|
|
|
About Us
|
My Story: Sr. Marisol Guzman, FMA
Marisol Antonia Guzman was born on January 16 in Moca, Dominican Republic, oldest of four children, to Gregorio Guzman and Argentina Lopez. Her father owned a neighborhood grocery store and a farm in the countryside. As a child, she loved going to the farm to see the animals and the beauty of the nature. When Marisol was 6 years old, her parents brought her to study at Mary Help of Christians School to continue the education in faith and values that started at home. They were so proud because at that time it was the most prestigious school in the city. With the Salesian Sisters, she deepened her love of God and the Blessed Mother. At 8 years of age, she made her first “encounter” with Jesus in the Eucharist, but it was at the age of 14 when she received her Confirmation, that she felt called to belong forever and completely to Jesus. She wanted to be just like her Theology teacher, Sr. Lidia Torres, who had also prepared her for Confirmation. That year she fell in love with the school and everything about it. She started helping with catechesis, youth ministry, oratory with very poor children, and summer camps, welcoming with joy any invitation from the sisters. She even asked her father to get up early to bring her to daily Mass. As a consequence of her very active apostolic life, she didn’t have time anymore for trips and vacations that were so precious to her family. This fact brought a very difficult moment to family relationships. “You better move to live with the Sisters because you are already living with them anyway” her mother used to say with the fear that her first-born would join the Salesian Sisters and be lost to her forever. The mother’s dreaded moment arrived very fast. Marisol’s request to become a Sister was accepted. At l7, right after graduation from high school, she joined the Salesian Sisters as an aspirant. Tears and tension followed that moment, but with the passage of these years, her family came to accept her decision with peace because they saw her happiness. In 1996, at age 22, she professed her First Vows. Her first four first years were spent serving at a school and youth center, while also studying at the Salesian College. Then, she was sent to Rome to continue her studies. After obtaining her degree in Catechesis, she went back to the Dominican Republic where she served for three years as a high school Vice Principal and theology teacher and did catechetical work. In 2006, she was transferred to the USA. Her first two years here were spent in Newton, New Jersey and presently she is at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon, New Jersey. She lives in the certainty that God loves her and that love has brought her here. “I think I am here for the Lord and with the Lord, and that gives me so much hope, she said. |
| site map | links | ^ top |
