Photo above: Members of the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Word, pose with clergy and the celebrant, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, on September 10, 2022 following a Mass for entrance into the novitiate and first religious profession. Sister Cristina Gomez, HMSP of Pasco (second row, third from left) made her first vows during this ceremony.
Cristina Gomez from St. Patrick Parish in Pasco, WA professed her first vows as a religious sister on September 10, 2022. She is a member of the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Word. The community was founded in Mexico City in 1983 and has the Spanish name Hermanas Misioneras, Servidoras de la Palabra (HMSP). It is dedicated to the evangelization of the laity. In the United States, the community has been especially known for its effectiveness in ministering to the Hispanic population.
Sister Cristina attended Chiawana High School in Pasco and went on to earn a Marketing degree from Eastern Washington University. Following her college graduation, she served as a lay missionary with the Missionary Servants of the Word for three years. It was during her missionary experience that she discerned a more abiding call to be a missionary for life. After a period of further discernment as a postulant, she entered the novitiate in 2020. She was part of the inaugural cohort of five novices at the first novitiate of her community in America, located in West Greenwich, RI.
Sr. Cristina (own the right) at her First Profession.
The profession of her first religious vows was an occasion of great joy and gratitude. The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence, RI. The celebrant was Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of the Diocese of Providence. Among her new duties, Sister Cristina Gomez, HMSP will mentor and instruct young adults preparing to be lay missionaries at her community’s formation house in Palmdale, CA.