Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti

On Sunday, March 12, the Catechumens from St. James Parish participated in the First Scrutiny. During the First Scrutiny (third Sunday of Lent), the Elect have hands laid upon them and are prayed over, that they may reject everything in their lives that is contrary to Christ.

God of power,
you sent your Son to be our Savior.
Grant that these catechumens,
who, like the woman of Samaria, thirst for living water, may turn to the Lord as they hear his word and acknowledge the sins and weaknesses that weigh them down.
Protect them from vain reliance on self and defend them from the power of Satan.
Free them from the spirit of deceit, so that, admitting the wrong they have done, they may attain purity of heart and advance on the way to salvation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

This was the call to the Confirmation candidate–to go make a difference. On Wednesday, March 8, Sisters Inga and Marilyn met with the Confirmation class and invited them to assist in making small sheep for the 3rd grade class that was preparing for their First Reconciliation. The Confirmation class took on the challenge as they remembered their own First Reconciliation and what it would mean to bring others to theirs.

Being in a Trilingual Parish Community is an experience of the Holy Spirit’s power and the workings of the Spirit in the faith community.

Preparing models and samples for flocks of sheep to be made by our Confirmation Candidates as part of the service projects for those preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time…

Empowering those Called by Name and Chosen to be doers of the Word…

On the first Sunday of Lent in every faith community, when there are catechumens, there is the Rite of Sending and Rite of Election. This morning at the 9:30 a.m. family Mass, we had the Rite of Sending. Sister Inga is accompanying the candidates on this journey through Lent to the Easter Vigil.

At 4:00 p.m. the Catechumens with their sponsors met at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Miami. Catechumens from all over the Archdiocese were gathering. This was the second group to meet. The first group had met earlier in the day for the Rite of Election with Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

We have begun our Lenten journey of relationship and hope. In our Felician faith community we gather daily for prayer, adoration, solitude and mission.

We gather with the faith community to walk the journey together with Jesus and the CROSS.

The weekend of February 17-19, St. James had its annual family festival. It included a lot of food and rides. We worked the whole weekend in the raffle and information booth. We also walked around a lot and evangelized! It was blessed weekend and successful because the weather was good and loads of people attended. This was a real community builder! This was also a first for us after 10 years in Jacmel.

Continuing our mission to be about the spiritual renewal of the world and our call to prayer and adoration, we gather daily in our chapel. Already we have welcomed people of the faith community at St. James to join us. Simple, yet holy!

On Wednesday evening, February 15, Sister Inga met with the parents of the young people involved in the Faith Formation at St. James. She reminded everyone that parents are the first teachers of the faith. We gather to walk together to be “doers of the Word.”

On Monday January 30, Sisters Inga and Marilyn began a new journey to North Miami, Florida. The area is know as “Little Haiti.” “We were welcomed to St. James Parish by the pastor, Monsignor Chanel Jeanty. We do not know for how long, but we do know that it will be until we can return to Jacmel to the Felician Mission. We are already meeting and participating in activities with our Haitian brothers and sisters. The convent we live in is called Our Lady of Perpetual Help.”

On Monday, February 6, a pilgrimage statue of Our Lady of the Cape arrived at the parish Church. Mass and a candlelight procession filled the evening as many Haitians came to honor Our Lady.