Blessings on her way

After dinner this evening, we gathered for prayer here at Grace House as we always do. Tonight's prayer was a special one ... we had a special blessing for Andrea, one of the Sisters I live with who will be leaving in the morning to spend 3 weeks in Haiti to relieve one of the volunteer staff at Hospital Sacre Coeur in Milot, in the north of Haiti.

We blessed Andrea, and send our prayers, hopes and wishes with her down to Haiti. To our 3 Sisters who have been living there since October, to the doctors and nurses who have been helping the victims of the earthquake, and to the people of Haiti. We know that she will be a special blessing ... her skills, her smile, her very presence. We'll miss her, but know that she will be a presence of peace to people greatly in need.

I'm reminded of these words from our Constitutions:

Our congregational commitment
to live and proclaim Christ's gospel of peace
directs our decisions regarding ministry.
In these choices we take into account
our talents, resources and limitations,
the needs of our times,
and the pastoral concerns of our church.

Our history calls us to a special love
for those who are poor.
The weight of suffering and oppression
borne by so many people today,
especially by those who are economically poor,
cries out to us for action.
Our response demands a firm commitment
to work for justice
in solidarity with our sisters and brothers.

Please keep our 3 Sisters (Ann, Maureen and Marilee) living and ministering in Haiti, and now Andrea, in your prayers.