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Embraced by the People

A small group of Sisters and Associates traveled to Guatemala in July to experience the Guatemalan culture and to participate in the ministry of health and education through the Daniel Comboni Community Clinic in Mixco where S. Sarah Mulligan lives and ministers. A few of their reflections follow.

S. Noreen Ellison

It was only one week, but I am still unpacking my gifts from Guatemala. Some are briefly described here.

The Gift of Love

Six of us, two Associates and four Sisters of Charity, arrived July 21, 2011, for our mission week with our S. Sarah Mulligan. Only Associate Patrice Harty was versatile in Spanish. The others, Associate Jamie Kelly, Sisters Patricia Hill, Mary Ann Humbert, Donna Steffen and me, had many opportunities to try out our thimble-full of Spanish as S. Sarah introduced us to the many Guatemalans with whom she works in the Daniel Comboni Community Clinic and in the hilly barrios where most of the clinic’s clients live.

Both S. Sarah and Patrice were translators for us in all the different situations and conversations, but more than anything, we experienced the common language of love, giving and receiving. It was the genuine Charism of Charity in living flesh and blood!

The Gift of Seeing

“Where one of us is making a difference, we all are there.” We, visitors, were instantly welcomed and loved by people because we were friends of S. Sarah. The good works that S. Sarah and her associates have initiated have made a huge difference in improving the lives of thousands of people. We conversed with dozens of young mothers with children, ages 3 and under, to learn how the health, nutrition and soy programs have changed their families. Widows, formerly malnourished and having no family support, have found nourishment for body, mind and spirit through the clinic’s programs. The six of us who visited came to “see” and we experienced the gift in abundance.

The Gift of Community

Our simple living situation didn’t afford much privacy or personal space, but I experienced the seven of us knowing how to manage, without complaint, the meal preparation and clean-up, the quiet need to rest and reflect, and the consideration and concern expressed for one another. It was only one week, but we just knew how to “be” with one another. 

The Gift of Prayer

We needed to pray! As we boarded the van each morning for the daunting drive through the congested streets filled with buses, bikes and rushing humanity, we prayed. Each day, we called on all the saints and angels to accompany us, and everyone else, too. As a group, we never did discuss when we would pray, or who would lead. It just happened. After the breakfast things were put away, we all seemed to gather quietly in the living room. Every day, someone different led us into prayer and reflection on Scripture in the light of what we experienced. Each one of us took a turn, but we had never planned or talked about it. We just knew how to pray together!

The Gift of Laughter

Our inadequacy in not speaking Spanish afforded us many situations in which we needed the virtues of humility and simplicity. Trying to make ourselves understood among the people when we were on our own without translators afforded us a lot of fun and hearty laughter. The evening we had to return the rented van, there was teeming rain. The rental agreement was that the van would be washed, inside and out, before returning it. The seven of us stood in the pouring rain under a small tarp while a young employee of the filling station washed the van with a rag and a bucket. It was rush hour and dozens of people-laden buses had smiling faces hanging out the windows to see the “gringas” getting the car washed in a downpour!

The Gift of Tears

Our hearts were sometimes breaking to learn the stories, the situations, and the suffering of so many of our brothers and sisters. The day we did some tedious work in the new recycling program that S. Sarah has begun, I noticed the shirt that Patrice was wearing. It read: “Life is Good.” As we wiped our brows after only one day of labor, I told Patrice that there should be a second line, “Life is also hard.” 

For millions living in the kind of poverty we saw, there is desperation that causes many other problems. Domestic violence is one of those problems, even in Guatemala. One of the widows in the Clinic Nutrition Program had only a stub on one arm. Her husband, in a fit of anger, tried to cut off both her hands, and succeeded with just one. She appeared at the clinic bloodied and beaten, but one hand was saved. She was full of faith and prayed a beautiful blessing over us as we finished our session with the widows who came for their monthly education and nutrition commodities.

We met dozens of women, and some men, who have never been to school because there was no school or opportunity. Through S. Sarah’s collaborative ways, now, many who have labored all week spend Saturdays in classrooms learning to read and write with young certified teachers from S. Sarah’s programs and Mission Partners Guatemala. Some of our work in the clinic building was cleaning and preparing the new rooms to become a sewing classroom so women and men can learn to use sewing machines and become tailors or start their own small businesses with their creations. Employment is a huge need in Guatemala. Already, through the program services of the clinic, 26 people have the dignity and blessing of paid employment.

Our week together in Mixco, Guatemala, was a gift of witnessing our Sisters of Charity mission in profound and tangible ways. Community, prayer and financial support make it possible for Sisters of Charity and Associates to share this vital mission.

Associate Patrice Harty

This trip was different from others in that we were a group of Sisters and Associates exclusively. Each morning we prayed and reflected together, using the daily readings and sharing how our experiences with the people in Guatemala resonated and intertwined with what we heard in the Scriptures. For me this time was sacred.

One thing about our week in Guatemala that stands out for me is the incredible faith of the women that we met – both the elderly and the young mothers. We attended meetings of both groups and also one of the literacy classes in which women are learning to read and write. At some point during the meeting there is prayer. I am so lucky to speak Spanish because I was able to understand firsthand what they were saying. Each woman that prayed was so grateful to God for all the blessings that He has given them. They also were grateful that we were visiting and learning about the work that S. Sarah is doing there. Their sincere gratitude to God and simple faith are so very beautiful, especially in the face of very difficult life challenges and great poverty. Their lives are rich in a way that many people never know; it is not about things but rather relationships and the love they have for one another. We felt very loved and welcomed by the women and men that we met.

One experience that I will never forget happened on my way home. My seatmates were a 5-year-old boy, Ronnie, and his mother, Yanira, who were returning to the U.S. from a visit in San Pedro, Guatemala. Yanira’s husband was deported in June after living here for 12 years. I don’t know all the details, and I didn’t think it was my place to ask a lot of questions. What I do know is the tears that I saw and the pain that they both are feeling because of the separation. It may be years before they are reunited. Meeting them puts a face on immigration that all the words, rules and rhetoric can’t begin to capture.

S. Patricia Hill

S. Sarah and I entered the Sisters of Charity Community on the same day. During our years of formation, I never knew she had so many gifts for ministry. She is loved by “her people” in Guatemala, who embraced us – because any friend of S. Sarah’s is a friend of theirs!

We had a beautiful community experience with S. Sarah as we prayed together, shared simple meals, and reflected on what we saw and heard. I was inspired by the people’s faith and desire for education.

S. Mary Ann Humbert

The second day we were in Guatemala I jotted the words ‘embraced by the people’ in my journal. I was so taken back by the hugs and kisses we were greeted with by the people we met. One morning after a women’s group session, a young woman came up to me, embraced me, and began praying a blessing in my ear. I didn’t need to translate the words to know the prolonged and profound blessing she offered me. I was moved to tears. I was repeatedly humbled by the faith and gratitude to God we heard so frequently expressed by those living in such poverty, illness, unemployment and lack of resources. I pray to have such gratitude for the luxuries I take for granted.

Our group morning prayer and reflection together helped me keep the Gospel spirit in my mind and heart – open to the gifts, insights and challenges God offered through each person and experience.

Associate Jamie Kelly

I had a life-changing experience on my journey to Guatemala. We were given a small notebook to write down our thoughts and feelings after each day. On the first day I wrote: “I don’t know why I am here. It just doesn’t feel right traveling to another country without my family. However, I know in my heart, by the end of the week, God will answer my question.”

It wasn’t until I returned home, a few days later, I had a “whisper” say to me “pray the joyful mysteries.” It was then that I received my answer!

I have a booklet written by St. Louis De Montfort called “The Secret of the Rosary. How to Offer Each Decade.” First Decade: The Incarnation: Grace of this mystery come down into my soul and make it truly humble.

The grace of humility was given to me through my encounters with all of the Guatemalans I met. I witnessed so much poverty, and yet, the people were filled with so much faith and love for God and for our Holy Mother. They were radiant with faith. Although they did not have worldly possessions they had more than me. I was humbled by that. I was humbled by all of the work that S. Sarah Mulligan has done and all that has been accomplished there to educate, especially women, so they can have a life without so much poverty.

Second Decade: The Visitation: Grace of this mystery come down into my soul and make it charitable to my neighbor.

Charity, to be with the Sisters of Charity was such a gift. We prayed together, ate together, laughed together, gave witness together. Knowing only S. Noreen, I felt we all truly connected to each other. It was an incredible spiritual experience. I realized in that week that this was my family. I see a huge need to be charitable to third-world countries. I learned that here in the U.S. poverty is not anything like the poverty in Guatemala. A good number of people do not even have their basic needs of food and water being met on a daily basis.

Third Decade: The Blessed Nativity: Grace of this mystery come down into my soul and give me a detachment from the things of this world, love of poverty and of the poor.

Our faith teaches us in ways that do not make sense: when you give, you receive; when you die, you will be born; when you are poor, you are rich, etc. The people I met taught me that in all that I have, I have nothing unless I have God in my heart. They really were rich in spirit. The love they had for their children, families and God was incredible. They were grateful people. Some didn’t have access to water but twice a month, some lived in the barrios, they lived amongst the animals and trash, but they thanked God for what they had. They were so grateful to S. Sarah for the opportunity to learn. Some women were entering the primary grades at 20 years old; yet, they were smiling!

Fourth Decade: Thy Presentation: Grace of this mystery give me the gift of wisdom and purity of heart and body.

I was given the opportunity to learn about a third-world country firsthand. I saw how pure those souls were, the innocence of living a simple but very hard life.

Fifth Decade: The Finding in the Temple: Grace of this mystery come down into my soul and convert us and help us amend our lives and to convert all sinners.

I was converted on this mission trip. Unlike our country, there are no government programs to help those less fortunate. They don’t have food stamps, health programs, Medicare or Medicaid. If they can’t make something or grow something or work for something, they have nothing. They have to live with what they have. They don’t have recycling or sanitation. They do not have clean drinking water, or for that matter, water to clean with or use the bathroom. They are not given an education. The only roof over their head is made of sheet steel; the floors are hardened rock. It struck me one day when it rained, and we were wet and somewhat cold, that I could go into S. Sarah’s house and take a warm shower and get into dry clothes. The people I met had to stay in their damp, wet homes.

Yes, my soul was converted to have a passion to serve those who wanted to serve me! To appreciate each day for what I have, and to go forward wanting to somehow make a difference in the way others might see the world.

 

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