Parish remembers ‘unshakable faith’ of Sister Teresa Reyes

At World Youth Day (WYD) 2002 in Toronto, Malbri Reyes earned the nickname “the ambassador.”

Then a youth leader at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Passaic, Reyes enjoyed talking with a veritable sea of young people from around the world at WYD, recalled her fellow pilgrims from Passaic.

“Malbri was on fire meeting everyone. She told people about her family, where she came from, and her parish, which she said was also her family,” said Lori DiGaetano, St. Anthony’s youth ministry coordinator. She attended WYD with Reyes and 50 other Passaic faithful.

Reyes again took up the role of ambassador for Christ in St. Anthony’s youth ministry and later as a Franciscan Sister T.O.R. of Penance of the Sorrow­ful Mother, taking the name Sister Teresa Reyes. She became St. Anthony’s first vocation as a religious sister. Today, the parish, which helped nurture her vocation, mourns Sister Teresa, who died on Feb. 20 after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 38.

“Sister Teresa had a short but well-lived life,” said DiGaetano, who stayed in touch with her over the years. St. Anthony’s, she said, prayed for Sister Teresa during her illness. “She had a wonderful smile. She was welcoming. She exuded love for God and his people. She loved being a nun.”

At St. Anthony’s, Sister Teresa was a peer minister and Antioch team leader. After earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Rutgers University in 2007, she returned to serve the parish’s former school.

Before she entered the Fran­ciscans in 2011, St. Anthony’s and the Knights of Columbus Perez Council 262 raised money to pay off her debts and provide funds for additional expenses. Father Jose Zuniga, St. Anthony’s parochial vicar, flew out to Ohio to represent the parish at her funeral Monday.

“I joined St. Anthony’s in 2000 after I went on an Antioch retreat where I met some in the parish’s youth ministry,” Sister Teresa told The Beacon previously. “I was struck by their zeal and sense of community as brothers and sisters in Christ, so I decided to join them. Being in youth ministry was a great time for me to be nourished and challenged in my faith.”

Born in Passaic, Sister Teresa was raised with two older brothers in a home filled with faith and pride in their Dominican heritage. At Rutgers, she got involved in the Catholic Center, run by the Brotherhood of Hope. She missioned in Tanzania and the Dominican Republic. She also was inspired in her vocation by reading the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux.

In 2011, Sister Teresa entered the Franciscans. Upon becoming a novice, she took the name Sister Teresa after St. Therese of Lisieux. She made her final vows in 2019.

“I want to know our Lord and his love. I want to make a response of love to he who loves me with all the love there is to be united to Him,” Sister Teresa previously told The Beacon.

Sister Teresa’s assignments included service to the poor of downtown Steu­benville, Ohio, and of Nicaragua and Romania on mission trips. She also worked in campus ministry at the Fran­ciscan University of Steubenville and in Austria. In her religious community in Toronto, Ohio, she served in vocations, liturgy, and as the sister servant of postulants.

“Sister Teresa was known for her single-hearted love for the Lord, her love of prayer, and the exemplary way in which she lived the community’s way of life,” the obituary written by her religious order states. “She kept her sisters entertained with her excellent acting skills in community skits and her knack for spontaneously breaking out into song at random moments.”

Her older brother, Pablo, called Sister Teresa “a happy, forward-looking person.”

“My sister loved life. Even when she was sick, she had an unshakable faith in God. We are blessed that she passed peacefully. Now she is with the Lord,” Pablo said.