Experience of Mission in Brazil (Part 2)  

By: Margaret Magee OSF, Associate Minister

This is the second in a series of articles reflecting on Sr. Margaret's recent experiences of life and Mission with our Sisters in Brazil. 

     On Monday, March 26, we left Araguacema for a three hour drive to Cristalândia which is a city also located in the Brazilian state of Tocantins. Sr. Teresinha (Té) is principal of the Escola São Francisco de Assis (St. Francis of Assisi School). Sr. Eurípedes is a nurse at the town's small hospital, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Sr. Mariana Barbosa provides pastoral ministry visiting the elderly in the area while also caring for her own mother who lives at home and is in her 90's. We had the opportunity to visit Mariana's mother and she is alert, talkative, and delightful. What a blessing for Mariana and her family.

   We also went with Eurípedes for a tour of the hospital and to hear of the services that are provided by a small yet competent staff. There seemed to be many of these small local rural hospitals in the places that we visited. They are under the government services but can only provide a certain level of care. If a patient requires more extensive tests, procedures, or possible surgery, they must travel, sometimes as much as two hours, to a larger hospital.   

   That evening we joined the Sisters and walked to the local parish, Paróquia Nossa Senhora do Monte do Carmo, a few blocks away from the convent for the Holy Thursday celebration. My thoughts were still filled with the students' presentation of the washing of the feet and healing the violence in our own hearts and in our world. As I entered into the evening celebration I was aware of the people gathered and their faith and engagement in being Eucharist and instruments of peace in their own country of Brazil and also for the world. I could not help but be drawn into this celebration and the commemoration of the Lord's Supper with the enlivened participation of the people, with their music and singing. Following communion we moved into the solemnity of Reposition of the Blessed Sacrament. As we walked back to the convent my heart was full with a deep gratitude for the visible presence of Eucharist embodied in the people of this parish in Palmas and the places we have visited, knowing the challenges and struggles they and the people of Brazil face with a government that is unstable and flawed with corruption, the concerns of violence, poverty, and other issues. Perhaps this is a consciousness we are called to hold more deeply. How can we reverence and hold the suffering and pain of people in our world as Christ held the pain of all humanity in the Agony of the Garden? For us today, our worlds of North America, the Caribbean, South America, and beyond may seem so vastly different and separated by thousands of miles yet in truth we are one human family living on one common home facing the same difficulties and struggles. It is our faith, our attentiveness, and centeredness in Christ and with one another that must be the visible redemptive love of God made available for the world.  

 

   Reflections still to come - Good Friday, Ceres, Easter Sunday, visits and activities in Anápolis

St. Anthony's Cancer Center installs bell dedicated to survivors 

By: Divya Kumar, Tampa Bay Times
   Sister Mary McNally, vice president of mission at St. Anthony's Hospital, stood in front of a room of cancer survivors to unveil a silver bell surrounded by butterfly stickers mounted to the wall of the Cancer Center lobby.

   "So often people complete their treatment and they go out the door," she said. "Now we have that symbolism. 'Yeah, I'm free now. This is my new life.'" Then, on the one-year anniversary of her own completion of radiation therapy, McNally rang the bell.

   "It's an important part of the healing process," she told the room full of survivors, who lined up Friday to ring the bell for each year of their survival, ranging from 33 years of being cancer free to Gina Forgetta, who completed her radiation therapy earlier that day.

   "It's been a long road and this is the end," said Forgetta, who had been coming to St. Anthony's for the past six weeks for radiation on her jaw.

   The cancer center at St. Anthony's was built in 1991. Since then, the mortality rate for cancer as a whole has fallen by about 23 percent, according to the American Cancer Society.

Tom McMahon, director of oncology at St. Anthony's, said while that number isn't applicable to each type of cancer, on the whole, cancer survival rates have "improved dramatically."

   Some of that has come as a result of early detection and identifying prevention factors, some from improved technology in treatment.

   "Some cancer rates haven't improved dramatically, and it's frustrating when you don't see that," he said. "But we say to patients the day they've been diagnosed, they become a survivor, whether they survive for two weeks or 31 years."

   McNally was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2016. She began radiation in February 2017, coming into the center for treatment Mondays through Fridays. The process, she said, could be solitary and frightening. While technicians and doctors prepare the patient, he or she must enter the radiation vault alone. McNally remembers repeating to herself "Be still and know I am God and love" until each session was over.

   "It's not painful," she said. "But there's always a fear of the unknown."

   While each person's journey is different, McMahon said bringing closure to a successful treatment stage is an important step in holistic recovery. Sandra Bailey, Cancer Center manager, said they often tell patients they hope to never see them again.

   McNally, who was cancer-free after seven weeks of radiation, said it's helpful to have an external symbol like the bell.

   "It allows you to freely get on with life," she said. "It doesn't happen that soon, but after a fashion."

 

St. Joseph's Women's Hospital opens new Special Delivery Unit 

Submitted by: Margaret Mary Foley OSF

   St. Joseph's Women's Hospital is thrilled to announce the completion of our Special Delivery Unit, a new, larger space for the NICU delivery team to stabilize babies in need of additional critical care at birth. Situated between two operating rooms, the unit will care for newborns ranging from very premature infants to full-term babies in distress, in a warm, calm environment. The unit was blessed yesterday and we are proud to open it to patients next week.

Franciscan-Clarian Reflections 

   Over the next few months, the e-newsletter will post reflections on Franciscan-Clarian artworks. The members of the Franciscan-Clarian Spirituality have written these reflections as a way to invite further reflection and sharing through the arts. We hope you enjoy these reflections and encourage you to share them with others. We also invite all our sisters, associates, and partners in ministry to share in this reflection process by selecting a Franciscan-Clarian artwork and writing a reflection. Reflections may be sent to Judith Terrameo OSF at [email protected]

Franciscan-Clarian Art Reflection 

By: Lilian Cristina Pinheiro OSF

   Francis and Clare: two hearts that find each other, in love and in Christ. It is an image of wholeness. The experience of faith of the two saints enriches the arid soil, allowing red and white flowers to bloom. The red represents a life searching for Gospel living; the white embodies unwavering faith.

   In their embrace, they unite and give birth to the Franciscan-Clarian charism, represented by the strong branch reaching up to heaven. Francis' feet are raised up and he seems to lean on Clare. Throughout his life, whenever he had doubts and had to discern something, he would ask Clare to pray. An example was when the seraphic father was in doubt as to whether he should preach or lead life as a hermit.

   Clare remains in San Damiano (seen partially behind the figures), the first church restored by Francis, where he himself met the Poor Christ on the crucifix and heard the words that determined his life mission. Clare, therefore, becomes the one responsible for guarding the foundational charism of the Franciscan order: to live the Gospel as poor as Jesus Christ himself. The sun enlightens the figures and is a reminder of the Franciscan charism, that was given to restore the church and to enlighten lives and hearts.