Welcome
to the Mass of Christian Burial for our dear Sister Mary Sponsa Beltran. We
thank you all for joining us here today. On behalf of Sister Marilisa, the
Congrational Leadership Team, and all the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters, I
extend our heartfelt sympathy to the entire Beltran family, to all of her
Liberian friends, to her American friends, and to the Sisters in her group,
those who shared mission life with her or ministered with her in hospitals.
When
I think of S. Sponsa two hymns come to mind. The first is “Abba Father” by
Carey Landry.
Abba, Abba, Father
You are the Potter
We are the clay
The work of your hands.
Sponsa was truly
the work of His hands.
God
began this work in 1925 when Rosarie Beltran was
born to Joseph and Helen Beltran in Wilkes-Barre, PA. With her 3 brothers and 4
sisters she was raised in a very religious and spiritual home. The family
produced an archbishop, a priest and a religious sister. Her brothers, sisters,
and many of their family members came to Liberia at one time or another to
support and work with Sponsa, except for Frank who often provided the financial
support. We would hear, “Frank won a big case. I got chunked
good.” (Chunked--Liberian for “I received a wonderful donation.”)
Mold us, Mold us and fashion us
Into the image of Jesus Your Son.
She
entered the Bernardine Franciscan Sister at the
age of 29, which at that time was a late vocation. After her novitiate she
taught first and second grade in Buffalo, NY and Dickson City. For the next two
years she was a medical secretary in St. Joseph Hospital, in Hazleton. It was
probable then that her supervisors realized her capabilities and sent her to
Newport News, VA to study nursing. She received her RN and did nursing in SD,
and PA. God was just getting started with molding her. When she was 48 she was
sent to Misericordia in Dallas, PA to get her BA in nursing. Brilliant is not
the word to describe Sponsa. How many of you ever received a grade of 100 on a
College transcript? Sponsa received two, 100’s: Orthopedic Nursing and Surgical
Nursing; a 99 in Ear, Nose and Throat Nursing; as well as two, 98’s, nothing
below 95.
Recognizing
her talent, she was moved from student nurse to Supervisor in the Medical,
Surgical and Women’s Unite of St. Joseph Hospital in Hazleton. She continued to
do all levels of nursing in PA and SD, but the Lord was not finished molding
yet.
The second hymn
that comes to mind when remembering Sponsa is:
“Wherever You Go”
by Weston Priory.
Wherever You go, I
will go
Wherever You live, I will live…
In
1970 she answered the call to Liberia. During the next 10 years she ministered
to the people of Cape
Palmas.
Necessity and ability caused her to function more like a doctor rather than a
nurse. The priest and the people of Grand Cess will tell you how S. Sponsa and
Theresa Hicks, an SMA lay volunteer, nursed the people and stopped the Cholera
epidemic there, when they were actually told not to go to Grand Cess. Sponsa
always felt that she had to be obedient to God rather than others. We
experienced that again during the war.
Eventually her eyesight became so impaired
that she
had to come home, which was probably one of the most difficult things she ever
did. For 9 years she ministered to her sisters in St. Joseph Villa, but her
heart was still in Liberia. So she convinced another younger sister who was a
CNA to agree to go to the Cape Palmas clinic with Sponsa going along as her
teacher and assistant. Well we all know that was not going to work. It lasted
about a week. Sponsa took over the clinic and the other sister cheerfully went
on to another ministry. Even though she was considered legally blind she
trained the young people who worked with her to be her eyes.
God
had molded her, and had given Sponsa the gift of healing. She could hold a baby
and tell what was wrong with it. She could put her hand on the back of your
neck and tell you exactly what your body temperature was. During this phase of
her stay she started the much needed Rehab for the children with special needs.
She not only helped hundreds of children but she taught the
people that a challenged person can live a fruitful and meaningful life.
The
civil war came to Cape Palmas and one day among her patients she found the
leader of the rebel group in Cape Palmas called the “Sino Devil.” She treated
him as she would any other patient that came and he got better. After that,
whenever we wanted a pass to travel we would go to him and tell him that S.
Sponsa sent us – no problem getting a pass.
Eventually all the Sisters were required
to come back
to the States. While they were trying to discern their future in Liberia,
Sponsa decided that God wanted her back in Cape. She returned and ministered in
Cape and then in San Pedro, Ivory Coast. Eventually, she moved to Monrovia with
the children from the Rehab. She found a place for them to stay and established
a school for them outside of war-torn Monrovia.
Finally,
in 2007 God and the Congregation called her home to the States. She came home
and became a resident in St. Joseph Villa where she continued her intense
prayer ministry. In all, Sponsa spent 31 years ministering in Liberia.
(A
beautiful testimony to that ministry is number of Liberians here today.)
Wherever you go I
will go. Your people will be my people.
Sponsa
permitted the Lord to mold and to fashion her. She went where she felt the Lord
was calling her and she made the Liberian people her people. Rest in peace dear
Sponsa.
