Page 16 - Spring 2019 Extension Magazine

16 INSPIRE

Cover Story

One miracle and two academic degrees later, school degree, and in 2014 she took
Colombian sister builds faith with every tool her final vows. That same year, her
congregation asked her to go to
in her box the United States as part of Cath-
olic Extension’s newly estab-
ister Maryud Cortés did close to the Virgin Mary, whom she lished U.S.-Latin American Sisters
not plan to beome a credited with helping her to walk. Exchange Program, supported by
nun. She wanted to get But she had missed years of school the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
an education, but she during her sickness and wanted to
believed that achieving get an education. SERVING IN THE U.S.
this goal might be diffi- But God’s calling grew stron- She was one of four sisters
Scult to do as a sister. As ger. At 17, before completing high assigned to the Diocese of Kalam-
she learned, she can do both. school, she joined the Missionary azoo, Michigan. This agricultural
Servants of the Divine Spirit. During area has many immigrant families
TOUGH GROWING-UP YEARS her formation, she finished her high and attracts about 20,000 additional
Born prematurely into a poor
family in the highlands of Colombia,
Sister Maryud spent her first weeks
of life in an incubator. At 9 months,
she walked briefly, but contracted
a spinal infection, which left her
unable to walk at age 1. She spent
the next several years as an invalid
and could not attend school.
Her father pleaded with the Vir-
gin Mary for healing, and at age 9
she suddenly started feeling her
feet again and miraculously began
to walk.
Amidst her medical problems,
her family fell apart. Her parents had
six more children and then sepa-
rated. When Sister Maryud finally
started attending school, she was
behind a few grades. She needed to
financially support the household,
so she studied in the morning and
worked in the afternoon. At age 11,
an elderly couple offered to com-
pensate her to move into their home
and help their grandson with math.
For the next six years, she lived
apart from her family.
During these troubled times, Sis-
ter Maryud thought often about
becoming a nun because she felt