Like the mustard seed

"...the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and make nexts in its branches." Matthew 13:31-32

By Sr. Lucia Lee, O.L.M.
May 2006

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Joselita is a mature, gentle, quiet and very creative 17-year-old in her third year of high school. Her home is some distance away, in one of the smaller villages in the interior of the State. So she is staying with her sister here in Planalto do Pici, a neighbourhood in the city of Fortaleza. Besides being pleasant and attractive, she writes very moving poetry. Among the many people with whom I work, I see Joselita as a new star on the horizon.

(CREDIT Jacquie Rashleigh)
Joselita (left) and Sr. Lucia Lee teaching crafts and jewelry-making to young students at the community centre in Planalto do Pici, a neighbourhood in the city of Fortaleza, Brazil.

I teach craft and jewelry-making at a community centre in this neighbourhood. Usually I teach students from ages nine to 14, but the high school principal requested that I accept Joselita because of her unusual gifts. After only a few classes I realized that with some extra teaching she would soon be capable of teaching others. So my time with her is mostly in view of her being able to relieve me in this work when I return to Canada.

Certainly what I have taught Joselita has been well assimilated by her bright and generous mind. She is already speaking about other young girls who have asked her to teach them and who see the advantages of being able to make jewelry as one way of saving money towards their ongoing education. That they are planning to continue their education after high school gives me pleasure and a sense of satisfaction.

I feel that Joselita is like the tiny mustard seed Jesus spoke about, growing to a large and sheltering shrub that will be a help and blessing to others.

Inspired by hope
By Sr. Mary Hughes, O.L.M.

In January of this year I completed 39 years of life and service in Brazil. During these many years I have had wonderful experiences and met many courageous people. Despite great difficulties, their trust in God and hope for a better future has always inspired me.

As I reflect on these years, one person who frequently comes to mind is Maria dos Anjos. When I knew her in Mulungu many years ago, she was a young married woman with one child. Her husband was unemployed. She was part of the housekeeping staff at the hospital in that small rural town and took a personal interest in the sick of her own community. We met frequently because at that time I went to the surrounding village communities, visiting the sick and taking Holy Communion to folks too old or too weak to go to the town.

Many years have passed since I left that town and came to live in the city of Fortaleza. Now I spend time each week visiting patients with AIDS at São Josè Hospital. Not long ago I was leaving the hospital to go home when I heard someone calling my name. To my surprise there was Maria dos Anjos with her daughter. She has now retired and is living with her daughter a few blocks from the hospital.

They drove me home and we had such a pleasant visit. She told me stories of her struggle to support her family and of how working in a hospital always helped her to have courage and gratitude. I was deeply moved by her profound awareness of God’s presence in a life I thought very difficult. When I sit to reflect on my own life I am inspired by her words of praise and thanksgiving for the blessings she has received.

That evening I was thinking about Maria, her life and the many struggles in her home. Despite it all, she was always cheerful and so thankful to God for her work. She often told me God was looking after her and helping her.

Finding meaning in mission
By Sr. Pauline Doherty, O.L.M.

Srs. Pauline Doherty (L) and Mary Hughes (R) with Scarboro missioner Beverly Trach, in Fortaleza, Brazil. Present in Fortaleza along with Our Lady’s Missionaries, Beverly is a member of a pastoral team working with street children, other young people, women’s groups and homeless adults.

For a number of years now, as well as living day to day as a member of our community of Sisters, I have also been participating in meetings of the Congregation for Religious, in parish activities, and doing home visiting. As well, I have been available to attend to people who come to our house to visit or to share food, and have listened to their stories both cheery and sad. A special feature of my ministry has been providing a safe place for children to play in the entrance of our home. These times of contact with the people have given meaning to my being here in Brazil.

However, last year all that changed. During my vacation in Canada, it was discovered that I had non-active multiple myeloma in my spine. With orientation from my doctor I chose to return to Brazil. Presently I am receiving the same treatment here as prescribed in Canada. I am grateful for the excellent medical attention by the hospital staff and the support and concern of my community.

Looking back on my life in Brazil, Rosa stands out among many as having contributed to my sense of being in mission. She was a teenager when I met her some 30 years ago in Palmácia, a small town in the rural area. She was an obvious leader among the youth group of the parish. Since that time, she has married and raised two children while working as a member of a pastoral team that focuses on the protection of the rights of fisher folk along the sea coast. In spite of this busy schedule, Rosa found time to earn a degree in theology.

Through all these years, Rosa’s visits have been special to me. I see in her a committed woman, wife and mother, as well as a missionary, living the values she learned in her home in Palmácia.

I am grateful for the many wonderful people I have met in Nigeria, my first mission, and here in Brazil. I feel that I have received much more than I have given.

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