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Traveling the Airwaves By Sr. Nancy Michael Usselmann, FSP "Buenos dias. Les invito muy cordialmente a participar de nuestro programa diario: Gotas de Optimismo*," echoes daily through the halls of the Daughters of St. Paul’s recording studio in Boston as the enthusiastic voice of Sr. Maria Ruth travels the airwaves on Spanish radio broadcasts. Frequent phone calls and letters gratefully express the joy and comfort experienced through the programs. One radio announcer among many? No, this announcer has the message of messages—Jesus! Born in Bogota, Colombia, Sr. Maria Ruth Reyes is coordinator of the Spanish radio apostolate for the Daughters of St. Paul in the United States. Before coming to the U.S., Sr. Ruth worked in Colombia for more than twenty years. Beginning there as an accountant in the community, Sr. Ruth was transferred to San Pablo Films, which at that time produced 16 millimeter films. Eventually, she received a license as a radio and television announcer. The Sisters in Colombia operated the diocesan radio station in Las Lajas, where they broadcasted daily from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sr. Ruth says: "The radio is the most powerful media we have—it reaches more people than we can ever go to ourselves. But it is also a challenge," she adds, "because we have to re-nounce ourselves in radio. I have to present the message in its purity, no matter how I feel...." The message. It characterizes her entire life. It is the person of Jesus, who calls her to reach out and "save what is lost" (Lk 19:10). As a lively six-year-old, Cecilia (Sr. Ruth’s name before religious profession) went to Tolima, the "musical city of Colombia," where she studied classical dance at the conservatory. There her love for dancing grew as well as her love for God. When she was a teenager, she saw some nuns in a church. In spite of her passion for dancing, she began to think about this "special" life. Her mother encouraged her to pray about it, but her father did not want to hear anything about nuns. The more he said that, however, the more she thought of it! When Cecilia was 17, two Daughters of St. Paul visited the Reyes’s household with The Family magazine. After the Sisters’ visit—and several visits by Cecilia to their convent—she realized that God was calling her to take care of the spiritually and morally poor by evangelization with the means of social communication. The Sisters welcomed her joyfully. "From the moment I entered, I knew I was where the Lord had called me...and this has always made me happy," exclaims Sr. Ruth. In 1987, Sr. Ruth came to the United States to learn video production. Her last project was a video recording of Bishop Sean O’Mally speaking about prayer. She told the Bishop that she was to return to Colombia soon. "Do you think the Lord wants something more of you?" he asked. "You’ll find many more Latino people in the U.S. than in Colombia." Still dazed by his question, soon after she received a request from the Director of the Spanish Apostolate for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He pleaded with Sr. Ruth to begin the Spanish Media Apostolate in the U.S. She began to wonder, "Should I stay here?" "What the Lord was asking of me was a tremendous thing," she said. But Sr. Ruth knew better than to resist the force of Divine Love. "How could I leave the U.S. when I knew I could do something for the Latinos here?" She opened her heart totally in prayer, and it seemed clear that the Lord was calling her to remain in the U.S. for a while longer. When Mother General’s reply to her request came, she was a bit startled. Mother General gave her permission for a permanent transfer to the U.S. province. Sr. Ruth has not regretted her decision to remain for one moment. "After seven years," she says, "this is my home. Now I understand what my profession name, Ruth, means—to leave my country to work in a foreign land (just like Ruth in the Bible). Now this land is my home."
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