AT 53, there is no trace of fatigue and desperation in Sister Ma. Liza Ruedas. This Filipino nun from the Daughters of Charity congregation is a formidable force in the peace, literacy, and advocacy works coming from the country’s religious sector, travelling across the Philippine archipelago and empowering ordinary citizens--from youths, peasants, farmers, and tribal members, among others--in the pursuit of nation-building.
During election time, which is consistently marked with violence and vote-rigging, Sister Ruedas is at the forefront of voters’ education and electoral empowerment “to heighten awareness and participation towards political change.”
With the Daughters of Charity institutions and Pastoral communities in adopted communities, including indigenous peoples (IPs), Sister Ruedas and fellow religious sisters empower Filipino people and youth for them “to find democratic ways and spaces for participation towards electoral reform.”
Let us know more about Sister Ruedas’ life and works as she directly answers questions from online SunStar contributor Ronald Reyes:
How did your journey begin as a Daughter of Charity, and what initially drew you to religious life?
Sister Ruedas: Looking back and now, I would rightly say “it is a deep-love affair of God with His beloved.” God the lover… Me, the beloved. He, a loving and a persistent God who leads me to paths so unfamiliar and uncertain at times, yet unknowingly, He plunges me into realities where I can become a better person…the same God who calls, is the same God who satisfies my longing and aspiration to live in community and serve Christ in the poor with simplicity, humility and charity… and a courageous, compassionate Daughter of Charity.
For almost 38 years in consecration as a Daughter of Charity, what awed-struck me and attracted me most to this life and charism is God’s great love for the lost-last-least, the destitute and the poorest as enshrined in our Constitution and Statutes. Our mission and spirituality speak of the Incarnational Christ: seeing Christ in the Poor and the Poor in Christ, finding in the poor, our Lord and Master. That is why, for the Daughters of Charity, no misery and sufferings of the poor are foreign. We exist because of these persons living in situations of poverty.
Much of your work involves literacy and missionary outreach. What specific communities or groups have you served, and what challenges have you faced in those missions?
Sister Rudas: I was engaged in Pastoral works in Mindanao (Zamboanga Sibugay-Diocese of Ipil, Diocese of Iligan, Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, and Prelature of Marawi) for almost two decades, and work with Christian-Muslim Dialogue, Ecumenical relations, working and immersing with the Indigenous Peoples and Communities (IPs: Subanen, Ati, Dumagats, etc.) and formation of the young and students, parish leaders, and the empowerment of Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs).
It is a great awakening to immerse in Mindanao Churches. The Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference (MSPC) experiences and journeys have brought into my life a great appreciation and affirmation how Mindanao Church works and evangelizes amid its demo-geographics-socio-eco-poli-ecological divides. The pressing realities of animosity, discrimination and seeming division in places where presences of our Muslim brethren are the least, and in places where Christians are seemingly marginalized and found in the peripheries are disturbing. Yet, I saw a growing compassionate Church in the midst of persecution and struggles of her people. In that sense, I rediscovered more my capacity to hope and be more resilient, more passionate and committed to the mission that brings hope to the voiceless and the marginalized.
Experiencing the struggles of the IPs in their assertion and self-determination to claim their ancestral domain and to own their rightful lands, to set their feet in an equal opportunities to affirm their dignities as persons had deepen my resolve to work for justice and peace and to make a stand for respect of persons and their rights.
Moreover, I am privileged to engage in the Daughters of Charity’s programs and projects for Rebuilding Life, Rebuilding Communities for survivors of calamities and disasters (Iligan-Cagayan de Oro, Samar-Leyte, islands of Polillo in Quezon Province, Palawan and mostly, in National Capital Region cities and neighboring urban communities, etc). The resounding “cries of the Earth” and the “cries of the Poor” that reverberate with its groaning realities of greed and corruption; abuses and violations of nature’s rights and human rights.
In 2017 until the present, I am commissioned as a team leader and coordinator of the Advocacy on Justice, Peace, and Human Rights under the Promotion of Integral Human Development (PIHD), an emerging missionary priorities and thrusts of the Daughters of Charity after a reconfiguration took place in 2016, now called Province of St. Louise de Marillac-Asia. The vast expanse of its nature and scope is overwhelming and more challenging. I immediately immersed in different and difficult situations and collaborations with different organizations and movements, government organizations, and non-governmental organizations, peoples’ organizations and Inter-faith and Ecumenical efforts to works of justice, truth, peace and Good governance. The creative energies and synergism of collaboration and partnerships of likely same spirited individuals and groups have fostered in me greater dynamism and deeper fidelity in living out the Vincentian charism with boldness in charity.
The advocacy opens more doors and gates for me to encounter Christ in voices and faces of the poorest: the victims and survivors of extrajudicial killing (EJK), women-children issues, our Katutubo (IPs), workers’ struggle of the urban poor communities, fisherfolks and farmers, survivors of calamities and disasters, persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) and political setainees, persons living with HIV-Aids, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), and not to discount, the homeless and street peoples. The call for collaboration, street parliament and lobbying of issues against social injustices, and mobilization in solidarity with the least-lost-last become my “farm and zones of presence”! The challenge to work for truth, social justice and Good Governance pervade my spirit and identity as a consecrated person.
Along these lines and processes of encounter, I see and experience the longings of the abused, victims and survivors to find peace and solace, hope and justice of a loving and just God.
How do your advocacies for education, human rights, poverty alleviation, or social injustice align with the mission of the Daughters of Charity, and how do you carry them out in practice?
Sister Ruedas: The Little Company of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul is a Society of Apostolic Life of women, founded by St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac since November 29, 1633, totally given to God, living in community, and committed to serving Jesus Crucified in the person of the poor. Over the years, our ministries have evolved in response to the cries of the poor, the Call of the Church, and the signs of the times…”Ten times you visit the Poor, ten times you encounter God” (St. Vincent de Paul). “Take good care of the service of the Poor” (St. Louise de Marillac). These are inspirations of our Holy Founders that set ablaze every heart of a Daughter of Charity to hunt poverty and empower the most vulnerable.
Our advocacies under the Promotion of Integral Human Development (PIHD) as a mandate of the Catholic Church affirms its Social Teachings and challenges every person, every Christian, and every consecrated person to be a prophetic sign and voice in making a stand for those being abused and violated of their rights and dignities. Furthermore, we the Daughters of Charity are Daughters of the Church. We are called to become more “artisans of peace and hope”. The Church emphasizes the dignity of each human being as “ created in the image of God… to work together to create a peace based on justice and love…we must respect others and their dignity” (Vatican II, Gaudium Et Spes).
These advocacies are carried out in a system and structures that promote systemic change, collaboration and partnership. We follow paths toward a democratic space of collective efforts in delivering our compassionate service through inter-ministries, regional coordinating teams, partners and networks and critical collaborations with ecumenical and inter-faith and ecumenical relations.
The political and socio-economic climate in the Philippines has changed significantly in recent years (from Dutertes to Marcoses). How has this affected your ministry and the people you serve?
Sister Ruedas: The political and socio-economic climate during the administration of the Dutertes and Marcoses has painted much pains-struggles-dissent-outcries of the afflicted and those victims of abuses and violations… the poorest of the poor. In all aspects of life and humanity- all we can see are the realities of the powerful weaponization of law, corruption becomes the rule and authority opens more greed towards the marginalization of the weak and the most vulnerable. Red-tagging and killing of human rights defenders and those who sided the weak and silencing dissent and rage brought much chilling effects upon me, us. The waves of air and atmosphere of violence and inhuman acts and vilification create smaller spaces for expression of truth and freedom. But these do not stifle my spirit...the strong resolve as a Daughter of Charity. Yes, there are many times I am afraid and questioning but the desires to give and be a beacon of hope to the poor is greater than life… so I brave the storms many times. And I find God in every anchor. And I found Him, all-embracing.
The Gospel of Luke 4: 18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” reveals God’s mission, to bring God’s embrace and preferential love for those who are poor, so compelling that it overflowed to those who were in need.
What role do you believe the Church and the religious communities should play today amid rising inequality, political unrest, and disinformation?
Sister Ruedas: The great affirmation is for the Church to stand firm in favor for the least-lost-last; to be heralds and source of hope for the afflicted and the least privileged; to be more creative in defending the voiceless and be signs of HOPE amid degrading and discriminating forces that dread the deep meaning of respect for persons and the defense of life. That the Church could not remain silent and cannot be silenced when persecution of the poor is at her feet! As religious communities, we cannot be indifferent…nor undisturbed.
In all of these conditions: inequality, political unrest and disinformation, the Church and religious communities MUST commit to become “artisans of peace and hope”, to stand in the midst of the abused, the violated. It is a great awakening to immerse in Mindanao Churches. The Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference (MSPC) experiences and journeys have brought into my life a great appreciation and affirmation of how Mindanao Church works and evangelizes amid its demo-geographics-socio-eco-poli-ecological divides. The pressing realities of animosity, discrimination and seeming division in places where
our Muslim brethren’s presence is minimal, and in places where Christians are seemingly marginalized and found in the peripheries are disturbing. Yet, I saw a growing compassionate Church in the midst of persecution and struggles of her people. In that sense, I rediscovered more my capacity to hope and be more resilient, more passionate and committed to the mission that brings hope to the voiceless, the marginalized, and the persecuted members of society.
How do you stay rooted in your vocation while also remaining responsive and relevant to the needs of modern society or in this internet age, especially the youth and the marginalized?
Sister Ruedas: Through faith conviction that I am called to follow Christ in this service, my love of mission and the poor, and constant struggle to be faithful to my Vincentian calling as a Daughter of Charity. Our spirituality moves me to embrace a deeper sense of meaning and way of life marked with distinct identity as a consecrated person. “Seeing Christ in the Poor and the Poor in Christ” and testify through witnessing on the grounds and engagements that bring a dynamic turn about in a society where prophetic voices are needed. With our work and commitment to serve the Poor, we hope to advance signs for the young that “human kindness, compassion and mercy” still work in a modern society where AI, Internet and different soc-med platforms seemed the command and great influence. That “human heart is still the key to gratitude, forgiveness, loving service and compassion”… that we can still humanize technologies and utilize them for empowerment of persons and sustaining communities to freedom… to liberate them from slavery and compliance.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes and plans for your continued work in literacy, mission, and faith, particularly in today’s fast evolving society?
Sister Ruedas: I am full of hope amid the disturbing voices, realities, and uncertainties. The political unrest, the truth of the kind of leaders we have now in all levels, may it be in the Senate or the House of Representatives, and in the very small unit of society where corruption and dishonesty may prevail…I am hopeful.
My encounter with little kids that longs for truth and guidance and embrace of safety and protection; in the eyes of the dying and the elderly… the abused and violated and in the very hearts of the young…we must move onward …toward educating our people. They need real people to unravel doubts and disturbing realities. Many need enlightenment! Many dream for Good Governance. Many dream for good leaders.
Advocacies are essential. It may not be an answer to all longings and aspirations but are potent means and tools to transform society. We follow lines of actions and commitments. We adhere to what can enhance our ministries and advocacies. We still would dare to empower the poor. Hope is in my heart; Collaboration is our gut-hand-feet all the way. I trust deeply in partnership and good, transparent networking.
And I believe in our God of Truth, Justice and Peace. I am too certain that the God who calls me and sent me to proclaim His reign and love, is the same God who will liberate the poorest.