Then and Now

Sister Carolina (Esperanza) Diez de Andino

I discovered my IHM vocation as a little girl when our sisters taught me at Academia Santa Teresita in Puerto Rico, where I was born. My parents opposed my call because I was their only child. So, I took matters into my own hands. In 1964, while studying at the University of Puerto Rico, I left home secretly and joined the IHMs. Over time, my parents came to love the congregation and to understand my mission.

One of my most memorable experiences of participating in the liberating mission of Jesus was serving at the Catholic Worker in New York City with Dorothy Day. This ministry to the homeless was highly transformative and renewing. My connections with the Divine are also transforming, particularly through the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

A memory that exemplifies my growth within the IHM community is serving as a nurse’s aide in the IHM Infirmary. I fell deeply in love with nursing and requested permission to complete the necessary studies to become one. My beloved superior, Mother Robertine, explained that my real calling was to teach. So, teaching became my main ministry and I earned a bachelor’s degree from Marygrove College in 1967.

My teaching ministry began at Holy Redeemer School in Detroit and at the Monroe Public School System. Later, I taught at La Merced School in Cayley, Puerto Rico. After earning a master’s degree in religious studies from the University of Detroit in 1971, I taught at the Universidad Central de Bayamon and Casa Cristo Redeemer, where I conducted spiritual retreats. Sister Mary Jo Majer asked me to form a community with our Puerto Rican Sister Carmen Rosado to give Lisandra Pedraza, our new candidate, an early start in IHM life. After Lisandra entered the novitiate, I returned to Interamerican University in Rio Piedras. I received a doctoral scholarship sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. This is my 31^st year on faculty at the Polytechnic University. In teaching English as a second language, I combine the study of the Earth Charter and theological reflection with the critical analysis of world news.

My understanding of the IHM mission has deepened as I see God’s mercies being showered on our poor, minority learners through community donations of water, food, other needed resources, federal funding and volunteer assistance. I see God in transformative action daily through all these miracles of love and the IHM mission continues to call me.

I am deeply grateful for my life as an IHM Sister. Since joining, the greatest joys I have experienced have been our congregation’s fidelity to the Holy Spirit and my ministry with young adults in higher education. I hope for the future that we continue to follow the Spirit of God as it leads us, for we still have much to give. I thank God daily for my vocation and all those IHMs who have supported my journey and commitment to the mission of Jesus.