Dr. Phil Hawley, a veteran Mission Doctor has traveled several times to serve in the Peten in Guatemala. When there he is working with Dr. Linda Novak’s project to provide a service learning program for medical students and residents from Loyola Stritch in Chicago.
Springtime in northern Guatemala — blistering heat, burning fields, and warm hearts. The Mayan men leave their villages each day with machete in hand to clear jungle for next year’s planting, cut lumber to repair a neighbor’s hut, or haul water from a distant river.
Women gather in groups each morning to mend and wash clothing, and then spend each afternoon shucking, striping, grinding, kneading, shaping and baking corn into tortillas. What’s left of each day is used to cook simple meals over open fires. Mayans appreciate life and accept its challenges.
That’s the lesson I relearn with each visit to Peten, Guatemala. And the countless warm smiles — that’s the gift that sustains me until my next visit.
The community living in the Peten and it's peoples' spirits encourage Dr. Hawley. What gives you the energy and enthusiasm to serve?
We are the Church and Pentecost Sunday is our birthday – we are called – not to blow out any candles, but to share the gifts of the Spirit which we have received with all peoples.
It is the first reading from Pentecost Sunday that always resonates with me when I consider a missionary call. I do not know a missionary anywhere who wouldn’t be more than thrilled to have the people say in amazement “we hear them speaking in our own tongues.”
Sometimes for our doctors it may take two translators, one to a general language and a second to a dialect that is only spoken in a small area of the country. It can be frustrating and can also create challenges to diagnosis and treatment.
However, no words are needed for the doctor to know the concern in a mother’s heart when their child is ill.
And, no words are necessary for a mother to know that a doctor is caring for their child with 
compassion, and genuine concern.
No words are needed at the bedside of a woman who recognizes the reassurance and consideration in the eyes and touch of a doctor striving to offer their skills, though words between them may not yet be possible.
This is because the real language that can be understood by all people is God’s own language of love. This language crosses boarders, breaks down barriers, and can more powerfully communicate what is real between people who do not share the same language, or background or culture.
This language is a might act of God and we can each utilize this gift in all our communicating. May our words, typed, spoken, and unspoken always reflect the Spirit of God within us.
Is there a time when you have felt this powerful presence in your life?
Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus is something we may hold in our hearts every day. We know that His resurrection makes possible our own eternal life. Therefore, Easter is celebrated well beyond Easter Sunday – for a season of 50 days, from Easter to Pentecost, this year from Sunday, April 12 – to Pentecost Sunday, May 31.
As we celebrate and recognize that the One who created the entire universe cares deeply about each of us – we can reach beyond our own selves, our own families and consider that every person has been made in God’s image and is also gifted with this Love.
For our mission doctors they share their professional skills while serving as a living witness to this faith, this Easter joy. Is it always easy? No. It is however, in the light of faith in the resurrection that they serve. They work with and appreciate the efforts of the local medical community and strive to offer what they can, always noting that they continue to receive more than they give.
Dr. Tim Cavanagh wrote from Cameroon ‘You are always humbled to see babies who have been delivered by the light of a kerosene lamp and medical care provided in a clinic with mud brick walls by a nursing assistant which would require several specialists and an ICU at home!’
Wishing you and your families Easter joy today, tomorrow and always! Please keep our doctors and their patients in your prayers. You may be interested in sharing the Mission Rosary this Easter, an opportunity to pray the Rosary with mission images and reflections.
Doctors return from the missions having cared for many children, women and men. Doing so, many have overcome obstacles and may be anxious to share their stories of both success and struggle. Many truly great stories of patients cared for and lives saved.
But on Passion Sunday we rise and join the celebrant, readers and the entire congregation and take our part bringing to life the annual reading of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Greatest Story Ever Told.
This has happened across history and across the world in; cathedrals in Europe, parishes in suburbs and large cities across the US, chapels in religious cloisters and convents in Asia, small rural churches in Latin America, parishes at mission hospitals in Africa. Together on this day we take part in the telling, we take our part in the story that took place more than 2000 years ago – uniting us to Jesus and to each other.
We, the congregation, are given the part of the crowd as we call for the execution of the One whose death makes eternal life possible for us, our suffering servant… “Crucify him, crucify him.” Might we have been part of the crowd? Might we like Peter deny that we knew Him? How do we deny Him today?
On this, Passion / Palm Sunday of Lent we begin the week we call Holy. We strive to welcome Jesus into our homes and hearts. This week we have opportunities to celebrate the first Eucharist on Holy Thursday, walk the path of Passion on Good Friday and on Holy Saturday confirm the promises of our own Baptism as we glance into tomb, with a stone soon to be rolled away.
What can we do this week to fully enter into the Holy?
Please pray for Mission Doctors, their families and their patients. Your sacrifices can make their good works possible. If you’ve been considering a philanthropic donation for Lent – please consider MDA – you can do so on the web site: http://www.MissionDoctors.org
Women gather in groups each morning to mend and wash clothing, and then spend each afternoon shucking, striping, grinding, kneading, shaping and baking corn into tortillas. What’s left of each day is used to cook simple meals over open fires. Mayans appreciate life and accept its challenges.
