Growing up, Cindy Rodriguez never imagined becoming a religious sister.
She was born to Mexican immigrant parents in Beaumont, Texas. The religious part of her life was simply to attend Mass and “be good,” she said.
She went to college and studied for a career in civil engineering at Lamar University. But her life plans changed after an unexpected experience.
Two years ago, while in her early 20s, she attended Catholic Extension Society’s Encuentro y Misión (Encounter and Mission) Program, which was created with support from the Henry Luce Foundation. Through this program, Rodriguez saw the power of the Catholic Church’s work among the poor. She saw the difference a life of service could make, and she saw up close what religious sisters do. Something changed inside of her after participating in the program.
The immersive theological program shows young people like Rodriguez the beauty of the Catholic faith and how it can be put into practice for the benefit of society. Students first take a theology course at the Mexican American Catholic College, then attend a weeklong immersion experience in one of Extension’s dioceses, where they work alongside Catholic leaders and fellow young people in service of the poor.
The program intends to reach Latino young adults. Half of U.S. Catholics ages 14 to 29 are Hispanic, according to data collected by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. This generation promises to be the future source of leadership for the Catholic Church.
While the main goal of Catholic Extension Society’s program is to encourage new leaders for the Catholic Church, the outcome we did not anticipate was that some participants would immediately gravitate toward priesthood or religious life following the program.
Since the program’s launch in 2020, five of the nearly 90 participants have started a process of discerning priesthood or religious life. Likewise, other participants remain active in different ministries in the Church. More than 30 dioceses from coast to coast have had young people participate in the program to date.
As seen in their cohort photo below, participants convene to create a supportive network that remains in place even after the program concludes.
Learning what it means to serve
Rodriguez had attended a retreat in college that sparked a “closer relationship with God,” she said. Around that time the coordinator of Hispanic ministry in the Diocese of Beaumont invited her to Catholic Extension Society’s Encuentro y Misión Program.
After some initial hesitancy, she joined the program in the summer of 2021, which began with a theology course at the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio, Texas.
“It was concrete material I could apply to my formation as a leader in my parish,” she said. The coursework equipped her with skills to connect youth to their faith back at her home parish, Cristo Rey Church in Beaumont.
Following her course in theology, Rodriguez attended a hands-on immersion experience that Catholic Extension Society organized, which opened her eyes to life as a religious sister for the first time. She witnessed the work of missionary sisters serving migrant farmworkers and their families in the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan, through Catholic Extension Society’s U.S.-Latin American Sisters Exchange Program.
Rodriguez was immediately impressed by the way the sisters interacted with the families. They laughed, danced and sang songs. They labored in the fields alongside the workers.
Sister Maria Eugenia Gomez of the Missionary Servants of the Divine Spirit, pictured below in a southwest Michigan farm field, is one of the sisters that Rodriguez met.
“What intrigued me the most was that she was a charismatic nun,” Rodriguez said. “I was kind of thrown aback. Initially there was no intention of me looking into the congregation.”
The Missionary Servants of the Divine Spirit was founded in Colombia but now serves in nine countries—including the United States. The congregation’s charism is to serve the poor who live on the margins, using joy as its primary tool to bring people closer to the Church.
That summer, Rodriguez could feel the joy that Sister Maria Eugenia brought to the workers as they picked blueberries and other seasonal crops.
Rodriguez saw how the sisters lovingly interacted with the children of the farmworkers living in rustic camps by offering outdoor games, arts and crafts, and catechesis.
The sisters’ methods of evangelization intrigued her.
“It wasn’t only preaching to [the families] and telling them the story,” she said. “It was them living the story.”
Rodriguez headed back home to Texas with her horizons broadened and her heart full. She spoke with Sister Maria Eugenia every other month while completing her final year at Lamar University, still discerning her future. She had planned on pursuing a master’s degree after graduation. Something didn’t feel right though. She couldn’t see herself living a regular life and career anymore.
Taking the leap into religious life
That summer after graduation, Sister Maria Eugenia invited Rodriguez to experience life at the motherhouse near the city of La Ceja in northwest Colombia. Meeting the sisters and community helped Rodriguez in her discernment, but she still went back home undecided.
After reflecting on the relationships in her life and the eye-opening experience through Catholic Extension Society’s program, she moved to Colombia and entered the Missionary Servants of the Divine Spirit as a postulant.
It was just like a leap of faith. It has all been a plan of God.”
She is learning from the other postulants in the motherhouse, who all come from different walks of life and countries, including Ecuador and Chile.
“Apart from growing spiritually, it’s also another country. So, it’s trying to learn the culture, trying to live among people who don’t know the same customs as I do,” she said.
The young postulants have fun together. They haven’t lost their playfulness.
They enjoy the company of their furry friends.
They even play sports.
Rodriguez knows that discernment is a long road.
“My goal is to continue this process of interior healing and spiritual liberation and to grow in relationship with the Lord, as one would grow in relationship with a friend,” she said.
Reflecting on Catholic Extension Society’s program that changed the course of her life, Rodriguez said, “Sometimes we don’t know that we need something until we’re actually receiving the medicine for it.”
Catholic Extension Society is a nonprofit organization that builds up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities in the poorest regions of America. Our support of youth formation in this story comes from the generosity of our donors. Please consider supporting our mission!
