By Amy Rebecca Radil

The women padding into the living room in sweaters and leggings were nuns in training. Sitting on sofas and cushions with caftans tucked around them, they held paperback Bibles and began the day with music and prayer. Sr. Rita Burdz, one of the group’s leaders, lit a candle on the center table. An ethereal chorale played on the stereo. The orientation home of the Maryknoll Sister, and order of the Catholic Missionaries, resembled nothing so much as a well-kept sorority house. Its spacious, sunny rooms were filled with plants, books and worn but comfortable furniture, along with objects sent as gift from Sisters abroad.

Hard-nosed Activities?

At the conclusion of prayers during their opening meeting, the women took on the air of hard-nosed activists. Giang Nguyen and Cathy Encarnacion reported on a recent trip to Mount Vernon’s City Hall; they pulled out a sheaf of documents on the town’s homeless population. They divided them up for reading and discussion. The bureaucratic reports left them skeptical. Lee, a petite woman in red sweaters and a ponytail, got impatient as she read aloud the town’s explanation as to why it has no comprehensive program to treat the homelessness. “This sound like excuses,” she said. “I don’t see any specific ideas.” “Id like to know own much goes directly to the homeless,” said Marvie Misolas, a second year candidate, reviewing a sheet of financial information; they talked about numbers of homeless in town and facilities to threat them, then the conversation gradually turned to larger issues of poverty and socials ills.

Satisfying Conversation

Breaking for lunch, everyone gathered in the large dining room for a home-made meal. The tone was frank, funny and some would say feminist as they discussed marriage practices around the world and they ways women get trapped in bad ones. Cathy recounted the ludicrous plot of a Filipino movie in which woman sacrifices everything for her husband and children, even agreeing to let his mistress move into their home. Everyone at the table cracked up at the movie’s attempt to portray “proper” women.

But what was notable, and different from other all-female conversations, was the way they interwove the usual anecdotes with larger ideas of social justice and faith. The women spoke easily and sincerely about scriptures as well as local and global concerns. Houghton, a first year-candidate, said she made the decision to take vows when a friend invited her to a gathering of Maryknoll Sisters, “and I realized that my values matched theirs."

Fighting A Vocation

Houghnon and the other candidates at the orientation said it’s not uncommon for women to fight their own sense of vocation, even when they feel it from childhood. Mai Nguyen, a tiny woman with dark hair, doesn’t at all look her 37 years. “We’re all women who have experience in life,” she said. Nguyen got her bachelor’s degree in management at the University of Texas and traveled for her work, setting up business, before coming to the sisterhood. “I never expected it,” she said. “My image of a nun is so holy and religious. I’m not,” she stressed. “I fought back.” But religion won. “I was searching for something deeper.” Nguyen admitted.

Discouraging Rush Choices

During the admissions process, the Sisters question candidates closely to make sure they understand the sacrifices involved, especially foregoing marriage and having children. They discourage women from making rush choices. Houghnon says she chose Maryknoll in part because they were the only ones who didn’t push.” Cathy Encarnacion, who grew up in the Philippines, said that from age 10 through college she was focused on joining sisterhood. “In my third year of college they said, ‘Go experience life. have a boyfriend.’ I finished college and forgot about religious life.” But seven years and two boyfriends later, she returned.

Radical Choice

When asked whether she and the other women ever had doubts about their decision to join the Sisterhood, Encarnacion replied, “Yes of course, all the time,” But since the orientation began, no one has voiced regret or said they made the wrong choice. Families often greet their decision to join with disapproval or regret. They find it hard to conceive of such a radical choice, and they want their daughters to have families of their own.

Giving up her existing family, let alone a future one, was no small matter for Cathy. For her, cultural considerations figured hugely in her reluctance to join Maryknoll. Becoming a missionary meant leaving behind her close-knit family of nine siblings. “I was still living at home with my family at 28,” she said. Becoming a sister also meant joining a group linked to the former colonizers of her country. “One of the biggest tensions was the American heritage of Maryknoll,” she said. “But when I studied it more, I admire the cross-cultural aspects, going beyond boundaries. There’s not just one oppressive culture, there’s good and evil everywhere.”
But even an organization like Maryknoll that prides itself on its intercultural awareness has gone through a growth process toward greater sensitivity as more women from outside the United States have joined and attained senior leadership positions. But some aspects of their work is unchanging, including the Sister’s guest for social justice and ultimately for holiness.