IGF060 In Good Faith with Sister Elizabeth Guerrero - Executive Director of AHLMA

Sister Rejane  
Hello, I am Sister Rejane of A Nun's Life Ministry. And my guest today is Sister Elizabeth Guerrero, a Sister of the Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence. She lives in San Antonio, Texas, and is the executive director of AHLMA, the Asociacion de Hermanas Latinas Misioneras en America. This organization works with Catholic Sisters from Latin American communities who are ministering in the US, and Latina Catholic Sisters born in Latin America and born in the United States, who are members of US Catholic communities. AHLMA's mission is to support, accompany, and empower Latina sisters within the context of their ministries in the US Catholic Church. Within a wealth of diverse cultures, Sister Elizabeth shares about the importance of hospitality and encuentro, and how the Christmas tradition of Las Posadas spiritually symbolizes being people on the move, both as sisters and the people they minister with. Sister Elizabeth shares about her own story of belonging to people on the move as a child of migrant farmworkers. She talks about her call to religious life and the support of her brother, who is a diocesan priest with the Archdiocese of San Antonio. She shares about feeling at home within her own community, made up of women who have similar Mexican American spiritualities and traditions. Welcome, Sister Elizabeth. I'm here with Sister Elizabeth Guerrero. And she is the director of AHLMA, the Asociacion de Hermanas Latinas Misioneras en America. And we go back a little ways. We met in Seattle with a Giving Voice retreat -- that's for women religious under 50. And then I re-encountered Elizabeth in '21, at MAAC, Mexican American Catholic College, where I was working on my espanol -- on my Spanish. Welcome, Elizabeth.

Sister Elizabeth  
Thank you. Thank you so much, sister. It's really, really a pleasure to be here. You and I have talked about podcasts before, with A Nun's Life, so I'm so glad that I'm finally here to have a conversation with you.

Sister Rejane  
Absolutely. Absolutely. Can you talk a little bit about AHLMA, for our audience? I know it's a younger organization. But yeah, just tell us a little bit about that.

Sister Elizabeth  
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, we are a young organization. It was founded in one of the sister's living rooms, as most things are, back in 2007. It's the Asociacion de Hermanas Latinas Misioneras en America -- it's the association for Latin American missionary sisters. It started for sisters who are missioned to the US from Latin American countries. Since then, it's opened the tent, or widened tent, also inviting and including sisters, Latina sisters, who are born here in the US, like me. To have a place to come in and meet each other, to network with each other, to help each other find resources, carry each other's hopes and dreams and burdens. That's what we're here to do.

Sister Rejane  

That's beautiful. And I noticed that part of your mission and vision is rooted in a spirituality of encuentro --  you know, we give a prophetic witness of unity, solidarity, joy and hope. And I love that because it connects with A Nun's Life; we're about joy and the joy of religious life. That's so key. But I love that term encuentro, which means encounter in English, but I feel it's so much richer in Spanish. I don't know if you can talk a little bit about what that means to you?

Sister Elizabeth

Well, sure. I mean, encuentro, honestly, it can be as wide and as deep and as profound as you want. It is a word that is used a lot in Hispanic Ministry. Previous other organizations use it as well. It's more than a place to just gather, maybe exchanging information. Encuentro -- you meet people, you have that deep encounter, something very spiritual happens in those places. It's a place to walk together, a place to see each other face to face, share each other's burdens, carry each other's burdens, you know, help each other celebrate. There's always celebration, obviously, when we get together. So encounter, encuentro, does have a sense of spirituality always, always attached to it, always obviously very human as well. It's about continuing that journey. Many of my sisters and brothers, we identify very much with the church always on the move. We are a people who move about and migrate. The iglesia en salida -- always on the move -- is part of part of our spirituality. So encuentro is not only a stationary place, but it's continuing to move. So that's probably a lot, but is a very rich word. Hope I did it justice.

Sister Rejane  
Thank you. No, I think you really, really did, because it's about relationship. And if you're in relationship, it never stays static, right? Like it either deepens or you grew apart, or you come back together. And if you're on the move, you may re-encounter someone you knew five years ago, and what a joyous occasion for that reunion. Yeah, there's a lot, thank you. I had never thought of it in terms of being on the move. That's really, really beautiful. The other part I love in your statement is, "We are consecrated women striving to be the maternal face of God, sent to journey, accompany, and encourage the people of God, especially the Hispanic community, the most vulnerable, and the poor." But what a beautiful image of women religious being the maternal face of God.

Sister Elizabeth  
Yeah, that's something obviously that we worked on, we prayed about, with the entire board and some members. You know, it's interesting. In Spanish-speaking communities and countries, they don't call us sisters or hermanas -- sisters, that's more typical to the US. In Latin American countries, it's either Sor, or Madre, which is Mother. So many times, I'll be referred to as Madre or Madrecita --  makes it a little sweeter. Right?

Sister Rejane  
It's a term of endearment. Right?

Sister Elizabeth  
Exactly. Right. Right. So Mother is Madre, Madrecita is mother. So yes, it's a feminine image, right? Maternal relationship. And, again, always looking to see how different folks, different sisters, men and women, will have a different type of relationship with our Creator God -- might be creator, might be father, might be brother. It may be a feminine image, or mother. And obviously, our blessed mother is also very, very central to our spirituality. All that's to say and I might be going off track. -- many times Our Lady of Guadalupe is very central to the Latin American community. But there's obviously many, many different images of Mary-- many different images that are from Latin America and around the world that that we gravitate to.

Sister Rejane  
Yes. Yeah, that that's beautiful. I appreciate that, because that was one of my questions: what's the difference between Sor and Hermana? And I appreciate you talking about that difference. And then yes, with Mary. My cunada, my sister-in-law is from Bogota, Colombia, and she'll talk about apparitions, aparaciones. And there are so many in Central and South America. And it is, it's a devotion, I think, within your local culture. That's one of my questions because, you know, one of my insights from my time at MAAC -- and MAAC does such a good job talking about the Mexican Catholic culture. But then I've encountered other sisters, like my friend Sister Maria Victoria from Argentina, or Sister Katty Huanuco, who's from Peru. And their cultures are different, right? And one of their big things is everyone thinks that they like tacos. And they're like, "No, we're not Mexican. That's not our first thing!" It's not that they hate tacos. Right? But that's not culturally what they would eat. So my question for you with AHLMA is you've got a lot of different cultures under your wide tent. Can you talk about some of that? Plus, even like yourself, as a Mexican American -- you're born here, but that's a different context than someone who was born in Mexico.

Sister Elizabeth  
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, ask me to recommend a Mexican restaurant. And I'll say, "Well, do you want Tex Mex?" Because I live in Texas. "Or are you looking for something a little more authentic? And then which part of Mexico? North, Central, or even South?" Yes. Gosh, we took some data from our list of members. At our last Encuentro, I believe we have representation from 11 different countries -- at our Encuentro that happened just this past summer. And we had extended the invitation out to other conferences, so we have some sisters from LCSW, or the National Black Sisters Conference, and some vicars who came from the United States -- but at least there were 11 different countries represented. So yeah, I learn every day, every day, because I'm not an expert in everything that is Latin American, but I learn every day -- and especially devotions. Someone will teach me and they will share their particular devotion, particular way of expressing themselves. Even though we may all have some kind of Spanish, there's also indigenous languages that I encounter, or people will share with me. Different devotions, different styles of music, expressions, different foods, for sure. Every day, I learn something new.

Sister Rejane  
Yeah, it's so rich. And then, well, I love to eat. I've learned about empanadas and arepas and oh my gosh, the list can go on.

Sister Elizabeth  
Yeah. Delicious.

Sister Rejane  
That's one thing I've learned, when people want to share from another country, the food is so important. But the spirituality is so rich.

Sister Elizabeth  
Yeah, it is. It is. Yeah, food, you know, it may, it may just seem like something for the table and decorative, but it's really  a way of expressing ourselves. Just from my own upbringing. It's more about hospitality, right, in welcoming someone into your space, making sure that they're well taken care of. And I know that's something that I learned, I would say implicitly, from my parents, but I found those actions as an adult -- and I'm sure everybody does that in their own culture and their own way. But it is definitely wanting to take care of someone who is entering your home, who you are inviting into your home, making sure that they're well taken care of. Feel welcome and safe. Yeah, so food is about celebration, and the conversation that happens along with it.

Sister Rejane  
Right, right, which speaks to building community. It speaks to encuentro, you're encountering someone in your home. And so hospitality is part of that piece and a lot of women religious communities have hospitality as part of their value set -- and I do think as citizens of the US, we could learn a lot from the richness of hospitality that is inherent in cultures worldwide. You know, my last name -- Cytacki -- is Polish. And I think back to my grandmothers and making Polish kielbasa and sauerkraut and pierogies. That's what welcomed me into the house.

Sister Elizabeth  
Absolutely. Yeah.

Sister Rejane  
Got to hang on to some of that. Yeah. So how many people work with you?

Sister Elizabeth  
We actually just hired someone else. So it's actually three of us now. It's me, and the assistant who also is Director of Programs, Laura Graham, Laura Martinez Graham. Remember Laurita?

Sister Rejane  
Yes, she was with me at MAAC! So please say hi to Miss Laura.

Sister Elizabeth  
I will, I will. So she's probably been with AHLMA longer than any of us. She's connected with MAAC. So she knew all of the previous board members, so she helped out then even while she was still working with MAAC for their program. She also helped AHLMA get on its feet. So she's with us, and we just also hired Sister Midori Wu, who has a very interesting cultural background. Her father is Chinese. Her mom is Mexican. Her name actually is Japanese. She's from Baja California -- La Paz, Baja, California and is living here in the US now. So she is working on membership services and communications. So yeah, she'll be handling all our social media, website and, hopefully, maybe even also some type of video interviews or something along those lines.

Sister Rejane  
Yes. You know, one of the things I've seen I was with the rivers, and that you had some of your kind of prayer encounters online, and I saw the one on the Rio Grande. And it really focused on ARISE Adelante.

Sister Elizabeth  
Yes, yeah. So that was a joint project on with LCWR, the brothers' conference, AHLMA, MAAC. Oh, gosh, forgive me if I'm forgetting another organization! But it was a several conferences. This had been something that was kind of put on hold because of COVID. It was called Rivers of Hope, Rios de Esperanza. And it was to provide a place of rest and retreat for brothers and sisters, religious brothers and sisters, priests as well, who work with people who are in trauma. Before COVID, it was primarily focused on immigrant populations --folks working with refugees, things like that. And then during COVID we decided to put together this online pre-retreat, which were the Rivers of Hope, which would lead to this bigger retreat. So this Rivers of Hope, we had four of them along different rivers, obviously, virtually, and we worked with ARISE Adelante, who is a nonprofit organization down in the valley in the McAllen area, in the Texas Valley, wonderful women who work right along all the women and men, many women, in the colonias, the small neighborhoods, to help people in whatever needs they have. Mostly to help people, primarily women, find their gifts, offer them some education if they can, so they can be empowered to take more initiative in their lives and situation, and become part of the fabric of that society. Ours was around December. So we wanted it to be culturally relevant. So we decided to focus on the Posadas, which is a cultural tradition -- Catholic. It is nine nights before Christmas, and this is the reenactment of Joseph and Mary on their trip into Bethlehem, where they go knocking on doors looking for shelter, and obviously they can't find room in the inn. So they keep being turned away and turned away and turned away, and then finally they're sent to the manger, where Jesus is born. So again, this is very church on the move -- very much iglesia en salida. So, we reenact that. So that was the theme that we wanted to bring to our session of this virtual river experience to talk about folks who are migrating, who are still migrating to this day. Right now there's people walking all over the earth, and we were focusing on our brothers and sisters coming north through up to the border between Mexico and the US, and in what ARISE does to help those folks who do come. So it was a time to remember that, a time to bring some awareness, some personal experiences. The ladies from ARISE shared their personal stories or personal testimonies. And really just to give each other some hope, that even though we have these daily struggles, we also have daily hopes and then how do we help each other continue in this journey, and where do we find God in this, and where can we find each other. Like our statement says, where do we find that face of God, maternal or paternal?

Sister Rejane  
Yeah, it was beautiful. I loved how you tied Las Posadas with it, because I'm familiar with it. I lived in an intentional community with a couple of women from Mexico, and I think we were the last stop, and so had the big party. But to tie it with immigration and migration, and that spirituality of people on the move, I just had never connected it. And just the that sense of the Holy Family being homeless, and having to persevere out of need, and to find someone with an open heart to give what they have. It's just beautiful, and to connect it with ARISE Adelante and to work with people trying to get a better life for themselves and their families. The courage it takes -- and to be rejected time after time. That's the hard part with Las Posadas -- when you're on the move and not having the security.

Sister Elizabeth  

Yes.

Sister Rejane  

And the reliance on God. The trust in God to help you through those tough times.

Sister Elizabeth  
Absolutely, absolutely. And again, that's a lot of what AHLMA does. While perhaps I may not have the direct contact with the people, our members do. So then how do we help them to either gain other skills, gain leadership skills, find resources, and then how do they transfer those to wherever they are, so that they can better help those communities. Not all our sisters work specifically with Hispanic communities, but many of them, a high percent of them, they do.

Sister Rejane  
We are going to take a moment for a brief break. This is In Good Faith, a program of A Nun's Life Ministry. We want to thank our sponsors and individual donors like you, whose support makes the In Good Faith program possible. Please visit anunslife.org for more information, to make a donation, or to become a sponsor of the ministry. We will be right back.

Welcome back. I am Sister Rejane of A Nun's Life Ministry and my guest is Sister Elizabeth Guerrero. You can find past episodes of In Good Faith and all our podcasts at anunslife.org and on all the major platforms where you get your podcasts. So how do you find and reach out to these sisters? I mean, it's not like you have a database.

Sister Elizabeth  
Right, right. So hopefully you can help us with this now.

Sister Rejane  
Okay!

Sister Elizabeth  
A couple of years ago now, we began to kind of identify our different types of sisters. Right? So we came up with three. So there are sisters who immigrated to the US many, many, many, many years ago, right? They were sent on a mission, and they set up a house here and they've been here 20, 30, 40 years. Right. But their mother house is back in their home country. Many of those sisters have integrated into US church and US society very well. Some have not. They still are very like a little island; they have their community and they have their mission, their mission, their ministry. Then there's sisters who just immigrated, probably less than five years ago -- recently immigrated to the US. And they have maybe a different set of needs that they want. Some know exactly where they're going: they have housing and a car and ministry, so they know exactly where they're going. Many don't. Maybe they have been invited, but then that kind of falls through the cracks or something didn't work out. And then they're kind of looking for a house or something. And then there's sisters who were like I said, like me, who are born here in the US. In these communities, these sisters, maybe their community might be international. So perhaps there might be a few Latina sisters in that community, along with many other cultures, so each one of those has a different need, and a different way for us to locate them. So for instance, those that are connected with the conferences here -- LCWR or CMSWR -- I could reach out to them

Sister Rejane  
Okay, I'll just interject for our audience. LCWR is the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and CMSWR is -- help me out.

Sister Elizabeth  
Leadership Conference of Women Religious. And CMSWR: Conference of Majors Superior of Women Religious.

Sister Rejane  
Thank you. They're like umbrella organizations that have members that are women's religious congregations.

Sister Elizabeth  
So these conferences are for the elected leaders of congregations. Right? So many of our sisters who have been missioned to the US, well, their leadership is back home, in another country. So they are not members of either of these two conferences here in the US. So I can't find them. So sisters who are connected to these conferences, there's a database there. I could at least write to a superior and say, "Please give this information to your Latina sisters," right? For the other ones, I try to communicate with the vicars in the diocese and reach out to them and say, "Are there religious sisters, are there Latina, Latin American sisters within your diocese, archdiocese? Please share this information." So that's how I try to find them. And then also many times, just word of mouth -- word of mouth with other communities that are connected with us and find other sisters out there. The vicars are doing the best that they can because again, I'm in communication with them. Sometimes there might be a community that is there that is not as connected with that vicar, that representative of consecrated life within the diocese. So, you know, I can't go to every state and find them. But I try to find as many networks as I can to send out information or have someone there be some kind of liaison, and introduce them to AHLMA.

Sister Rejane  
You're doing a lot of legwork just to find out where they are.

Sister Elizabeth  
Find them and get them connected. We're also trying to do some communication with the general superiors, the superioras, in their home countries, so we're trying to be connected with the conferences, you know, the Mexican Conference, CIRM,  or CLAR, which is the Confederation of Latin American Countries, which goes all the way from Mexico, Central America, all the way to the tip of South America. The umbrella organization over all the Latin American countries. So we communicate with them so that at least our name is not unfamiliar, in case it comes around in conversation, so that so that people know that when you're coming to the US, or you're going to mission sisters to the US, there is an organization that can help them build bridges, or find resources, or somebody to welcome them, like I mentioned -- somebody to welcome them here.

Sister Rejane  
So you've mentioned a lot about being missioned to the US, and that idea that the US is mission territory. How does that interplay with AHLMA? And I think Catholic Extension plays a role too.

Sister Elizabeth  
It is. It is. It's interesting. We've had several conversations about it, but for many communities, yeah, the US is uncharted territory. It is a mission country. It is also a source of income. Right? It is also an invitation. You know, many, many sisters, many congregations have been invited, because there may be a pocket within a parish of folks who may not speak English very well yet. And so they hire sisters or they invite sisters to try to work with those communities. The goal is always to get them connected with that parish community. But yeah, it is mission territory. It is for many, many congregations. It's interesting, because, obviously, through history, people were missioned out -- and they still are -- to go to other countries. It's interesting to be that country where you are receiving missionaries.

Sister Rejane  
Right. Right. When you look at the history of the Catholic Church in North and South America -- I have sisters in my community that are peruanas -- Hermanas de la Caridad, and they're in Peru, and it finally opened my eyes that the Catholic Church is much older in Central and South America than in the United States. That was the first insight. And a lot of women's religious communities in the US missioned to Central and South America. A little before Vatican II or during Vatican II there was a call for that. So in some ways, it's like coming full circle that we would need sisters and religious from Central and South America to come and mission to us. The Catholic Church is about reciprocity. And that goes back to people on the move that you're talking about in an encuentro. Our borders -- there's still movement across the lines and across cultures and we learn and it's a richness. I think that's just good for us to know. Okay, well, now we're gonna switch gears -- I think it's time. All right: como decidiste ser una hermana? How did you decide to become a sister?

Sister Elizabeth  
Poquito en espanol.

Sister Rejane  

¡Está bien! [laughter]

Sister Elizabeth  

Es un llamado -- desde niña -- de Dios. Esa voz, desde niña allí estaba. Creo que, con la ayuda de mi hermano, que es sacerdote, y con la ayuda de, claro, de mi familia, me di cuenta que tenía que decidir mi corazón y seguir ese llamado donde debe encontrar mi felicidad.

Sister Rejane  

Yeah, do you want to translate Or do I try?

Sister Elizabeth  

I can do that.

Sister Rejane  
Okay.

Sister Elizabeth  
Basically, it's a call. I said, it's been something since childhood, there was a little bit of a tap on my shoulder since childhood. So I said, with the help of my brother who happened to be at seminary, he's now a priest -- and with the help of family -- I was able to really open up to that call, to pay attention to that. That it was okay for me to go looking for whatever was in my heart, whatever God wanted me to do. And that helped me enter into discernment, that journey of discernment, to look and find finally that community where I am. Just allowing myself that time, that opportunity, that gift to really discern and find where I'm going to be, where I'm going to best serve the church and be happiest.

Sister Rejane  
Thank you. All right. So now you have to tell us about your community, the Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence, and how you connected with them.

Sister Elizabeth  
Well, I'm from South Texas. I was actually born in Minnesota. But it was raised in Texas. And the sisters happened to be my catechists growing up in little Crystal City, Texas. I didn't know that that sister was a religious sister, she was not wearing a habit. But I do remember being very curious about and wanting to ask questions, but I didn't really know how to form the questions. I was obviously a little girl, and I didn't really know how to ask something about, you know, whatever we were studying, whether it was Mary or Jesus or whatever that happened to be. Fast forward. Let me see. Again, my brother was in seminary. By then I had gone off to college, I had started a career. You know, I mentioned a little bit, there was a little call since I was a young girl. I kind of just tucked away that little dream. But fast forward and my brother is in seminary and I'm back in San Antonio after going off to college and I started meeting all these other sisters. Or my brother is introducing me to every sister as his sister who is still single.

Sister Rejane  

Of course.

Sister Elizabeth  

Of course. [laughter] It turns out that he was here at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, Texas, and some of his formators were MCDPs, so I got to meet them again. They were just really welcoming. They would come and sit with my mom and my aunt and us and just really sit and talk and they spoke to them in Spanish. You know, my parents were somewhat bilingual, more Spanish than English. And then, you know, come to the conference, and there is another sister there, another MCDP. I met a lot of different sisters. I met a lot of them. But then, you know, I just said, I have some questions, and that's how the journey started. And they actually encouraged me to visit many communities. So I did. It took some time to visit several different ones. But I really did feel at home with them. They happen to be a community that was born here in the US, started in Houston. You know, the founder was transferred here to San Antonio. I would say 98% of the sisters are US-born Latinas. I think for me, definitely, as a young Hispanic woman kind of trying to find her identity, it definitely was something very familiar, you know, just the way they expressed their faith helped me to realize, oh, there's value in the way I express my faith; it's not wrong because it doesn't follow a certain structure, if you want to call it that. That was a big part of that discernment, helping this young Latina come into awareness of herself and her spirituality. Having similar experiences, those being valued, and then helping other people around me to also find that within their own life. That's the Missionary Catechists. We've always said about each other, we don't build structures, we don't build schools, we help build bridges, and we help build people. That's what we do. So that's how I found them.

Sister Rejane  
And it has "missionary," right? So like, how amazing that you're now with AHLMA, and you're working with people on the move. Now, how big is your family? How many brothers and sisters do you have?

Sister Elizabeth  
We're six total, three brothers, three sisters. Yeah, yeah. I was. As I mentioned, I was born in Minnesota. My family and I, and many in my community in my hometown, were migrant workers, which meant, you know, you leave Texas, and you would go work in another state, typically in the summer. So, you know, hoeing sugar beet in Montana, or Minnesota, picking cucumbers in Wisconsin, or tomato in Indiana. And then coming back to your home base here in Texas for the school year, as much as we could get. My younger sister was born in Indiana, an older brother was born in North Dakota, and the other three were born in Texas. That's how we spent our summers. I say, I got to see a lot of the a lot of the US --  at least, the central part of the US -- when I was very young. So anyway, we're six. This weekend, we just had a quinceanera. So my niece, my younger sister's daughter, turned 15 this weekend. So that's another cultural thing. It's kind of like a rite of passage, like a Sweet 16. So that was really, really very nice. Going back home, going back to see family again, my brother who's a priest, he presided. We had different parts of the family take parts in the Mass, and then there's music and food and dancing afterwards. But it was really, really very nice to be together like that with my siblings.

Sister Rejane  

That's beautiful. Well, thank you for sharing. And then right now, just you and your brother are religious? Of the six.

Sister Elizabeth  

Yes.

Sister Rejane  
Okay. What are your parents pretty religious? Or?

Sister Elizabeth  
Yeah, well, my father passed away when I was 10. So I assume he was. There's wedding pictures. My mom used to talk about how their wedding was really very early in the morning. So she would talk about, you know, going to the church early in the morning, and then they would come home and they had the reception in the backyard. My mom took us to Mass every Sunday, taught us our prayers. It was a bilingual community, so we learned them in English and learned them in Spanish. She taught us that. So yeah, definitely she was. She passed away about 19 years ago. We talked a lot about that. She talked a lot about her wanting to learn more about her faith. Obviously this happened before I started looking at religious life, but I think having opportunities with my brother and in seminary life, and just being open to that, I know that she really wanted to learn a lot more about that, about why do we do the things that we do? You know, instead of just because, just because it's traditional -- what is at the root of that? She was, in her way, very spiritual, very devoted to her faith. To her children.

Sister Rejane  
Yeah, sounds like. And a seeker wanting to know. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. That's yeah, that's beautiful. We are going to take a quick break. Thank you to all our donors and sponsors who support A Nun's Life Ministry, and our In Good Faith podcasts. If you have any questions or comments about this podcast, please leave us a message at 913-214-6087. We would love to hear from you, our listeners. We will be right back.

Hello, listeners, we are back. Remember to fill out our listener online survey that can be found in the Show Notes. Your feedback is important to us. Let's finish our conversation with Sister Elizabeth Guerrero. Now, you went to college and you had another career. What were you working in?

Sister Elizabeth  
Yeah, I used to work in advertising. Did a lot of graphic design, learned to transfer some artistic skill into the computer. Back then it was called desktop publishing, you know, flyers and posters and booklets and programs or things like that. Got a little bit into radio and television, just a little bit. But yeah, that's what I used to do. It was a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun, very glamorous, got to travel, I had some great friends. But at the end, you know, it's like, there's gotta be something more than trying to convince somebody to buy brand X over brand Y. Gotta be something a little bit more for me. Something was calling.

Sister Rejane  
Kind of ties in with your mom and wanting to know why with her faith, and you could kind of continue generationally that search. And you're now in San Antonio. We’ve talked a little bit about MAAC, and the seminary. It's almost like it's a big campus. And it's the headquarters for the Archdiocese of San Antonio. So that's one part. Then it has Assumption Seminary. The seminary also serves seminarians from other dioceses as well. And then you have MAAC, Mexican American Catholic College, as part of that. And obviously, there's diocesan offices. Have I missed anything on part of the campus?

Sister Elizabeth  
No, no, that those are the three major parts.

Sister Rejane  
And AHLMA, you're housed in part of MAAC, right? That's where your offices are?

Sister Elizabeth  
Yeah, yeah, we rent offices here. MAAC has been really instrumental in helping AHLMA become incorporated, very, very helpful with things that we couldn't do without maybe a more solid base. It was very instrumental at the very beginning with the first major grant that we received. Actually, we worked hand in hand on several projects -- we're getting some projects out there. There's one project specifically, it's a certificate in intercultural ministry, and it's specifically for sisters who speak Spanish, who may not have quite yet the academic credentials to enter undergraduate work. So that falls right in line with MAAC's mission and our mission. Like I mentioned, sometimes sisters come, and they need to find resources. And sometimes those are academic resources. So this will be hopefully a kind of onboarding certificate so they could get used to the style of academic work here in the US. And it'll be in Spanish, and then eventually, there'll be some work in English towards the end of that certificate. And then if they want to, they could begin an undergraduate process there. So if you want, you could call me up or look us up, and we would be happy to send you some information.

Sister Rejane  
Perfect. Yeah. And that's what I love, there was so much collaboration, and just in my time there, you know, we all shared the same dining room. So I might be, you know, talking to one of the directors of the seminary, or the priest who's in charge of social justice, or meet the seminarians. So it was really a great place. Takes up several blocks, but you bring a lot of people together, just naturally. And I think that's how collaboration happens so much. And then just being in San Antonio, I loved walking around. There's such an openness for different cultures. And being able to walk around the lake and you hear English and you hear Spanish and just equal. I don't find that all over the US. But just the mixing of cultures and the richness in that.

Sister Elizabeth  
I find that too. You know, especially in the dining room, you hear different languages, especially with the seminarians  coming from different parts of the world, different experiences. Yeah, and depending on whatever workshops or programs are happening here at MAAC, you might have sisters coming from different parts of the world. I mean, obviously, pre COVID, we had sisters coming from the Philippines and Spain and Angola. They would come here for a specific program. So yeah, multiple languages and different cultures. Yeah, it's just very rich. So it's a great, great place to be.

Sister Rejane  
Yeah. And the other thing is, you know, I do have to have you please tell Sisters Ana Cecilia, Constanza, and Essie hello. Ana Cecilia is the vocation director for the diocese, and Sister Constanza works with MAAC. And then Sister Essie works in a grade school. And they were kind of my community away from home. They live on the property as well. And if I wanted to practice my Spanish for MAAC, I would go there and have prayer. And it was wonderful. And then, Sister Lupe, your sister, Sister, Guadalupe, who lived in the same building as I -- I have very fond memories of conversations with her. You're all doing such great work.

Sister Elizabeth  
Thank you. I'll tell them hello for sure.

Sister Rejane  
So thank you for taking the time, Sister Elizabeth, really appreciate it. And we will make sure there's links to your website for people in the Show Notes, if they want to see more of what you do, or if they have sisters that could take advantage of that program or other programs.

Sister Elizabeth  
Wonderful. That's great. That's great. Yeah, we have plenty of stuff on our website. Check out some of the videos of the lass encuentro -- of what you missed. Like I said, there will always be prayer, time for that -- a time for conversation, time to share hopes and burdens and dreams and challenges. And there's always obviously food, music and dance. So be sure to check those out.

Sister Rejane  
Yes, and I noticed on some of the Rivers of Hope you had translation a lot of times, simultaneous translations. So if you're if you're not familiar with the Spanish, it's okay. You can do some of that,

Sister Elizabeth  
Absolutely.

Sister Rejane  
Yeah. Well, gracias a Dios por ese tiempo. I'm grateful for this time.

Sister Elizabeth  
De nada. Muchas gracias a ti. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for this afternoon. It's been great fun. Great seeing you again.

Sister Rejane  
Always.

Sister Elizabeth  
Great hearing from you again!

Sister Rejane  
I know. Right? We saw each other in Spokane. We saw each other two times in '22. Yeah. So we'll see what '23 holds.

Sister Elizabeth  
We'll see. We'll see.

Sister Rejane  
In Good Faith is a production of A Nun's Life Ministry, helping people discover and grow in their vocation by engaging questions about God, faith, and religious life. This program is made possible through the grace of God and the support of our sponsors of A Nun's Life Ministry, and you, our listeners. Don't forget to call us and leave a message. Tell us what you like, ask a question, or just say hi. Call 913-214-6087 and visit us at anunslife.org. God bless.

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.