Sister Rosa Ortiz, IWBS celebrates 25 years

Sister Rosa Maria Ortiz, Sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of Corpus Christi, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her religious profession this year.

Born Nov. 16, 1962, Rosa Maria to Eduardo and Maria Ortiz, she was the eldest of her siblings, a sister and two brothers. When her family later moved to Orange Grove, she became a member of Saint John of the Cross Parish. In commenting on what influenced her interest in religious life, Sister Rosa said “I was very impressed with my first-grade teacher, an Incarnate Word sister. I remember wanting to be a sister that far back when I went to St. Theresa School in Corpus Christi. Then Father Seamus McGowan, my pastor in Orange Grove, inspired me with his generous life of service and his compassionate and gentle way of being.” 

With his encouragement, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament on Aug. 15, 1989. After a year at the Incarnate Word House of Discernment, Rosa was formally accepted into the pre-postulancy. During her time of formation, she taught music at Petty Elementary School in Taft and taught religious education at Holy Cross Church in Corpus Christi. Sister Rosa professed first vows in 1993 and made her perpetual profession of vows on June 27, 1998, at St. Joseph Church in Corpus Christi.

An act of service that changed her outlook on life was taking her students to feed the homeless in Corpus Christi. On various Saturday and Sunday mornings, Sister Rosa and volunteer parents would bring a group of Incarnate Word Academy students to the parking lot of City Hall, where volunteers with the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House would serve a breakfast of coffee, eggs and tortillas to the homeless. “It makes a big difference in the lives of the students, by helping them break down the walls of prejudice. We are called to feed the homeless, not to judge them,” she said.  "We see Jesus in the face of the homeless."

Sister Rosa also has a passion for music. When she was assigned to IWA to teach religion and band classes at the middle and secondary levels, she wanted music to be one of the paths to God for the students as it was for her. “Music is the universal language,” she said,” because it crosses all boundaries and unites hearts.” For years Sister Rosa has been choir director in her congregation, leading the choir in all the major feasts and celebrations. 

When she was assigned as IWA campus minister, Sister Rosa prepared a missions team to do missionary work and then took the team and volunteer parents to impoverished areas in southwest Texas to serve those in need. They assisted the people in rebuilding and painting their homes and led them in prayer and activities in observance of Holy Week and Easter. 

In July of 2015, Sister Rosa began her present ministry of Adult Faith Formation at St. Phillip the Apostle Parish in Corpus Christi. Her ministry there includes overseeing a Spanish women’s prayer group, directing the Alpha Program, assisting with funeral liturgies and grief/consolation ministry, supervising and coordinating RCIA, Bible study groups, faith sharing groups, ACTS, overseeing ACTS retreat program for men and women and instruction for adults receiving Communion and/or confirmation. 

Sister Rosa is currently working toward a master’s degree in Theology with a concentration in Liturgy and a minor in Spirituality. She enjoys studying and learning about faith and development in her relationship with Jesus and sharing this with others in ministry and with her sisters.

In her ministry within the congregation, Sister Rosa has served on commissions and committees and has participated in the General Chapters held every four years. She has also participated in the International and National Reunions of the Incarnate Word Congregations and has contributed to the music ministry during these convocations. 

She has been one of the organizers of the De Matels, a group of young people who are members of the family of the Incarnate Word. These young people seek to live out their baptismal promises and their call to be missionary disciples by actively seeking to love and serve others in the spirit of our foundress, Venerable Jeanne Chézard de Matel. Their mission is to be, to see, and to touch the living Christ in those around them, particularly the poor and vulnerable. Activities include monthly service projects as well as spirituality and prayer events held at Incarnate Word Convent.

In her leisure time, Sister Rosa enjoys the outdoors—hiking, camping, and seeing the many faces of nature in beaches, forests, hills, mountains and at our house in Sarita. She also likes reading, sharing life experiences with her congregation of sisters, family, and friends.

Sister Rosa strives to live according to these words of our foundress: “The intense fire that is burning within you is the divine Word living in you. Through this union with you, the Word has been made flesh.”