November 18, 2025 // Diocese

Meet the Missionary Servants of the Divine Spirit

Kasia Balsbaugh

The three religious sisters of the Colombia-based Hermanas Misioneras Siervas del Divino Espíritu (“Missionary Servants of the Divine Spirit”) have moved into their newly renovated convent in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South bend. The congregation has particular focuses on the charismatic renewal in the Church, Franciscan spirituality, and evangelization. The sisters are working largely with the Hispanic community throughout the diocese.

“The accompaniment and pastoral care they’re going to be able to offer people is kind of amazing, and I’m just thrilled,” said Esther Terry, the diocese’s director of Hispanic Ministry.

With Terry translating, the three sisters shared about their lives and ministries with Today’s Catholic.

Sister María Eugenia Gómez

Sister María Eugenia Gómez grew up on a farm in Colombia with her parents and 13 siblings. When she was 20, she didn’t know what to do with her life.

“I felt like I had everything, but I wasn’t happy,” she said. So, she embarked on a year of mission in the jungles of Colombia. “I didn’t even last the whole year, but it helped me to go out of myself and recognize that there were many needs in the world,” Sister María Eugenia said.

After the mission experience, Sister María Eugenia began to consider joining a convent, and a priest advised her to spend time in a religious community.

“I told him, ‘Father, I am very rebellious, and I like boys and parties, why would I go to a convent?’” Sister María Eugenia said.

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“I felt like I had everything, but I wasn’t happy. … But [mission work in Colombia] helped me to go out of myself and recognize there were many needs in the world.”

Sister María Eugenia Gómez

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Nevertheless, she discovered and visited the Hermanas Misioneras Siervas del Divino Espíritu. While she said adjusting to life in the convent was difficult at first, her experiences there with the sisters and with God led her to stay.

Before coming to this diocese, Sister María Eugenia served in Chile, Argentina, and the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan. She has helped with various apostolates, mostly in parishes, and feels particularly called to work with couples and family ministry. Now, she is associate director of Hispanic Ministry in the diocese.

Sister Ruth Sagastume

Sister Ruth Sagastume grew up in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with her parents and siblings – two half-siblings and three full siblings. When she received the sacraments as a young person, she said she “began to be drawn to the things of God,” though she didn’t feel called to religious life yet.

After studying business administration and human resources in college, fulfilling many other personal goals, and working for the Church in her parish, Sister Ruth still felt empty. While in spiritual direction, she discerned the call to religious life, and the first religious community she visited was the Hermanas Misioneras Siervas del Divino Espíritu.

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“When I entered [Hermanas Misioneras Siervas del Divina Espíritu] I felt the emptiness fade. I felt peace, I felt that I was at home, I felt that Someone embraced me and gave me a warm welcome.”

Sister Ruth Sagastume

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“When I entered that place, I felt the emptiness fade,” Sister Ruth remembered. “I felt peace, I felt that I was at home, I felt that Someone embraced me and gave me a warm welcome. I was really impressed by the simplicity, the joy, and their sisterhood, how they welcomed me.”

When she came home after her visit, Sister Ruth said she couldn’t stop thinking about the Misioneras, and she returned to start formation a year later.

Sister Ruth has since served in Honduras, Cuba, and Colombia before coming to the United States. She has frequently worked with the youth, among other apostolates involving the charismatic renewal, and now she is pastoral associate at Our Lady of Hungary Catholic Church and School in South Bend.

Sister Magaly Jaramillo

Sister Magaly Jaramillo grew up in Cali, Colombia, with her mother and extended family. Her father died when she was young, as did her grandmother.

“In the silence of pain after I lost my grandmother, I lived an experience of solitude,” Sister Magaly said. “I noticed that the Lord had always been calling, but because I was so busy with my own things, I didn’t take the time to pause and ask Him what He wanted or what He had for me.”

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“It wasn’t in my life plan to be a religious sister until there was a moment of the Lord wooing me, and I fell in love … I only understood it when I had the course to say, ‘Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.’”

Sister Magaly Jaramillo

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Initially, Sister Magaly “would chase the sisters away because I didn’t want them to talk to me.” She wanted to continue her studies, she liked to have fun with friends, and she wanted to get married and have a family.

“It wasn’t in my life plan to be a religious sister,” Sister Magaly said, adding, “until there was a moment of the Lord wooing me, and I fell in love. … I knew it would bring me great joy, but I was afraid. I only understood it when I had the courage to say, ‘Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.’”

Sister Magaly was attracted to the Misioneras because of their charism, which as she described it is “joyful and full of praise to the Holy Spirit.”

She has previously served in Colombia, Ecuador, and Italy, in apostolates including working with the youth, teaching catechesis, and visiting the elderly. She is now pastoral associate at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church and School in Goshen.

The ‘Heart of Their Charism’

Father Brian Florin, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish, which has vibrant Hispanic and Anglo communities, began working with Sister Magaly in October. He said she will be present at the church and school and working with Hispanic ministry leaders, as well as “going out to the fringes” to evangelize and provide resources (for instance, to churchgoers who have not been married in the Church).

“At the heart of their charism is precisely this … listening for the sake of leading [people] closer to Christ and the Church,” Father Florin told Today’s Catholic of the Misioneras. “People respond well to that in a world that struggles to listen to each other.”

As Father Florin noted, the sisters have a lot of logistics to work on as well as their ministries, such as getting their driver’s licenses and learning English to interact with both Anglo and Hispanic communities. (Sister María Eugenia has already spent some time in the United States, but Sister Ruth is coming from South America, and Sister Magaly has spent the last couple years learning Italian in her European placement.)

On coming to the United States, the sisters remarked on the warmth of their welcome, as well as the kindness of the people and the presence of several different cultures. They also mentioned how “organized” everything is in the U.S., and they said they are enjoying watching the leaves change color.

Father Florin noted how, while older generations may have more memories of religious sisters, now religious presence is “not just a dream of days past; it’s becoming a reality again in our diocese.”

As he put it, “What a blessing it is to have a bride of Christ present in our midst.”