Sister Celia I. Gandia Pabon

Jan 21, 2025

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In the mountains of Puerto Rico, the people live simple, humble, hardworking lives.
Sister Celia’s family traces its origins to them. However, when her parents began a
family, they desired more education and greater opportunities for their children and
themselves. They moved to Ponce where Celia Ivelisse Gandia Pabón was born in
1959.

Her family lived in the parish of Santa Teresita where she attended mass every
Sunday with her grandmother who was a strong influence in her life. It was at school
that young Celia met the Sisters of St. Joseph. She loved them and was deeply
impressed by how they related to the people and how their presence enlivened the
community. Looking more deeply, she recognized the motivation came from their
spiritual depth. She was drawn to them.

After her elementary school graduation, Celia attended high school at San Conrado
which was also staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph. By her senior year, Celia was
considering whether she was being led to join the Sisters. She knew she wanted to
spend her life in service to others. To gain greater clarity she went on retreat. Celia
made her decision and inquired about how to enter or become a Sister of St. Joseph.
She was told she was too young and needed to pursue her college education. In her
disappointment, she researched other communities and applied to a Spanish
Community which accepted her. After a year and a half, Celia realized she didn’t fit
in well there. The Mother Superior told her she was too free a spirit and she should
join the Sisters of St. Joseph!

Celia returned home and went back to college to complete her Bachelor’s degree in
elementary education. She became involved in parish work and pursued higher
education. At the Catholic University, Celia earned an MA in religious education.
During this time, she still felt a calling to religious life. She wanted to return the
blessings and enrichment she had received during her time in the parish and parish
school, so she applied for a job at Santa Teresita.

At Santa Teresita she met Sister Eileen Barden. The respect with which she was
received as she shared her thoughts with Sister impressed her. Sister Eileen
became her sponsor and made all the necessary connections for her and in 1988,
Celia entered the Sisters of St. Joseph.

In those years, the Sisters of St. Joseph had a novitiate program housed at Santa
Mónica convent in Puerto Rico. Sister Celia was there during her years of postulancy
and novitiate. During that time, she taught in Santa Mónica school. For the following years, Sister Celia lived in Maria Reina Convent in San Juan and worked at Colegio Corazón de María. In 1992, she moved to Lajas where she taught at Academia San Luis and worked in the parish.

In 1995, it was decided that Sister Celia should have a larger experience with the
congregation in the United States. She came for a one-year experience and did not
leave until eleven years later!

During that time, she lived at My Mother’s House – St. Rita’s Convent in Long Island
City and taught part time at St Francis of Assisi School in Brooklyn. Travelling to
Brooklyn everyday expanded her experiences as she met people of all ethnic groups
and religions. For the first time she experienced what it was like to live in a
nonhomogeneous environment.

Sister Celia lived with Sister Tesa Fitzgerald who in 1992 incorporated Hour
Children, a program which provided services to incarcerated and formerly
incarcerated women and their children. Sister Celia became part of the community
who staffed My Mother’s House and Hour Children. She was also involved in prison
ministry with the opportunity to listen to women and hear their stories. Different
programs were developed to serve the needs of incarcerated women and their
families: Children Center where mothers and children could have visit in a more
nurture environment, Parenting Programs, Advocacy Programs, Weekly visits,
among others. Soon it became obvious that the women in Taconic Correctional
Facilities and Hour Children could benefit from a Sister who was a social worker to
assist them. Sister Celia went to Fordham University and earned an MSW in social
work.

At Bedford Hills, she met a woman from Jamaica named Johana who was facing
deportation. Johana had a year-old daughter named Paris. As part of her ministry,
Sister Celia took Paris to visit her mother every Thursday. Ultimately, Johana was
not allowed to stay and was deported; however, Immigration would not deal with the
child and she remained at My Mother’s House. In the process of getting legal papers
for Paris it was necessary for her to have a legal guardian. Sister Celia asked the
congregation for permission and became Paris’ legal guardian.

In 2006, Sister Celia returned to Puerto Rico and brought five-year-old Paris with
her. She lived and worked in Lajas for three years before moving to Ponce. In 2010,
Sister Celia started working at Centros Sor Isolina Ferré which has transformed the
lives of thousands of Puerto Ricans and has helped build strong communities
through service and education, helping families gain self-sufficiency through training,
vocational and micro entrepreneurship. She became an advocate for the Seniors
and helped give them a meaningful life. She then became the Coordinator of youth
and family services, offering medical, educational and recreational services and
treating the family as a whole system.

As Sisters of Saint Joseph, we are called to read the needs of the times which ask
us sometimes to take on responsibilities which become our mission. In 2016, Sister
Celia was asked to consider the possibility of directing the program where she had
been for the past six years. After a period of hesitance and prayer, she accepted
feeling it was where she was called to be and desiring to integrate the CSJ charism
into the work. Realizing the challenges and opportunities that would be part of the
position, Sister Celia became the Director of “Faro de Esperanza” Lighthouse of
Hope program. She understood that she was led by the Spirit to take on this new
mission, one that she foresaw as a dark and painful time in her life. She was clear
that the program needed to be restructured and the work began. In 2019, Centros
Sor Isolina Ferré began a major cultural organizational restructuring in order to

become economically sustainable and able to continue the legacy of it founder Sor
Isolina Ferré, MSBT.

Sister Celia is in her fifteenth year at Centros Sor Isolina Ferré. It was what she had
expected, a dark and painful time with tremendous growth in all aspects of life as
well as being productive. In retrospect, it all was worth it! Sister Celia is still the
Director and is now collaborating in building structures for continuity.

Paris is now 24 years old and has an associate degree as a veterinarian technician.
She is planning to earn a BA and may someday return to New York.
Sister Celia has trusted the guidance of the Spirit in her life. She has tried to be open
to where she was led and do what she was called to do. She believes firmly that we
are one \united in love with God and our dear neighbor! It remains the foundation of
her faith and her vocation as a Sister of St. Joseph to try to follow wherever the Spirit leads.

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