Walking with the women in the Church

We all know how Mary’s “yes” changed the world. As we draw inspiration from the Blessed Mother, we should ask ourselves often about our own “yes” to the Lord. How are we responding? :

It is motivating to see “yes” in action. Our religious sisters in the Catholic Church, for example, speak of the power of saying “yes” to God’s call to serving others. Their “yes” speaks of boldness and heroism. It says, “Adsum,” Latin for, “Here I am.” Their “yes” in action gives witness to God’s love, it touches the lives of many in our community.

The Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville, spoke of their impact in local communities during a Mass earlier this year celebrating World Day for Consecrated Life. He said religious sisters are a light who teach us how to be a light, a light that gives hope and dispels the darkness. Their work is far-reaching as they inspire people of different faith traditions and political views to collaborate to help others in need. They make Jesus known to others; they bring hope.

During Synod conversations with interfaith and ecumenical religious leaders, participants described an admiration for the work of the Catholic Church in our community, especially in regard to its social ministry to those in need. Several described their collaborative work with sister-led initiatives of feeding the homeless and assisting immigrants.

Women religious are like Our Lady, Mother Mary, who lived a humble and an unassuming life. Sisters, too, in their service to others, give themselves over to Christ and living for God’s people. They immerse themselves in the community accompanying the people and witnessing to God’s love as they minister to people who have fallen through the cracks. They bring peace and calm to chaos by their stable presence. The joy and animo (energy, enthusiasm, encouragement) they carry is contagious.

Their work communicates the Christian message. The people they accompany see Religious Sisters in action, the challenges along with a determination that says all is possible with God leading the way. As is said, “Actions speak louder than words.”

Catholic Extension, which has supported the work of the Church in our diocese since the early 1920s, sponsored a pilgrimage to Rome in April with more than 60 religious sisters and lay women leaders.

Five women serving in our diocese were among those whom Catholic Extension gathered to meet in a private audience with Pope Francis. They include Sister Norma Pimentel, Sister Fatima Santiago, and Sister Doris del Carmen Santos Zavala, Sister Maria de la Paz Morales Maldonado, and Sister Maria Jesus Martinez Perez.

During the pilgrimage, Catholic Extension presented Sister Norma, who is executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, with the Spirit of Francis Award. (See page 4.)

During the private audience, Pope Francis congratulated Sister Norma “for her service to the many men, women and children arriving at the southern border of the United States — that border is really hot — in search of a better future.”

Sister Fatima, with the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (I.C.M.) and one of the founders of Proyecto Desarrollo Humano in Peñitas, also serves on the Catholic Extension Board.

Sisters Doris, Maria de la Paz, and Maria Jesus are Missionary Catechists Lumen Christi who are participating in the U.S./Latin America Sisters Exchange Program through a Catholic Extension initiative. The three sisters are at St. Joseph Church of Donna and are working in the area that will be served by Plaza Amistad in Donna, a multi-purpose community center where nutritional, educational, medical and social services will be imparted.

As noted by Catholic Extension, “These heroic and exemplary women are each building the ‘field hospital’ Church that Pope Francis frequently speaks of, which walks in solidarity with the people who our culture and society have deemed disposable.”

It was a grace to accompany seven of the women leaders in the Church on the pilgrimage. It was fitting, too, that we started with Mass at Santa Maria Sopre Minerva Church near the tomb of St. Catherine of Siena, one of four women doctors of the Church.

In his homily, Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension, talked about the women who accompanied Jesus and connected them to women in the Church today who give witness to his love through their love and presence. He invited us pilgrims — he invites us all — to “walk with these radiant women who radiate God’s love. Follow the women who follow the Risen Christ.”

These women who follow the Risen Christ are serving women who have been trafficked, homeless and hungry in Tucson, Arizona; who are walking with families in grief in Uvalde, Texas (the victims of the mass shooting that left 19 children dead on May 24, 2022); who are providing a home for abused and neglected children in Puerto Rico; who are serving women in detention in New Mexico; who are working to ensure affordable healthcare; and who are helping the strangers who migrate to this country.

Thank you to all the team at Catholic Extension for supporting the work of the Church in our diocese and across the country. Thank you for highlighting the impact the sisters make in their communities. And thank you for allowing me to be a pilgrim on this beautiful journey. I am grateful for the opportunity to meet some of the other women Catholic Extension supports and to witness the amazing ways their “yes” gives hope.

I return from the pilgrimage questioning how my own “yes” makes a difference. Am I saying “yes” to God’s will with action? What are the peripheries where I can reach out to others – in my family and in my community? What about your “yes”?

I close with the Holy Father’s words during his private audience with the sisters and the Catholic Extension pilgrims: “I encourage you as well to continue to express ‘God’s style’ in the work that you do. God’s style is never distant, detached or indifferent. Instead, it is one of closeness, compassion and tender love. This is God’s style: closeness, compassion and tender love. God is like this, this is his style.”