Friday, December 20, 2013

Striking A Balance



Christmas is in just a few days and I, like many people I’m sure, are not ready for it.  There are so many things to do: shopping for presents, cards to send, baking, decorating, etc.  There just doesn’t seem to be enough time to get everything done – and the pressure is on – self imposed pressure.

I’ve been reflecting on my experience of Christmas in mission and how different it was.  I was away from family and friends which was difficult.  I missed listening to Christmas Carols on the radio, decorating the Christmas tree, the Christmas specials on TV (we didn’t have TV), shops decorated and offering great bargains, etc.  It didn’t “feel” like Christmas. 

And while I missed all of that, I also received the gift of celebrating Christmas in Sierra Leone.  On Christmas Eve, the choir at Church had a mini “concert” before midnight Mass – and after not having heard any Christmas music the month prior, it was an extra joyous celebration.  After Mass, people would ride in the back of trucks banging pots and pans exclaiming Happy Christmas.  Then we all got up the next morning for Mass on Christmas Day. 

Gift giving was not common.  But I did usually find something small to give to the people I was close to.  And because there was no pressure to give, or expectation to receive, there was genuine joy in giving and gratitude in receiving.

I try not to romanticize Christmas in Sierra Leone – just like I had to learn not to romanticize Christmas back home when I was there.  There is an upside and downside to both.  But I am, at the 11th hour, trying to strike a balance between the two.

My hope and prayer is that those of us here at home, and our Lay Mission-Helpers who are in mission, will remember that the Spirit of Christmas can be alive no matter where we are – if we get out of the way.
Christmas Tree in Zimbabwe

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Be The Eyes, Ears, Hands and Feet



After having emergency surgery for a torn retina last month, I've been slightly preoccupied with my eyes.  I was given the all clear to travel to Tanzania to visit our LMH serving in the Diocese of Mtwara with the advice that if I experienced certain symptoms I was to go to an ophthalmologist as soon as possible.  Easier said than done. 

During my first few days in Tanzania, maybe because it was very bright, I became aware of more floaters in my eye.  I kept swatting the air thinking they were insects.  I became a bit anxious  wondering what I should do?  Am I overreacting and this is nothing?  Should I turn around and fly back home immediately?  Is there anywhere in this country I could go to get checked - and if my retina was tearing again, do they have the sophisticated equipment they have in the US to handle it?  I took a chance and said many prayers that if anything was wrong, it could wait until I got home.

This experience, and my momentary panic, got me thinking beyond myself.  What about the people here?  What would they do?  What could they do?  For the vast majority of people, there is no option – they will lose their sight.  For some, they don’t have the money to pay for tests or operations.  But for most people, even if they did have the money, the services aren’t available.  

Even simple procedures like checking vision in children is not common.  Very few students at Aquinas Secondary School wear glasses.  Do they just have exceptionally good vision?  Or is it because they don’t have optometrists in the area or the money to pay for an exam or glasses even if they did?

So this is what has been on my mind lately.   How unfair it is that I have access to so many services, regardless of whether or not I can afford them, and how unfair it is that so many of our brothers and sisters around the world do without.

What can we do?  Can we look at things with different “eyes”?  After feasting on turkey and the trimmings on Thursday, finding bargains on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we can do something for someone else on Giving Tuesday?  Can we be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of Jesus here on earth?

Give the gift of education, healthcare and social services through the work of Lay Mission-Helpers.  Help us change the world.  http://www.laymissionhelpers.org/giving-tuesday

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Thanksgiving Memories



Experiencing the holidays in mission isn’t always easy – missing family and friends and the traditions we grew up with can initially be overwhelming.  However, the holiday celebrations in mission can also be the source of our fondest memories – they were for me.

While we didn’t have turkeys, we did have chickens, and I managed to make most of the other trimmings – mashed potatoes, dressing, and even pumpkin pie – from fresh pumpkin.  Numerous people came to the feast – Irish, British, Italians, and on occasion, other Americans.

One year, I had about a dozen people coming to celebrate.  Eva, a volunteer from England, said she had passed an American volunteer she did not know on her way to my house.  She felt bad because this was an American holiday, but she didn’t think it was her place to extend an invitation since there were so many people coming already.  We immediately sent someone to find this volunteer and invite her to the party.

Mary was that volunteer.  She had been in country, in the capital, for several months and this was her first Thanksgiving away from home.  She said she had woke up that morning feeling a bit sad to be so far away from home, with no hope of celebrating Thanksgiving, and prayed the rosary for her family.  Now, here she was, not only celebrating Thanksgiving, but eating pumpkin pie.  Her enthusiasm and thankfulness was infectious.  We became fast friends.

Now, 20 years later, Mary and I always send each other a message on Thanksgiving – remembering it as the best one we ever celebrated.  The British volunteers, when they went home the following summer, said they were so disappointed that they would miss Thanksgiving that year.

I give thanks for all of our LMH in the field – and pray that they find a way to celebrate in one form or the other and make new and lasting memories – not only for themselves but for others.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 8, 2013

Who Is Our Family?

I recently returned from a trip to Cameroon to visit our LMH. I had an interesting conversation on the trip to the airport with Sr. Clothilde and Godwin, the driver, who accompanied me on the 8 hour journey.

On the way we stopped by a parish for breakfast. Sister was telling the parish priest about a situation regarding her sister. When we were back on the road, Sister mentioned this conversation and I asked if the woman she was speaking about was her Sister (religious community) or her sister (biological sister). It turns out she was neither.

Both Sr. Clothilde and Godwin explained that who they call sister, brother and even mother or father, is not limited to blood relations (or even legal relation as in in-laws). They explained that people you grow up with, who live in the same village, who have known you and your family for a long time, etc. are considered family. They do not use the terms cousin, aunt, uncle, or family friend when referring to these people because to do so is to somehow diminish the relationship. Even mother and father are not limited to their biological parents – but to aunts, uncles, or people who have known them all of their life. Godwin told me about a man who is now a priest that he grew up with (no blood relationship) that he refers to as his brother, as does the priest to him.

I realized that the passages in the Bible where Jesus refers to someone as his brother or sister (we seem to clarify this as “cousin”) must make much more sense to Cameroonians than it does to Americans, whose family lines are drawn more distinctly. I also remembered the Scripture passage where Jesus asks who is my mother, who is my brother? He wasn’t diminishing his relationship to his biological mother or relatives, but expanding that definition.

This conversation has stayed with me over the past few weeks. As Christians, who is our family? Who are we “responsible” for? Who are we called to serve and who are we called to assist? Does our responsibility for others end at our immediate family, our parish, our country? Or are we called to expand our sense of family to those we do not know, but who are linked to us by faith or by our humanity?

Next week I am traveling to Tanzania to visit our LMH, Justin & Lauren Linck. Can I, with the help of Jesus, expand my understanding of family?

Your prayers are appreciated.
One of the many roads in Cameroon