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Remembrances of Isa, 2021

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:

"Pensaréis que cómo puedo seguir viviendo en Haití, entre tanta pobreza y miseria, entre terremotos, huracanes, inundaciones, cólera ... Lo único que podría  decir es que Haití es ahora el único lugar donde puedo estar y curar mi corazón. Haití es mi hogar, mi familia, mi trabajo, mi sufrimiento y mi alegría, y mi lugar de encuentro con Dios.”

"You will think that how can I continue to live in Haiti, among so much poverty and misery, among earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, cholera ... The only thing I could say is that Haiti is now the only place where I can be and heal my heart. Haiti is my home, my family, my work, my suffering and my joy, and my meeting place with God." (Machine translation)

-- Margaret Perron, RJM

You are so missed!

When I remember you, Isa, I remember a woman who embraced and loved her identity as a religious of Jesus and Mary. I remember you as a soulmate.… As a friend.… As a woman who brought to fruition your God-given gifts of music, prayer art, photography, education, nursing and your special gift of "being". You are so missed!

 

-- Vivian Patenaude, RJM

“Zeal for your House has consumed me.”

When I think of Isa, I am reminded of the words of Scripture, “Zeal for your House has consumed me.” (Jn 2: 17)

On a personal level, I think of Isa as “a friend.” As a provincial, I think of her as “a challenge.” My conversations with her were exhilarating and delightful – filled with passion, energy, and devotion. No fragile pushover, Isa was courageous and apostolic to the core. May her deep care and concern for those she loved and served continue inspire and live in our mission today!

-- Sr. Eileen, Reid, RJM

2 septembre 2016-2 septembre 2021 déjà 5 ans depuis qu’elle a laissé cette terre….. !!!!!

Je me souviens encore de Isa comme si c’était hier… On a vécu beaucoup de choses ensemble cependant, pour ces 5 ans, je veux souligner deux choses: son grand sourire et sa sensibilité face à ceux et celles qui souffrent et qui sont dans le besoin. Elle était une femme très dynamique, qui cherche des solutions aux problèmes qui la touchent du fond du cœur.

Pourquoi ces deux choses? Isa aimait énormément Haïti, mon pays, son autre patrie. Actuellement mon peuple a besoin de gens sensibles, sincères et capables de donner de l'espoir et de semer la joie la plus profonde. Nous avons besoin des passionnés de la mission pour être des porteurs de ce Dieu qui vit en nous. Elle a su se donner aux autres… Et c’est sa vie qu'on célèbre et non sa mort. Cette petite âme a su, par sa simplicité, rayonner le visage de la charité. Nous rendons grâce à Dieu pour ce cadeau fait à l’Église en Jésus et Marie.

Qu’elle intercède pour chacun de nous et surtout pour Haïti, cette terre qu’elle aimait tant.

--Middia Doute, RJM

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Isa loved Jesus.  You felt it in the way she sang to him with her guitar and in the way she served his poor.  I received a call from Isa on Sept.1, 2016 saying, "Welcome back to Haiti.  I just passed your car on Rte Neuf; I'm coming from a meeting with the teachers in the little school in Canaan." (Canaan was and is a mountainside full of people displaced by the 2010 PAP earthquake.) 

   The next day after Isa and Laide had been to the bank and bought school supplies, assassins took Isa's life and whatever money was left.  I remember the following day standing in the morgue as Isa's body was washed and her last drops of blood poured out through the bullet holes.  Isa gave to the last.       

       After Isa's funeral Laide asked me to  gave the school supplies to her very good friend, Sr. Annamma, so the Canaan teachers could use them.  Sr. Annamma is seen in the last photo in Sr. Farzana's report on ICM-RJM relief efforts in the South/Toi Raque after the Aug. 14 earthquake.  I'm sure Sr. Isa is interceeding for us all.

     

I remember Isa as a woman of prayer, passionate in her service with the poor and equally passionate about taking time for rest, especially if it could be had by the sea or in the midst of God's natural beauties.  Isa always started her days with prayer, often sitting before the computer where she found such inspiring songs, images and writings.  At other times she could be found in the chapel, pouring out her heart to her beloved.  May she always intercede for our RJM mission in Haiti where she found her home.

Jackie Picard, rjm

From an E.S.P.E.R.E. meeting in Haiti that also provided an occasion to celebrate her birthday. --Mari Paz Vinegra, RJM.

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