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world, hidden away in a convent enclosure– all this is praiseworthy, but for most youngpeople today it no longer seems to hold anyparticular attraction. But what really drawspeople to the consecrated life? Is it living ourlives in service of our neighbour? Going onmission to far distant lands? Finding silence

in the contemplative life? Mother Teresa toldher Sisters quite clearly: “Your vocation isnot a matter of caring for the sick in hospital,or teaching, or whatever… Our vocation isto belong to Jesus with the conviction thatnothing and no one can separate us from thelove of Christ. The work that we do is ourlove for Jesus, translated into living deeds.”

And so, forsaking everything for the sake ofthe Kingdom of Heaven does not mean serv-ing our fellow men or fighting for Christianvalues. That would not be enough to move aperson to renounce marriage, possessionsand even his or her own will. No, as in mar-riage, the soul consecrated to God is first and

“He that is able to receive it, let him receiveit”(Mt. 19:12) – so Jesus concludes the dif-ficult debate about marriage and virginity,showing us that human reasoning alone isnot enough: these two states of life have agrandeur that can only be under-stood by faith. Every vocation isa question of wholehearted com-mitment, of undivided love. Inmarriage such love seems obvi-ous at first. “No one and nothingcan part us,” is the credo of thosein love. But daily life quickly reveals eachother’s limitations and failings. Married lovealso lives by grace. Through the power ofGod’s love it can become something great,but it takes a great deal of sacrifice and self-mastery. This is where marriage and virginityhave a great deal in common.

A life lived in celibacy, poverty, and obedi-ence is initially seen as difficult and not ac-cording to nature. The word “monk” or“nun” tends to conjure up an image of strictrules and high walls, designed to shut out thejoys of life. Selfless service to the poorest ofthe poor, working in schools and hospitalsfor the love of God alone, praying for the

foremost a soul in love, a soul who, by thepower of God’s grace, desires to live for Himalone, to belong to Him, to give everythingto Him.

Dear Friends, in this, the Year of Conse-crated Life, in each edition of the Mirrorwe

will introduce you to selfless andcourageous men and women ofGod who need your help to servethe Church. Their true missionand strength is their love forJesus and their fidelity to His callto “follow Me.” Those who un-

derstand this vocation are becoming fewerand fewer. So we need marriages where cou-ples put the love of God at the center of theirlife together. We need fathers and motherswho know how to pray and say, “Lord, ourchildren belong to You. Give us the grace tobe able to offer You a spiritual vocation.”

With my grateful blessing on you all,

Father Martin M. BartaEcclesiastical Assistant

Every vocation is a question of undivided love.

“We are called to know and show that God is able to fill our hearts

to the brim with happiness; that we need not seek

our happiness elsewhere.”Pope Francis,

for the Year of Consecrated Life (November 2014 – February 2016)Gift and Grace – with God at the heart of it all.

No. 2 · February 2015

Publishedeight times a year

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Consecrated Life

Showing the face of Christ“The Prayer of Jesus” – Our Father –“is my favourite prayer,” says MotherMarie Catherine. “It unites us.” Shealso loves praying the Angelus, “forthen I can see within my heart howGod came to us as man.”

Living in unity is part of the charism of theServants of Christ. Their congregation wasfounded by Mother Marie Catherine nineyears ago. Previously she had been the Gen-eral Superior of the Daughters of the BlessedHeart of Mary for the whole of West Africa,an extremely demanding task that carriedwith it a great deal of responsibility. Duringan extended period of rest and recovery inFrance she attended a seminar on Islam.While praying she experienced the call ofChrist: “Show My real face in the Islamicworld.” She pondered on what this mightmean. She knew West Africa, as she lived inSenegal. But she sensed that God wished toentrust her with a mission elsewhere. “BuildMe a house, so that My love can take visibleform among the Muslims.” Then, again inprayer, she understood that it was to be inNiger. A pilgrimage to Lisieux to the shrineof Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, Doctor

of the Church and Patroness of the Missions,confirmed her in ther call. “Why it should beNiger, I do not know,” she said. But sheknew that this was the path to follow. Andshe remembered hearing about a bishop inthe desert region of Maradi.

Bishop Ambroise had already been prayingfor some time for help. In his vast diocese

there were scarcely any religious Sisters.Here Christians do not make up even half apercent of the population, and grindingpoverty and hunger are everyday realities.When they started, the Servants of Christwere just two women. Today there are ten ofthem – and eleven novices as well. They gointo the villages distributing food, particu-larly to mothers with malnourished children.They organize courses in hygiene, health andeducation; they teach the people to read andwrite and show them how to manage theirhomes – not to mention providing microcre-dit. They are now serving 150 villages withpopulations exceeding 25,000. No onewould have come here if God had not sentthe Servants of Christ. “The people haveconfidence in us; they can see what we aredoing,” says Mother Marie Catherine. Whatshe does not say is that in their work of lovethe people can see the real face of Christ.

For some time now people in some of thevillages have wanted to learn more aboutJesus. “The village elders organized a meet-ing and asked us how one could become aChristian.” The bishop is taking care of this.The Sisters continue to show the face of

Called to Niger –Mother Marie Catherine Kingbo.

A moment of truth – the Sisters weighing the success of their battle against mal-nutrition.

In case of surplus, your donation will go to similar

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Christ through practical deeds. Where thereis hunger, the Sisters give food; where thereis thirst, the Sisters quench thirst. They visityoung women, many of whom have fledfrom forced marriage right into prostitution– as early as age 11. They are fighting for thedignity of women, and they also visit peoplesuffering from leprosy. Without the Sisters,life would be bleak on the plains of Maradi.

The congregation’s emblem is – the wash-ing of the feet. “We wish to serve in humil-ity,” Mother Marie explains. Relations withthe Muslims are also good. “We also live inpoverty; that is a bond between us,” sheadds. Nonetheless, even here the influenceof fanaticism can be felt. “The cross thatour girls wear around their necks disturbssome people.” But the Sultan of the regionand the village elders are all behind MotherMarie, and indeed are immensely gratefulto her. Close to the church the Sisters havebuilt their mother house, with an annexe forthe novices. You have helped with $43,500.But more projects will be needed. The needis great in Maradi – but then so is the Sis-ters’ love. •

The challenge is to help the whole human person: mind, body, soul andspirit. Many political and ideological systems seek to subject the humanperson and dominate culture, but Faith in Christ sets us free.

Tunisia The Servants of the Lord and the Virginof Matará – originally from Chile – striveto proclaim the love of the Gospel in aspirit of freedom and service to others.These Sisters have been in Tunisia since2005. They have seen the turmoil of rev-olution for themselves and the radicaliza-tion of many. Safety and security is aparticular concern. It is dangerous to usepublic transportation as the vehicles aremostly occupied by men, just as it is dan-gerous to walk alone through Tunis andits suburbs, or even to travel by taxi. Butthe children in the parishes are waiting forthe Sisters to come and teach them thecatechism, while the sick and elderly areexpecting them to bring them consolationand joy. Such pastoral duties are difficultenough in themselves, but in a culturalclimate so hostile to Christianity they canalso be dangerous. We have promised the Sisters $16,500 tobuy a new car so as to better serve thepeople in safety and bring them the truthto set them free. •

Lebanon The Missionary Sisters of the Most BlessedSacrament teach 1,200 girls from 30 vil-lages in the surrounding country region intheir school in Byblos. However, theirbiggest challenge is the orphanage attachedto the school which accommodates 80 girls.“We depend on the providence of God,”writes the Superior, Mother Laura Trad.Were it not for the Sisters, these girls wouldhave neither education, nor love. But theSisters could not provide this service with-out help. This is where Providence has in-troduced ACN into the equation. We arehelping provide the “engine” of Providenceto fulfil their many-sided pastoral aposto-late: for these girls, for the refugees, for the

Carthage, (Tunisia). Empires come andgo; the Kingdom of Christ remains –thanks to the Sisters.

The gift of hope – the Sisters drawstrength in prayer and pass it on with love.

Engine of Providence

elderly in the countryside and for the poorin Byblos – for this the Sisters need to havea strong and reliable vehicle. An investmentof $27,500 will provide them with one.Please help if you can. •

Defending the dignity ofwomen – whether in the homeor in the fields – all part of theSisters’ apostolate.

projects that will enable the pastoral work of ACN.

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In many parts of Syria, the Chris-tians are venturing to return totheir villages and homes; as theysay “it is our homeland.” In Nebek,near Homs, they found nothing butruins and burned out houses. Re-building “would have been impos-sible without your solidarity,”writes Sister Huda Fadoul. Above all, they could not have survived thewinter without heating oil, warm clothing and medicine. Instead, entirefamilies were able to survive, thanks to the emergency aid provided byACN. Your generous support has also enabled them to buy the essentialmaterials they need to rebuild. And although shots are still fired here andthere in the neighborhood, they are nevertheless planning to stay. SisterHuda is filled with a sense of profound gratitude. She writes: “Thanks toyour generosity we are also able to persuade others to stay on and tohope in a better future. You have given us back our dignity.”

Need, love and thanks – Your letters

JohannesFreiherr Heereman,Executive President, ACN (International)

A widow’s miteI am already over 90 years old and onlyhave a small widow’s pension to live on.So I’m dipping into my savings in order tobe able to send you a donation, which is tobe used for the Christians in Iraq.

A benefactress in France

Transfer of energy I am so happy to see the ways in whichACN has been an instrument of God in mylife. I first heard about you through an ap-peal on the television, calling for help forthe poor and neglected of this world. Ibegan to get involved. I see your work asbeing like a power cable, which makes aconnection from the socket – the personwith living energy – to those who need itin order to do good in the world. But itdoesn’t just stop there; the energy receivedat the end of the cable comes back to thesocket in the form of thanks and prayersand unites both ends together in a single

body. My conclusion is that God moves inboth directions providing his living energy,regardless of which end we stand at. Youcan count on my prayers, together with amodest contribution, in the name of JesusChrist.

A benefactor in Brazil

Moved by the Mirror I’m often moved by stories of people in theMirror and I intend to keep the Sep/Octissue for the rest of my life. The interviewwith Mgr. Jeanbart was deeply moving. Iwould like to think that the agony Christ-ians and others are going through in Syriaand Iraq will pass. I hope to pick the storyup in 5 years time and reflect on how muchthings had improved for Christians in theselands. If things do improve it will be due tothe courage and fidelity of people like Mgr.Jeanbart. Please find attached a donationfor the Christians of Syria and Iraq.

A benefactor in Australia

“Thanks to you, we can stay”

Dear Friends,In the diocese where I live there are 270active priests today. By the year 2022, if thepresent trend continues, there are likely tobe no more than 120. The number of sem-inarians is also falling. This disturbingtrend is to be observed throughout WesternEurope. And things are no different whenit comes to vocations to the religious life.Yet in Africa and Asia the number of vo-cations is growing, and thanks to your do-nations we are able to help for theconstruction and extension of seminariesand convents. It is no longer possible to ig-nore these two contrasting developments.Certainly, God calls those in the wealthiercountries, but fewer people heed His voice.Both parents and parishes find themselvesincreasingly overwhelmed as they struggleto pass on the Faith.

Some of ACN’s national offices employ theslogan “Keeping the Faith Alive.” This isalso appropriate for our work in thoseplaces where the Church is in need be-cause her message is no longer listened toand where spiritual poverty is spreadingever further. That is why we are supportingthe promotion of modern catechetical ma-terials, such as the YOUCAT, and beforevery long a new children’s catechism aswell. Thanks to your great generosity andto the growing number of our benefactors,we will be able to achieve this without cut-ting our existing aid for the Church inneed around the world. The faith must bekept alive – everywhere.

Editor: Jürgen Liminski,Kirche in Not/Ostpriesterhilfe, Postfach1209, D–61452 Königstein, Germany,www.kirche–in–not.org – Responsiblepublisher: Marie–Claude Lalonde, Aidto the Church in Need (Canada) Inc.(See address – opposite). De licentiacompe tentis auctoritatis ecclesiasticae.

Send your donation to: Aid to the Church in Need (Canada) Inc.P.O. Box 670, Stn. H, Montreal, QC H3G 2M6

(514) 932–0552 – 1–800–585–6333Website: www.acn–aed–ca.org – email: info@acn–aed–ca.org

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Please indicate your benefactor number in your correspondence.