Faith, hope, and love
By Sr. Mona Kelly, O.L.M.
May/June 2010
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Sr. Mona Kelly, currently in Brazil, has been celebrating mission for more than 50 years
Having been enriched by different cultures for more than 50 years, it is with much gratitude that I reflect on my missionary experience among the Igbirra, Ibo and Tiv people in Nigeria, Native Peoples in Northern Manitoba, as well as the people of Mozambique and Brazil.
One woman who comes to mind is Lucy. We first came to know her years ago in the nearby town of Alacrine where she lived with an alcoholic husband. With the support of Our Lady’s Missionaries she moved with her three children to Bela Vista to escape the abuse she had endured from him. She worked hard cleaning houses, washing laundry by hand—doing just about anything in order to support herself and her children.
Lucy was by no means a stranger to hard work. At the age of nine, her parents had put her out to work. She wanted better for her own kids. They did begin school, but her son fell into drugs and dropped out. He would sell anything he could find in the house to buy more drugs. We tried to get him into a drug rehabilitation program, but he ran away after only 10 days.
Lucy’s daughters did finish high school. One got married, moved out, and isn’t really interested in visiting or helping her mother. The other spends her time hanging out with friends. She doesn’t want to pursue further education, nor is she looking for work or helping her mother.
Having been enriched by different cultures for more than 50 years, it is with much gratitude that I reflect on my missionary experience….
Lucy’s whole life has been a story of rejection by her family, the very people one ought to be able to count on: parents, husband, children. And yet, she hasn’t given up. She continues to work hard and sometimes asks us for a bit of help when she can’t make ends meet. Her steadfast trust in God never wavers.
Lucy is just one of the countless persons who have touched my life throughout these 50 years, enabling me to deepen my own faith, hope, and love in God and in all people.
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