Childhood: A southern California native, I was born and raised in Whittier, a quiet city with a small-town feel in Los Angeles County. I come from a small immediate family. The youngest of two daughters, I have one sister who is a year and a half older than me. My childhood was marked by experiences of happiness and of being loved. There were plenty of good times: running through the sprinklers on hot summer days, annual family camping trips to Big Bear, my Dad trying to teach me to golf in our back yard, the Sunday ritual of mass followed by story-filled visits with my great-grandparents.
Education: I attended public school from Elementary to high school. While a junior at California High School I went to an open house at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles. I set foot on campus and immediately, without a doubt knew that the Mount was the place for me. At the Mount I earned a B.A. in English and Religious Studies. In addition to my education, the Mount gifted me with my first introduction to my congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
The call: God’s call in my life is about being in and cultivating love. I’ve long know that I wanted and needed my love relationship with God to be the foundation of my life. It is the basis from which all my other relationships, choices, and very way of being flow. Over the years I have experienced Jesus continually inviting to me to follow him by living the great commandment - to love God, self and neighbor as fully as possible. This invitation of Jesus has lead me to religious life, specifically life as a Sister of Saint Joseph. Our charism of active, inclusive love and our commitment “to loving God and neighbor without distinction” resonates with my truest self and deepest desire.
Community: I thank God for the gift of community in my life, for my congregation and for the larger family of Sisters of St. Joseph. During these initial years of formation I’ve found that daily community life can be incredibly enriching, strengthening and enlivening. Shared communal prayer is especially important to me. During my first year of novitiate I’ve been blessed with opportunities to get to know more of my sisters in community - traveling throughout the Los Angeles province and even spending two months living with our sisters in Peru.
Ministry: My ministry experiences these past few years have been a great source of blessing for me. Each has been an opportunity to participate in the mission of Jesus and to grow in my understanding of and ability to live out the great commandment to love. While a candidate, I ministered at Mount St. Mary’s College in the Nursing Department, first as secretary and then as an academic advisor to the freshman pre-Nursing students. It was pure gift to be able to advise and journey with the students as they began their college studies and worked towards their careers.
As a novice I’ve been engaged in ministry with the economically poor at St. Joseph Center’s Bread & Roses Café in Venice and Good Shepherd Emergency Shelter for homeless women in Los Angeles. Both experiences have proven to be eye and heart opening for me. Being with the homeless has challenged me to step out of my comfort zone, to be more aware of the needs of others and to respond to those needs as lovingly and concretely as possible. I also ministered at Sts. Felicitas & Perpetua Church in San Marino. I enjoyed every moment of my time with the parish community, especially getting to know some of the parishioners, helping with the preparations for the Sunday masses and serving as a liturgical minister.
