Sister Christa Parra is living the dream of loving and serving God and God’s beloved people at the U.S./Mexico border.  She is grateful to also be part of an intercongregational intercultural community in El Paso, Texas.  She feels blessed to accompany and serve our brothers and sisters who are migrants in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

She is a third generation Mexican-American from a small border town in Arizona.  She is part of a large wonderful family whom she adores.  She attended Grand Canyon University for undergraduate studies and worked for Wells Fargo Bank.  In 2008, she began her formation journey with the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Her order was founded in 1609 by the Venerable Mary Ward.  

Sister Christa began formation in Phoenix, Arizona at Saints Simon and Jude Convent and moved to Chicago, Illinois for novitiate and temporary vows.  She also attended Catholic Theological Union where she earned a Master of Divinity and a Certificate in Hispanic Theology and Ministry.  She took final vows in 2016 on the Feast Day of St. Ignatius of Loyola at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in South Chicago.  She moved back to Phoenix where she served as a guidance counselor at St. Francis Xavier Jesuit Elementary School for three years.  Then, with the support of her IBVM sisters and the Wheaton Franciscans, who are sponsoring her at the border, she moved to El Paso in 2019.  Her final vow ring is inscribed with the letters AMDG.  Ad marjoram dei gloriam means for the greater glory of God.  She prays that everything she does may glorify God.