MISSIONER TALES
I first learned of the concept of accompaniment, of “walking with the people,” from the Maryknoll Sisters. This, I thought, is the ministry to which I am being called here in Nicaragua.
Mercy Moments, May / June 2016
Some time ago when I was working in Arequipa, Peru, a Maryknoll sponsor sent me money to help a person find a job or create one. Emperatriz, an abandoned mother with a small boy, was accustomed to beg for money at my door. One day I asked her if she knew how to do something that could enable her to earn money and not need to beg. She told me she...
Tales From China, Haiti, Cambodia and Peru
Missioner Tales, May / June 2016 At the women’s prison in Macau, China, I was visiting one of the inmates who had recently arrived. “Where is your Bible?” she asked me. Since the prisoners I visit usually bring their own Scripture readings to discuss, I did not bring a Bible with me. I learned that this woman was not a Christian, but in...
Mercy Moments, March / April 2016
I am a retired critical care nurse. One evening I had a patient who had had a very severe heart attack, and his life ebbed away. I knew this man as I'd had him as a patient many times before. That evening he was extremely agitated, and I suspected fearful, as his death was approaching. I had grown up respecting each person’s religion but felt...
Tales from Brazil, Philippines, Cambodia and Peru
Missioner Tales, March & April 2016 A homily I heard recently reminded me of my ministry with women prisoners in São Paulo, Brazil. The priest shared some wisdom his mother taught him as a young boy. “The grace of God is like rain. We all have a bucket and rain falls evenly, independent of our positive or destructive actions. The difference...
Tales from Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Chicago & Tanzania
Missioner Tales January & February 2016. Early Monday mornings in the village where I live in Bangladesh, I meet Mamoon, who collaborates with me in my work of helping sick and disabled children. Getting together at the Taj Restaurant for hot bread and lentils is my way of showing appreciation for Mamoon’s ongoing involvement in the works of...
Tales from Guatemala, Tanzania, Japan & South Sudan
Missioner Tales, November & December 2015 I was deeply touched by the visit of three children—María, Enderson and Domingo—to my house in Chajul, Guatemala. They took part in vacation time classes after the school year ended in October. Each year the classes are given in my house by recent graduates from Colegio Monte Maria, a school we...
Tales from El Salvador, China, Nicaragua & Brazil
Missioner Tales September & October 2015 When I served as a Maryknoll Sister in El Salvador from 1997 to 2005, I helped get documentation from Salvadorans who had known or met Archbishop Oscar Romero to support his canonization process. To listen to their stories and encourage Salvadorans to write down their experiences was so important, and for...
Tales from Japan, Tanzania, El Salvador & Guatemala
Missioner Tales July & August 2015 While working in Hokkaido, Japan, in the 1970s, Maryknoll Father Richard Kardian printed flyers inviting the neighbors to come learn about Christ and the Catholic Church. Parishioners distributed the flyers to houses in the area. Only one person came, a young man named Taiji Katsuya, who happened to find a flyer...
Tales from Guatemala, Tanzania & Hong Kong
Missioner Tales May & June 2015 Each year the parish in Guatemala where I serve as a Maryknoll Sister takes up a collection for the diocese to help the poor. Rather than contribute money, our parishioners contribute their newly harvested corn. It’s their staff of life, their food for the coming year. In fact, the Mayan people of Mexico and...
