For more than 50 years, Sister Sandra Ann Silva, SHF, has been a tireless, trustworthy presence for dozens of faith communities, primarily in the Southwest. For the last 12 years, she has ministered to migrant families in Watsonville, California, who are far from home and living in poverty. “I want them to know they are not alone,” she said.
As pastoral coordinator at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, she serves an agricultural community from Oaxaca, Mexico. Many were baptized Catholic, but few have had faith formation. She first realized this when she saw many come to Church but sit quietly in the back. Additionally, she went out to the surrounding neighborhoods to invite the indigenous population to join the parish.
Sister Silva has focused on women. Many confront domestic abuse and alcoholic husbands, and she saw that in the presence of their husbands, they did not speak. She empowers them, and helps them network with other women through visits and classes. She listens, consoles and tends to their self-esteem. “I am a mother to them,” she said.
She helps integrate the Oaxacans into the larger community by working with the Oaxacan Action Group and the Binational Center for Development of Oaxacan Indigenous Communities. She also holds workshops to educate others about the Oaxacans.
Growing up on a farm in the San Joaquin Valley in California, she helped the Sisters of the Holy Family work with the area’s migrants. Her father was not happy when she later wanted to join the congregation, but she knew where her heart belonged. With her father’s eventual blessing, she took her final vows in 1973.
She has served several communities in Nevada, California and Michoacán, Mexico. Following an assignment as chancellor and vicar for religious in the Diocese of Fresno, she and her order’s leadership team visited Oaxaca, immersing themselves in its beautiful culture and learning a bit of its language. She resolved to work with the Oaxacans and found her opportunity in Watsonville.
Since creating her position in 2010 as pastoral coordinator, Catholic Extension Society has supported her ministry. She believes her continuity in the parish allows her to form long-term relationships. “Sometimes structures and rules can become more important than heart and humanity,” she said. “I focus on people, so that their daily struggles and suffering are not forgotten.”
