COMMON MISSIONS
I am writing to thank you for Maryknoll magazine, which comes to me regularly. The November/December issue especially touched me. Although I am not Catholic, my own experiences as a Mennonite missionary make me realize how much we have in common with each other. My husband and I met both male and female Maryknoll missioners when we were living in Hong Kong and China. I feel sure you are with me in praying for peace.
Margaret Metzler
Goshen, Indiana
POWERFUL PRESENCE
God bless all you missioners for all the work you do for God’s Kingdom. The stories are powerful. I would not be the person I am without Maryknoll. I pass the magazine onto my neighbor when I am finished with it. It is always timely.
There is always much for me to do, even at 88 years old and in good health.
Collette Wertel
Green Bay, Wisconsin
GRUNT PADRE
I recently enjoyed reading The Grunt Padre (a book about Maryknoll Father Vincent Capodanno, a U.S. Navy chaplain who died ministering to wounded Marines in the Vietnam War). What a great story!
I am a Catholic Army veteran. I served with the 101st Airborne Division as an infantry platoon leader, hence my easy identification with the term “grunt” in application to the line mud soldiers. Our units were always blessed with very active, friendly chaplains. So, I felt I almost knew Father Vince. He has touched so many, and I am but one more. In memory of the priest who served so selflessly, I make this small offering to Maryknoll.
May God bless all Maryknoll members with the spirit, the love and the zeal that motivated Father Vince, as you continue God’s work in the vineyards.
Lawrence A. Beaudin
Homer Glen, Illinois
MEASURE FOR LIVING
Each January, the life of Martin Luther King Jr. is celebrated along with his use and support for nonviolence. But that is where it ends. The idea of nonviolence in our society continues to sit on the shelf collecting dust, never to be used as it is meant to be used. King never expressed or understood the ultimate motivation for nonviolence.
He understood the charge to love one’s enemy and the Golden Rule (Treat every human being as you want to be treated), but he never understood that the motivation to do so is the law of equal return (With what measure you measure, it will be measured to you), which I found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:2).
Mahatma Gandhi fully understood the motivation for nonviolence in the Sermon on the Mount in declaring that he would fight for freedom, but never kill for freedom, an understanding not yet comprehended by the bulk of humanity.
Ray Kalainikas
Manalapan, New Jersey
CAMBODIA CONNECTION
What interesting articles on Cambodia in the July/August 2016 Maryknoll magazine! My husband toured there in 1993. I don’t know how long we’ve been giving to Maryknoll. You do wonderful work. Thank you.
Faith Burgard
Auburn, California
MARYKNOLL MEMORY
When I was young, my parents tried to enroll me in a private elementary school, even though we were not wealthy. The enrollment process at this school required a recommendation letter from an esteemed person.
My father worked for a construction company near Myueng-dong Catholic Church in Seoul, Korea. A priest would walk past the construction site frequently and exchange a smile with my father. One day he approached my father and said he was from the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in New York and was on vacation. He invited my father to come to visit him while the priest was vacationing in Seoul.
Subsequently, my parents received the application to enroll me in school. Not forgetting that we needed a recommendation letter, my father asked the priest to write it. He happily obliged, and I was accepted into that private school.
I want to thank Maryknoll because with their help, I was able to receive a great education.
Maria Hane Cyin
Cypress, California
MARYKNOLL HOSPITALITY
I am 94 years old and the grandmother of two wonderful young people who were traveling this past winter in China. Out of the blue, my grandson was hospitalized with an eye infection. When he was released from the hospital, my grandchildren had no place to go in such a strange, large country. The fathers and brothers from Maryknoll gave them a room and food until my grandson was well enough to travel home to Austin, Texas, for more treatment. God bless you all and thank you.
Helen Fumo
Manor, Texas
The editors invite Maryknoll Members to send us their views. Write to:
Members’ Memos
P.O. Box 302, Maryknoll, N.Y. 10545-0302
Our e-mail address is: mklmag@maryknoll.org
Featured Image:First-place essay contest winner Meenu Johnkutty of Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, N.Y., is flanked by (l. to r.) principal Father Mark Vaillancourt, dad Johnkutty Geevarghese, mom Sheba and Maryknoll Father Robert Jalbert.
