Sisters To Note Jubilees

July 20, 2021

Prayer Town Emmanuel— Sister Maria Crucis Koch, DLJC and Sister Magdalena Casas Nava, DLJC, will note Silver Jubilees Saturday, Aug. 14 during a 10:00am Mass celebrated by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek in St. Anthony’s Chapel.

Sister Maria Crucis entered the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in 1993 from Stow, Ohio. Prior to entering the community, she earned a Bachelor’s in Social Work and a Master’s in Library Science. For 20 years, Sister Maria Crucis was part of a lay community which emphasized the renewal of Catholic family life and evangelization.
“The focus was to have Catholic families who are saints, missionaries and the stuff martyrs are made of,” she said.
Before coming to the community, Sister Maria Crucis attended a Come and See Vocation Retreat, where Mother John Marie Stewart, foundress of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ gave a talk in which she said she could only promise the cross to those who entered.
“She told us to tell everyone everywhere the story of the cross,” said Sister Maria Crucis. “It’s a story that spoke to me and Mother John Marie later gave me the name Maria Crucis, which means Mary of the Cross.”
Sister Maria Crucis currently serves as Vicar of the community and is a spiritual care volunteer for BSA Hospice of the Southwest.
“I am so grateful for my DLJC Sisters, family and friends for their support in my call over these 25 years and I pray for God’s blessings for all of them,” she said.

Despite the good example of her parents who took the whole family to Mass each Sunday, Norma Casas Nava’s Faith came alive after she was baptized in the Holy Spirit.
“It made all the difference in the world!,” she said. “I was only two-weeks-old when I was baptized and confirmed. My parents put a high priority on attending Sunday Mass together as a family. This caused my love for God to grow during those early years.”
As a teen, Sister Magdalena’s perspective of religious life was that it didn’t do much good for humanity. She was 20 years old, and a student at a Catholic university when she received prayer for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit that radically changed this perception.
Two years later, while in prayer, Sister Magdalena sensed the Lord saying to her, “How would you like to follow me in the religious life?” Her initial response was hesitation. She talked about this with a priest, who advised her to let the call mature before making it known to others.
In 1992, Sister Magdalena attended a large Charismatic youth conference in Queretaro, Mexico where she met some of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ sisters evangelizing, preaching and leading worship. She entered the community in early 1993 and received the name Sister Magdalena.