Sr Carmen Sammut’s homily – April 30, 2016
Sharing on the Gospel of the Wedding Feast of Cana (Jn 2:1-12)
Delwende Center in Ouagadougou
What is Delwende Center?
“Thank you for my baptism”– Emmanuel, from Burkina Faso
One morning at the beginning of the rainy season, Emmanuel, in his fifties, called me through his eldest son. He had been a good catechumen for a long time but had abandoned everything except his Christian name. We knew each other well and I respected his decision taken long before I arrived. That day, he let me know he was dying and wanted baptism before the great departure. I knew he was very ill. Five kilometers separated me from his village, but what a road! The motorbike had to navigate through the mud. Emmanuel was at the end of his strength, and I found his great desire to ask Jesus his true shepherd to lead him to the Father. He himself had been a shepherd from a young age. At our second meeting, we celebrated his baptism with his wife and two sons who…
Street-Missionary in Canada
Sister Françoise Laflamme, missionary from Malawi in Canada.
Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicite
“One day” says Perpetua, “while we were having lunch, they suddenly took us for questioning. We arrived at the forum. The rumor soon spread to neighboring districts and there was a huge crowd. We were mounted on the platform. My companions, interrogated first, made their confession. When my turn came, my father was there with my son. He pulled me from the stairs begging: ‘Have mercy on your son.’ Hilarianus, the procurator said: ‘Spare the gray hairs of thy father, spare the tender age of your son; sacrifice out of reverence for the emperors.’ I said, ‘I will not do it.’ Hilarianus asked: ‘Are you Christian?’ I said, ‘I am.’ When my father came up close to convince me, he was chased away by order of Hilarianus and struck with a rod. I felt the blow to my father as if I myself had…
February 20, the World Day for Social Justice
February 20 is World Day for Social Justice. For the two Institutes founded by Cardinal Lavigerie, it is the Annual Day of prayer and reflection on modern slavery. The theme for 2016 is: “Shine the light on modern slavery.” How to learn about modern slavery? • Find in your city or country organizations working against modern slavery and against human trafficking and get in touch with them to see how you can work together to eradicate modern slavery. There are networks of religious men and women working against human trafficking in 70 countries, linked with Talitha Kum. Do you know those in your country? Could you collaborate with them? • Learn clues to help you identify potential victims of trafficking and see what can be done. • Discover your slavery footprint and check the goods produced by child labor or forced or compulsory labor. • Encourage companies to take…
The time of fidelity
Celebrating 25 years, 50 or 60 years of religious life is an opportunity to contemplate the journey of fidelity lived with the Lord, with her sisters and all those she met in Africa or elsewhere. On the occasion of her Golden Jubilee, Sister Nicole Robion witnesses to this fidelity of the Lord and her own: The burning bush In my burning bush the message you gave me: “Do not be afraid of the fire!” In the Holy Land he knew me. “I will be with you.” I am the one to marvel To give him the joy of accompanying me. “What joy I would have if I saw you all walk with a firm and resolute step in the vocation to which our Lord has called you. However, I respect your freedom so that born of his divine inspiration, it would be your voluntary…
Saint Bakhita, Patroness of kidnapped persons and victims of trafficking
Josephine was born in 1869 in South Sudan. She lived with her parents, 3 brothers and 4 sisters in Olgossa, a small village in Darfur, close to Mont Agilerei. The first suffering felt by Josephine was when those she called ” négriers” in reality members of Arab tribes who were slave traders, abducted her elder sister: “I still remember, she said in 1910, how Mama cried, and how we too cried. “ One day, between 1876 and 1877 she suffered the same fate as her sister; she was kidnapped and carried far away. “I was only thinking of my family; I called out to Papa and Mama, with anguish in my heart impossible to describe. But no-one was listening to me. “ Sold into slavery several times in the markets of El Obeid and Khartoum, she was treated brutally by her captors.…
I am receiving my King
Gabrieli was one of the first catechists of the country (Zambia). Being old, he now remained in the village. I often went to visit him, to talk and improve the language I was learning. I always found him sitting in his lounge chair made with animal skin, praying the rosary … If he was absent, it meant that even in a village far away … someone was sick, often very ill. So Gabrieli took his stick and went to see him, to help him in his suffering…or dying. He had always kept his Shepherd’s heart. One day I found him lying down, with a high fever … He told me: “Go and tell the Father to bring me communion!” When Father arrived he was kneeling down. Father tried to tell him to stay in bed but … “No, I am receiving my King!” Every day the father…