The Disciple Next Door - Living a Faith Filled Life

The Disciple Next Door - Living a Faith Filled Life
BY VICTORIA CESSNA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTHONY DUGAL

On any given day, you may encounter Angelica Valdes dropping her 10-year-old daughter Alexa off at school; or volunteering at the migrant camps; or participating in a Bible study with her fellow “Women of the Word” parishioners at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Portage; or helping to run the diocesan San Agustin Institute for Hispanic Lay Ministry Formation Program.
 
In many ways, Angelica is the modern-day version of the missionary disciple next door. But what does that mean in today’s world to be a missionary disciple? In his first apostolic exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel (Evangelii Gaudium), Pope Francis introduced a term that has caught hold in the Church lexicon. He wrote:  
As a little girl growing up in Mexico just south of the U.S. border city of Nuevo Laredo, Texas, Angelica wasn’t dreaming of the life of a disciple. Instead, she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a dentist. Little did she know that God had other plans for her — plans that would eventually lead her to Michigan, where she put her dentistry career aside to devote herself full-time as a wife, mother and pastoral advocate for her Church.
 

Faith and family

Angelica and her husband Guillermo met through mutual friends when they were both college students in Mexico. It was her husband’s devotion to his Catholic faith that Angelica said was a real turning point in her own faith.

Knee-deep in her studies to be a dentist, Angelica wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, but she fell in love with the Panama native and they were soon engaged. After they were married, they became involved in their parish, joining with 40 other couples in a formation group that met weekly for two hours.

With the demands of two careers and a new marriage, was it challenging to make time for their faith?

“Yes,” admits Angelica. “Sometimes, we didn’t have time for dinner, but we’d stop at a store and get bread and cream cheese and afterwards our group would go out for dinner,” she replies with a smile.

During these early years in their marriage, Angelica launched her dentistry career, working two years as an assistant in the pediatric dentist office. Soon, Guillermo, who is an engineer, had the opportunity to work in the Detroit area with his company. The couple moved first to the Port Huron area and then to Portage.

It was during this time that Angelica became actively engaged in the church.

“We arrived on Saturday in Portage and the next day came to Sunday’s Mass. Then on Monday, I went to register at the parish and Father Bob Flickinger (then pastor) was there. He asked me, ‘Do you speak Spanish?’ And he started to explain all the ministries the parish was involved in” — including one that was connected to her hometown supporting a girls orphanage. She saw that as a sign.

Angelica started her volunteer work by translating for the parish, such things as letters written by parishioners to people living in El Sitio, El Salvador. Then, in 2005, she began visiting migrant camps.

“I really wanted to support the Hispanic population and I learned a lot. I had no idea about the hard life of a migrant farmworker.”

Starting a family was not easy for them and it was her faith and her husband’s devotion that helped her through the heartache of suffering miscarriages.

“God kept us together,” remembers Angelica. “My husband never complained. He would say, ‘This is God’s will and we just have to try again.’ It was painful and stressful. As women, we need to share more so we don’t feel alone. Thanks be to God we had dear friends here who supported us as a family during those times.”

And then in 2008, Angelica and Guillermo were blessed with the best early Christmas present they’d ever received when Angelica gave birth to their daughter Alexa on Dec. 22. Angelica took a break from her volunteering to devote herself full-time to the baby she’d waited so long to have. She and Guillermo quickly began to pass along the faith to her daughter.

“My husband and I had a beautiful background; our families were close to God and they taught us how to be with him,” she explained. “We decided together to be a Catholic family and we wanted to teach our daughter it’s a privilege to go to Church — it’s a party. Sundays are ‘El Dia del Senor.’ Alexa knows it’s the day we devote to God.”

It’s a theme they affirm at the end of each day when they pray together.

“Each night we say a prayer: Gracias Señor por este maravilloso día que nos permitiste vivir con tu amor, salud y alegría. (Thanks, Lord, for this wonderful day you allowed us to live with your love, health and joy). Alexa really enjoys that,” Angelica says.

Their parish is a central focus of their family life. Alexa is an altar server and a frequent helper to Angelica, whether her mom is going to migrant ministry or working at the diocesan offices. Angelica recently added lecturer to her list of volunteer activities at St. Catherine’s along with helping at the annual Vacation Bible School and participating in the many adult faith formation programs offered. Guillermo lends his time occasionally to helping count the Sunday collection.
“We have to serve our parish,” says Angelica. “We all have something inside — gifts from God — to share with others.”

Angelica also takes seriously her community and civic responsibilities. She has been a member of the area Junior League and helped with the Head Start program for children in need. “We are so blessed to be living in this area, so we have to work with the community to be a part of it.”

Angelica loves being a part of the St. Catherine of Siena Parish family. She adds that she also still enjoys praying in her native language and explains why it’s important.

“Your mom was the first voice you heard praying when you’re in the womb,” she explains. “That experience brings you memory throughout your life. You have the connection with God because it’s natural. When I pray in English, I have to first memorize it and then I have to think about it; and I’m a few seconds behind. However, if I just tell God what’s in my heart in Spanish — even it’s something sad, it’s very natural — I feel more joy.”
 

Called to serve

When Alexa began preschool, Angelica was excited, as she anticipated four hours of free time, but God had other plans. Her friend and mentor Fanny Tabares, who she had met a few years earlier when they were members of a diocesan Hispanic Small Community, called to ask Angelica for her help in the diocesan Hispanic Ministry Office. She first worked on the Hispanic Pastoral Plan and then when co-worker Veronica Rodriguez was on maternity leave, she began working a few hours a week in the Hispanic Ministry Office helping launch the first class of the Institute of San Agustin Program of Kalamazoo (ISAK).

Fast forward to today and Angelica coordinates all the logistics of the three-year formation program, which currently has more than 100 students; She also is a “companion”/mentor to those participating in the program. The main objective of ISAK is to form lay leaders that can better serve their parish communities.

“I just try and show them how God loves them. Our wish is that they encounter Jesus Christ — when we encounter Jesus Christ in our lives we can do a lot. “I never expected to work in the Church. I thought I’d always be a dentist and work in that field. But I want to serve people. And the transition was easy for me, because I’m still working for people. I serve God by serving people,” she says.

“To be honest,” she continues, “I have had struggle. I know Jesus is with me. After years, I can look back and think: ‘That’s why I never gave up, because he was with me.’ I learned that his time is perfect and his plan is the best and I just have to trust in him and follow his will.”
 

Angelica’s favorites

FAVORITE BOOK: Opening Your Heart by Lisa Brenninkmeyer

FAVORITE MUSIC: Martin Valverde, “Como Yo” — Nobody loves you like me/ If you are not sure/Just look at the cross and you realize/ Nobody loves you, like me.

FOR INSPIRATION: I listen to homilies by Bishop Alonso from the Diocese of Piedras Negras. He was a Pastor at our parish when we were newly married.

FAVORITE PRAYER: “Something that I always try to do is to give thanks to God at night for everything. We pray this every night with Alexa. ‘Thanks for the opportunity to go to your house and to have you in my soul.’”

FAVORITE ADVENT TRADITIONS:
• Advent wreath
• Attend Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass
• Las Posadas