Holy Cross sister ready to help the community in Utah

Friday, Jan. 08, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY —  Originally from Altotonga, Veracruz, Mexico, Holy Cross Sister  Laura Guadalupe Tiburcio Santos felt the call to the religious life since she was very young.

While growing up, she was taught by members of the Missionaries of Christ the King, and as she got to know them, her interest in a religious life grew.

At the age of 12 she started helping with catechism classes; although she was young and scared, she did it with great joy.

“My mom’s friend was a catechist teacher and she needed someone to help, so she asked my mom, who suggested me instead. … They assigned me the youngest kids and despite the fact that I was very young I enjoyed it immensely,” said Sr. Laura, who continued to teach catechism for six years and also participated in different diocesan programs. 

Then she met sisters of other religious orders, and was invited to see firsthand the life of  the Sisters of St. Therese of Lisieux. She was with the order for nine years, working in different places. 

“I went to Spain, where I worked in a nursing home; then I went back to Mexico, where I worked in a parish with two main responsibilities, Caritas and being in charge of a youth group called Pandillas de la Amistad (Gangs of Mercy),” said Sr. Laura.

She also was part of a support group consisting of three sisters and seven priests helping each other in whatever was needed.

However, she had some doubts about her calling, she said. With much prayer, she continued discerning her vocation. She left the community and, searching, learned about the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. 

“I Was very attracted by the diversity of ministries that they have, so I contacted them and they invited me to get to know them. ... I was really excited,” said Sr. Laura. 

She went to Monterrey, Mexico, where the Holy Cross sisters have their main ministry in Mexico. There Sr. Laura studied English. Then, beginning the process that will lead to her professing perpetual vows, she went to Indiana to live the international novitiate with sisters from India, Africa and Bangladesh. 

She also volunteered in the clinic of Holy Cross Sister Maura Brannick, who in the mid 1980s sought to offer basic health care services to indigent, homeless and undocumented people. “As a registered nurse, she began to visit people in their homes to check their blood pressure. Once she realized the great need to offer more than this, she invited physicians from the local community to volunteer their services,” and sought funding from the Sisters of the Holy Cross to support her primary care service, Sr. Laura said.

As her own work continues, Sister Laura has fallen more deeply in love  with her vocation.

For three months she went to Florida, helping the sisters with a women’s circle, which is a place where the women get English classes, sewing classes, and they prepare for the citizenship exam.

After professing her first vows last May, she was assigned to Utah. For the first six months in the Diocese of Salt Lake City she helped the Hispanic Ministry,  and now she will be directly helping  Holy Cross Ministries. Next year she will formalize her studies.

“I want to focus in social work,” said Sr. Laura, who believes that a religious vocation is a process.

“Sometimes you have doubts, sometimes even your family tells you that you shouldn’t follow that route. … This is a discernment process; it’s a life of service to others,” said Sr. Laura, adding that religious sisters do have a side that others rarely see.

“We are a community filled of life; we have fun, we have friends, we go to the movies sometimes. If we let people influence us in what we feel, we wouldn’t be doing we should. We have to live [the call] so we can really decide if this life is for us or not,” said Sr. Laura. “I can tell you after being in two different communities, from one where you have to wear a habit, more cloistered, and being in another that has a lot of ministries and you don’t wear a habit, I said, ‘This is really for me.’ … Give yourselves the opportunity to live and experience if you feel that you have the call. Just approach a sister. They are always open and willing to help you.”