male Vatican hierarchy that seems out of touch when it bans condoms even among married couples where one partner is H.I.V.-positive. To me at least, this church — obsessed with dogma and rules and distracted from social justice — is a modern echo of the Pharisees whom Jesus criticized.
Yet there’s another Catholic Church as well, one I admire intensely. This is the grass-roots Catholic Church that does far more good in the world than it ever gets credit for. This is the church that supports extraordinary aid organizations like Catholic Relief Services and Caritas, saving lives every day, and that operates superb schools that provide needy children an escalator out of poverty.
This is the church of the nuns and priests in Congo, toiling in obscurity to feed and educate children. This is the church of the Brazilian priest fighting AIDS who told me that if he were pope, he would build a condom factory in the Vatican to save lives.
This is the church of the Maryknoll Sisters in Central America and the Cabrini Sisters in Africa. There’s a stereotype of nuns as stodgy Victorian traditionalists. I learned otherwise while hanging on for my life in a passenger seat as an American nun with a lead foot drove her jeep over ruts and through a creek in Swaziland to visit AIDS orphans. After a number of encounters like that, I’ve come to believe that the very coolest people in the world today may be nuns.
So when you read about the scandals, remember that the Vatican is not the same as the Catholic Church. Ordinary lepers, prostitutes and slum-dwellers may never see a cardinal, but they daily encounter a truly noble Catholic Church in the form of priests, nuns and lay workers toiling to make a difference.
It’s high time for the Vatican to take inspiration from that sublime — even divine — side of the Catholic Church, from those church workers whose magnificence lies not in their vestments, but in their selflessness. They’re enough to make the Virgin Mary smile.

Viva Mexico: My talk to the Serra Club

Viva Mexico: My talk to the Serra Club

My talk to the Serra Club

SISTER MARY JUANITA VILLARREAL
(a.k.a. Teresa Cruz Villarreal)

Many Wonderful Memories

We all have a story to tell. This is who we are and sometimes it is who others say we are. Being child number six in a clan of eleven brothers and sisters has given me a unique perspective and a good vantage view.

I have many wonderful memories. I remember playing with dolls or playing with tiny dishes which Mom would buy for us. Of course, we would get one doll at Christmas for all the little girls and maybe one bike for all the boys. I am sure that was the reason that we often had fights with each other.

Mom taught us many things. She even had her own ideas for our evangelization. Every time we got a new doll she would have us “baptize” the doll. She would allow us to invite our little friends or neighbors and she would even buy
“pan dulce” and would make us some hot chocolate for after the baptism.

Mom was an amazing housewife. She would keep our house spotless and wash tubs full of clothes using an old washing machine…there was no water heater so she would heat water in a big tub balanced on top of burning wood. She would creatively make towers of tortillas and cover them with a dishtowel. I think she covered the tortillas to keep us kids from running by and stealing one hot-off-the-press!

I can also remember the pretty bad spankings Mom or Dad gave me when I needed them. I think she spanked me more because I was very stubborn and would not allow myself to cry. I bit my dress collar and braved the spankings and tried not to cry.

I was born number six. I arrived on July 23, 1944, the month of the Precious Blood of Jesus. Later on I joined a community of Sisters who have a devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus. Mom was 30 years old and Dad was 34. Six kids! Dad was a clerk at the local IGA store and Mom was a “home/family engineer”.

Mom could skillfully complete the morning feed, dress us for school, wash and hang clothes and make beds all before 10 a.m. What a “wonder” woman!

My Dad was quieter but his word … or one simple glance would move us to action. Dad was a butcher by trade. After work he would volunteer to drive the school bus for the football games, etc. To him our schooling was very important.

Mom was great at First Aid, too. One of her unique treatments was when we had air in our ear. She would use a page from the Sears catalog and make a funnel. She would put the funnel in our ear while she would light a match and start burning the opposite end of the funnel. No sooner had the paper caught on fire than the air would puff out with the speed of a jet propeller. Our earache was gone!



Dad and Mom made a great team. Mom and Dad planted the seed of knowledge in me and gave it the first impetus by being such active role models.

I went to first grade without my parents accompanying me. Brothers and sisters walked together taking the youngest one to enter school. How scary! Before you know it, I was helping with the “photo-copying”: a design was made with a purple pencil, then placing the paper upside down on a gummy surface one would moisten the copy with a wet sponge, pick it up and the stencil was made! Now, a clean piece of paper would go over that print, moisten it again and ONE copy was made. The finished copies would be allowed to dry first.

From the third grade classroom door I could see my aunt’s house. By grade five I knew it all! I knew how to spell “vacation”. I was finally in sixth grade and carrying my big books home under one arm like the big kids.

I don’t recall our migratory travels in detail other than to say that Oregon was a more appealing state than say: Illinois, North Dakota or Minnesota. The family lived in Montana, also.

Moving to Carrizo Springs during my eighth grade was both traumatic and challenging. I felt we had finally moved to the big city. Dad was able to sit us around the dining room table and explain to us the need to move and what sacrifices we would all have to make and endure. I enjoyed the ownership these talks gave me!

In his later years I remember Dad puttering around the yard in Carrizo early in the mornings. While in Carrizo he rested more or at least took it easier than during the harvest time in St. Paul, Oregon. Dad was usually up early. Mom was up early, too. He would hoe weeds, water plants, fix a broken hinge or put a coat of paint on the windowsill. Painting was not his strong point. He would get more paint on the window glass than on the sill. His last project was finishing the washer/dryer room in back of the house.

I had visited the Benedictines of Crookston, Minnesota and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary from Marylhurst. Both of these Sisters had been my teachers in catechism class. But in 1960 I went to visit the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon in Beaverton with some classmates of mine. I went, I saw and I stayed! I entered the convent at age 18. My parents were hesitant to allow me to join but in the end they were very proud.

After a few years in the convent I organized my brothers and sisters and encouraged all of us to go back home to Texas to visit Mom and Dad together. Well, Dad wanted to get things all spruced up before all of us would arrive to visit them Christmas of 1974. But he suffered a massive heart attack and went to God on December 16, 1974. My world fell apart. My precious Dad was gone without waiting for us to get home.


Before I joined the convent I attended the youth group meetings and Fr. Schneider taught us a marriage class. I also joined the youth choir. I went out with about three different young men from my school. The entire dating ritual fascinated me. I was never overwhelmingly impressed, though. Much of the time I flirted or acted more fickle than necessary.
My last boyfriend continued writing letters and sending me pictures even after I entered the convent. He and I had made a friendship pact that we would always be there for each other. He joined the army and mailed me pictures and I promised to pray for him. But always, and I mean always, it was at church that I became most serious and quiet. The smells and the music were all filled with beautiful tradition and devotion for me—and it all appealed to me.

I graduated from Marylhurst College on August 1, 1967 with a Bachelor of Science in Education—a teaching degree.

In 1967 I lived in Tillamook for two years. In 1969 I was assigned to Stayton. In 1972 I reluctantly went to Hillsboro, but thankfully I quickly moved to St. Agatha’s in southeast Portland. In 1974 I was assigned to be principal of Holy Trinity School in Beaverton. I was so glad to be back home but so scared to be in charge of an entire school all by myself. In 1976 they assigned me to take the leadership of a bigger school. I went to St. John the Baptist School in Milwaukie. I was sent to Spokane, Washington. Oh, I loved Spokane. It was my favorite mission of all, I think.

In 1978 I again was appointed principal of a school in Portland—Holy Cross School in north Portland. I fell in love with the people—lots of African American children—and the area order of priests, the Holy Cross priests. I visited Costa Rica during that summer.

In 1987 I was asked to teach at La Salle High School in Milwaukie. I was superior of the house and lived with two retired Sisters who really came to keep me company while I taught the high school students. It was fun.

I was teaching in St. Mary, Star of the Sea in Astoria in 1993 when Archbishop Levada asked me to take the administration of a parish in Dayton, a quasi-parish that consisted of all Hispanic people. I had never had the administration of a parish all by myself nor worked exclusively with Hispanic people. Well, it was an entirely different kind of job. My Spanish was very rusty. I had to learn to speak and write it well in a very short time. The work was extremely taxing but very rewarding.

And as Sisters often do, I took classes during summer months and I finally graduated from Portland State University with a Master of Science degree and an administrator’s certificate on August 9, 1979. I studied at our nation’s capitol and visited many of the national sights. I have been to Mexico half a dozen times to study or on vacation. I lived in Costa Rica for almost a month. I visited the Holy Land and traveled all around Jerusalem in 1994. I had a year’s sabbatical in Europe. I lived in Spain for six months and in Santa Fe, New Mexico for another four months.

No amount of knowledge would give me even a portion of the knowledge that my Mom and Dad had. I would love to have the simplicity that was theirs. They had all the gifts of the Spirit: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, awe of the Lord and piety. My Dad was a man for all seasons and my Mom was a double for God, our Creator. From almost nothing she could create something. She could feed, clothe, house and educate eleven kids on one man’s salary! That is one awesome superwoman!

Dad truly was the mystic of the family. His prayer life was solid and his faith knew no fear. He was so disciplined. My Dad would maintain his trucks clean inside and out and his yard all in order. Dad liked music and dancing and storytelling. He shone when he had a joke to share. A five-minute story could take thirty minutes to tell. He captivated his audience. I remember Dad playing with us and making a little mouse out of his big white hankie to scare us into thinking that the mouse was going to get us. We would get close to him and then squeal away, as the mouse would jump out of his hand.

Retelling my story has awakened in me a yearning for our reunion in heaven. I miss my parents. May we look forward to our great reunion and not lose our focus on the important things in life. Staying focused on Jesus will assure us a ticket there. Let’s help each other.

Let me just share with you that religious life … as married life or single life… is not easy! It has its ups and downs. It is a mystery! I know the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. I know how it ended for Jesus and I am following Him, so…

Here is the process of becoming a Sister of St. Mary of Oregon. A young woman (18-30 years of age) discerns her call … her “vocare”. She calls and visits different convents and reviews her gifts and talents. Once she feels attracted to one particular congregation or order she begins the process of discernment. We have a 14 step process. It takes months. The Sisters look at the candidate and the candidate looks at the Sisters in community.

Once the candidate has been accepted, as a postulant, she moves in to the convent. She can have no debts, no other prior commitments to complete, etc. This stage lasts six months to one year. On August 15th, feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, the postulant becomes a novice. She spends two years studying the Constitution and Statues of the congregation while also involving herself in the life of the Sisters. She is under the tutelage of her superior. She learns the art of prayer and meditation. At the end of this time she asks permission to take temporary vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. If she is accepted she lives and works as a temporary professed Sister. At the end of this period she is ready to take final vows…she, in the presence of family, friends and Sisters, pronounces this promise:
In the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit. I, Sister ________, in the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all saints, vow to Almighty God, through the hands of our Superior General, chastity, poverty and obedience forever, according to the Constitution of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Mary of Oregon. So help me, God, by the merits of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Amen.

In three short years I will be celebrating 50 years of that commitment. I have certainly been blessed by the love and friendship of hundreds of students, parents, my own religious Sisters and numerous opportunities for learning, traveling, playing, praying, sharing and much more. I really do not know how to value as I ought. God promised on the day of my commitment: “If you love me and keep your promises, I will reward you a hundred-fold in this life and also give you life everlasting with Me in heaven

One of my Favorite Songs...The Rose!

Some say love it is a river
that drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razor
that leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger
an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower
and you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed
that with the sun's love
in the spring
becomes the rose

Sister Callista O'Connor Has Gone Home to God

Sister M. Callista O’Connor


Sister M. Callista (Geraldine) O’Connor was born on May 5, 1927 in Washburn, Iowa. She attended elementary school Grades 1 – 7 in Rapidan, Minnesota before her family moved to Stayton, Oregon where she graduated from St. Mary’s Elementary School. She graduated from St. Mary of the Valley High School (now known as Valley Catholic).

Sister was received as a novice by the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon in 1943 and became known as Sister M. Callista. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Alverno College in Milwaukie, Wisconsin in 1962, a Master’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Portland in 1969.

Music coursed her veins and energized Sr. Callista throughout her life. She could play the theme of the “Magificent Seven” as a waltz, polka or a march! Sister Callista had a zest for life and believed in possibilities while thinking outside the box!

Sister’s teaching career began in 1945 at St. Mary of the Valley. In the years that followed, when not a student at Alverno College, she taught music, served as head of the Music Department, or as Music Coordinator for the Community in these schools: Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Agatha, Holy Cross in Portland; St. John the Baptist and Christ the King in Milwaukie; St. Boniface in Sublimity; St. Mary’s in Stayton; Sacred Heart in Tillamook, St. Francis in Roy; Visitation in Verboort; St. Matthew in Hillsboro; and St. Cecilia in Beaverton. Her last teaching assignment was at St. Lucy School in Long Beach, California where she taught while also serving as the care giver for her mother.

Even when she retired in 1991 she continued to share her love for music with Valley Catholic School 7th graders who visited with her as part of their Middle School program. Sister Callista was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, but continued to exercise by swimming until recent months. Sister died at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon on March 14. May she rest in peace.

Vigil Service –March 18 at 7:00 p.m. – Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon
Mass of Christian Burial – March 19 at 4:00 p.m. – Motherhouse Chapel
Interment – March 22 at 9:00 a.m. in the Sisters’ Cemetery

Memorial offerings may be directed to the Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon Retirement Fund.

May she rest in God’s embrace!

Mis Estimadas Hermanas Religiosas en Mexico

23 de febrero de 2010

Estimadas Hermanas Religiosas,

Antes que nada, quisiera enviarles un cordial saludo y al mismo tiempo desearles un año 2010 muy prospero y lleno de la paz del Señor.

Mi nombre es Hermana Juanita Villarreal, soy religiosa de la congregación Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon (www.ssmoministries.org). Yo trabajo en la parroquia San José en Salem, Oregon y mi correo electrónico personal es srjuanv@yahoo.com.

Nuestra comunidad esta pensando mandar a una o dos de nosotras a México este verano. Por ese motivo queremos investigar e informarnos sobre la vida religiosa en México. El plan es, ver si hay posibilidad de abrir una casa en México para prepararnos y servir mejor a los feligreses inmigrantes en nuestras parroquias y ministerios. Y para conocer la cultura y la espiritualidad hispana hemos pensado en buscar y pedir hospedaje para vivir por lo menos unos seis meses con una comunidad religiosa e inculturizarnos en la fe y el trabajo del pueblo mexicano y así poder servir mejor en esta nueva realidad en nuestra diócesis. En un primer plano nos gustaría instalarnos en Zacatecas o sus alrededores, o el centro o centro norte de México.

Por ese motivo me atrevo a escribir aquí y ver la posibilidad de que alguien nos pudiera ayudar. ¿Podrían darnos hospedaje en uno de sus conventos? O, ¿saben ustedes dónde podríamos preguntar más allá?

Entiendo que hay que seguir un proceso y ya que nosotras hemos dado hospedaje en nuestra Casa Madre a varias hermanas de México y recientemente a las Hermanas del Rosario de Fátima, y religiosas de África y de Vietnam. Pues me decidí comunicarme usando este “blog” para pedir su ayuda.

De antemano le agradezco su cordial atención y espero su contestación.
Dios las bendiga.


Sinceramente su hermana en Cristo y en Maria Santísima


Sister M. Juanita Villarreal, SSMO

Preguntas:

• ¿Estaría su comunidad dispuesta a darnos hospedaje (a una o dos hermanas) durante 6 meses en uno de sus conventos?
• Si nos aceptaran, ¿En qué temporada sería mejor llegar (junio, julio o agosto)?
• ¿Cuánto pagaría como una cuota mensual (habitación y comida) una Hermana extranjera?
• ¿En qué ciudades o estados de México tiene conventos? ¿Tienen conventos en el área de Zacatecas, o en México norte o central?
• ¿En qué apostolado participan sus hermanas? Nosotras somos maestras.
• ¿Qué tipo de documentación necesitamos presentar…al obispo, a la parroquia, al estado?
• ¿Podemos trabajar en su convento o en una parroquia?
• ¿Sus hermanas viven y trabajan en parroquias, escuelas, hospitales, asilos de ancianos o centros de retiro?
• ¿Sería posible dar respuestas a estas preguntas dentro de uno o dos meses y darnos más información sobre lo que Hermanas extranjera debiera saber antes de irse a vivir a México?
• ¿Necesitamos llevar una carta de recomendación del convento?
¿Necesitamos llevar cartas de referencias de personas que nos conozcan tanto en los Estados Unidos como en México?