Maria Martinez Reflects On The Blessings Of Our Parish And School Community

Maria Martinez has been a parishioner at St. Isidore her entire life — but her faith really took off a few years ago when she decided to become more involved with the ministries and activities offered at our parish and school! Today, Maria and her husband, Ismael “Milo” Ortega, are thankful for the many ways the Lord has worked in the life of their family following their commitment to be more active disciples of Christ.

For Maria and Milo, it all began when they transferred their son, Ismael, from the public school system to St. Isidore School. Ismael had been repeatedly bullied during his firstgrade year, both in the classroom and on the playground. He began taking comfort in wearing a rosary under his clothes both day and night. When a teacher took the rosary away from him one day — not understanding the deep meaning it held for him — Maria decided that enough was enough. She and her husband made the decision to enroll their son in our parish school. Their daughter, Mayva, began kindergarten at St. Isidore School.

As Ismael and Mayva now start their fifth and third-grade years, respectively, the family couldn’t be happier to be a part of our school community.

“The kids just love it,” Maria says. “They’re getting all their sacraments, so that’s good. And I felt really comfortable with the dynamic of it being a campus where all the kids work together, and the older kids go with them to Mass — they call it the buddy system. Tracy [Blankenship] in the office is just amazing with all the kids, and the other parents are all great and get along. We just love the school.”

As the family became more and more connected with our school — and Maria began spending more time in our adoration chapel — a greater involvement in parish life followed. Maria and Milo began helping with FOCCUS marriage prep classes and Pre-Cana retreat weekends. Maria also helped with wedding rehearsals, and son Ismael has trained to become an altar server for weddings. Maria and Milo have found that staying active in their faith and helping others celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony has strengthened their own union.

“Our marriage is definitely stronger after the FOCCUS classes, doing the wedding rehearsals, and helping with things at the school together,” Maria says. “We’re not perfect, but we work together, and it has helped us grow together as a couple. We do things as a team. I can tell him that I feel like I need to pray right now, and I know he understands. I feel blessed that he can also come to me and ask me to pray for him.”

Last year, Maria was honored and humbled to be nominated to our Parish Council. She has loved getting to know all of the wonderful people on the council and learning about the many ministries that work together to make St. Isidore such a vibrant and welcoming parish community.

Maria also feels like she learns from her children, who come home from St. Isidore School telling her everything they have learned about the Catholic faith each day. As someone who struggled with many questions about life as an adolescent, she is thankful that her son and daughter are growing up with a firm foundation in the faith and a knowledge of God’s love for them.

Of course, life for all young families today is certainly busy. Things became even more hectic for Maria when Ismael and Mayva transferred to our parish school. She had to juggle her schedule quite a bit in order to get them to school on time while keeping up with her job as a school bus driver. However, the rewards of making the family’s faith life a top priority have been great.

“You’re never going to just have the time,” Maria says. “It’s like when you need to start a diet or make any big change in your life, and you keep saying, ‘tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,’ Well, tomorrow is today — you just have to jump in! And if you get your kids involved as much as yourself, you’re not missing any time together. I hope a lot more families will get involved. There are so many great families at St. Isidore.”

Reflecting on the past few years, Maria feels a deep sense of gratitude for the spiritual growth her family has experienced by becoming more engaged in the life of our parish and school community.

“I’ve had so many blessings,” she says. “I feel that my husband and I are very close, and our relationship with our kids is very close and growing. I just feel blessed to be as close to God as I’ve been able to be. I can’t put it into words, but I know that every day with my kids is a blessing and every day my husband comes home is a blessing. Every day we start our day with Jesus, and every night we go to bed and end our day with Jesus.”