New Orleans Sisters of the Holy Family, The by Edward T. Brett

Author:Edward T. Brett [Brett, Edward T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, American, African American & Black Studies, History, Latin America, Central America, Religion, Christianity, Catholic
ISBN: 9780268075880
Google: mJUFDgAAQBAJ
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Pess
Published: 2012-04-03T03:58:31+00:00

Sister Lucia

In 1987, Bishop Osmond Martin made an appeal to Mother Rose de Lima Hazeur, asking her to consider sending an additional sister to Dangriga to work full-time with the elderly. Due to changing socioeconomic circumstances in Belize, there was a dire need for such a ministry, and Mother Rose readily agreed to the bishop’s request.9 Care for the aged had been a part of the congregation’s original charism, and Bishop Martin’s request provided the sisters with an opportunity to plant and nurture this part of their calling on Belizean soil. Sister Lucia Carl, who had spent several years doing pastoral work with the elderly at Lafon Nursing Home in New Orleans, was chosen for this assignment.10 Her six-year ministry in Belize provides another case study of how the Holy Family Sisters adjusted to the spirit of Vatican II by expanding their ministry in Dangriga to meet the needs of the time.

In a letter to Father James Short, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Mother Rose notes that Sister Lucia enjoyed “relatively good health” and therefore should without much trouble “be able to visit the homes of the elderly … to identify their needs in terms of food, medication, and hospitalization and to distribute Communion to shut-ins.”11 In what was typical of the Holy Family commitment to service, she then adds: “There may be other areas in which Sister Lucia can serve…. I suggest that you discuss these with her and that you draw up a program to guide her.”12

Father Short’s first task for Sister Lucia when she arrived in Belize was for her to take a census of the Catholic population of Dangriga. He reasoned that such work would not only help her to become familiar with the area, but it would also give her an excellent opportunity to experience the culture of the common people and to see firsthand what life was like for them. He reasoned correctly, for as Sister Lucia notes in an essay she later wrote, by going from house to house she met and talked with people of different religious faiths, hearing personally about their lives and problems. She further remarked that the ones who most touched her heart were the elderly women: “I learned to greatly admire the grannies most of all. They have an enviable resiliency. They seemingly feel obligated to care for (anywhere from three to ten) grandchildren, and this with little or no resources, unless their children send support money from the U.S. where they have gone to seek jobs, or if the grannies sell fruits or vegetables or baked bread daily.”13 As she immersed herself in her ministry to the elderly, her admiration for “the grannies” grew even more:

In my daily walks around town, I began to learn of more needy families and their situations, which included lots of children. I discovered bit by bit the physical conditions and specific needs of the elderly. Many of these also had grandkids living with them, whose mothers and/or fathers were around but not supporting their own kids.

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