Holy Cross novices dedicated to serving the needy

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

Holy Cross novice Lucy Samgma works in the library at both Saint John the Baptist Elementary School and Saint Andrew Catholic School tutoring children in the Star Advance reading program and helping in many ways. She would like to be a teacher.

SALT LAKE CITY — Holy Cross Sisters Luciana de Paula Soares and Lucy Samgma are completing their ministry experience as novices through Holy Cross Ministries in Utah.

During the second year of their novitiate the sisters are required to fulfill a mission experience. They arrived Sept. 30 and will stay until Dec. 30. Sr. Luciana is from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She would like to return to Brazil and become a lawyer after she takes her first vows. She is spending her ministry experience working at Holy Cross Ministries, shadowing Holy Cross Ministry lawyers who work in immigration law.

Sr. Lucy would like to be a teacher in India after taking her first vows. She is tutoring children in the reading program and helping in other ways in the libraries at Saint John the Baptist and Saint Andrew elementary schools.

While discerning whether she wanted to be a sister, Sr. Luciana had some decisions to make. She had a boyfriend and was a member of Holy Trinity Parish in Brazil, where she played the guitar during the Masses, worked as the secretary, helped with the liturgy, served as a lector, visited the sick and visited with families to pray, and was a dress maker. "Then I discovered I needed to give my life solely to people and, without being a sister, I couldn’t do that," she said.

She prayed to God for guidance, and following a dream of her wedding, she knew she should become a sister and broke up with her boyfriend. She remained in her parish ministry for three years before going to an Encounter Weekend with the Holy Cross sisters. While there, she shared her expectations and desires, including giving her life and helping others. "I love the Holy Cross congregation because I have the covenant of obedience, but the sisters are very open and hospitable; they help me grow," she said. "It is an apostolic congregation and that is why I chose it. I sold all of my belongings and entered Aug. 1, 2007."

She is happy with her choice, she said. "Each day I discover new things about myself; what it is I want. Every day I thank God for his presence in my life and for the people in my ministry. I think that is very important because today people don’t have others they can trust. I am happy to be there for others."

Sr. Lucy entered the Congregation of the Holy Cross in India because she liked the charism of the Holy Cross Sisters, who live out Jesus’ Gospel and mission by ministering in different ways to people around the world.

In India, she lived with the sisters for two years while studying and discerning her vocation. She became a candidate for a year before moving to Notre Dame, Ind. as a novice.

"When I was in high school I stayed in a convent with the Mary Help of Christian Sisters, but I was not sure I was ready for religious life," Sr. Lucy said. "I have always worked as a substitute teacher in schools, teaching catechism and volunteering in my parish."

While the novices are completing their mission experience, they are learning to live in community and also have a spiritual director, who oversees how they are integrating their ministry work with their spiritual lives.

Sr. Luciana interacts with Holy Cross Sister Suzanne Brennan, director of Holy Cross Ministries, to make sure her experience is enriching. "She has had an opportunity to orient herself to all of our different programs," said Sr. Suzanne. "She will have an opportunity to visit other programs within the diocese, such as Catholic Community Services, to talk with them about the refugee resettlement program and other agencies who assist refugees.

"Here in the United States, we are so blessed to have the sisters from other countries work with us because then we get an opportunity to learn more about their cultures and their lives," said Sr. Suzanne.

"Sr. Lucy is great," said Diana Rose, St. Andrew librarian. "She helps me with everything. I wish she could be here every day."