|
50 Years: Maria Lourdes Cleto, SP
Sister Maria Lourdes Cleto, given the name Soledad at her birth in Manila, Philippines, has a ministry of love and giving life. She has spent the last 50 years connecting her energy and talents to give the best of herself to the task at hand, whether in a parochial school classroom, a parish or a hospital’s chapel.
 The youngest of six children, she learned about the Sisters of Providence from a brother who returned to the Philippines from an internship at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Wash., with informational brochures.
“I was looking for convents to join, but that seemed too far and I didn’t want to leave,” she said.
She decided to write to see what ministries the Sisters of Providence had to offer besides teaching. The response she received to her April 1960 inquiry was a big envelope that contained a letter of acceptance to the novitiate class in July. She arrived in Seattle in June, entered the novitiate the following month and made first profession in 1963.
A graduate of the College of Great Falls (MT), Sister Maria Lourdes spent 15 years as a parochial school teacher, serving in classrooms in DeSmet, Idaho; Great Falls, Mont.; Spokane; Missoula, Mont.; and Walla Walla, Wash. It turns out she loved teaching the primary grades, especially the five years spent with Native American children from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe on the reservation in DeSmet.
Embraced by the people of Pine Ridge
A newspaper article about the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota inspired her to write to the pastor to inquire about work one on one with adults from the Sioux Indian tribe there. She soon was 10 minutes from Wounded Knee, visiting homes on the reservation. “I could go anyplace and not be afraid. I have that gift,” she said. “I don’t see difference in colors, habits or attitudes. I walk in with open arms and an open heart.” That gift served her well in experiences in the 1970s, including a summer working with black residents of Chicago and a year in ministry with Mexican migrant children in Walla Walla.
At Pine Ridge, she saw the terrible toll that drinking was taking on families and the community. She also witnessed firsthand the deep respect that the people had for the sisters as she celebrated with them, attended funerals and shared their daily lives. “I felt accepted at the very beginning,” she said. “They embraced and accepted me in their families.” As she ministered to them, they bonded and developed lasting relationships. She would have stayed longer than the two years she spent there, but a broken leg suffered in a car accident required her to return home to the Northwest to heal.
Once healthy again, Sister Maria Lourdes knew she truly wanted that kind of intense ministerial relationship again. After enrolling in the chaplaincy program at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, she found her heart’s desire as the only full-time staff member at St. Edward Parish in Seattle. She served there for a total of 24 years. As a pastoral assistant, she had responsibility for outreach and for the RCIA program, as well as serving as director of St. Vincent de Paul and three Legion of Mary groups.
Encouraged by the pastor, she set out to coordinate numerous events in the 1,300-member multi-ethnic parish. She found special joy in engaging the parish’s Filipino community. No one loves a party more than Sister Maria Lourdes does, and especially music and an energetic or quietly expressive dance. She brought that love to the parish work.
Joi de vivre defines her life
Her success was rooted in her love of people and her delight in working side by side with them. She did not take control because she held a position. Everything she did, she did with the cooperation of the community. “Everybody is a part of the program I’m establishing,” she explained. She brought her joie de vivre to everything from an annual picnic, music program, activities and fundraisers to a nine-day novena before Christmas. “We celebrated what is important in life,” she said. “I didn’t know I could do what I did, but by God’s grace I did it.” She took pride in the fact that her energy, gifts and talents contributed to things that still are continuing there.
When she left St. Edward’s, she said she did not want a reception because it was hard to say goodbye. She still connects with many of the parishioners there. Sister Maria Lourdes later worked with the Seattle Diaconate Formation Program for three years.
Today she is a member of the Vocation Team, putting her energies into retreats for college students and other young adults. And, yes, she is continuing to dance, dance, dance at every opportunity, along with playing piano, seeing movies and going out with friends.
As she looks back on the 50 years that have led to this golden Jubilee, there have been many, many highlights, Sister Maria Lourdes said. One in particular was being asked to give the opening prayer before a session of the Washington State Senate in the 1980s. She still has the photo that shows her standing beside then-Lt. Gov. John Cherberg to mark the occasion.
Top of Page
|
