By R. DANIEL CAVAZOS
The Valley Catholic

HARLINGEN — In 2018, living in St. Louis and serving her spiritual calling, Sister Elizabeth Sjoberg was given a new assignment.
     “They asked me to go to the tip of Texas,” recalled Sister Sjoberg, who serves her ministry with the Daughters of Charity. “I was excited and nervous. I didn’t know how I would be received.”
     Elizabeth Sjoberg grew up in a military family, living in many places before settling in Virginia during her high school years. She knew speaking Spanish would be a must in Brownsville, the city where she was headed, and worried the language classes taken in high school and college would not suffice in bilingual South Texas. She came to know quickly that whatever shortcomings she may have in speaking Spanish are overshadowed by how local residents see her ministry and service to God.
     “I was overwhelmed by the welcome I received,” Sister Sjoberg said of her work at Proyecto Juan Diego in Brownsville. “I’ve been blown away by the loving culture here, the faith and care of the people in this community. It inspires me.”

Religious Foundation
     Sister Sjoberg grew up in a family of faith, going to Mass weekly and being part of youth groups and retreats.
     It was a religious foundation that would spring her forward to being part of campus ministry and participating in service projects while in college.
During those undergraduate college years, she was part of a group that visited the Daughters of Charity in Baltimore. Sjoberg was inspired and intrigued by
the spirit of service as shown by the sisters.

     She stayed in contact with the sisters and would later be invited to spend a week with them in Baltimore. It was a look from the inside as to what it is like to be a Daughter of Charity.
     “I felt compelled to try it out,” she said. The weekly visit would leave a lasting impact and change her life. Going into that visit in Baltimore, she “had a sense of God calling me, but I wasn’t sure.”
     The second visit to Baltimore began to answer those questions.
     “Whoa, this could be my life,” Sister Sjoberg recalled thinking. “It was exciting, scary, the idea that God would have something so impactful for me. I couldn’t deny it.”
     She would eventually make that lifelong commitment in going through the stages and training in becoming a Daughter of Charity. Mission work in Maryland provided a continuation of her initial formation. In this spiritual journey, a sister makes her vows for the first time between five and seven years. This was the case for Sister Sjoberg. As a sister, she served in campus ministry, guiding college students in those formative years of their spiritual and religious awakenings. Sister Sjoberg also took the time to earn a master’s degree in social work from DePaul University in Chicago.
     Her religious and academic trainings would later serve as a basis for Sister Sjoberg to work with youths in St. Louis. She was involved in counseling and service management for youths who had become wards of the state after leaving troubled homes. It was in St. Louis when the call came to head south.

RGV Ministry
     Proyecto Juan Diego is based in Cameron Park in Brownsville and serves as home base for Sister Sjoberg’s ministry in the Rio Grande Valley.

     She involved in a variety of programs and initiatives for the Proyecto as the director of fundraising, marketing, family and educational services. The Proyecto is a multi-service agency. Sister Sjoberg is focused, in part, on counseling and guidance programs in parenting, youth counseling, financial literacy, and preparing residents to go through the process in applying for U.S. citizenship. Her administrative duties include writing grant proposals in seeking funding for programs.
     Through it all, Sister Sjoberg has been impressed by spirituality and faith of the residents she serves. “It’s part of the ethos here,” she said of the role of faith in the Valley. “God is living and moving in people’s lives here. It’s very special and inspiring to see.”
     Sister Sjoberg has noted the reverence parishioners here have for those called to serve God. The high regard and respect shown for priests and sisters, she said, is ``an indication of their love of faith for God.’’
     “It’s not about me,” she continued. “It’s an expression of people’s faith. I see it as a call for me to be worthy of that respect.”