After five years, it’s time to say farewell to the three Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Guadalupe from Mexico who have spent five years evangelizing to the people of the diocese.
The farewell gathering for the sisters will be held on Sunday, June 9 at the Church of St. Joseph in Williston. All are invited to Spanish Mass at 2 p.m. with a celebration to follow from 3-5 p.m.
Catholic Extension grant
In 2014, Catholic Extension identified Williston as mission territory, which led to them providing a five-year grant to bring the Sisters to the oil patch region in the fall of that year. After spending, several weeks at special training, which included lessons in the English language and culture, Sisters Brenda, Rosa and Azucena arrived back at St. Joseph parish in Williston in January 2015 and began their mission to reach the faithful. Their ministry didn’t stay contained to that area for long. They traveled all around the diocese reaching out wherever needed to the Hispanic communities.
When they arrived, the sisters found that very few Hispanic families were attending Mass. In fact, they learned that very few even knew where the church was located or when services were scheduled. Over time, they established themselves as a conduit to bring the Hispanic community together.
They also served the Hispanic community that arrived to fill the workforce needs for the oil patch. To do this, they often had to meet the people where they were. This meant sometimes going outside the church walls to unexpected places to evangelize like the entrance of Wal-Mart, at Laundromats and even going door-to-door in neighborhoods and man camps.
Uniting a community
The sisters were not invited here to create a separate Hispanic community. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. It’s through connecting people of all cultures that they have used to measure their success by connecting the faithful, looking beyond the cultural and language barriers to celebrate as one Catholic community.
Sisters Brenda, Rosa and Floredh (who came in place of Sr. Azucena who left in August 2017) said their goal was simply to bring the faith to the Hispanic population of Western North Dakota.
No matter the cultural or language barriers, the sisters say their focus was to signify God’s presence by becoming a “jack of all trades” to the parishes in communities they served. Their ministry focused mainly on the liturgical services, sacramental preparation, evangelization and leadership training. They covered different services like lectors, ushers, greeters, extraordinary ministries, choir for Mass. They taught religion and bible study and a women’s group every week in Williston and Dickinson, twice a month in Minot and Tioga, once a month in Watford City and Bismarck. They also held weekend retreats in Minot, Dickinson and Williston, as well as workshops and hosted guest speakers. They taught guitar lessons to children and prayed the rosary with the faithful. They were also certified as instructors of Natural Family Planning.
The sisters also revived and fostered some Hispanic traditions such as Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration, Posadas at Christmas, Three King’s bread, Levantada del Niño (feast day of the presentation of the child Jesus at the temple), Living Stations of the Cross and crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Training future leaders
While the list of tasks and services the sisters accomplished while they were here is endless, they always knew their stay was temporary. That’s why they’ve spent a good amount of the last year training and preparing groups of lay people to continue their ministry after they depart. Essentially, all the evangelization carried out by the sisters has laid the groundwork for others to follow.
Sister Brenda is confident that the lay people in place are ready to continue the good work. “They have started teaching by themselves. I think they have the basic tools to serve and our big wish is to have them share their talents with the Church,” Sr. Brenda said. “We are working hard to get them more education opportunities through scholarships with Catholic Extension and Mexican American Catholic College. We hope that our leaders could get a degree in pastoral ministry.”
The sisters are most grateful for their time here in the Bismarck Diocese and can proudly reflect on what has been accomplished.
“I am so grateful to God, Catholic Extension and our lovely diocese for all the goodwill we have received during this 5 years,” Sr. Brenda said. “We have done everything possible to evangelize day by day. You can’t imagine how many adventures, stories, conversions, faith experiences, tears, success, fears, sadness, sufferings and hopes we have found in our Hispanic Ministry. That’s why we can say that God has been living, reigning and working hard in our diocese through our Hispanic Ministry. We have been broken bread to God’s people. Our religious communities are so blessed to take part in this beautiful faith adventure. I am convinced that our Hispanic ministry and our presence have had a big impact because we’ve reminded people of God’s presence in their lives.”