God calls us by what we love, says Sister Mary Teresa after Yuma Marathon

By Carissa Krautscheid

Early on a Saturday morning in February, runners gathered for the annual Yuma Marathon, trying to keep warm in the 39-degree pre-dawn. Among them was a familiar face who stood out in the crowd for the veil that identified her as a Catholic nun. Sister Mary Teresa Bettag has loved participating in the Yuma Marathon for the past three years as a way to raise funds for Immaculate Conception Parish in Yuma, AZ. This year, $795 was raised to support the parish.

Despite the cold, Sr. Mary Teresa’s fellow Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity came to see her off at the starting line. Several of her students from Yuma Catholic High School volunteer at the various aid stations along the course. “It’s always a pick-me-up for me to see them,” said Sr. Mary Teresa. “Last year, one of the parishioners was at every single mile marker. She would drive ahead of me and meet me there to cheer. The support from the parish is amazing!”

Sr. Mary Teresa wears her veil while running marathons or coaching track and cross country, “so people certainly know that I am a Sister out there!” she said. “It opens the door to lots of conversations. I’m always happy to have conversations or to listen, and I think this is the gift of our wearing a habit: it opens the door to those conversations so much more easily.”

When people see Sr. Mary Teresa out there running in her veil, the most popular responses are, ‘It’s a nun on a run!’ and ‘Are you a real nun?’ “Nobody thinks a real nun would do this,” she laughed. “But I like to tell them, ‘Sisters are people too!’ I’m happy to show them that following God doesn’t mean giving up what you love or becoming someone different, it means doing what you love and becoming most yourself!”

For Sr. Mary Teresa Bettag this is praying, even while running!

The first tug on Sr. Mary Teresa’s heart came in third grade. “I felt called to be a Sister,” she said, “but I had no idea what that was – I didn’t meet my first Sister until I was a freshman in high school. While I knew the call was from God (since it absolutely could not have come from me), I also was not super gung-ho about it because I had no idea what it meant. Luckily, God knows better than we do. I had my most profound experience of God on Valentine’s Day my senior year of college when I felt unmistakably called and invited to this community. I couldn’t believe God could be that clear with us, but I also was afraid because I knew I had to do it.”

Sr. Mary Teresa entered the convent directly after college, on her 22nd birthday in August 2015. Still in formation, this is her fifth year of temporary vows. Sr. Mary Teresa is scheduled to profess final vows on July 16th of this summer! The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity are based in Wisconsin, but can be found throughout the United States where they are involved in a variety of apostolates including teaching, nursing, and parish ministry.

“I have never regretted it,” said Sr. Mary Teresa. “I love the time we have built into our day and our lives for prayer.” When students ask her what the most important decisions she has ever made was, they usually guess it was becoming a Sister. “No,” she says, to their surprise. “It was the decision to pray. If we believe that nothing and no one can change our lives the way God can, then nothing can change our lives the way prayer does. As a Sister, I love the chance we have for prayer.

“I also love that the ordinary things I do take on added significance because I do them with the public witness of our habit. It leads to some fabulous (and fascinating) conversations. It makes sharing and witnessing faith that much easier, and it opens the door to great conversations with my students who witness the regular gas station encounters on the way to and from our track meets.”

Sr. Mary Teresa was sent to sunny Yuma where she’s found that “the people here are warmer than the climate,” she said. “I mean that with all my heart: I could stay in Yuma forever because the people are just so wonderful.”

At Yuma Catholic High School, Sr. Mary Teresa is a freshmen theology teacher, public speaking instructor, co-campus minister, head coach of the cross-country team, and the distance coach for the track and field team. “I know that I was sent here to teach,” she said, “but to be honest, I really feel that it is during extracurricular involvement that the best conversations happen. Teaching opens a door to that, to be sure, because there’s already a relationship established. But I really, really love coaching in the fall and spring and helping as a ball girl for soccer and a scoreboard operator for basketball in the winter, and attending as many of the school events as I can. That’s one of the many things I love about God – that He calls us by what we love. I’m just doing what I love, that’s all.”

Growing up with seven siblings, Sr. Mary Teresa always loved sports and playing games outside. “But,” she admits, “I’ve never really been all that athletic.” When all the students at her grade school were required to participate in a track meet, a parent volunteer noticed that Sr. Mary Teresa wasn’t winded after the warm-up laps around the city block. “Mrs. Bayliss remains the best and most influential coach I’ve ever had. She encouraged me to run the 800 meter (the furthest distance in the meet). Nobody wanted to do it because of how far it was (two whole laps!), but she was so positive and encouraging that she made me want to try it. Ever since then, running has been a part of my life – I ran in high school and in college. When we made it to nationals for the first time in college – the first person I wanted to get in touch with was that grade school coach. I think of her often as I coach now. She taught me that faith is more important than the physical training – her faith in me that I could do it inspired me to not only believe it, but to actually want it. I’ve loved running ever since.

“One of the things that athletics teaches us is not only faith in God, but God’s faith in us! I really believe that God never calls us to be average, mediocre, or ordinary – God calls us to greatness. Much like a coach who sees higher potential in the athlete, it can be scary because it demands more effort and more sacrifice to draw that out, but it’s also so wonderful when somebody believes in you like that. I’ve had coaches like that in my life, and it really makes me look differently at God’s faith in me and God’s call to me.

“Saint Paul often uses the analogy of running when speaking of faith. I think that sports are a great bridge to faith – especially in our culture which cares so much about athletics and fitness, I really believe that this can be a doorway to faith or at least opening the conversation, because many of the same attitudes and actions are required for both – discipline, commitment, goals, etc.

“In addition, I think that sports require a great deal of self-discipline and sacrifice, and running definitely requires suffering – none of that is easy or desirable in itself. But we do it for the sake of improvement, getting a better time, or winning a race or a game. I’ve found that it helps me in those hard moments to offer that sacrifice to the Lord so that it’s not wasted, or vain – just for my own sake. I think of my students who I know are in need, family members, people who ask us for prayers. Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of athletics is that it teaches us that we are always a part of something greater – a team: what I do is never for me alone.”

While Sr. Mary Teresa is running a 26-mile marathon, she makes good use of the time. “I usually pray my rosary for the first part of the race – until about mile 6.5,” she said, “then I offer each of the next 20 miles for someone, and I run that mile with them. I think about them and their needs, and I talk to the Lord about them, and I find that those miles just kind of tick off. To be honest, I am somewhat strategic and put the biggest intentions at the hardest miles, so that I really have strength to draw on when I need it most. I was in a lot of pain for the last 10 miles or so – but it never got to the point that I didn’t think I could go on. I think that having something greater than myself to run for is huge. That’s why I like doing this one for our parish, Immaculate Conception, and also why I like having intentions for each mile.”

“I was pretty happy with the run this year,” said Sr. Mary Teresa. “I always try to remember that I am not running this for myself, but I do still tend to put a lot of pressure on, because I don’t want to give less than my best. Fortunately – and probably thanks to the prayers of so many – I was able to finish in 3:42 – so 8:29 splits. I was really pleased with the effort… but I was also happy to be done!”

If you weren’t able to support Sr. Mary Teresa’s marathon fundraiser for Immaculate Conception Parish, never fear! Coming up on March 4, 2023, is the 10th annual 5K Run with the Nuns, that will support Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Yuma. Whether or not you actually enjoy running, try out Sr. Mary Teresa’s approach: offer up the effort and discomfort as prayer for those who are also suffering. Besides, this race will only be three miles, after which you can say like St. Paul, “I have competed well. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith!” (2 Timothy 4:7).