Philippines: Missionary Sisters offer food, strength, consolation
By Sr. María del Pino Rodríguez de Rivera Olives, MSS
The lives of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Blessed Sacrament and the laypeople who share their charism and mission, are marked by the Eucharist, Marian devotion and the mission.
The Eucharist is the heart of all they do and experience, an experience which is protracted in Adoration and reflected in their lives through generous and joyful dedication.
The Sisters work in Baseco each day, in an effort to improve the lives of people living in highly precarious conditions. Childhood malnutrition, ill health, lack of education and inadequate, sometimes inhumane, housing, are all part of the harsh reality in which the people are forced to live.
Soup kitchen program and formation
Among the Sisters’ projects is a “Feeding Program,” aimed at feeding and educating children between the ages of three and ten. The program also teaches children to pray and adore Jesus in the Eucharist.
The Sisters are witnesses of how Eucharistic Adoration can become the engine that fuels the lives of both the children and their families.
Many of the untold stories remain in Jesus’ heart, where he strengthens them and encourages them with his Presence.
The Eucharist made alive in the simple
“One of the most beautiful moments we experience at our mission is the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist,” says Sr. Liliam María Taborda Viana.
How beautiful it is, she adds, “to see the children wearing their best clothes for Mass, shouting out as they get ready, Tara, magmisa tayo! (“we are going to Mass,” in their native language, Tagalog)”. The Lord’s joy fills their lives, even in the midst of poverty.
During the offertory, each family joins a long procession to offer the Lord the fruit of their sacrifice and labour (two nights peeling garlic, or carrying crates in the street market).
“I confess that I always cry. They live in poverty and they give the Lord the little they have, like the widow in the Gospel,” says Sr. Liliam.
Accompanying and listening
The Missionary Sisters accompany the daily life of the community, by visiting families, listening to them and giving them much love. They help those who lose all their possessions to typhoons, which are very frequent in the country.
A simple gesture like an embrace, a smile or holding their hand is a light of hope in the midst of their suffering. “The poor are my friends”, Blessed Maria Emilia Riquelme, Foundress of the Missionary Sisters of the Most Blessed Sacrament, used to say.
Lucy, one of the volunteers who is currently responsible for the Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament, founded by the Missionaries, arrived in Baseco more than 15 years ago.
At first, she was a simple observer of the mission. She spent a great deal of time inside her house. Immersed in her thoughts and defeated by sadness, she would peel garlic from 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. the following day, so she could sell it, and use the small profit to feed her family.
In time, she discovered that God’s love is greater than her suffering was, and today she is an extra missionary, a member of the Missami family (sisters and laypeople who share their lives and charism). She carries forth the mission with the other women of the community.”
We felt that we were sent by Jesus, by the Eucharist,” the women say. They cook for the feeding programme, teach children. lead the Sunday Eucharist and prepare the children to receive the Sacraments.
Hope in God who provides
In a marginalized place where human resources seem to be running out, God’s grace takes action in a silent and effective way, through the faith of the humble, in the certainty that despite sickness, death, typhoons and poverty, the miracle of life always wins.
When someone has something more than they usually have, they share it with their neighbours, helping each other survive. Together they multiply hope because they know that unity is strength.
The Sisters in this frontier mission fulfil the desires of many: to feel looked upon as people, to be respected, to be bearers of their faith, culture and traditions, which are too often not appreciated due to prejudice.
With their witness, the Sisters donate their lives for the good of the most disadvantaged, helping us remember the words of Poe Leo XIV in his Apostolic Exhortation Dilexit te: “contact with those who are lowly and powerless is a fundamental way of encountering the Lord of history. In the poor, he continues to speak to us.”
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