Professional Documents
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SOLT Communio Spring 2010
SOLT Communio Spring 2010
Communio
A CELEBRATION OF COMMUNION
As members of Our Lady’s Society, how do we very own charism – that gift that
present our congregation to people and communities we should give to the Church,
who are inquiring about our way of life? Do we know that breath, that impulse of the
our vision, our charism, and our mission statement Holy Spirit that we have to share
by heart, and if we do, are we confident enough to with the Church through Our
express them to others in words and actions? Lady’s Society. There is a need
to revisit our ways of incarnating
The 2006 General Chapter of SOLT decreed that we the gift and value of graced-friendship, as well as our
should pursue Pontifical Recognition of our ways of making our Marian-Trinitarian spirituality a
community. Everyone attending the Chapter agreed true lifeline that enables us to continue to dream and
that pursuing this direction fulfills the primary and live, no matter what.
ultimate dream and vision of our Founder, Fr. Jim
Flanagan, who sees the entire Society of Our Lady Let us revisit Fr. Jim’s vision of how we should live in
as one family in the Church. At the same time, the communion. We are called to imitate Our Lady as
proper and legitimate autonomy of every vocational she lived in communion with the Father as His
branch in the community will not be compromised. In Daughter, a Mother to Jesus and the Spouse of the
response to this decree, a commission was Holy Spirit. Quoting the Venerable John Paul II, let
established to work on drafting the document us never get tired of making Our Lady’s Family a
needed to fulfill this goal. ―School of Communion‖. As an Ecclesial family of
priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and
For over a year and a half, this Commission has lay faithful, we are always called to incarnate our
been working very hard to fulfill its mandate. The very own patrimony, within our community and in the
Commission has met with canon lawyers and with Church. It is also in this line that the THEME for this
The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life year’s Regional Assembly, both for Asia-Pacific and
and Societies of Apostolic Life. America, focuses in communion: “Father, that we
may be one”.
It is our hope and prayer that the final draft of the
document will be done in time for Regional I urge you to pray for all the members of the Society
Consultations to be immediately implemented, and of Our Lady, especially the sick and those who are
that ultimately, an Extra-Ordinary Chapter be facing challenges in their missions and
convened to finalize the document, which will then ministries. Please also continuously pray for the
be submitted to the Holy See. This is a challenging Commission, as they proceed with the mandate
work not only for the commission and the Chapter given to them. I also wish that you pray for the
but also for each one of us as we return to the American Region as they prepare for the upcoming
original vision of our founder and ask the Holy See elections of Regional Servants in July 2010.
to approve our way of life as one ecclesial family in
the Church, while maintaining the proper and In Communion, +
legitimate autonomy of each of the vocations within
the community.
Mission Statement:
“We the members of The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity
Commit Ourselves to Daily, Personal Encounters with the Living Jesus Christ of the Scriptures,
to Come to the Communion of the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
to Live the Paschal Mystery as Disciples of Jesus and Mary,
Living the Evangelical Counsels, United in Eucharistic Life,
Prayer and Service in Areas of Greatest Apostolic Need,
for the Integral Development of All Peoples,
Leading Them to Become Disciples of Jesus and Mary.”
Charism Statement:
“Discipleship of Jesus and Mary in the Gospels,
on Ecclesial Teams of Priests, Consecrated Life and Lay Faithful
in Marian and Trinitarian Relationships,
in areas of Greatest Apostolic Need.”
See if you can fill in the blanks. The Scripture references are included, so you can look them up in the
New American Bible if you need help with the answer!
1. But when you _________, go into your inner _________, close the _________,
and pray to your Father in secret. (Matthew 6:6)
2. Say _________ when you mean _________ and _________when you mean
_________. (Mathew 5:37)
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May the Peace of Christ be with you! grace Our Lady desires us to receive. May we use
this grace to bring complete joy and abundant life to
As we live this holy season of Lent, we are invited all we meet!
to draw closer to God through prayer, almsgiving
and fasting. This reflection from a worker at the In Christ,
SOLT Haiti mission speaks to Bernadette Cathers
those three actions in Diane Olsen
concrete ways, and also Editors for Communio
reminds us of how Jesus
treasures the poor and We are eager to hear from you! Please send any news,
articles, prayers, etc. to the Communio email address:
identifies with them. Let’s
[email protected]
open our hearts wide for the
This has been my 7th trip to the mission in Haiti portions. They would each say, "Thank you-very
operated by Fr. Glenn Meaux. I would have to say much.‖ I felt that I could truly see Jesus in these
that this trip was the most profound trip for me poorest of the poor. Jesus' command, "Feed the
yet. However, every trip has been wonderful. Hungry" took on a whole new meaning for me. I
think of what we eat in a single meal———we are
All of the people that Fr. Glenn serves are so blessed, and so spoiled as a people.
poor. These people are from 14 different villages; I
suppose about 15,000 or more souls. When the There were about 430 families represented that
poorest of the poor (the ones who have no means day. I suppose that that would translate into about
to support themselves) came in to the mission while 2500 people that we gave food to. Many of them
we were there, to get their monthly supply of food, I walked several miles to get this food. They were so
was struck by how pitifully little food it was that they thin, and many were quite weak.
received. And, they had to feed themselves for a
month on it. They received a couple of coffee cans As I watch them leave the mission, I consider what
full of ground corn, a can full of rice and a can full of my life would be like if I had to endure what these
beans and about a pint of cooking oil. That's it!!!! I poor people have to live with: the most meager of
felt that perhaps it would have been enough to feed houses, some with only banana leaves for a roof, is
one of our US families for about a week. home for many. They have no electricity (I think of
all that I have that requires electricity to make my
On former trips to the mission, I noted that the life comfortable.) They have no running water, no
mission staff also gave them some cash to help sewer systems, no grocery stores, no mail system,
supplement their diet. But, there are so many now no job, and very little to eat.
and the mission does not have the financial
resources to continue this practice. I hope and pray As I reflect, I think that it is not fair that I, we, have
that this is a temporary situation. I am again so much and they have so little. They did not ask
reminded how far a simple $30 a month for their lot in life. And, they are helpless to change
sponsorship would go to help solve the it. Even the poor in our country would be
problem. For most of us, this amount is less than a considered rich in Haiti. I know that there are other
single evening out. The mission desperately needs poor countries; but I am told that Haiti is the poorest
many more sponsorships. There are about 1200 country in the Western Hemisphere. I cannot
kids in the 2 schools that the mission imagine a poorer country anywhere on earth.
operates. There is so much to do.
As I consider these things, I also pray, Jesus, have
As I helped to hand out the food supplies to these mercy on us. We are the ones that some day will
poor, I was able to look into their eyes. They had have to face Him and answer the question, "What
the most grateful look as they received their meager did you do for the least of my brothers"?
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Working with the migrants—Summer 2009
– by Bernadette Cathers
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From the Consecrated Widows Corner
– by Nicolina (Nikki) Sullivan, CW
Drums beating with people chanting in the night, pick us up. Calls to the missionary flight service told
roosters crowing, goats bleating, and the guard us that they were only taking supplies and rescue
dogs barking. I hear these sounds as I lay awake in equipment into PAP and would not offer their
the early morning hours in our safe walled-in services to us for probably six days.
mission compound, wondering about our next plan
for evacuation. Even though the border to the Dominican Republic
was only a few miles away, it was cut off; going
I am one of a 16 member optometric team that has north was also not available for us. We felt we
just completed mission work in the SOLT Haiti needed to get out soon. Reports told us of the
Mission compound, work we had been planning for unrest and violence in the capitol city. The US
with Fr. Glenn for the past year. VOSH (Volunteer Embassy recommended that US citizens leave;
Optometric Services to Humanity) - Ohio sends starting Friday, the US would evacuate its
teams into underserved countries around the world citizens. This is our only option.
to provide eye care to those needing these
services, and this was our first mission trip to Haiti. Quickly the team packed and we rented an air-
conditioned (meaning the windows open) van and
We saw 2,556 patients and started our venture. We decided
provided glasses to many of these that each team member could take
patients. Those patients with It is still hard to only one suitcase. Glasses,
surgical needs have been identified believe what has medications, and some equipment
and will be referred for further care. along with all our duffels were left
happened this past behind. Excess clothes, shoes, and
It is still hard to believe what has week: the most personal items were left behind. We
happened this past week: the most devastating did take toilet paper, water, surgical
devastating earthquake in 100 earthquake in 100 masks, breakfast bars, and the
years has hit Port-au-Prince, one mission team made peanut-butter
that we felt here in Hinche, 75 miles years has hit Port-au- sandwiches for us, as we had no
from the epicenter of the Prince, one that we felt idea how long we would be at the
earthquake. Now that our mission here in Hinche, 75 airport until we were evacuated.
trip has come to an end, how do we
get home?
miles from the Luggage was piled high on top of
epicenter of the the van and tied down with a frayed
I called our airlines and earthquake. rope. The van was supposed to
rescheduled our flights. I was told hold sixteen and the front seat was
they would begin flying in five days reserved for a Haitian guard. Well,
and so I rescheduled the team for this may have been enough room
the first flight available, which was in seven days. for sixteen Haitians, but not for sixteen
E-mails kept coming in from family, friends, and Americans! We put two team members in the seat
organizations giving us advice on how to depart. reserved for the guard, and three to four across
each bench in the back, assuring that the only two
One option was to try to cross the border into the skinny team members were distributed
Dominican Republic, since the PAP (Port Au evenly. During the three-hour trip I heard comments
Prince) airport was damaged. Then we were told like, ―If you move this way, I could move my foot or
the border into the Dominican Republic was shift to this cheek!‖
closed. We were told to go north and fly out of Cap
Haitien and get a lift by missionary flight The road from Hinche to PAP had recently been
services. This would be a five-hour trip in a Tap Tap redone to cut an eight to twelve hours trip down to
(hired car) or Chicken Bus over unpaved roads to three hours. Haitian roads are usually not paved
reach the port, and then a missionary service could and have multiple rocks in the road bed. We
get us out. Another option would be to have the honked and swerved the entire trip, avoiding goats,
missionary service fly in Pignon, 13 miles away, to horses, people, and other vehicles. The bumpy
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travel was extremely exhausting for the younger as interviews with Portuguese and French TV and
well as the older team members. Then our radio reporters. We stood in line for another five
adventure began! hours.
Arriving at PAP we were immediately caught in a At 10:30 pm we were led out onto the tarmac to
traffic jam, vehicles scraping other vehicles just to enter a US Air Force C 17 cargo plane. About 100
get through. Fallen buildings, Haitians walking en people were strapped into seats along the wall and
masse, Haitians in tap taps and chicken buses over down the center of the belly of this plane. We talked
-loaded inside and on top, heading out of the city to Brian Williams and Ann Curry. Katy Couric was
with furniture, suitcases, chickens and animals, also a passenger on this plane. We were treated
whatever. Haitians wearing masks, riding motor- well, given blankets and pillows, and earplugs to
bikes with multiple people on each bike, finding any help with the noise level.
way possible to get out. And we were trying to get
in to the city. When we boarded the plane, we had no idea where
we would land. Previous flights had taken people
Our driver worked hard to find the best streets to into the Dominican Republic and Florida. We found
take in order to get to the airport. Finally we out we would stop in Charleston to fuel up and then
arrived. We found the terminal damaged and the head to McGregor Air Force Base, which had been
tower not working. We were met by a crowd of men commissioned by the government to deploy the
eager to help us with our suitcases. I finally chose refugees. Finally at 6 am on Saturday morning we
three of them, and they untied the suitcases on top arrived at the base. We had name bands placed on
of the van. We gave them a tip, much our wrists and were given a
to the dismay and shouting of the health kit to shower. Then we
others. We were led through the were briefed by Air Force
fence to the next exhausting part of
So much had personnel and taken to a
our journey. happened after that 30 gymnasium full of cots. We were
second shaking of the given food, and telephones so we
This was Friday at 12:30 pm, 2 ½ earth; we will never could make arrangements to fly
hours after leaving the mission the rest of the way to our homes.
compound. We were instructed to forget it.
stay in line and stand, as the terminal I felt like a refugee. It was such a
was unsafe to enter. We stood there good feeling to be home! After
for five hours, eating our sandwiches for supper and obtaining airline tickets we were led into buses and
distributing our remaining food to the people taken to either Philadelphia or Newark airports for
through the fence, as we were on our way home departure home. A state police was our escort, and
shortly. The US had soldiers surrounding the with sirens blaring we made our hour trip to the
airport. We were safe and going home. airport. We arrived at home by midnight Saturday,
two hours earlier than originally planned from our
After about five hours in front of the terminal, we original flight one short week ago into Haiti. So
started looking for a rest room. Men were instructed much had happened after that 30 second shaking
to stand between two buildings and women were of the earth; we will never forget it.
allowed to enter a single very undesirable toilet
within the terminal.
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Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity
PO Box 152
Robstown, TX 78380
Please pray in thanksgiving for the miraculous healing of Br. Patrick Prajvner and Ann Craig.