Sisters Corner: Serving according to the need

 

Sister Gloria Rodriguez, MJMJ is Director of Consecrated Life and Women’s Vocation for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
 

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In a spirit of simplicity, joy, availability and generous self-giving, the Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph follow Christ, who abandoned himself to the will of the Father. We strive to reflect his image spreading the good news of salvation to the poor and most in need with merciful love and compassion. The Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph have served the Diocese of Corpus Christi for 61 years.

In 1956, Bishop Mariano S. Garriga of the Diocese of Corpus Christi heard of the congregation of Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and decided to visit the motherhouse in Madrid, Spain. He and Bishop Sidney Metzger of the Diocese of El Paso went to visit with Mother Dolores Domingo, foundress and superior general. They asked that she send a community of sisters to Texas. Bishop Garriga offered a convent in San Juan, Texas, where they could reach out to the Rio Grande Valley community.

Mother Dolores was reluctant. She found it difficult to accept this offer from a rich nation. This invitation did not seem to fit into the congregation’s mission to serve the poor and most needy. After much prayer and reflection, she consulted with her council, and together they agreed to send a community of six sisters to Texas. On Jan. 15, 1956 the first six missionary sisters accompanied by Mother Dolores began the long trek to Texas. Bishop Garriga and Chancellor Adolph Marx were waiting for them in New York City. Together they crossed the United States by train, arriving in Corpus Christi on Jan. 29, 1957. There they were graciously shown hospitality by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. On Jan. 30, 1957 Bishop Garriga and Father William Thompson accompanied the sisters to their new home in San Juan, Texas. 

The sisters immediately began their work in the Rio Grande Valley. Two years later, on July 4, 1958, Bishop Garriga gave the congregation a ranch-style home on a hill overlooking a small valley in Calallen. He celebrated Mass with the sisters in their new convent. The congregation now had its first house of formation in Texas. Mother Dolores named it Mount Thabor because; “it would be a place of transformation for young women desiring to be Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”

Our spirituality is only possible by a life in relation with God. The Eucharist is center in our personal and community life. We celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours: morning, evening and night prayers. Together with liturgical prayer, personal prayer is part of our consecrated lives. Through the action of the Holy Spirit, we unite ourselves to Jesus’ prayer in confidence and abandonment to the Father. We take time monthly for a retreat day and annually for a week-long retreat. The sacrament of reconciliation is celebrated regularly. The Church’s liturgical cycle is lived and celebrated as well as congregational feast days.

Our community life is a visible sign of the presence of Jesus among us, and a living testimony of the love that unites us. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit we can participate in the profound communion and interdependency that exists between Jesus and the Father. Our daily lives are nurtured by the loving mercy of God and look to the virtues of the Holy Family’s simple life as a model.

The Missionary Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph are an international community, 113 sisters serving in five countries: United States, Mexico, Chile, Rwanda and Spain. Six sisters minister in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, including at St. Patrick Parish, San Juan de los Lagos Parish, The Ark Assessment Center and Emergency Shelter for Youth and the Diocesan Office of Consecrated Life and Women’s Vocation.

We serve the Church according to the need of the place and time.