9May - June 2011

newspapers,• a twenty minute feature on Maltese FMM to be airedduring an evening TV programme• and last but not least, on 20th May, a Solemn HighMass, which will be celebrated at St. Theresa’sSanctuary, Birkirkara , in thanksgiving for this specialevent. Archbishop Paul Cremona OP will be the maincelebrant.

Rita Zammit-Pace fmm

Thirty-nine formators of five Indian Provinces attended the All India Formation Team meeting held atImmaculate Conception Convent, Hanamkonda, Warangal from February 13th to 19th, 2011.

The inaugural Eucharistic celebration highlighted the theme of the assembly, ‘Formation for contemplationand discernment’: Real contemplation leads us to communion with God and self transformation that in turnaffects the transformation of the society around us. As formators called to be persons of contemplation, weneed to be docile to God’spromptings in order to dealwith persons who are pro-ducts of modernization andaffected by a culture ofnoise. Amidst the rush andhush of modern world expo-sed to multiple opportunities,a higher commitment isdemanded on us to remainfaithful to God, congregationand to oneself. We need toallow ourselves to be seizedby the spirit of the Lord.Day’s session proceededwith stage wise reporting ofthe implementation of thedecisions of the formationmeeting of 2010.

Two days’ input session was given by Rev. Fr. John Joseph, S.J. He began by enlightening us with theChristian spiritual path; the stages of journey from unawakened self to unitive way where our mind would beabsorbed in the Lord and advanced in contemplation. When the spiritual interior movements lead to God, theperson experiences spiritual consolation, an increase of faith, hope and love in peace and joy.

In the light of two days’ session, all the formators worked on concrete action plans by means of personalreflections and group discussions and felt the need to stress on Franciscan way of discernment and to makediscernment a way of life. This would certainly cultivate in the formees the art of listening to God, to oneselfand to the world in relation to our vows, to consecrated life and charism. As it was the last meeting for 4 ofthe 5 provincials, their services and contribution was deeply appreciated.

Mary Antonila Lopez, fmm

Warangal Hyderabad, India - All India Formation Team Meeting

Rita, fmm with Josianne Camilleri, journalist from a Maltese TV station

Our community of the Immaculate Heart ofMary has been assigned a new mission. It allbegan on April 23, 2010 when we received aSister of the Assumption. She was joined inmid-August by a second Sister. A suitable sec-tion of the building was set aside for their livingquarters. Occasionally therefore they can recei-ve other Sisters from their community for a fra-ternal get-together or members of their families.They share meals and liturgies with the FMM.

On December 10, 2010 our Provincial Superior,Sr. Simone Bastien, came to propose anotherproject: “Enlarge the space for your tent…!”This time we were faced with a real challenge:to receive into our community six novices who

were the founding members of a new community, “The Queenship of Mary.” They had asked to make theircanonical year of Novitiate with us. Sister Simone, amazed at the spontaneity of our affirmative response tothis demand, spoke to Sr. Suzanne Phillips about it and she gave permission for this experiment to take place.

Two years ago, I committed myself to work withthe Polish community living in Lebanon, preparingfor Mass, First Communion, listening and havingsimple meetings. At the end of the year, a Polishlady asked me to go to the hospital with her to prayfor Malgorzata who was ill with cancer and wasdying. I went twice for four days: they were her lastdays. Her husband, a Muslim, wanted a Mass saidfor her. We prepared the Mass with a Jesuit priest,in Polish and in Arabic so that the husband’s fami-ly could understand. As Malgorzata had been partof an orchestra, her friends – French, American andSwiss – also came and they spoke English. At the

beginning of the Mass, two of them played the ‘Ave Maria’. Then, all the songs were in Polish. I thought tomyself: they are not going to understand anything! In fact, yes, the words were not understood, but theyunderstood the music better than I did. Then we spontaneously created a choral with a Polish lady who sangonly the words, in Polish, a Lebanese lady of Polish origin, a soprano, who sang while murmuring the words,for her Polish was very weak, a Frenchman with a beautiful tenor voice hummed the music and an OrthodoxRomanian accompanied on the organ. It was indeed very beautiful!

Without any preparation, without asking for anything, each one gave of his/her best. After Mass, the Polishpeople said to me: “We hope you will prepare as beautiful a Mass for us!” To be frank, I did not do much,and besides I sing false. Without a common language, without a long preparation, we understood and prayedtogether!

Ursula Maria Brzonkalik, fmm

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Canada - Enlarge the space for your tent…Is. 54:2

Lebanon - The language of music

The six foundresses of ‘The Queenship of Mary’ with Simone Bastien, fmm and Marianna Jung, fmm

11May - June 2011

Again suitable arrangements were quickly made to accommodate them.On February 10, 2011, His Grace Terrence Prendergast, S. J., Archbishop of Ottawa, celebrated the Eucharistin our chapel and officially welcomed the six foundresses of The Queenship of Mary as novices by givingeach one a copy of the Constitutions of this community and naming Sr. Marianna Jung as Formator. A friend-ly gathering followed this touching ceremony. The Sisters of the Provincial community and of the Novitiatejoined in the joyous celebrations.It is a joy for us to be part of this endeavour, knowing thatthe Holy Spirit is calling us to take up this challengethrough the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sr. Marianna willhave our three FMM Novices join the other six for theirinitiation into religious life. Sr. Maria Nguyen Tu will pro-vide help in their faith journey by giving them a course inPsychology and Faith. Sr. Bernadette Ward will teach themabout the role of Mary in Scripture and Tradition throu-ghout Church History, and will introduce them to someChurch documents meaningful for our times. Sr. AlinePakenham will immerse them in the French language whilefour Sisters offer individual conversation practice to deepen the knowledge received. We wish to work together towards the ideal that is religious life through Adoration of the Most BlessedSacrament, devotion to the glorious and blessed Virgin Mary and a total self-giving to God and to neighbour,so we are all trying to be and to act in such a way that the hopes we entertain will not fail to be realized. Weare careful to create an atmosphere of prayer, peace, joy and fulfilment that will be a source of fervour andrenewal. So already these young Sisters are one with us in a truly Franciscan spirit!When God grants us the grace to find a pearl of great price, it is for our joy and encouragement.

Réjane Longpré, fmm

It had long been her dream to have the dedication of the founding Sisterssomehow immortalized. And so it was that, at the 11th hour, of 11.1.’11, inher capacity as Chairperson of the Board of directors, Assunta Leong, fmmwas signing the disc, while several FMM and significant others, pulled thestrings to unveil an impressive pictorial account of the Hospital’s earlyyears.

Local newspaper gives its impression of the occasion.

“Memory lane captures noble spirit of Assunta sisters” Natasha llyas

“Assunta Hospital marked yet another mile stone in Malaysian history asthe Assunta Hospital Memory Lane was launched as a walkway chroni-cling the glorious past of one of the leading landmarks of Petaling Jaya.For 57 years it has been through a myriad of changes. With its humblebeginning as a little shelter providing basic amenities for the destitute, thehospital has evolved throughout the years into an impressive land mark providing full hospital care servicesfor the residents of Klang Valley and nationwide. None of that could have happened without the noble deedsof its founders, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM).

The Assunta Hospital Memory Lane which serves to commemorate their efforts was launched by the chair-person of the Board of Directors, Sister Assunta Leong. The launch was also witnessed by Assunta Hospitalchief executive officer Choy Wah Wei, representatives of the Board of Directors, Sisters of the FMM, thesenior management and distinguished corporate leaders and hospital patrons.

Malaysia, Singapour - Launching of “Down Memory Lane”, at Assunta Hospital

Choy said the staff in Assunta are true testimo-nies to the spirit of loyalty and camaraderie andare proudly displayed on the Memory Lane. Hepraised them for continuously upholding therenowned name of Assunta Hospital that is syno-nymous with service, compassion and commit-ment. “The Memory Lane will be a tool to exhi-bit its history, tradition and values to all, be it inthe past or future generations that shall passthrough these very walls,” said Sister Assunta.“The pictures on the walls of the Memory Lanepaint a thousand words, each frame bearing thelaughter, tears, hopes and fears of all who wal-

ked down its path. The walls within and around hospital have been torn down, renovated, repainted and remo-delled but what remains unchanged is the core spirit of the founding sisters, which is to provide excellent yetaffordable healthcare to all regardless of race creed or religion”, she added. Guests were shown a presenta-tion of the history and growth of the Hospital. This year, the hospital will also be celebrating the golden jubi-lee of its nursing college – the Tun Tan Cheng Lock College of Nursing. The college was the first private nur-sing school in the country and was inaugurated by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, the country‘sfirst prime minister. The school is well known for its nursing education and is committed to ensuring nursingcare of the highest quality - a service that has become a hallmark of the Assunta Hospital.”

The days when FMMs headed most of the wards are long since gone; but the present role of the FMM asPastoral Carers is very much appreciated by our patients irrespective of race or religion.

Enda Ryan, fmm

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The only Catholic Church in the Faeroe Islands, built in 1987,was surrounded by a wooden cloister. Now, more than 20 years later, the wood was rotten and theparish council had decided to replace it by a wall of stones fromthe country, although the material and the hours of work costthe earth. Since this summer, we have been seeing piles ofcement, sand and stones in the courtyard of the convent and thechurch. For this work, they chose a man, 72 years of age who

presented the lowest cost. He said he was young no longer and so would work at his own pace. Yes, he wastrue to his word: we could not see much of a difference between yesterday’s and today’s work. In the mean-time, the bills of the material and the workers’ salaries came in, always increasing. We began to be anxious.

Louisa who is in charge of this, was really concerned even in her dreams. She did not dare to look in thisdirection and did not invite us to ask any questions on this subject. It was decided to call upon the generosi-ty of the parishioners. Some of them responded royally, but many turned a deaf ear. Each time I passed infront of the church I noticed two piles of different stones: one of bluish stones, of average size, the other ofbrown stones which were very big. Of course the usage of these stones was very different: the big ones forthe exterior and the others to fill in the interior of the wall. With time, we saw the remarkable competence ofthis workman. The wall, as it was formed, became more and more beautiful. Fortunately, it lessened ouranxiety and we could admire the wall and the workman who was a real artist. For some time now we havenoticed a pile of very small stones, like white pebbles. They would be placed on top of the wall when this isfinished. Louisa has already put some of them on the part of the wall that is finished. She has made the designof the grille which will be made by the pupils of the technical school.

Faroe - A story of stones

13May - June 2011

The story of the stones is not over. The school had built someclassrooms a little below our convent. It was necessary to diginto the small hillock on which our house is built and break theenormous rocks which were so hard that three machines werebroken. So much dust and so much noise disturbed us verymuch: small stones flew over the roof and through the windowsand our car was full of dust. For two months we were being sha-ken as if by an earthquake. It was a hard time for everyone: forthe workman who was sitting for hours (from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.)in the machine, for the neighbours who could not bear the noise,and, I think, even for the stones that had to let themselves to becrushed. What was nice and surprising, was this kind gesture of the doctor who lives in front of us. One day,Louisa found a bag in which was a bottle of Porto, 3 slabs of chocolate and a small note without a name, ontop of the letter box to console us during this infernal noise in which we were living for weeks. After havingguessed that it was the doctor, Louisa thanked him. He just smiled. Another day the director of the schoolbrought us two ducks to build us up!!! The main thing is that the result will be very good, for the classroomswill be finished for the beginning of the scholastic year in August 2011.

Florence Lee, fmm

28/12/10 to 1/1/2011 The Silver Jubilee of Jesus Youth was celebrated inCochin, Kerala. Every Jesus Youth group had been preparing for the past2 years in view of this Jubilee through chain adorations and intercessions.500 youth from Andhra Pradesh of which 116 were from Warangal whomI animate, participated in the event.

Three R’s encapsulated the essence of the Jubilee:Refined in His fire, Renewed by His Spirit, Radiant inHis love. Jubilee Logo : A cross and a rising flamewithin the figure of 25, symbolises the fire of theHoly Spirit and the centrality of Jesus and His mis-sion within the movement. The colours blue, orangeand white stand for youthfulness, the fire of the HolySpirit and the call to holiness, a journey across 25 spi-rit filled years.

The Jubilee days called for true Reconciliation, Renewal,Restoration and Revival in and through Holy Spirit. Allof us were thrilled physically and spiritually to witnessthe richness and wealth of the church and its presence andadministration through our spiritual leaders as 2Cardinals, 40 Bishops, 700 priests and 1500 sisters bles-sing the Jesus Youth and the universe, smiling at the futu-re mission to bring all the Youth of the world to Jesus byour missionary and spiritual concern. None present willforget this experience in view of the kingdom of God tobecome a reality in our daily life.

Aleyamma Mathew, fmm, Mumbai Province

Cochin, India - The Silver Jubilee of Jesus Youth

Sr. Rosanna Marin gives us her first impressions on arri-ving in her new mission in Egypt.

I arrived in Egypt at an important time. The Arab newspa-per that was passed on to us in the plane, had on everypage, above, written: "Egypt is born again." Everybodytalks about the revolution of January 25 and certainly itwill pass on to its history. Young people are full of enthu-siasm and hope, and adults also recognize that the coun-try's situation had become unbearable, but at the sametime they wonder, with some 'apprehension, what willcome later! The country has six months to prepare for theelections. One often hears people saying: 'I felt duringthese events a true Egyptian for the first time, I felt that Ilove my country '. They are proud of what has happened:

they call it the revolution of the young. They are the ones that, even in remote areas of the country, takinginitiatives to advance things and have courage to say what they think, and the things that nobody dared to do.

The other night I attended, with Sister Nadia, a meeting by a small group of lay people, called by a Franciscanpriest, to reflect on the role of Christians in this historic moment. In fact they became aware that the Church,because of the political situation for decades, is very isolated (it was not so 50 years ago). We therefore wantto 'create a group cause’ to help Christians to reflect on their political and social responsibilities in life of thecountry. They would like to collaborate in this with the Muslims to bring down that wall, create between thetwo communities ‘a bridge' and dispel the fear of each other.

In this general climate, which is very lively, with the help of my sisters I have already got to know many peo-ple, different places where they live the mission and I'm trying to learn some' Arabic Egyptian by listening tothe people. The people understand my Syrian Arab, so I can communicate. People are very friendly and wel-coming and therefore we immediately feel at ease. We visit Rezegat, a village located on the west bank of the Nile. Especially there people live very close tonature. But we see a large difference between the older generation and the young. The children are beautifuland full of life.

Rosanna Marin, fmm

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January 9 - 22, 2011. Every year the Inter-congrega-tional and national JP commission organizes a trai-ning workshop for its members in different coun-tries. The theme of the recent workshop was JPICand related to the African Synod, JPIC andReconciliation. The Aim of the Programme was theon-going formation of our members in the domain ofJPIC, an opportunity to lead and participate in net-works promoting Justice and Peace on the continent.

The sessions also aimed to structure action in favourof JPIC at local, regional, national and internationallevels and to promote networking at inter-congregational and other levels of JPIC, in order to support, reflect

Windhoek, Namibia - 6th Africa JPIC training session

Egypt - A look on Egypt: now

From the right, behind: Antonietta Cortinovis andMercy Kunnappalli, in front: Rosanna Marin and

Nadia Amin with the obliging neighbours

15May - June 2011

together and pilot joint actions.The expectations of the group members were: Howto deal with issues as religious people from othercountries; how to help people to participate in themission of JPIC; need to learn and apply these lear-ning in their ministries; creating opportunities forempowerment in our congregations and theChurch; how to apply our learning and to speak outin the face of intimidation; learn from life expe-rience and not books; politics and JPIC; JPIC inSacramental Life; Anxiety about JPIC; JPIC is nota specialisation but a duty (it is not separate fromreal life), link with the African Synod, work forJPIC is rooted in the Gospel and Catholic SocialTeaching (CST).

The situation of JPIC in the Global World was presented by Sr. Helena Amwaandangi MSC (a Namibian sis-ter who has responsibility for co-ordinating JPIC).The session on Healing and Reconciliation was led by Fr. Teddy Lennon OFM and a team from the Namibianconference of JPIC. We were given questions for personal reflection and after that there was a sharing of memories, through dra-wings, in small groups. We then worked with clay and made a peace symbol. About this symbol, we sharedduring the Mass. We watched a DVD interview with Fr. Michael Lapsey on Reconciliation (an Anglicanpriest from New Zealand who lived in Zimbabwe and South Africa). Some of the things we learnt from the interview were: reconciliation is dealing with demons; forgiveness isa journey of many layers; grudges are negative; we have faith through the faith of others; in order to findpeace, spend time with the Word of God; disability is the norm of the human family; the areas that are tabooare the areas to be looked at for healing. Sr. Ottile Kutenda a secular religious presented on the role of women in society from a feminist perspective. The socio-political realities of each of the countries represented at the training session, were presented by theparticipants. During the second week we did a lot of work in the whole area of social analysis. Br. Arnold Moyo SJ, pre-sented social analysis based on a faith and human rights approach.

Mary Shanahan, fmm, province of South Africa

The following day after my last class in the Youth MinistryInstitute Program, which is conducted by the Office forComprehensive Youth Ministry in the Diocese of Providence,Rhode Island, I had the opportunity to put into practice what Ihave learned about ministering with the youth. The Search forMaturity or Search for short, is a weekend experience for youngpeople who are juniors or seniors in high school or of collegeage who want to take a closer look at themselves, others andGod.

As an adult volunteer, I was asked to be the spiritual director forthe group. With very capable three adult rectors and youth teamleaders the weekend flowed very smoothly. I shared with themwhat kind of attitude one should have in order to get the fullbenefit of doing the “Search.” Truly I had to follow my own

The United States - Search

advice of being open as this was also my first time doing the Search with the rest of the youth “searchers.”As we moved along each activity with prayer, reflection, shared experiences, dynamics and more laughs, wewere drawn closer to God and to each other.

The week ended onhigh spirits and wewere all challenged tolive out our mission ofspreading the joy andlove we experienced inSearch to our familiesand friends. Each onedefinitely went homeknowing how we aretruly loved by God andthat we are indeedGod’s children.

Here is a picture of me(Sr. Annie) with theyouth during a Searchweekend (April 8-10,2011) at the Fr. MarotCYO Center inWoonsocket. What awonderful group ofteens – full of fun andspirit!

Annie Nebres, fmm

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On UN International Women’sDay, 8 March 2011,Franciscans International, NewYork presented a side evententitled : ‘Hear it First Hand :Trafficking Stories, Policy andBest Practices’. Held at theInternational Social JusticeCommission located at 221East 52nd Street, New York theevent showed the debut of: ‘Towhom it may concern’, a videoabout the trafficking of womenand girls. This was followed bya panel discussion.

‘To whom it may concern’ included stories from religious communities about the women and children theyhave helped, the best practices to eliminate the trafficking of women and children and the effects of govern-mental policies. FI, together with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SND) solicited the testimonies and in

New York - ‘Hear it First Hand…’

Mary Soh, fmm, second from the right, wiith Fr. Mike Lasky Regional Director,FI, NY, on the left, Fr. Kuriakose Vat Rep, in the centre, and the winners of

FI's 1st Human Rights competition

On the floor: Laura Deitz, First row: on the left, Annie, fmm