Opportunities for gratitude - Looking Up

I generally forget about this moment in Lent - when we stop reading about the movement towards a covenant sealed in sacrifice.  Standing with the apostles bathed in the glory of God in a transfigured Christ, I have to look up. 

I can pause, and remember the joy that the transfiguration foretells of the glory of Easter.

I have often said that when I am old, or sooner if possible,  I want to have the same expression that I have witnessed on the faces of old religious sisters that I have met here in the US and around the world.  There is often a serene smile from a life well lived, but there is something more, and I have always believed it is true joy.  Most missionaries I have known have had moments that they retell where they have felt richer than any king.  They tell of a child, or a family, or a kindness, or an occasion when they truly felt the presence of this transfigured Christ, the beloved Son.

This weekend we had the tremendous blessing of being at the Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles where there is truly an abundance of faith and joy. For this opportunity to be here with more than 40,000 Catholics and for the opportunity to reflect on these moments of joy on the journey, I am grateful.

Our journey begins again

To change and to change for the better are two different things.
          - German proverb.
 
As Ash Wednesday is upon us I think this is true - and I can look at it and consider just how different sacrificing is from sacrificing for the better.
 
The readings reminded me that I need to consider my motivation - ensure that what I do is also going to change me for the better.
 
Fr. Dan, at Mass, reminded us all this morning, that the reason we sacrifice is also to develop the discipline necessary to look beyond our own needs, to feel hungry and not satiate the hunger, to desire something and not give into that desire. Today, we fast and abstain and I am trying to feel grateful for hunger that helps me remember that I can change, and change for the better.
 
We make this journey together!
 

How did it get to be February?

I find myself saying these kind of things more and more – but then I hear that from everyone else too!

It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? 
Henry David Thoreau

January was a particularly busy month for us!   Doctors headed to Cameroon, Uganda and Tanzania.  Our new class begins today with the arrival of Dr. Antoinette Lullo and Dr. Brian Medernach who drove in from Chicago on Friday.  They will be here in Los Angeles for four months for the formation program, will be commissioned in May, and will then begin a three year assignment to Peru.

We are also preparing for the Religious Education Congress, our Annual Retreat / Seminar, the Appreciation Brunch, working with the Auxiliary for the Annual Benefit, well the list goes on and on… but, I think we can answer the question of: What are we busy about?

We are busy with the Mission of Mission Doctors – A Mission of Healing – A Partnership of Hope! 

Thanks to all who help us make the work possible!

Lent is just around the corner….

Grateful

I am just back from Cameroon.

It is true, I did time my visit and return to be sure to be home for Thanksgiving – a bit selfish to be sure – it is my favorite holiday.   Not because of the food, even though that is really great, and I love being with my family and will take any reason to do so – so yes that is part of why I love this so much.

It is also because I love the fact that we come together to celebrate what I believe is the most important quality we can strive to embody, gratitude. 

With an old friend, Sr. Xaveria

At Mass last week the Auxiliary Bishop of Bamenda Archdioces, Bishop Agapitus’ homily stressed exactly that.  I met our Mission Doctors who are filled with gratitude, I met their patients who light up as our doctor makes rounds, thanking them each time they move to the next bed. I visited with Bishops, priests and religious brothers and sisters who continue to express their thanks for the presence of our missionaries in the country since the 1960’s! 

I am almost unable to contain how grateful I feel to have the opportunity to visit with these amazing individuals, witness their faith, their joy and their sense of thankfulness.
May the gratitude that can fill our hearts pour out in ways that multiply the grace we have received.  Wishing everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving.
“...it is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” 
Brother David Steindl-Rast,  O.S.B. 
Catholic Theologian 

4th year and counting….

For four years now, Mission Doctors Association has worked with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to sponsor and host the ‘White Mass’ for the feast of St. Luke, and opportunity to celebrate and thank Catholic healthcare providers.

Each year this celebration has grown.  For the past three years we celebrated together at Holy Family in South Pasadena.  The Parish graciously welcomed us and we cannot thank them enough for helping us reestablish this celebration in the Archdiocese.  This year we move to St. Jerome Catholic Church, and we had thought the Archbishop would be our celebrant, but he was called to Rome to be part of the synod of Bishops.  Bishop Clark, who is himself a member of the Knights of Malta graciously agreed to be our main celebrant.

One way Mission Doctors utilizes this opportunity is to recognize one Catholic Doctor as the Outstanding Catholic Doctor of the Year.  This year’s honoree, Dr. Andres Enriquez from El Paso, TX is being recognized for his work, not only in his own community but across the border in Juarez, Mexico.  His life threatened for continuing this work, Dr. Enriquez has found a way to provide care working in collaboration with a nurse at the clinic in Mexico.  Each year we are amazed by the sacrifices and generosity of service of all the nominees for Catholic Doctor of the Year and the task of choosing one to honor is always daunting.

As we gather on Sunday we do so; to thank, to celebrate, and to ask God’s blessing on all who are engaged in caring for us when we are most vulnerable. In doing so, they are able to be the healing presence of Christ at a time when the need is greatest.

My Morning at Mayfield

"What can you do with three dollars?"

I posed this question today to an assembly of young woman at Mayfield High School here in Southern California as part of their volunteer fair. I was there to share with them the work of Mission Doctors and encourage them to get involved with the One Million Patients Project.

I rarely get a chance to speak with young people about MDA, so I was happy to have this opportunity.  Community organizations, ranging from food pantries, to Aids Walk LA representatives spoke for a moment about our respective organizations, and we each had a chance to invite the the students to stop by our table to get more information.  It was a wonderful morning, and I am excited that so many signed up for more information and to help us with the One Million Patients Project!   Hopefully some budding filmmakers will produce a video for our student video contest!

I look forward to being with them again next year!

No Coincidence

Sometimes I believe God really wants to make evident to us that, in fact, God is with us, really!

Wednesday, we celebrated a special Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Lincoln Heights in Los Angeles, to honor the 100th Birthday of the founder of Mission Doctors and Lay Mission-Helpers Association, Msgr. Anthony Brouwers.  He died nearly 50 years ago, but the legacy of his work is our work.

The reason for the location was, this was his parish, this was his school.

Msgr. Michael Meyers, who served in Mission Office and was one of his successors as the director of the Propagation of the Faith for 16 years, was our celebrant.  Before the Mass began, as he walked up the steps of the Church with his with Kente cloth vestments in hand, he asked me if I had seen the readings for the day.  Yes I had I said, and smiled as he explained to another veteran Lay Mission-Helper that the daily reading, nothing special for today, but today’s first reading was from  1 Cor 3:1-9   

…Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God's co-workers;

The ‘For we are God’s co-workers’ in another translation reads ‘For we are God’s Helpers’ and this is what is inscribed on the rings of all long-term Lay Mission-Helpers and Mission Doctors. 

In Msgr. Meyers’ homily he asked to see Addie Coronado’s ring -- Addie served three terms in Kenya having been in one of the early classes, going out first in 1957.  The words are no longer visible her ring because, as Msgr. Meyers said, Addie has been God’s helper for a long time.

I thank God today for the reminder that although we didn’t plant, that was the job of Msgr. Anthony Brouwers who planted the seed that has grown into the Lay Mission-Helpers and Mission Doctors -  we may be the ones who water, and we count on God for the growth because we believe;  We are God’s Helpers!