Sister Esther Velasquez
Sister Esther Velasquez, who is employed at St. Joseph Family Center in Spokane, often works as a volunteer at the Southside Food Bank on Saturdays.
She is one of several volunteers who interview those who come for food. Clients are asked what foods they prefer not to receive, if anyone in the household has diabetes and the ages of the children. She also asks if they have a prayer request and is willing to hold hands and pray with them if they wish. Sr. Esther says “I have seen many tears and shed a few myself as I pray. Praying with the clients touches my heart as well as theirs.”
Some of the people who come to the food bank speak only Spanish and so Sister Esther’s ability to communicate in Spanish is very useful. More Spanish-speaking people are coming to the food bank after hearing that someone there speaks their language.
The Southside Food Bank averages 60 to 70 families each Saturday but there are days when more than 110 families come for help. “Getting to know my neighbors and forming friendships with workers and clients alike has been a blessing to me. This face-to-face contact with those in need is a humbling experience.”
"The Pioneer"
The word 'pioneering' reminds one of taking a journey, moving from one place to another. Usually the
destination is unknown and the trip full of perils. A pioneer is also one who starts something new and experiences something for the first time.
Sister Esther came from pioneers of a sort. Her Hispanic father was born in America in a settlement started by conquistadors. He grew up in his tight-knit family following fieldwork through Colorado, Utah and Idaho. Her Anglo mother was born in Mexico, a child of Mormon settlers. When her mom was a baby, Pancho Villa, the revolutionary, sent all the 'gringos' back to the States. Her mom and her family left Mexico and eventually settled in Idaho.
Her parents' mixed race marriage was a pioneering experience, too. The extended family settled on
farms located between Gooding and Shoshone, Idaho, the location of her first memories. "We lost
our farm when I was in the first grade because of hail," recalls Sister Esther, "and in order to survive, we became migrant farm workers."
She was born a pioneer just by being a child of migrant laborers. She became a pioneer in my own right
when I entered a Swiss/German convent in north Idaho in 1965. She joined St. Gertrude's after a deep religious experience. "I had no doubt God was calling me to religious life, but I wanted to remain in Idaho. St. Gertrude's already had two Hispanic sisters, Elisa Martinez and Barbara Gonzales, and I became the first Anglo-Hispanic member. In spite of the great cultural adjustments, I felt 'at home' in a matter of months. I committed myself to being the best nun possible, the 'perfect sister.'"
Back in the '60s members were either teachers, nurses or domestics, and so she trained to be a teacher, even though she had never felt the calling to that profession. For nine years she was directed by her superior to teach school. "I loved the children, but did not enjoy the teaching. I found the work mentally and physically draining."
In the Catholic church Vatican II resulted in much pioneering activity, too. Sisters began to be consulted about the type of work and ministry each felt best able to accomplish. Sister Esther asked to work in the area of healing, pioneering this new ministry as a medical secretary at St. Benedict's Hospital in Jerome and then as pastoral assistant in St. Anthony's Parish in Pocatello. Praying with people for healing was one of the many services she provided to people in need. "I loved this work, and I poured my whole heart and soul into it. Unfortunately, my desire to serve was great but my physical and mental strength were not. I tried to do too much, too perfectly."
In 1985, she was diagnosed as having clinical depression. Again, she found herself a pioneer, this time unwillingly, as she began working on being healed while, at the same time, dealing with the stigma society and even members of her religious community placed on people diagnosed with depression.
After three years of gradually building up her strength, she was asked to join our missionary Sisters in Bogota, Colombia, teaching English as a Second Language on a part-time basis. "They needed help and I needed an infusion of self-esteem. After consulting with my doctors, I went. I will be forever grateful for what I learned while living those years in South America."
"Every day I feel affirmed in my religious vocation. My health has improved and I feel better than I have in many years. By living monastic life more fully I feel that I have finally found the life to which God called me 37 years ago: a life of prayer, quiet, work and leisure, as St. Benedict prescribed.
"Now, as we plan for our future as the community of St. Gertrude's, we start a new era of pioneering. Because of my experience of God's guidance through difficult times, I look forward to whatever God has in store. I know our future will be a 'school of the Lord's service,'" Rule of Benedict.