Srs. Natalia, RJM and Rosa Mejia, RJM are going from door to door to listen and pray with the migrant families in Spanish or Portuguese, at the hotel shelter run by Catholic Charities. (Sr. Rosa is here from the Province of Mexico to work with the migrants until late December).
Global Sisters Report has published an interview with Sr. Rosemary Nicholson, RJM, written by Melissa Cedillo. Below is an excerpt of the entire interview which is attached to Bridges.
We arrived very well, with Sr. Yudith Pereira, RJM. We passed through Santo Domingo and came to Port-au-Prince in a small 20-seater plane.
Each Wednesday evening during the Season of Creation, which ended October 4th, each of the RJM communities had a special prayer service. An excerpt from St. Tim’s September 29th service is below.
It was the first time for Sr. Valle Chías González-Blanch, RJM and Sr. Curín José García Calvo, RJM to visit the monthly celebration of the “Pastoral Timoun Piti” in Beldorin.
On September 15, Brittany Galvin, in the presence of members of the novitiate community, the provincial council of Spain, and members of nearby communities in Madrid, requested “...to come to learn your way of life.”
This trip had two agendas: 1. To have mobile clinic at three most vulnerable places, Mailloux, Sous De Vie and Garat. 2. Meetings with the community leaders to discuss the local community contribution in construction of the houses because some of the donors would like that the donations be used mainly for that purpose...
“Towards an ever-wider WE” is the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 26th.
In this edition:
Below are excerpts from reflections on Haiti that Sr. Curin wrote about arriving in Haiti and excerpts from an article on Sr. Valle written by Carina Farreras for Lavanguaria. You will want to read the full texts which are attached to the Bridges email in both English and Spanish.
On September 2nd, the 5th anniversary of the death of Sr. Isa Sola, RJM was celebrated in Barcelona, Spain, the city of her birth. The representative of her family, her brother Javier Solá, together with Miss Alejandra Ron, director of Fundacion Juntos Mejor, and Sr. Marta Guitart, RJM, Provincial Superior of Spain, organized the events.
Depth of insight and understanding of mission and ministry
The memory I carry to this day of Isa is the depth of her insight and understanding of mission and ministry. These were, I believe, gifts of God, shaped by years in Africa, and given expression by the cataclysmic 2010 earthquake in Haiti:
We, the ICM (Cœur Immaculé de Marie/Immaculate Heart of Mary) Sisters and RJMs (Religious of Jesus and Mary) started our three day visit to the south on 24th August. We were 7 sisters (6 ICM and 1 RJM) with two cars (1 sent by the Parish Priest of the Holy Family Church, Toi Raque and the other from us RJMs). Since we were a big group, even two cars were not enough to take the people plus all the supplies. We requested that HAITI TRANSPORT send us a small truck, which they did. Haiti Transport is providing this service free of charge to all the Congregations or Organizations taking aid to the south of the country. They were a group of 3 men, a driver and 2 helpers. One sat with the driver and the other at the back to guard the supplies. In total we were 12 people...
August 14, 2021, 8:30 AM is a day and time that the people of southwest Haiti will not soon forget. Nor will the rest of the world, as we watched in horror and heartbreak as the first images of the earthquake's damage emerged.
While the 4 Religious of Jesus and Mary currently in-country are fine, all felt the earthquake's tremors and shaking, especially our 2 RJMs in Port-au-Prince which is only 90 miles from the southwestern area impacted.
VAYA CON DIOS, BRITTANY!
Members of the MD/DC region came together on August 19th to bid farewell to Brittany Galvin before her departure for Spain. They were joined by Cheryl Nichols, former RJM, whose times of service in Haiti have included a stay in the Gros Morne community, where Brittany served as a Quest volunteer.
Eleven RJM’s came together via ZOOM on August 10th to share their reactions, questions and insights on Isabel Wilkerson’s bestselling book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
MIGRANT MINISTRY - San Diego, CA
Every day migrants arrive at the hotel shelter - 80 to 140, each in search of new life free from violence, lack of employment due to the pandemic or climate change that destroyed the land with violent storms.
As a province, we wish to take this opportunity to extend our deep gratitude to Josela Gil Navarro, RJM who served in the international community in Port-au-Prince and who recently returned to Spain.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OF 2021 MINISTRY GRANTS
Joan Mumaw, IHM, President and Chief Administrative Officer, Friends in Solidarity, Inc.:
Please see Joan’s letter attached to this edition of Bridges.
Barbara Buckley, RSM on behalf of the Solidarity Teacher Training College in South Sudan:
REMEMBRANCES
Members of the province were saddened this past week with the news of the death of Sister Nazareth Ybarra in Madrid, Spain. Although many knew that her passing was imminent, there was a keen sense of loss as this vital woman left us to go home to God.