On Tuesday, February 14, Valentine’s Day ❤, there was a knock at the door. Two of our poorest little boys–who have nothing, who live in a poor shack, who have no food–presented us with a little chocolate and wished us a Happy Valentine’s Day! We saw the face of God and His unconditional love. The beautiful flowers came to us from another one of our boys as he returned from school to get his only hot meal of the day at the Mother Angela kitchen. Thank you, God, for being here!
This morning, as we entered the kitchen, to our surprise we saw a hummingbird flying around. What a beautiful gift from God!
Hummingbird Meaning… “Appearing out of no where the Hummingbird springs joy in the heart, and there is magic in the air in this moment of fleeting serendipity. Iridescent colors shimmering in the breeze, she pauses mid air to to drink in the sweet nectar that the flower so generously provides her. Hummingbird is a symbol of all things good.”
Hummingbird Symbolism…”The sweet little bird of joy, ever so dainty and beautiful, the Hummingbird symbolizes great courage, determination, flexibility and adaptability. This little beauty is only a few ounces in weight, yet has the courage of a lion. Indeed size is of no consequence. Hummingbird is a totem of fearlessness, and represents lightness of being.”
Do you think God has a message for us?
Jacmel, Haiti
Jacmel, Haiti
New Jersey, USA
New Jersey, USA
Poland
Poland
Haiti’s Comet!
Isn’t GOD magnificent?! 🤗
Today, February 8, is the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, patron saint of human trafficking. As we remembered her feast this morning and thought about the many children that are victims of this terrible crime, we thanked God that we have not experienced that here in our community.
But, today, after our prayer, we had a woman from the community come to see us. She said she had a big problem. Her nephew, Jamsie, who used to come to our food program, was taken by the father to Port au Prince after Christmas. He wanted him to go to school there. He claims he took him to school one day and, when he went to pick him up, he was lost, missing. Seems as though everyone in our area knows about it. We think Jamsie may be a victim of human trafficking here in Haiti. Please pray for this little seven-year-old boy; no one knows where he is or what has happened to him.
Foundation for the new convent.
Activity center and food program area.
Volunteer house.
Mother Angela Clinic pharmacy, office and storage.
Caretaker residence.
These new buildings will be the base of operations for the Ministry of Presence in Haiti and will provide lodging for short-term volunteers. We are conducting a capital campaign to raise funds to cover the costs of this project. Please pray for its success. Blessed Mary Angela, intercede for us.
This passage from scripture is fulfilled daily here in the mission. Everyday people come to our door with ailments, wounds and accidents. After the treatment, there is always a blessing and prayer for healing.
It seems as though everyday more and more children come to us who are so hungry. Our food program keeps growing. We trust in God’s providence to help us respond to this need among us.
“Day by day we challenge ourselves to love more and love better. It is in this way that we are truly Christians, truly sisters and brothers in the Kingdom of God.” Chia-Yang Kao, S.J
Every first Sunday of the month, we go to a special Mass for children preparing for their First Communion in Jacmel. They are kids from the Catholic Schools and those who are in catechetical programs. We bring five of our kids every month to this Mass in the new multi-purpose center. This was built after the earthquake because our Cathedral was destroyed.
The singing is absolutely beautiful. And the children’s participation is precious. Indeed, let the children come to me.
On Saturday, February 4, all the religious in the Diocese gathered to celebrate Consecrated Life. We received our annual invitation, there would be a speaker, Mass and dinner. From our past experiences we knew that the presentations would be in French. We have spent that last 4 years learning Creole, and knew we would not be able to understand everything. So we said we would come for the Mass and dinner. Sr. Janet Lehman, SC the other sister who is from the U.S. who work in the Norte Dame University, Jacmel was also with us. When we arrived before the time when Mass was scheduled, we were told that the talks were in Creole for us. But we did not receive any message that it was changed. This was very humbling for us. We were able to join in the group sharing they had scheduled before the Mass. It was a beautiful experience to be with the religious of the Diocese to celebrate together our call to live a missionary life in community witnessing to Gospel Life.
“I ask you to pray for the priests, sisters, and brothers belonging to contemplative and apostolic Religious Institutes,” Pope Francis said. “Their life dedicated to the Lord, and their charismatic service, will bear abundant fruit for the good of the faithful, and for the evangelizing mission of the Church.”🇻🇦
On Thursday, February 2 we celebrated the Presentation of the Lord and Consecrated Life beginning the day with the Holy Eucharist. Today is the blessed day when Jesus was presented in the Temple by Mary and Joseph. We blessed our candles and carried them to be Christ’s light to the world. It was a simple celebration but holy. At the end of Mass Father gave Sr. Inga a special blessing for her birthday.
Whenever you celebrate your birthday here in Haiti, known as a FET, you have to have some treats to share with others. We decided that we would have BINGO in the afternoon, with prizes and goodies. We thank Sr. Jessica from Beaver Falls, Pa. who gave us boxes of Cracker Jacks that we shared with the kids, soda and candy. The night before Sr. Marilyn prepared, the first time in her life, a blueberry cheesecake, which happens to be Sr. Inga’s favorite.
In the afternoon, with the help of our teens, we prepared our Bingo Hall. We set up prizes and got everything ready to celebrate Sr. Inga’s birthday. We had three others celebrating too, Dr. Wanitha (from our Mother Angela Clinic), Fabiola and John Love. We also had our Mother Angela Clinic team assisting us and Madam Omanie with her daughter Debora. The kids had a wonderful time!
After the Bingo and food, we cleaned up and proceeded upstairs to the house to continue the celebration and have the cake the clinic team gave to Sr. Inga. It was a big feast with cake, ice cream, soda and of course cheesecake.
As we came to the close of this beautiful day, we ended with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Evening Prayer. Thanks be to God for the joy and blessings of this day. 😇🎁
