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More Associate Highlights |
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The IHMs arrived at St. Edward's University in The IHM Redemptorist charism speaks to my heart and soul; in the formative years of my Catholic faith and through the example of my devout parents, the call to help others reach their full potential was deeply etched into my sense of purpose. IHMs in the Diocese of Austin fulfilled this call through a wide vocational spectrum: ministering to students as college professors and to parishioners as directors of pastoral ministries; serving as directors of social service agencies and retreat centers; and in myriad other ways, bringing compassion, information, and hope to many, many individuals. My academic background is in science, and when I discern a situation, I tend to do so through a formula-type manner. The IHMs' praxis-type approach to life, ministry and work, as exemplified by Rose Huelsman, IHM, speaks to me intellectually. As I journey through of a very fulfilling social ministry career, I am informed and nurtured by the IHMs' congregational journey through the joys and challenges of life in the broader church. I recall in particular when the congregation organized into clusters, the congregation implemented a language of "informing, nurturing, celebrating the cluster...," a model that I embrace and utilize to organize ministries on parish, diocesan, regional and national levels. I relish creating ministries from scratch and have held various positions doing just that, all the while being guided by IHM spiritual mentors. As founding director of the Southwest Region of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, I advocated for farm worker and small family farm rights in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona; as founding trainer of the Diocese of Austin Parish Social Ministries, I compiled a resource manual for and prepared new social ministers in the organization and management of robust parish social ministry; as founding director of social ministries at St. Louis Parish, one of the most populous parishes in the Diocese of Austin, I established one of the largest parish social ministries in the nation and wrote a grant that resulted in a neighborhood of new houses for low income families with children; while the founding coordinator of Latino Outreach with NETWORK Catholic Lobby in Washington, D.C., I presented educational seminars prior to the 2000 presidential elections to English/Spanish speakers across the nation. More recently, I served as executive director of the ecumenical Texas Conference of Churches during a very challenging phase in the life of the Conference. Now I am organizing a new ministry of healing for military veterans. The name of the organization, At Ease! At Peace! relays its purpose: to bring Christ's redeeming mercy and love to military personnel, their families and colleagues. A difficult aspect of being an IHM Associate in
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