by Sr. Liana de Jesus Brazil/ Kenya 31.12.2021
During this past year we have experienced many situations that have influenced our lives in one way or the other. Events around the world, living pos-Covid19, has challenged our creativity and has helped us survive in many countries. Our compassion, solidarity, care and charity are values revived in many places, trying to release the pain and to bring hope to many people. During this Christmas season, the light which stands out around the shepherds and the light that Jesus is, fills our hearts. My hope is that this light which is Jesus may enlighten our minds so that we may truly direct our lives with the hope that our call holds for this Christmas.
by Sr. Sheila Campbell, MMM Ireland/ Brazil 30.12.2021
For several years I lived in Salvador, a seaside city in the Northeast of Brazil in Bahia State. New Year was a special time for us as it was a time to mix and mingle with people of other religious traditions.
New Year’s Eve begins in the usual Catholic tradition with the Vigil Mass for Mary, Mother of God. But it also celebrates the World Day of Peace so everyone comes to the church dressed in white. The liturgy is enthusiastic, often singing, dancing and waving banners promoting peace. New Year greetings are passed around among the parishioners, the final blessing given and then…..
Then a whole new celebration began!
by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer, MMM USA 29.12.2021
Having celebrated Christmas in Ireland, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, how can I think of something special peculiar to the United States. There is a basic longing in our hearts for the coming of Jesus. Mother Mary knew this through and through and lived that longing for many years. It was part of her, and she radiated that Presence to all of us who knew her and those who followed through her letters and the stories we keep alive in our hearts.
by Sr. Jo Anne Kelly, MMM Ireland 28.12.2021
We were two MMM communities in Eleta, Nigeria. The novices and I were in one and, across the road, were the professed sisters who took care of St. Mary’s Hospital. Between the two, and on our side of the road, was the parish church and Christmas was for all of us.
by Sr. Genevieve van Waesberghe MMM Tanzania 27.12.2021
As a missionary, I owe a lot to the Women of Africa. They have opened my heart to recognize in day-to-day life, God, our Emmanuel who is always coming in often humble and unexpected ways, especially where there is great suffering and poverty.
As we journey to Christmas, three memories rise in my mind. It all happened in East and Central Africa.
One night, I was called to the maternity ward. A woman brought by her traditional attendant was having difficulty in giving birth. Women friends were anxiously waiting outside. Eventually the baby was born, all was well. When the women heard this good news, they burst into joyful ululations to let the world know!
by Nancy Hinds, MMM Associate, U.S.A. 26.12. 2021
Way back in 1981, I had been given the gift to care for terminally ill patients in my home. Each one had a life’s story. Some were leaving the world too soon with young family grieving. Others were sharing a lifetime of memories with a spouse; others were “alone”, but finding a caring family with the care being given.
by Sr. Cecily Bourdillon MMM Zimbabwe/Ireland 25.12.2021
Celebrating Christmas on a farm in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) remains for me a very special childhood memory. Christmas, in the middle of Southern Africa, came when the hot, rainy season was converting the dry, brown landscape to a lush green.
We were blessed to have Midnight Mass celebrated in our large living room by a Jesuit priest friend. A few neighbours might join us. Missed hours of sleep were made up in the morning – Christmas Day!
by Nadia Ramoutar, MMM Communications Coordinator Ireland 24.12.2021
There are gifts that life brings us in the most unexpected ways.
When I applied for the role of the Communications Coordinator for the Medical Missionaries of Mary, the deadline for application was 22nd December, 2020. I recall thinking how close this was to Christmas and how interesting it was that the MMM Sisters would still be working. Many places would have just waited until January to review applications.
This was my first insight into the MMM culture. The Sisters of MMM are always working and bringing good into the world in some way whether through prayer, practice or planning.
I was fortunate to not only get an interview but to get hired by the MMMs. I had no idea what the journey ahead of me would bring, but I felt I would be equipped for it with twenty years of experience in communication campaigns and a Ph.D. in Communications. What I didn’t really know at the time would be not just how much I might give, but how much I would get in return. I am not just talking about a salary either. Working with the MMM Sisters in Ireland, the Americas, East and Central Africa and West Africa has expanded my world and made me a better person. I consider working for them to be a divine gift.
by Eilín Teeling AMMM Ireland 24.12.2021
We spend four weeks preparing for Christ’s coming, a time of hope, to find joy and a glimmer of light in our lives. Advent ends after dusk, before Evening Prayer, on Christmas Eve. Jesus who is born, is the Word made flesh, coming home to each of us, bringing the Good News of God’s ever-faithful love. Christ’s light dispels darkness.
For me, Advent ends after Christmas Vigil Mass, when our family gathers to light a Christmas candle, placing it in a window. The lit candle shows the way for Mary and Joseph, and the child born in a stable. This old Irish tradition also showed the weary stranger a light and apparently showed priests a safe home in penal times. I learnt it as a child and continue it with my husband and children.
by Sr. Mary Doonan MMM Ireland 23.12.2021
In 1980 I spent my first Christmas In Africa, the memories of which will never leave me. I was at St. John’s Hospital, Mzuzu in the North of Malawi. It was a 200 -bed hospital and Nurse Training School attached.
