by Sr. Therese McDonough MMM             U.S.A.               30.11.2022     
Mazinha was lying on the floor of a mud-brick house in the village of Paraiso, located in the interior of Bahia, northeast Brazil. The sun was going down, there was less noise from the children in the street and the coolness of the mud walls, after a long, hot day set the tone for a few precious moments to be with Mazinha.

I first met her many years ago when I came to Paraiso from Sao Paulo with two other Medical Missionaries of Mary, Sr. Protagia Peter Slaa from Tanzania, and Sr. Ursula Cott from Ireland. We lived among the people and began our journey in pastoral ministry and health education. Our ministries went beyond the local village to the other thirty rural communities of our parish.

Read more: Paraiso

by Eilin Teeling AMMM            Ireland          28.11.2022

An ordinary laundry task led me to ponder on my blessings.  I had taken a bundle of dry laundry out of my tumble dryer and started to sort out the items for folding and ironing, leaving the task of matching socks for my husband and I until last.  I picked up one sock at a time, looking for its match: orange with orange, blue with blue.  I stopped, looked at them, and was struck by awareness, amazed that I had taken this task for granted.

Read more: Socks and Blessings

by Sr. Lucia Lynch MMM           Ireland           26.11.2022

It was like any other morning in the Outpatients with patients sitting around awaiting treatment. Nurse Nyirenda came and gave a short health talk. As she finished, she glanced around to notice a young man sitting there with a look of great pain on his face. It was then she saw a pool of blood at his feet. Immediately she escorted him to the dressing room, just in time before he fainted. On examination, the man had a deep wound on his leg which was haemorrhaging a lot. As the nurse rendered first aid and prepared for suturing the wound, the man told her his story.

Read more: Encounter with a Hippo

by Sr. Joanne Bierl MMM           U.S.A.               24.11.2022

The Thanksgiving holiday has always been the most important to me even as a child. It is built on a simple concept of giving thanks...less commercial than most holidays. There are many different opinions about the origin of the day (1863) and it is true that the early colonists in the United States did not generally appreciate and honor the indigenous American Indian cultures. In fact, we have yet to deal with the way early Americans decimated these cultures. It is also true to say that those cultures already contained ways of giving thanks and celebrating bounty. Regardless, the concept of a day set aside to give thanks is one that has meaning for many up to 2022.

Read more: Thanksgiving

by Sr. Sheila Campbell   MMM              Ireland         22.11.2022
This week we celebrate Thanksgiving and soon it will be Christmas. Both these feasts are traditional times for family members to travel long distances to be together to celebrate. They travel, and they “come home”. For some time now I have been thinking about this concept. I suppose being a missionary and spending my life “on the move” aids the reflection!
Coming home seems such a natural thing to do after being far flung and scattered. Do not the Artic geese travel thousands of miles to return to nesting grounds? Salmon make the long journey from deep ocean to the very rivulet or stream where they were spawned. So, coming home seems natural, sems right and fitting. Coming home denotes safety and security. Boats will return to a safe harbour before the approaching storm. It is in coming home that I am known and accepted as I am. Trust and intimacy appear to be bound up with this process of coming home.

Read more: Coming Home

by Nadia Ramoutar     MMM Communications Coordinator          Ireland         20.11.2022

 Sometimes I have ideas that seem good at the time, but as they progress the complexity makes me question my judgment.

As the Communications Coordinator, I thought it would be a “good idea” for our MMM Sisters in Drogheda to create crafts and have a Christmas Craft Fair.  I felt it was something that the MMM Sisters used to do in the past and would be a positive step for us after the isolation of Covid 19.  I am fortunate to work with a wonderfully collaborative team who, at their own peril, humour me too often.

So, on Saturday, 26 November 2022, we will host our MMM Christmas Craft Fair in Drogheda in the Auditorium.  I have a long history of creating community fundraising events so I know it comes with a long list of things to do.  Things going on the list, things being crossed off the list and something coming back onto the list when you thought they were done.  I am experienced enough to know what we need so the day will be a memorable one for the right reasons!

Read more: Everything is Not What it Seems

by Vera Grant AMMM          Ireland             18.11.2022
It was my seat. It was at the end of the pew and I sat there every Sunday morning for ten o’clock Mass. Over the years I had grown to recognise many, who like me sat in the same pew. What creatures of habit we are I used to think to myself.

There were times though when I felt restricted, bounded on either side by those familiar faces. Some I knew by name, others I acknowledged with a nod or when allowed, by a shake of the hand. They were faces I liked and felt fortunate in sharing the same space even if at times I had to give up my seat and move along should someone arrive late. I didn’t mind that but I felt much stronger about those who arrived late and stood in the aisle wanting to push in. Awful I know but ....

Read more: Changing Places

by Nadia Ramoutar    MMM Communications Coordinator       Ireland       16.11.2022

There are times in life when we look at how much there is to do in the world and wonder where to begin.  If we focus too much on the bad news, our efforts can seem minor in comparison.  When I read into the details of war, famine, drought, injustice, violence and climate decline, I grow weary.  We do what we can in our work to counteract these thing but is it ever enough?  As the Communications Coordinator for the Medical Missionaries of Mary, I have a wonderful job.  I love the MMM Sisters and staff who I work with and I am uplifted and inspired by work that we do in the world.

What does challenge me sometimes is what story to tell or how hard to drive home a point about the struggles and strife our MMM Sisters face in the world.  We have a lot to do and limited resources at times to do it.  So how do we stay motivated?

Read more: Keep Going

by Sr. Margaret Anne Meyer MMM             U.S.A.     14.11.2022

The Ashes will sit in the front pew. This is what I remember from our reception into the novitiate on September 8th, 1956. I thought it sounded funny, but Sr. Gabriel Ashe had a large family, and it was good to see them at the ceremony. All my family and two high school friends came to share my joy. Our postulant days were over, and we sensed a new beginning of deepening our relationship with Jesus and the Medical Missionaries of Mary. We were getting to know one another and to learn what it means to be a missionary.

Read more: Novitiate Days in U.S.A.

by an unknown MMM author         Ireland          12.11.2022

How often have you walked into the greeting ‘God sent you’ or ‘you’ve been on my mind’. Our Lady’s journey through the hill country was a concerned visit to her cousin Elizabeth. Pondering the words and happenings she had heard from the angel, recalling the awe of the Annunciation, gave a sense of urgency to Mary’s journey. Her urgency was to lend a friendly hand and helping presence; which was welcomed by her cousin.  ‘God has sent you’ the greeting and the embrace of the two women expresses the concern each hold for the other. Both in a unique way knew God’s creative power; both were experiencing totally unexpected pregnancies. They were on each other’s mind.

In the mind of Mother Mary Martin was the urgent need to bring modern health care to Africa especially to mothers and young children. Secondly, but equally important, was the training of women in family health care. From her own strong family bonds she was profoundly aware of the influence of mothers in the home. Family support was of the very fabric of life in Africa, very evident and obviously to be supported. She saw the distance, time, the difficulties of travel were all shortened by the desire to be with family, clanswoman, tribal member in any kind of need.

Read more: God sent you