by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer MMM U.S.A. 20.07.2022
Poetry has, until recently, been a mysterious garden where words blossomed like wildflowers. They looked lovely but what was their meaning? How come the ending words did not rhyme but carried me to a different world?
It all began three years ago when I met Damien in the hall of the residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor. He was seeing the place where his mother, Alice Sullivan, was going to reside. “You should meet her,” quipped Mother Maureen, as she met me walking past Damien. Alice had gone to Nigeria in the 1970’s to 1990’s to study Anthropology in the University of Lagos. It was an excellent opportunity to make friends and welcome Alice into the residence. Mother Maureen, a Little Sister of the Poor, knew we would have a lot in common through our love for Nigeria and the people.
by Sr. Chinyene Lumenze MMM England 18.07.2022
A young man once accompanied his dad to see a friend called James. When dad and son arrived at James’ home, they exchanged greetings. James stooped to the boy’s level and said, “Hello, I’m James” The little boy responded with a “hello, I am Marcus” Then James said, I am a constructor. And to the boy, he asked, “What do you do?”. The little boy said, “I go to school.” James gave him a warm smile and said, “Do that well,” and the little boy said, “Sure.”
The above story reveals the power of education, evidenced in confidence expressed by the little boy. Education, they say, is power. Educate a child, and you have educated a nation. Education for me is not limited to classroom learning and being taught but to how the knowledge is applied. A formal education without good family values that spring from informal education in the family may not be powerful.
by Sr. Prisca Ovat MMM Kenya 16.07.2022
Bees, as many of us would have become aware, are numbered among great pollinators of over 75% of global leading crops. Many MMMs and friends would recall the sweet honey often given away by the MMM sisters in Makiungu. They valued bee farming and, as a result, many become beneficiaries. Little wonder our African ancestors, in their illiteracy, and even among the classroom-uneducated of our time, are in the fight for bee preservation.
Now, listen to this story.
by Sr. Sheila Campbell MMM Ireland 14.07.2022
The other day I was in the car as a passenger, commenting to the driver about the other cars as we bowled along the motorway. “Did you know”, I said, “That cars from the North of Ireland have the letters X,Y or Z in their number plates?” Some one gave me that information a few years ago. . And then I said, “That is a useless bit of information for you”.
by Sr. Noeleen Mooney, MMM Ireland 12.07.2022
My favourite piece from our MMM Constitutions is:
“Wherever you are,
whatever you do,
let there be in your heart
a space for others to be,
so that, unafraid,
they may experience themselves as loved
and so be healed”
Over the years I have had several experiences of migration (meaning moving from one place to settle in another) and of transition. This is the life of a missionary and it has enabled me to look at the experiences and to what it has done to me as a person.
by Sr. Cecily Bourdillon MMM Ireland 10.07.2022
A few days ago, I received a message from a member of staff of Kasina Health Centre in Malawi telling me of the death of our mutual friend, Yohane. May he rest in peace. The message added that his mother thanked God for answereing her prayer. Yohane’s mother had asked God to take Yohane before calling herself. She knew that she was the only person who could or would care for him.
by Sr. Kerisfon Clement Ekanem MMM Republic of Benin 08.07.2022
I had a visit from one of our young women thinking about joining MMM, Fidelia Lawin. She and her younger sister visited me in School. I welcomed them and presented them with water and some snacks. She commented, “In School as in the Community”. I sought to know what her comment meant.
by, Sr. Jo Anne Kelly MMM Ireland 06.07.2022
I like to do crosswords. A few days ago a clue I had was “to set on fire” and the answer that fitted was “enkindle”. I love that word enkindle. I learnt it first from the prayer we say to the Holy Spirit. “Enkindle in us the Fire of your Love”. It is a beautiful prayer. What would this world be like if we all tried to enkindle within us the Fire of God’s Love?
Everybody knows that love is the only thing that can make a world where everyone can be happy. It is the one commandment we have been given – to love. And yet our world is torn by violence, greed, abuse, injustice and every kind of selfish behavior.
by Sr. Sheila Campbell MMM Ireland 04.07.2022
Have you ever watched a toddler learning to walk? You know the way they lift up their arms to be raised up and, while the parent is holding both little arms, the child will venture one foot forward, and then hesitate. These first steps are rightly celebrated by the parents. They are the first steps towards independence and growing up.
By Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer MMM U.S.A. 02.07.2022
As a child, I was always afraid of these Dragon Flies. Would they bite me? And now, at our Poetry Class, we studied them in full detail. The teacher, rushed to her phone to show us one. Most of us had never seen one, or else we needed a refresher in memory. We were all old enough to remember Lauren Becall, but had forgotten her descriptive dress of turquoise dots.
Could the head of an insect be that grotesque? I could just imagine the beady eyes rotating everywhere. How could it miss me? But I never got bitten.
The most amazing line was that the dragon fly was God’s Justice. God took a long time in the making of it. How could this be when the whole earth, sky and sea took place in a few days? Various theories were put forth, but none seemed satisfactory.
