by Katie Moore
As the assistant chaplain at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Mercy Sister Larretta Rivera-Williams serves as an ambassador for the Catholic faith — although that’s not technically in her job description.
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| Sister Laretta Rivera-Wiliams in front of Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University. |
As a Catholic working predominately with Protestants, she regularly finds herself in contact with people who have never been around a Catholic nun. Her positions as assistant chaplain and as a pastoral resident in the School of Divinity allow her to represent Catholicism in an ecumenical environment, where she has plenty of opportunities to engage in theological discussions with students and faculty.
“What brings me light and joy is being in dialogue with Divinity School students on theological issues,” she said.
USER FRIENDLY
“She makes Catholicism user friendly,” said Ginny Ireland, director of admissions and student services for the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. “She is able to communicate the faith across denominational and cultural lines.”
Catholicism is actually the largest denomination represented among undergraduate students on the WFU campus, according to Sister Rivera-Williams. There are approximately 100 to 150 students who attend weeklyCatholic campus ministry meetings. However, within the School of Divinity, the religious representation is predominantly Baptist, followed by Methodist and Episcopalian. Within that realm, Sister Rivera-Williams is definitely the exception. However, as the only African-American sister in North Carolina, she is used to being somewhat of a novelty.
INTRINSIC YEARNINGSister Rivera-Williams celebrated her jubilee anniversary as a Sister of Mercy, during a Mass at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte in 2008. She believes her calling to religious life was intrinsic, dating back to the time “when I was being formed in my mother’s womb,” she said.
A North Carolina native, Sister Rivera-Williams was born in Winston-Salem, where she attended Catholic school as a child. She remembers playing church with her friends in the neighborhood when she was 5 years old. “There was something in me way back then that was calling me to church ministry,” said Sister Rivera-Williams.
When she was in seventh grade, there was one sister who used to play basketball and football with the students. That was when her perception of women religious began to change. After high school, she attended Sacred Heart College in Belmont. It was there that she met Mercy Sister Pauline Clifford.
“Everyone went to her room on Saturday mornings to eat cereal and watch cartoons,” said Sister Rivera-Williams. “She seemed so alive, so real.”
“That was the first real experience I had with a Sister of Mercy,” she said.
In terms of role models, she said that there wasn’t one particular sister that had an influence on her.
However, she does have a deep appreciation for the role of women religious in the history of the church in North Carolina.
Eight years after she graduated from college, Sister Rivera-Williams entered the convent of the Sisters of Mercy. Now, almost 26 years later, she feels confident in her decision to pursue her calling to religious life. “There is always something in everyday that makes me grateful for what I’m doing,” she said.
EDUCATION AND ECUMENISM
This year marks Sister Rivera-Williams’ seventh year on the WFU campus. However, she’s been an educator for much of her time as a Sister of Mercy.
In 1995, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), which resulted in her having to step down from a high school teaching position. “I no longer had the energy to move around,” she said.
It was at that point that she asked to come home to Winston-Salem.
She began taking a course in clinical pastoral education. As part of her certification, she served as the weekend volunteer chaplain at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
With her MS in remission, she began teaching a course on the art of ministry at the WFU School of Divinity. From there, she took a position as a pastoral resident in the School of Divinity, where she served as “a liaison between students and faculty.” Then three years ago, she took the position as assistant chaplain of the university.
“She has a great sense of humor and she is a great listener,” said Anne Jones, a first-year Divinity School student. “We all come here and dump our worries on her and we leave laughing.”
“She has been a true friend and a good mentor,” said Reggie Mathis, a third-year Divinity School student. “The space she creates with her presence is a wonderful respite,” like “a breath of fresh air.”
POWERFUL PRESENCE
There isn’t anything typical about Sister Rivera-Williams.
“She breaks every stereotype of a Catholic sister,” said WFU’s Ireland.
“To witness and to live out the Gospel values, which I think were modeled and articulated by what we can grasp from Scripture,” that is the role of women religious in the church today, she said.
“There is no wrong way, there is no right way,” she said, but “I’m constantly striving and hoping that we’re doing it God’s way.”
In terms of her role at WFU, she said, “I feel that my being here has given people a whole different appreciation for the Catholic Church.”
In that respect, her presence alone is one of the biggest parts of her ministry.
“You can’t change or make an impression on anyone if you leave or walk out,” she said.
Reprinted by permission of The Catholic News & Herald, May 1, 2009
