When Dr. Patty Jiménez worked as a consultant with the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) to help discern how the Church can better respond to the growing Hispanic/Latino presence in the U.S., she noticed that there were people falling through the cracks.
“I call them spiritual seekers,” says Dr. Jiménez. “People who don’t tend to identify with any particular spiritual practice. No one was really thinking, How do we engage them? I saw it as peripheral part of the Ministry that no one was tending to.
I clung to this thought as I joined a group that championed the Franciscan charism and wondered, How do we share Franciscan values with people who don’t identify as Catholic? That question has guided my journey toward figuring out new ways of passing on the charism and values of the Franciscan tradition.”
During the pandemic, Dr. Jiménez enrolled in a Spiritual Directions Certification Program, where she reconnected with her previous spiritual director Sister Michelle L’Allier of the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, MN.
“Michelle has been my spiritual director several times in my life and has been fantastic because she has a good understanding of Latino culture,” shares Dr. Jiménez. “Her guidance led me to think about who I wanted to serve, and I started thinking a lot about our spiritual seekers—and how I’d never found a Latina spiritual director that was U.S. based or was born here or raised here. I decided to focus on being what I needed.”
Dr. Jiménez’s focus helped to crystallize what other Latinos needed, too—a scrutiny-free community in which to find acceptance and accompaniment.
“Let’s say you weren’t born here, but were raised here,” observes Dr. Jiménez. “You came to the U.S. from Mexico at a very young age, so you’re very Americanized. When you go home to your family in Mexico, they’re like, ‘You’re American, you’re not Mexican!’ And when you’re around pastoral leaders, there’s almost like a dismissiveness, like you’re not fully Latina because you’re raised in the U.S.”
Unfortunately, the scrutiny doesn’t usually end there.
“And in the American culture, you’re not fully American,” continues Dr. Jiménez.
“So, we’re kind of in this ‘space.’ We have to almost generate our own hybrid identity that challenges the status quo in saying, ‘Yeah, we’re still Latinos. We’re just different than you, and our spirituality is going to be different because we have a devotion, say, to Our Lady of Guadalupe, but we also practice yoga or Taizé—things our grandmothers would never have practiced.’”
With that in mind, Dr. Jiménez created a space with Franciscan roots that’s welcoming to all: Recetas—the first community of U.S.-born, raised Latinas challenging the status quo.
“Communities look different now,” says Dr. Jiménez. “It’s very interesting to provide a way of connecting with people when they’re not finding connection elsewhere. I think that’s really important, especially when it comes to wellness, people having a community that they can connect to is really important.”
“Our community is very diverse,” she continues. “We don’t have just Catholics; we have people who were raised Catholic but left for whatever reason; we have Muslim Latinas who follow us, and lots of non-Latinos and Latino men who follow us and love our content. Many of our community members are curious about other spiritual traditions.”
Satisfying those curiosities proves that Recetas’ Franciscan roots run strong and deep.
“Like the Franciscans, we respect the human dignity of the person,” asserts Dr. Jiménez. “We respect and value each individual for who they are. We encourage dialogue and conversation and allow people to express their spirituality in their own tradition. We don’t discriminate; we accompany.”
This respect for human dignity is powerfully reflected in the Recetas Fair Trade Shop, which sells products made by survivors of human trafficking.
“On social media, our product information comes with some education on human trafficking and fair trade,” shares Dr. Jiménez. “This is important because, by focusing on our products being fair trade, we can make an impact at a global level and in people’s lives. It’s a way of building up and affirming cultures—and supporting artisans from communities your family may be from.”
“When we buy fair trade, we’re also ensuring that people don’t need to leave their countries,” she continues. “One of the things that we’ve recently been focusing on is support for indigenous communities in Latin America, because it’s also about a legacy of handmade products—hundreds of years of making pottery and jewelry in very unique ways that aren’t done in other places. So, part of it is supporting that legacy that belongs to us.”
Recetas also partnered with Starfish project to offer a Fair Trade Tau wooden cross hand-carved by survivors of human trafficking.
To learn more about Recetas, a community for Latina wellness and spirituality that welcomes everyone, visit https://recetonas.com/
To learn more about supporting global artisans and survivors of human trafficking at the Recetas Fair Trade Shop “Style with a Heart”, visit https://shop.recetonas.com/