The Sisters Corner

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" Mt 25:40

As we begin Holy Week and it is the Lord who invites us, in many ways, to accompany Him during the days of his Passion and death through His resurrection.

This past weekend Pope Francis invited our church to have “24 hours with the Lord” in Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament and confessions. Some of us had the opportunity to participate in a retreat for consecrated sisters in Phoenix where we could participate in this beautiful initiative of the Church,  thus receiving the mercy and love of God.

During this Lenten season, we remember our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted. We have a song, that gives honor to them, called Heroes. Even though it’s in Spanish and you can listen to it online. Below, are the translated lyrics. We ask you to meditate on the words while reading. Please pray for our brothers and sisters around the  world who are dying for their faith.  The picture in the bulletin is the Nazarene symbol (Isis put this mark on Christian houses) (look familiar?)

This Lent, God asks each of us to have our hearts opened to receive His grace and, as Pope Francis has said, “to keep it not cold for the needs of our brothers and sisters, especially those who are poor.”

Today we share with you some of the service and evangelization that our sisters in our community perform in Angola, Africa. In Angola, Africa,  one of our sisters is working in a hospital as a doctor. The need there is very vast. Daily she treats babies and children who are malnourished and with many diseases that perhaps in our countries people would not die of. In Angola, they die due to the shortage of medicines.

Lent is a special time of conversion and an opportunity to be open to God’s love and to His grace so that He can transform our lives more towards Him.

In all our communities around the world, our community prays the Rosary of Via Crucis as a special way for us to accompany Jesus during this time of Lent and to learn the path of love that he has drawn for us.

As a community, almost every year we have our spiritual exercises where we recharge our strength in the Lord and in His love. Sometimes we do it on our own but the majority of the time we participate as a group.

This year, 70 sisters, in all, from different countries had the opportunity for this beautiful encounter with the Lord. This was a very enriching experience for both Sr. Veronica and Sr. Stephanie, who had the opportunity to attend.

When Pope Francis, traveled to Peru in early January, I, Sr. Maria Cristina, had the opportunity to go for two weeks to a conference for priests and religious sisters in my hometown.

As many of you already know, Sr. Maria Gracia and Sr. Alejandra returned to Lima-Peru in order to complete their formation time. They returned with many good experiences and are so thankful for the warm reception and hospitality they received while they were here with us...Thank you all so much for that!! 

Sister Alejandra and I are so grateful to God and to all of you for the time we have spent here in Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

This has been our home for the last couple of months, and I feel blessed for being able to meet each and every one of you. You have taught me so much through your kind smiles, your generosity and your loving efforts and commitment to the Lord at this parish. I thank Him for putting you in my life, and I will always carry you in my heart and cherish every experience together.

Sister Maria Gracia and I are leaving very early on the 19th. It’s true that the time goes fast! It seems like only yesterday we had our  first look of the parish.

Seeing how much people need God has given me new strength to cooperate with God in everything. He wants to teach me during the last months of my formation time, (which I will be going through now that I am going back to Peru). The time here has been amazing. I am amazed at how good people are here, really I’m like: Oh, all you parishioners are so kind, generous, joyful and you have taught me so much with your edifying example. 

Our community likes music and we also love to act and to create small plays... Especially during our formation time. Our sisters perform different plays so that we can express the important experiences that we are going through. This year the sisters put on a play of the shepherd's experience when Jesus was born. The happiness and hope that they experienced that day. This play was a musical interpreted by several sisters from the formation house, some of them in charge of acting, others backstage working on the costumes and the set up of the scenery, while others were performing with different instruments. 

Art is a way of expressing God's Beauty. He gives us different gifts and talents that are meant to be shared with others. We encourage you to think today: What is my talent? What gift has God given me?