by Sr. Liana de Jesus, MMM Brazil/ USA 30.09.2026
‘The Secret Life of Everything’ is a thoughtful book that encourages us to pay attention to the world around us and discover the beauty and meaning hidden in everyday things. The authors use simple English, poems, images, and meditations so that everyone can understand the ideas and take time to reflect and pray.
One of the things I like about this book is the sense of peace and quietness it brings to the heart. The images make it easier to meditate and help us focus during prayer. They encourage us to slow down and notice things that we might normally ignore because we are busy with everyday life.
This book reminds me that everything around us has a secret life and a deeper meaning if we take the time to look carefully. Sometimes we move through life without noticing the small and beautiful things around us. However, when we stop and look at love and attention, we can discover something special in ordinary moments.
For me, this is a book I would keep close to my prayer corner. It can help me create a quiet moment in my day when I can step away from distractions, reflect, and pray. I believe it is a useful book for anyone who wants to find more peace and develop a deeper appreciation for the world around them.
Overall, ‘The Secret Life of Everything’ teaches an important lesson: we should slow down, pay attention, and look at life with love. When we do this, we may discover that even ordinary things have something beautiful to reveal.
by Sr. Sheila Devane, MMM Ireland 26.09.2026
School has now started in Ireland after the long summer holidays for the children in the primary schools all over the country. The traffic is heavy again with families and buses ferrying the children whose school bags are bigger, brighter, and heavier than ever! After Mass one day last week the priest came down the aisle and greeted us all; he stopped at a family of young children to enquire if they had got their school bags ready; the two older boys were about to reply when a tiny girl from the next seat rushed forward to say she too had a school bag and was starting school! I remembered. I was once that very small girl. Let me tell you the story.
When I was three years old my twin sister and brother were born. We were living in a small town in the west of Ireland where everyone knew everyone and where the custom of visiting families with newborn babies was common, indeed it was expected. So, we had a lot of visitors saying immediately on arrival: … “We have come to see the twins.” Short visits became longer and there were oohs and aahs as they believed the baby girl was really the boy and the boy with his head full of curls must be the little girl! My father was the social welfare officer in the county, so he was a well-known figure though not a native of the area. Uptown one day he met Sr. Christina, a Sister of Mercy, and one greatly loved by the people. She stopped to enquire about my mother, called May, and her infant twins to which Dad replied immediately: “Well, they seem to be doing very well but our great wee 3-year-old, who was so self-contained up to now, has suddenly alarmed us: she stands at the top of the stairs and screams her head off when visitors arrive. At first, she only did this when they left but now, she is rushing upstairs to roar on their arrival. Poor May is at her wits end. ”
Sr. Christina didn’t seem in the least surprised and offered an immediate solution: “Maurice, we will bring Sheila into the junior infants’ class on Monday, just get her a small schoolbag and write her full name and date of birth on a piece of paper inside and we will give her a very low desk, a few crayons and a couple of pages from a jotter to keep her busy.”
When my older sister was getting her schoolbag out and ready for school, I was thrilled to see a bag being sown for me. Mammy was an excellent seamstress and had to quickly turn a small decorative cloth bag of her own into my school bag by adding two little straps and removing a few coloured buttons. I had a schoolbag; I was going to school.
Off I headed with daddy and my older sister, bag on back and skipping with joy on leaving the house and going to school. Sr. Christina was there at the gate, and she even showed me where to hang my coat on my own special hook beside my sister’s coat. I was then escorted into the most junior class with about ten other children all on their first day at school. I was at least one, if not two, years younger than my new companions.
Nowadays we have child psychologists, family therapists, and special support staff to help parents cope with their young children’s temper tantrums and sibling rivalry. Long ago, back in the 1940s, we were so blessed to have kind people like Sr. Christina & her Sisters of Mercy with life experience, a practical solution, and the freedom to offer the positive help that was most needed – even though the schoolbag was very small, and the 3-year-old schoolgirl herself pretty tiny too!
by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer, MMM USA 23.09.2026
I can still remember the warm embrace of Sr. Salette Mahon as she welcomed me to Ogoja, Cross River State, Nigeria. She was the sister in charge and had a lovely way of making you feel at home. She made sure there was tasty food on the table, and we had many a chat over a cup of tea at home or at the end of a leprosy clinic many miles away. She loved looking after the complaints of the old, discharged leprosy patients and giving them a small stipend and medicines as needed. She also loved to raise hens and knew each one of them. The little chicks were painted pink or purple so the hawks would not get them. One day when Sr. Eileen Morrissey was going over our account books, she saw the strange sight of their colors and could not believe it. The hawks probably thought the same.
Sr. Trinitas Mc Mullen was Matron of the Maternity Hospital which was originally built to deliver babies but eventually turned into a general hospital. Everything was well run and in good order. Sometimes, Sr. Trinitas would ask me to help out with an emergency. Two young women had been seriously burned when a bus collided with a van carrying four barrels of petrol. The petrol entered the bus, and it all exploded into flames. The women had been in Ikom hospital the previous night and were then brought early one Sunday morning to the Maternity Hospital in Ogoja. They were so severely burned that there was no place left to insert an intravenous infusion. I performed cut downs which enabled them to receive the fluids. With many prayers and expert nursing care they survived. Both had extensive skin grafts. One woman, Maggie, needed plastic surgery. She had been a Staff Nurse in the Maternity Hospital. A Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated in the Cathedral, and 10,000 Naira was collected for her to have plastic surgery in Enugu. Her husband was praised for standing by her throughout all her suffering. Her young children had screamed when they first saw her on her arrival home after being away from them for over 6 months. Her face was very distorted. It was an awful tragedy, but the plastic surgery was successful and the family’s love for each other got them through the ordeal. Before very long she was back working in the Maternity Hospital again. I was very thankful to God for all His help and guidance in this difficult situation.
Sr. Chinyere Anyaorah was staffing in the children’s ward. Sr. Agnes Essien was doing outreach clinics for the Maternity Hospital. Sr. Therese Bernadette Mc Aweeney was in charge of the TBL, Tuberculosis and Leprosy Hospital which was across the road from the Maternity Hospital. The earlier Sisters had planted trees. These made a lovely walk or a nice downhill bicycle ride to the TBL Hospital. Sister Doctor Cecily Bourdillon was with me for 3 months before departing to prepare for our Mission in Sudan. Sr. Cecily taught me how to combine business with pleasure, and we visited many of her friends on our way to various leprosy meetings and clinics. One of which was the opening of the VVF, vesical vaginal fistula, Hospital in Itam. I had never seen such splendid and colorful celebrations and felt immensely proud that one of our Sister Doctors, Ann Ward, could initiate such a project, which would restore so many women with damaging birth injuries, to health.
I had been asked to take Sr. Cecily’s place. Why was God asking me to do that? I soon found out. And that is another story.
by Sr. Berna Nakimuli Uganda 19.09.2026
When I first came to Kansira, here in Uganda. I felt peace in my heart. Kansira is a new and growing place, resting beautifully along Lake Kyoga. The land is open, the air is fresh, and the people are welcoming. It is a place with many needs, but also with great hope.
In Kansira, the Medical Missionaries of Mary have built a health centre. For many people, this has changed their story. Before, getting health care was difficult. People had to travel far, and some suffered quietly because the clinics are too far away. Now, healing has come closer to home.
What touches me most is how close the people are to the Sisters. The MMM sisters live among them, share their lives and stories. I love and am inspired by the MMM way of life going to people of different cultures where human need is greatest. Here, the need for health care, education, and transport is very great, but very hopeful.
The health centre is a sign of love. Slowly, it will improve the health standards of the people of Kansira. Mothers will worry less. Children will grow healthier. The elderly will be cared for with love.
The people lovingly call the clinic “London.” Each time I hear this name, I smile. To them, it means something special. “London” is a symbol of hope along the shores of Lake Kyoga.
Kansira is still growing, but something beautiful has begun. With the presence of the MMM sisters and the new health centre, Kansira is becoming a place where sickness meets care, where need meets love, and where hope has truly found a home.
by Nadia Ramoutar, MMM Communications Coordinator Ireland 16.09.2026
For much of our work with the MMMs in community, we are working against what may seem like insurmountable obstacles that are often physical like poverty, violence, political unrest and drought. But there are other levels of challenges that go along with this which are emotional, mental, physical and spiritual too. We have a human capacity for accepting what seems “normal” because it has been this way for a long time. At the heart of the “healing charism” of the MMM work, is the ability to see how things can be made better and create a place for healing to flow in.
This is not as easy as it sounds.
Not for the people who have been down trodden and oppressed by others or life circumstances for a very long time. The mission workers too are challenged to keep going in the tiring face of so many odds. As we got ready for our 2026 MMM Yearbook, we were reading accounts from around the countries were the MMMs are active. Some stories offered some light on dark situations where efforts, care and love really paid off. It is important that we not just create these situations but that we also share these stories.
Hope is a tricky word really as it is has both an up and down side. It speaks to what has yet to be experienced but is already desired. There are times though when it almost seems that hope is all we really have to build upon fuelled by faith in the unseen. As Romans 8:24 – 25 illuminates, the nature of hope is that we don’t yet have it.
“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” – Romans 8:24 – 25
The harder part about this often is the “patiently” part.
When I look at the issue of maternal death in Sub-Saharan Africa for example it accounts for 70 percent of all maternal deaths. Often many women who don’t die are left with life destroying conditions like obstetric fistula which causes a tear in the vaginal wall making like impossible for girls and women due to leakage with urine and faeces. It’s unthinkable for most of us in the Western world that child birth is so risky for women in other parts of the world. It is a massive injustice.
So, we roll up our sleeves and get to work with hope in our hearts that things can be made better for the girls and women in these areas. That the statistic that a woman in Nigeria dies every seven minutes in childbirth can be changed to 8 minutes, 10 minutes and on and on till it is no longer such a horrific commonality. It is important that we use our imaginations to see a better world for all people.
By Sister Liana de Jesus, MMM Brazil/ USA 12.09.2026
Every morning, we receive a new day, and with it, a new piece to find. Some days we find pieces easily. We know it because we feel happy, everything is going well. We grew up in a good family, we studied, we graduated, we are surrounded by love. The puzzle seems to make sense.
For some people, putting the puzzle together looks like magic. Everything fits. The doors open; the path is clear. But for others, life feels like holding a broken piece of glass. From the very beginning to the end, everything is difficult. Nothing fits easily. The piece even hurts in your hands. I have met many of those people on my journey, and I have also felt like that in my own life. When we leave our home, when we start a new mission, we face a big change; the puzzle feels incomplete.
But here is the secret I have learned: The value is not how fast you finish the puzzle. The true value is never giving up.
I have seen people carry broken pieces throughout their whole lives, but they continue. They try every day to be successful, to be recognized, and to be loved. They wake up and say with courage: “I am able to do this puzzle, even if it takes me a long time to do it.”
And that is faith. That is what we learn when we look at the life of Christ — from the manger to the cross, from the cross to the resurrection. His life also had difficult pieces, but love made them whole. So, my dear friends, wherever you are reading this, I want to leave you this message:
Never give up in life and in your dreams.
When one door closes, do not stay looking at the closed door. Look around. God has already opened many windows for you. They are there, waiting for you, full of light. Your puzzle is unique. No one else has your pieces. And in the end, with patience, with faith, and with love, all the pieces will form a beautiful image — the image that God dreamed for you from the beginning.
by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer, MMM USA 05.09.2026
Am I going to get leprosy? Will I die like Damien the Leper? These thoughts passed through my mind as I entered through the gate of ALERT Leprosy training program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in September 1989. I had asked to do a course in Leprosy before going to Nigeria. I would be in charge of Leprosy in our hospital in Ogoja and I felt I did not know enough about it. The pretesting exam showed that was true. I received a score of 22 out of 100, but with God’s help and hard work I received an A in the final exam. I loved learning about this very mysterious disease which was not caused by contact but by inhaling the germs spread by coughing and sneezing. It was similar to tuberculosis but much less infectious. Most people who were exposed could contain it with their immunity. Others could not. The mystery remains. It was an intense nine-week course.
I looked forward to home leave with my mother and family from Dec to March 1st, 1990, the day chosen to go to Nigeria. I had entered that day 34 years ago and this was a new beginning. Little did I know that it would be a frigid winter in Connecticut -10 F – and that I would soon face more than 100-degree change in the weather.
Upon landing in Lagos, I thought I was in an oven. The sequence from Pentecost came to mind. “Thou in toil are comfort sweet, refreshment in the noon day heat, solace in the midst of woe.” Every time I said that verse a cool breeze would come out of nowhere and refreshed me. Sr. Cecily Bourdillon met me at the plane. I was in trouble because I had only a one-way ticket. My ticket was bought in Tanzania to travel to Ethiopia, Ireland, New York, and Nigeria. Sr. Cecily’s charming smile saved the day, and I was allowed to enter. It was around midnight and we got lost going to Mafoluku. At that time, we stayed in the present-day Dominican Priests’ house until a new house was built for us. We ran the clinic for the Dominican Fathers.
I remember the kindness of Srs. Dervilla O’Donnell and Rita Higgins who were spending a few days there from Irele. One gave me stamps to write home and the other turned on the air conditioner in the bedroom. Sr. Giovanni McCormack had traveled from Ogoja to take me there. She had taken time out from the busy physical therapy department in Ogoja. I appreciated all the newness and adventure but still had the feeling of being in an oven for the next 2 weeks. My previous experience of living in Africa had found me at elevations of four thousand feet. Being at sea level was another story -which I shall continue.
by Sr. Liana de Jesus, MMM Brazil/ USA 02.09.2026
Sometimes the most meaningful lessons rise from the simplest discoveries.
I wasn’t searching for anything special when I wandered along the beach, enjoying the warm sand beneath my feet. Then I noticed an old, hollow log resting in the sand. Weathered by years of sun and salt, it seemed empty and forgotten.
But beside it sat a small orange brick, and behind it stood a young pine tree, green and alive. To most people, it was just driftwood. To my inner child, it was a doorway.
What if that hollow log wasn’t empty? What if it was the home of a rabbit, the front step marked by that brick, the pine tree in a forest guarding everything inside? Maybe a pirate treasure was buried beneath, or a secret grotto shaped by the sea.
Adults stop seeing possibilities. We see a log, not the stories it could hold.
That day, I closed my eyes and let my imagination pull me into the woods. I heard branches snap under my feet as I ran from a bear. And then, in the middle of the trees, I found safety in a hollow log—the very same one. It became a place of refuge and hope.
It reminded me that even when we feel hollow or disconnected from our roots, we can still provide shelter for someone else.
I wanted to bring that log home, but I left it there, hoping the next child or weary soul might see it differently.
As adults, we often lose the wonders we once had. That day reminded me to look beyond appearances, to rediscover my imagination, and ask the important question:
hat is the hollow place in my life, and how can I transform it into something filled with hope?
by Nadia Ramoutar, MMM Communications Coordinator Ireland 29.08.2026
It was always an exciting time for me as a child. The summer would start to wind down, August would arrive and with it new pencils, and other school supplies. I was that kind of geeky child (and adult) who loved new writing tools and notebooks to head back to learn something new. But as adults our attitude to learning something new is often less notable.
The reality is though that there are huge benefits to us all committing to be lifelong learners. In recent times, we have learned that our brain is capable of neuroplasticity which refers to the brain’s ability to change and adapt through life by modifying its structure, functions or neural pathways according to the Harvard Review.
As adults spending our time learning a new skill, solving a puzzle or getting new information can be a huge benefit to us in several meaningful ways. Using our brain keeps it sharp and helps support memory as we learn. It boosts our health too in encouraging us to be more adaptable and resilient. Along with cognitive development benefits there are social and person ones too. Being a lifelong learner gives us more pride and confidence in ourselves too.
Being a lifelong learner also prevents us from becoming dull. Now who doesn’t want that? If there is something we wanted to learn to do we should not limit ourselves from learning because of age. It makes sense that as we feel better about ourselves and we have more interest in our life then other people also have more interest in us too. It’s partly our job to stay interesting as we age.
There is just so much to learn in our world. The beauty of technology too is that learning anything is just a few clicks away. Courses, videos, podcasts are all just there and you can find anything at all that you might be interested in knowing. One of my go to favourites though is still books. I love to delve into a book and explore something new. Going to a new place is a wonderful exploration too. A library, a gallery, a museum or a park or even forest can be a teaching moment too.
Many years ago, I pledged to learn something new every day. I hope to continue to do so for the rest of my life. Is there something more you could do to invest in your cognitive wellbeing? The science backs up that the effort is most definitely worth the effort. And you my friend, are also worth it. So sharpen your pencil and let’s go back to school! The school of life is the greatest teacher of all.
by Sr. Sheila Campbell, MMM Ireland 26.08.2026
On Wednesday, August 12th, we had a partial eclipse of the sun here in Ireland. I heard that in some parts of Spain, Greenland and Iceland it was a total eclipse. Why was this so exciting? I suppose it is because it is so rare. Also, it goes against our ingrained sense of time – darkness is night and light is the day!
When I first became aware of the pending eclipse, my instinct was to give thanks that I would be around to see this. After all, the next one will be in 2090, when I can safely bet that I will be enjoying it in God’s presence! An Anglican bishop I heard talking on the radio also reminded me. Yes, we are all caught up in the science of it all. But science is the “how” question. As thinking people, we should also be addressing the “why” question. Why do the sun, moon and stars exist anyway? Who started off this whole thing. I think it was Saint Thomas Aquinas who called God ‘the First Mover.’
God’s plans for the universe are beyond our small, limited understanding. The more we probe the “how”, the more we realize there is ever more to learn. To ask the “why” question, for me asks a different response. I need to slow down, and open myself to awe, wonder, and yes, gratitude that there is a great Planner looking after everything.
Yes, I enjoyed the eclipse on the 12th, but spent the whole period just saying “thank you” to a God who set the whole thing in motion. One other thing – our seagulls that we were promised would quieten down, squawked loudly through the whole thing!
