Stories of Xaverian Missionaries of Mary

My Missionary Journey is just at the beginning...

by Sr. Gloria Enciso, xmm

 |   | 

Missionary of Mary Sr. Gloria Enciso with Fr. Dominic

It’s more than a year since I arrived in the USA. I can’t believe it! Time has passed very quickly and looking back on it, it seems like a dream. I wish to share with you my short missionary experience.

I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. I come from a large and beautiful family, we are seven sisters and brothers. Time came when I felt that God was calling me to follow Him. I was twenty years old. I was already active in a group of young people in my parish. We used to talk about the Bible, our life, missions and prayer-life. We also used to organize missionary meetings in our own city. I enjoyed it very much and it was one of my favorite activities. In those days, I was at my last year of college and beginning to work giving some support to my family. N During this time, God’s call became stronger. I started to pray more in order to understand better what God was asking me to do. At that time, I experienced a growing intimacy with God and I felt deeply in love with Him. I knew, I was loved by God and I had to love Him in return.

One day my older sister talked to me about the community of the Xaverian Missionary Sisters. I went to visit them learning more about their missionary activities. Among them I found the way to follow our loving God in the missionary life. Leaving my dear family, friends and work, God became my way of living. On December 8, 2001, I professed my vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to dedicate my entire life to God in the missions. I was just dreaming about “mission countries” when I was assigned to the USA. This news surprised me. At the beginning I wondered and I asked myself: “Can it be possible for me to be a missionary in the USA?” God was preparing me for a new experience.

The world I have encountered here is very challenging. It is a multicultural reality with many different ways of expressing their spirituality. I started off studying English as my third language and step by step I learned it. With my family I used to pray in Spanish. When I joined the Xaverian missionary sisters, three years later, after professing my religious vows I was assigned for a few years to Italy. There I learned to pray in Italian. Now, I have learned how to pray in English. I found this very interesting, but God is always the same. He does not change! His love, mercy, faithfulness and care can be expressed in many different languages. His loving blessings are always for each one of His children.

“The task of missionary animation must continue to be a serious, consistent duty of every baptized person and of every ecclesial community…”
Pope John Paul II

At school, when I began studying English, the experience with students from many different countries most of them non-believers, it has been for me a very interesting challenge. My mission began in our English classroom where very few classmates were Catholic.

A girl, who was not Catholic, asked me if I would pray for her and after a few conversations, she asked me to give her a Bible. Then some other students started to ask questions about my God, my faith, my Church and my missionary life. Yes, I thought, it is possible to be missionary in any place and in any new reality.

At the present, I am no longer stationed in New York. I have been assigned to Worcester, MA and I am working with the Spanish community who are very religious, they have a strong sense of solidarity, and an authentic Marian devotion. I am very glad to be with them, I can feel the atmosphere of all Latin America: Colombian, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Salvadorans, etc… It is a multicultural Church, we as missionaries feel very much at home. This is a “Missionary Church.” I know God is asking me to work with them and for them. I am also aware that together with them I will get to know more and more our loving God in this new mission. My missionary journey is just at its beginning.

From the Xaverian Missionary Sisters Fall 2003 Newsletter

If you like to receive more information about the Xaverian Sisters, please contact their Vocation Director at:

Missionaries of Mary - Xaverian Sisters
242 Salisbury Street • Worcester, Massachusetts • 01609-1639
xavsistersusa@msn.com • phone (508) 757-0514