Ms. Marina van Dalen, coordinator of The Netherlands sisters, reports on the collaboration in the “Worldhouse” in Boxtel
Since a few years we have several Medical Mission Sisters (MMS) living in our care home “the Worldhouse” and in the adjoining apartments of the Molenhof. This year they are 12 MMS Sisters and thus more numerous than we are, as three Sisters passed away in 2024 and only nine MSOLA are left.
From the beginning we had a good working relationship with them.
Our lay workers also take care of the MMS sharing in the cost of course. This is also to our advantage; we can keep our staff because of this collaboration. We also take care of 2 Assumptionist Fathers with the same conditions. Over the years we got closer with each other and got to know one another better. The MMS are also missionaries and many of them have worked in Africa, mostly as nurses, doctors, pharmacists, physiotherapists etc.
Their charism resembles ours and they also have a very global, universal and intercultural view of things.
If we have a presentation or film about Africa, they like to join in and are very interested in the MSOLA work. We also do outings together, e.g. visiting a museum or attending celebrations in St. John’s cathedral in Den Bosch.
Obviously, we invite them to our Jubilees or feasts, and they do the same. This year for the first time, the MMS celebrated their congregational feast on 25th of April in our chapel and we joined in.
It is always nice to see how another congregation has their ways of doing things. We can learn from this and pick up some new ideas. One of the priests of the Worldhouse, an Assumptionist Father died lately. Because of the shortage of priests, we discussed how we wanted to continue with the services in the chapel. After a brain storming of wishes, we decided to alternate between Eucharistic celebrations and Word-Communion services (WoCo) led by a layperson, often a pastoral worker or theologian.
We have one Eucharist on Wednesday and one WoCo-service on Friday and everybody is satisfied. The MMS are happy that they have these WoCo-services and the MSOLA are happy that at least once a week they have the Eucharist.
We have two priests (one quite old and the other very busy) and three or four laypersons who take turns every month. The priests also celebrate the Holy Mass on feasts like Easter, Christmas etc.
The laypersons often do an extensive preparation for their services, so this is always very rich and content-related. All the sisters appreciate this very much. For those who like to go to Mass every day, there is the village church. For burials and special occasions, we like to ask the White Fathers, although they are not really nearby. But as long as they can drive, this is an option for us.
We also collaborate in the field of care, recreation, health and wellbeing. The MMS, the Fathers and the MSOLA celebrate their birthdays together and all can join in common activities like chair yoga, singing, Bible group, mandala painting etc. This is lifegiving for our sisters who diminish and are getting older and weaker; it brings interaction and movement as the MMS are a (little) bit younger and still stronger.
As they have been living their mission more individually, they appreciate the family spirit and community life of MSOLA.
For me as coordinator and our staff the collaboration is also enriching, because we can cooperate and discuss with other colleagues and learn from each other’s experience, e.g. in the field of care for people with dementia or coordinating / arranging volunteer work or more care.
We speak with one voice in the Worldhouse and can advocate for all the religious living there. We also share our experiences with the Religious Archives and the Conference of Religious or other organisations. And because we are all congregations going toward completion, we can share the costs of staff, transport and equipment like a new washing machine. It is a win-win situation.
Together with these congregations we planted together a ‘Laudato Si’ tree in front of the Worldhouse on 25th January 2024. A meaningful symbol of our collaboration.
