Today at 5 p.m., in every Diocese in Haiti, the Bishop celebrated Mass for Pope Francis. It was a joy to be a part of the Universal Church. Since the cathedral was destroyed by the earthquake, we met in the temporary place of worship. This is located in the middle of the public market.
This morning we read a reflection from ‘The Fire of Christ’s Love’ by Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap. The title was “Recognizing Christ in the Poor.” He writes: “Jesus of Nazareth identified himself with the poor. He who pronounced the words ‘This is my body’ over the bread said the very same word about the poor. He said so when, talking of what had been done or not done for those who are hungry, naked, in prison, or strangers, he solemnly declared, ‘You did it to me’ and ‘You did not do it for me.’ Mt 25: 31-46. It is as if he said, ‘that ragged beggar in need of something to eat, that poor wretch with hands outstretched, was me…it was me!…This is my body.'” We had the opportunity this afternoon to meet Christ in the many people we met. Gael took us to the poor elderly she knew. We visited poor homes and saw how clean they are kept, with only a chair, a table and a bed in one room, with a curtain as a door. Yes, this is where we saw and met the Body of Christ. We distributed the hygiene kits we prepared yesterday. People were very grateful for the aspirin and children’s vitamins we included in the small package. We thank the Father for being able to see his Son today in his first love–the poor.
During these last days of Lent, we want to visit the poorest area in Jacmel. Today we prepared hygiene kits that we will distribute tomorrow as we visit homes.
This evening after prayers, we walked the streets and visited our neighbors. We came home with five people who we met along the way, and we shared “chokola cho ak bon bon” (hot chocolate and animal crackers) with them. We bring all of our visitors first to chapel, and they really love it.
For the first time, we shopped as the people here do; we bought the whole bag of rice and beans, as well as macaroni. We will have enough to share with our neighbors. 😉
Last September, Maria de Lurdes Castanheira met our Sister Mary Timothy Ruszala (NJ) in the bank and asked her how to get a statue of Our Lady of Fatima to Haiti. Sister Timothy was surprised and said: “It just so happens that we have two sisters beginning a mission there.” That is when Maria told her about the organization to which she belongs, promoting devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. It is their hope that a statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be sent to every country in the world. In December, when we were preparing the container to be sent to Haiti, Our Lady of Fatima was ready to go. She traveled in the container and made it to Jacmel. Last night we presented the statue to Bishop Launay Saturne who was delighted to receive this beautiful image of Our Lady of Fatima from Portugal.
Now is the season for mangos and, on the property where the Bishop has his home, there are 27 different kinds of mango. We understand that there are 155 different kinds of mangos in Haiti. We went home with two bags full of mangos. Right away we tried both kinds of mangos we had received.
Today we had the grace of our monthly retreat day in our new home. Everyday we have a number of visitors that come during the day so we needed to put a note on the door saying we are having a day of prayer. It was a much needed time of solitude. After our Evening Prayer we shared our reflections of the day and noticed that the Lord spoke to us in similar ways. Now that we have a home to live in it is time now for us to walk the streets, visit the markets and be among the people.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Is. 43:19
We are inspired and encouraged by our new Pope Francis to be among the people. Through him the Lord is doing something new. His simplicity, humility and compassion reflects God’s closeness to His people. We thank God for our new Pope.
We have a Pope! Today, with the whole Universal Church, we waited for the white smoke to tell us we have a new Pope. At first we could not connect on the internet to watch it live. Finally, we were able to watch the announcement of the new Pope with the help of a friend from Poland who shared the transmission from her TV through FaceTime. We were happy to hear that Pope Francis I is from the Americas and was humble enough to ask us first to pray a blessing over him before he gave us his first apostolic blessing.
On Monday, March 12, we were blest to have Mass celebrated by Fr. Kontan in our chapel, praying for the Cardinals as they gathered for the Conclave in Rome. It was a joyous moment of prayer for the universal Church, as we prayed with those who come to visit us. They brought such beauty to the Mass with their singing in Creole.
On Friday at about 3:00 p.m., we heard music and prayers through a loud speaker. We looked out from our balcony and saw people gathering with chairs in front of our house. We learned that the Stations of the Cross would take place at 4:00 p.m. People came from everywhere. The Stations lasted about two hours with singing, prayers and reflections. This was our first Friday during Lent here in Jacmel. We now know that every Friday during Lent the people gather for outdoor Stations in different parts of the town. This weekly gathering leads up to Good Friday when everyone gathers in the center of town for outdoor Stations of the Cross with the Bishop.
Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti 