May-June 2006

By Sister Grace Dorothy Lim MM

Early one morning, I received a call. ‘Sister, please, help us with the Immigration.’ Someone had received notice of voluntary deportation. At 8 o’clock I drove to their house. It was a one-room structure, an extension of a bigger house.

One phone call

The caller was waiting for me. The house was dark but I got in to make sure we had all the documents needed for the Immigration Office. The room had only one small bulb, maybe 20 watts. While my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I heard a soft cry. I asked who was sleeping this late. The mother said, ‘The children are all sick with fever and colds.’ This was flu season. I asked if they’d gone to the doctor. She said they had no medical insurance, so she only gave them Tylenol. I told her to get all three children dressed to go with me to the doctor. The woman was, of course, more concerned over Immigration than the illness of the children.

An interview with ‘Henrique of the Trinity’. His cloth shoulder bag contains all his worldly possessions: a Bible, a crucifix, an icon of the Trinity and a towel.

Q. Can you tell our readers how you arrived at this special vocation in the Church?

A. I was born in France and arrived in Brazil in 1987. I began to live in one of the large, very poor favelas of São Paulo. I spent two years living there, getting to know the situation in Brazil, living in a small wooden shack, the same kind of shack that everybody else lived in all over that area. I had come to Brazil to share in the life of the most marginalized people and to try and lead a life of contemplative prayer in that setting. I did not go to the favela to help resolve the huge problems of the people there, I just wanted to work on a person to person level. I spent two years there and they were happy years, but deep down I somehow felt called to something deeper, a greater simplicity of lifestyle.

By Reverend Noe H. Pedrajas

The author was ordained deacon on 15 November in preparation for the priesthood. He belongs to the Diocese of Marbel.

One Monday while praying the Joyful mysteries, I got stuck in the Annunciation! The Annunciation struck me as an extraordinary mystical experience. I realized that the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation wasn’t fulfilled without the ‘Yes’ of our Blessed Mother Mary. Her ‘Yes’ or ‘Fiat’ didn’t come so easily and spontaneously. It was accompanied by many fears and amazement.

By Sr Cresencia G. Lagunsad CB

Sister Cris, from Kidapawan, Mindanao, has been a member of the general board of the Sisters of Charity of St Charles Borromeo, www.cbsisters.org , since 1999 and on 5 August 2005 was elected to a six-year term as Vice General Superior.

January, in the middle of wintertime, I found myself shivering in the Norwegian cold. Worse still, I had just come from a sunny December in East Africa. Some people questioned my common sense about this schedule of extremes! I know what they meant but my heart had its own reasons.

My heart brought me to Norway during this unpleasant time of the year. On 6 and 8 January we were celebrating the 25^th anniversary of the religious profession of Sr Agnes Ofelia Simbillo. Being another European-based member of the Sisters of St Charles Borromeo – I’m in the Netherlands – I was privileged to be present at Sister Agnes’ two Silver Jubilee celebrations.