In Nebraska and New Mexico, two sisters impart FSPA ministry

Last fall FSPA’s three mission councilors, Sisters Rose Elsbernd, Suzanne Rubenbauer and Paulynn Instenes quested west from St. Rose Convent in La Crosse, Wis., to renew relationships with their Franciscan Sisters along the way. In this last reflection, we meet Sister Marcia Baumert from West Point, Neb., and Sister Telma Gomez in Chimayo, N.M.

Sister Marcia Baumert was born and raised in West Point, Neb., and joined FSPA in 1988. She earned a Master of Theological Studies with an emphasis on pastoral care and counseling from Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union and became certified in spiritual direction training. These achievements gave her ministerial mobility: she served as pastoral associate in two Iowa parishes, and in spiritual direction and retreat ministry in Illinois. Her passion for sharing the spiritual journey led her to become a certified chaplain, working as such for seven years at Davenport, Iowa’s Genesis Health System, 350 miles away from her hometown.

In 2004, Sister Marcia “felt a nudge from the Spirit” to close that spatial gap between herself and her parents, who were facing serious health problems. She sought prayer and discernment at Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center in Arbor Vitae, Wis., where she received word that her mother had fallen and could no longer be cared for by her husband. With FSPA affirmation, she decided to leave Genesis and, with the help of sisters, affiliates and friends, moved back to her childhood home. “It was truly a time of experiencing the power of prayer, the gift of grace and,” she says, “the love of community over the miles.”

A year ago, with the house sold and her parents settled into assisted living care, Sister Marcia again felt spiritual encouragement to venture further into ministry renewal. She accepted the call to Franciscan Care Services—a health care network sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity—as a per diem chaplain. Deacon Vince Maly, the hospital’s full-time chaplain, says, “Being a Franciscan Sister, Marcia exudes the overall spirituality behind FSPA and keeps it alive through pastoral care.”

Sister Marcia also imparts FSPA charism west of St. Rose Convent, presiding at Sunday communion services at the nursing home with deacons from her parish. “It’s a great opportunity to share leadership as a woman religious.” She conducts a weekly Bible study for residents in the FCS memory care unit (home to her father) and even brings her cat for visits and provides garden produce and baked goods for all to eat. A close friend to Sister Marcia, Angie Tornabane, sees Sister Marcia’s loving, patient and tender presence in the lives of her parents as “authentic witness to the community she lives in.”

The religious community she embodies—FSPA—helps to sustain her devotions in West Point as well. “I treasure my FSPA connections,” keeping them dynamic through her “lifelines—mail, phone, email and Skype,” and personal visits such as she experienced with FSPA’s mission councilors last fall. She feels grateful to minister and share her FSPA identity in her hometown and is “acutely aware of needing to be intentional in building authentic relationships while ministering at a distance from other FSPA.”

Miracles are said to be found in the soil at El Santuario de Chimayo, where Sister Telma Gomez ministers as a guide for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who come every year to seek them. Upon the soil is a shrine to a cross that, according to one account, was discovered, unearthed and mysteriously found buried again in the very same spot, giving off a radiant beacon of light, more than 200 years ago. This land is the foundation for an ages old church, where the four-foot crucifix now hangs. The holy ground is located in the community of Chimayo, N.M.,where Sister Telma has ministered since 1988.

There, she’s witnessed immense spiritual and physical expressions of faith—people rubbing the dirt over their bodies, maybe taking away a small handful for a member of their family. “There is a room in the church with many walkers and wheelchairs and crutches—crutches that line the walls all around the room—that people leave behind and walk away without, feeling healed by their experience,” she tells. “Many of them have been so sick, told by doctors there would be no saving cure.” Hundreds of pictures give face to those asking for prayer. She watches tour buses full of seekers from all over the world, of diverse religious beliefs, marveling at “the amazing spirit of expression, an expression of my work. To see it,” she says, “is truly amazing.”

To Pastor Julio Gonzalez, one of only four priests (the eldest, 93) who oversee the widespread parish, Sister Telma radiates the spirit of the shrine as well. Though quiet, “She conveys peace and understanding, and people who talk with her realize she’s a prayerful person.” He relies on all that Sister Telma observes. “She keeps her eyes open, giving me advice and council for what needs to be done,” tracking countless details to El Santuario de Chimayo (where she translates for the many Spanish-speaking visitors) and as the parish sacristan and pastoral caregiver. “Emphasize to her community that Holy Family, the people in Chimayo,” he
implores, “vastly appreciate what Sister Telma is doing for us.”

For all the bright accolades and the awe of El Santuario de Chimayo, Sister Telma simply sees her ministerial life as this: “I grew up in Panama, wanting to be a sister but never thinking it would work out. In 1964 I came to the United States with Edna Whalen and worked at St. Michael’s Home in La Crosse. When it closed I came to work in the St. Rose cafeteria, getting to know the sisters. At that time I also studied theology at Viterbo University. Later, both Edna and I became affiliates and, in 1987, I professed my first vows. My superior sent me to serve in Chimayo in 1988. I was there for eight years, and then served in parish ministry in Walla Walla, Wash., for two years before returning to Chimayo.

“Now, I appreciate that the mission councilors came to visit me, and I am grateful to FSPA for my work.”

This is the third installment in our three-part Westward Ho series. Find our first two stories in the February and May 2011 editions of Presence.